♰ Bible Study by Abouna Angelos Genesis 7-8: The Flood Let us recall the five questions to ask ourselves when reading the Bible. 1. God 2. Church 3. Commandment 4. Prayer 5. Interpretation There are two themes we will see in Genesis that repeat throughout the Bible. 1. Creation 2. Salvation When the Creation needs help, God does not leave it alone. All the liturgies of all the churches, Armenian, Coptic, Catholic, praise God as Creator and Savior. This theme recurs in all the praises of the Church including in the Psalms and in worship songs. In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 4 is about God the Creator, and Chapter 5 is about God the Savior (the Lamb). Here in Genesis 7-8, God is recreating the world -- through Noah and his family. Q: Was God merciful to send a deluge which wiped out the whole earth except one family and one set of animals? A: Yes, God had mercy on man -- through one man and his family. Q: What about mercy for those outside the ark, who ridiculed Noah and died? A: To answer, let us consider what kind of a man Noah was. • Genesis 6:9 Noah was a just (צַדִּיק ṣadı̂yq, tsad-deek') man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. • Romans 14:17 The kingdom of God is ... righteousness ... (δικαιοσύνη) • Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. So, then, what about the people who drowned outside the ark? 1 Peter 3:18-22 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. During Civil War and WW I, what would happen if someone got shot in the arm? Amputation, because of lack of antibiotics, without which infection would affect the entire body. The only hope was to amputate, cauterize the stump, and hope that the infection would not spread. What is the Antibiotic of sin? Christ and Holy Spirit. His blood kills sin. The Holy Spirit prevents sin. God is looking for someone with a little trust in Him. Generations after Adam: Enoch #7, Noah #10, Abraham #20. God kept the people who died in the flood in prison until the coming of Christ. He did not go to prison in vain to preach to them. Probably they were following Him. He died young so that he would save everyone, in Earth and Hades. Jesus Christ died young. He mortified the flesh. He gave his young life for the salvation of all life. Going to the Cross, He put an end to sin. Say, “I trust you Lord that, even if I die, I will be raised as you rose.” Job 19:25-27 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! 1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 6:3-14 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ... Jesus died, so that the sin in me would die, and I have to continue in that baptism. That is the link. Imagery of the flood: Romans 6:4-23 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. How is this an imagery of baptism? • Buried (baptized) with Christ. Your corrupted nature dies. A soul is delivered, with no access to sin. I want my body to be part of that, part of those who were buried in the flood. I want my spirit to be part of Noah, part of a new nature, re-created. • We have to put an end to sin in ourselves, as God put an end to sin in the world. The Image of Christ as Noah Noah sends first a raven, then a Dove. The raven flys a long time, until the waters dried up. What is that raven doing? How can it fly for so long? What do ravens feed on? What must be on the earth right now that keeps the raven busy. Notice the contrast with the Dove, who found not a place of rest for her feet. Very poetic, touching description. Genesis 8:9 But the dove found no rest [***] for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. [***] The word “rest” here is similar to the word “Noah,” which actually means “rest,” as in resting place for the Holy Spirit. rest = מָנוׄחַ mānôaḥ, maw-no'-akh; Noah = נוּחַ nūaḥ, noo'-akh; Genesis 1:2 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Where is the resting place for the Spirit of God? In the Ark, in the hand of Noah. On the 6th day, God created Man, in the image of God, coming out of the hand of God as a new fresh temple. What did God do on the 7th day? Rest! In the preparation of the Liturgy, the priest, preparing the Altar, says, “O Holy God who finds rest in his Saints.” The “Noahs” of God are the righteous saints who trust in him. They find no other place of rest than in Him, and He finds no other place of rest than in them. Thus, in Genesis, God is preparing a sanctuary for himself. That place of rest for Himself is not a mountain. There is nothing that man can make that can be a resting place for God. The resting place for God is the heart of a righteous man, a “Noah” of God. Do you want to be a resting place for God? Then seek to be a righteous person. These are the images that crash down on us as we compare Genesis 1-2 with Noah’s story. The world was started with water covering the whole land, the spirit of God hovering like a dove on the waters. With Noah, the story is again water covering the whole land. The same imagery, the Dove finding no place of rest for her feet, until Noah streches out his and and draws her in. We are going to see many reflections of these images. Meditate for next time: Where does the church figure in this image? Q from participant: How can a person practice rightousness? A: How do I trust God? In which aspects of my life do I allow God to comfort me and give me promises? In which aspects am I not comforable that God is comforting us? Do I believe in forgiveness? When I offer my confession, do I hear the word, “your faith has saved you; go in peace?” Do I beleive I am forgiven? It is a pity that many who are foriven go home and persist their sin. There is something about prayer that has to do wtih righteousness. Consider the widow (who bugged the unjust judge). Will the Son of God find faith on the earth when He returns? Will you pray consistently? Will you trust doctors, pharmacists, engineers, armies, the hand of man, the hand of friends to comfort you? Rightousness comes from how we manage our lives. If you trust in God in one aspect, if you are helped and comforted, then you may begin to trust in another aspect. Let us examine our lives and see how many aspects we trust in God. If I have a sick person, I may not be sure if God wants to heal that person or take them to heaven. Nevertheless, I know that, for me personally, I am going to live my hours after confession and communion not in socialization but in purity and with God. Self-rightousness is when you think you have done enough. “Even if you do everything I told you,” says Jesus, “you should say, ‘We are unfaithful servants,’” because all we did is what we were asked to do. If you say, “Lord thank you that I am not like this publican” or “Lord thank you that I am good,” guess what, you are not going to be justified! The publican one who beat his breast went out justified before the Lord. St. Perpetua’s father said to her, “You can deny God before the governor to save your skin, but then you can have God in your heart.” She answered, like the Armenians to the Persians, “God sees the heart, I can never deny my Lord.” Do you think a mother -- feeding, clothing, and educating her children -- performs her works in return for the praise of men? Live in the hope of seeing God, that He may say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”