God's Promise to Noah and ALL of Creation
Genesis 8:20 - 9:7 The very reason that people were made was to be in a community of love and harmony with each other, the rest of creation, and God.
Before our text today we have a troubling account of life after Eden. The first brotherly fight ends in murder and few and far between are those that honor God as God. ‘Enoch who walked with God’ highlights the relationship that God wanted with humanity. The very reason that people were made was to be in a community of love and harmony with each other, the rest of creation, and God.
In the Genesis: Belief series, Miguel De La Torre makes a case for the harmony of all the earth and the initial people being vegetarians. Genesis 1: 29 “God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.”” In saying that, De La Torre argues that harmony included even the animals being vegetarian so that all of creation should have lived without the spilling of any creatures’ blood.
In a Substack article by Colin Durrant, The Ancient Secret to a Fulfilling Life: Gratitude and Taking Responsibility, he makes a case for how our gratitude keeps us respectful of the world around us. When we become lackadaisical about what we have, thinking of creation as part of our entitlement, since we are the highest life form, we get hurt. Durrant may not be making a case for God, but it is certainly true that when we take care of our ‘stuff’ it seems to last longer. Contrarily, when we take our ‘stuff’ for granted, we tend to damage it.
This ‘stuff’ applies to all things within our care including our relationships with other people, pets, the land, and with God. When we take things or relationships as if it should just simply be mine to use, things go wrong. When I respectfully treat the world around me as needing care, I then nurture the relationship with creation, self, and God. Gratitude for what and who we have in our lives tends to mean we treat those relationships better. Durrant argues that by being grateful and reaping the rewards, those that practice the skill of gratefulness end up being happier and more fulfilled with better relationships.
In Genesis 6:6 we find our entry point to the flood narrative. “And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” People had started to take creation and God for granted. They did not regard God as the powerful Creator who lovingly made them in God’s very image. The earth, plants, animals, and other people were dominated instead of partnered with. The harmony and relationships became broken and difficult. Bloodshed and sin had become rampant post Eden. The purpose and intention of creation was in ruins. God regretted the act of creation. God felt grief over what the world had become, with humans participating in all forms of evil.
Grief and regret are very common human emotions. The writer of Genesis ascribes these emotions to the Creator. We only feel these things when we love something deeply. The loss of a loved person, pet, place, or activity can be overwhelming. For God to have made all of what we see, hear, smell, taste, tough, feel, enjoy, and have relationship with, then lose it over time is painful. It is all there is. What God created is all there is. There is nothing else. There isn’t another set of people, planets, suns, stars, quasars, gas nebulas, universes, or anything. Only what God made. We were not created to be puppets with God as puppet master and ultimate controller, but autonomous and free. Able to choose love of each other and God…
Grief is difficult for us and our loss does not compare to God’s. God, like us, needs time to feel such strong feelings. God decided that it was too much and had waited too long for us to return to harmony. The choice was to wipe it all out. To blot it out of existence. To basically not see or feel the pain of love lost. God’s heart was in pain. The very core of a cosmic being was in pain. In pain and regret for causing so much pain, so the flood was planned. The unmaking of creation. The waters of the deep and the waters in heaven both burst forth to cover the earth, blotting out all of creation.
But, ‘Noah walked with God’. Just like the later story of the destruction of Sodom. Abraham prays to God, “if there is but one righteous man, will you save the city?” He does start with higher numbers, but God will only save Lot and Lot’s family. Here Noah is noticed for his respect that God is God. In the God we must appreciate and be grateful for all we have. So, when God says the earth is going to be swallowed up in a flood, Noah is predisposed to listen. In gratefulness that he is chosen to be saved he follows each command. He builds a boat on a sunny day, he gathers the animals, and he and his family get in the boat. They get in the Ark and expect God to do the rest. God closes the door and because God designed it, the Ark keeps them safe.
Noah will become the new blueprint or Adam (H’adaam, literally translated as earthling or dirt person) and the Ark caries a new micro-Eden within. The flood washes away the sin and corruption from the earth. Then they wait. In the waiting life is happening within. 40 days’ worth of life is happening.
Then, God remembered Noah. So, does God change their mind? God wanted to wipe it all out. Then along came Noah and a new covenant relationship formed. “God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided”. Our text today tells of after the flood. This new creation came out of the boat onto dry fertile land. God’s wind or Spirit is at work again to clear the way for the new created order to abound.
Creation part two. Much like the first creation, life is made possible through God. The only reason anything still exists is because God decided it was worth saving after all. There was a change of heart. Grief had taken its course, and the regret was replaced by a willingness to try again. Grief often takes the form of chaos and tears mixed with anger and regret about the love that was lost. After we grieve, life moves onward. We move past the pain and can see a new life among the dust and chaos of the old. Noah and his family and the animals and birds and creeping things on the Ark were this new life that God was ready to bless once again.
The promise of God, “nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done”. God had a change of heart and was even willing make the promise to never again destroy all life in a flood. This change in heart seems to have started God onto a new path. Within the Old and New Testament, we have examples of ‘new things’ or ‘new ways’ of doing things. Jesus being the ultimate new ‘Way’ to save creation.
Harmony is yet to be had. Creation again disappoints even with Noah’s faith. The existing blood lines of the family begin us on our journey toward Jesus but unfortunately include the ongoing corruption and sin. God’s new amended command is to be fruitful and multiply just like the invitation for our first dirt people. God now adds every plant AND animal as food except for the animals’ blood. God also adds a disclaimer that ALL “lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life”. The new thing was to be more explicit with direction on how creation should be in harmony with each other.
Dr. Riane Eisler talks about this harmony in, The Chalice and the Blade. She contends that partnerships should be humanities goal with all of creation. The domination of others and greed for power become the corporate sin we must overcome. She is hopeful in her book that we are moving towards the partnership model she exhorts.
In a recent CNBC article by Sam Meredith called The World’s in a ‘Polycrisis’ – and these countries want to quash it by looking beyond GDP, the idea of a Wellbeing Economy is highlighted. GDP or ‘gross domestic product’ has long been how countries define who is doing well. It is solely based on money averages, which does not take into account the treatment and quality of life for people or the planet.
“The Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership (WEGo) is a collaboration of national and regional governments interested in sharing expertise and transferrable policy practices to advance their shared ambition of building Wellbeing Economies.” (https://weall.org/wego) A partnership model of economics. Meredith explains that “The coalition… aims to transform economies around the world to deliver shared well-being for people and the planet by 2040.” The article goes on to describe the metrics that they will be looking for as they develop the new economic plans. “The Treasury identified three priority areas in need of improvement: mental health; educational achievement; and housing affordability and quality.”
Well-being is quality of life and shares the ideas that Jesus preaches. The good of the group. The help for those most in need. Equalizing the share of the goods to include everyone, not just those lucky enough to be born with enough. But to actively help everyone achieve a life that has all of our needs met. Sharing wealth with everybody so that no one is left without. This summit, while looking at it from an economic standpoint seems to understand that when people’s needs are met, they are then able to contribute to society. Even more so, if our families’ needs are met, from the eldest to the youngest, we will be able to more fully contribute of ourselves to the greater society. They also include the planet since it is our home and when it is not in good shape we will all suffer.
We are tied up with creation. Our best interest is also the planet’s best interest. The very next set of verses in Genesis 9:8-12 ties us together as partners and stewards of each other. The rainbow is set in the sky as a reminder. “God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations.” We must build partnerships to live in harmony with creation, each other, and God. Following the teachings of Jesus will continue us on the right path. Amen.
Bibliography
Brueggemann, Walter, Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, January 1, 1986.
De La Torre, Miguel A., Genesis: Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.
Eisler, Riane, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, San Francisco, CA.: HarperSanFrancisco, A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1988.
Keck, Leander E., Editor, The New Interpreter's® Bible Commentary Volume I: Introduction to the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, October 20, 2015.
Colin Durrant, The Ancient Secret to a Fulfilling Life: Gratitude and Taking Responsibility, https://colindurrant.substack.com/p/the-ancient-secret-to-a-fulfilling?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2260084&post_id=163236914&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2fc1iy&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Meredith, Sam, The world’s in a ‘polycrisis’ — and these countries want to quash it by looking beyond GDP, Published Sun, Dec 25 202211:14 PM EST, Updated Mon, Jan 2 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/26/well-being-these-countries-are-looking-beyond-gdp-and-economic-growth.html
https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-protests-ice-national-guard-1009eac191a8f6248463a5028cbe0f68
https://weall.org/wego
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/6-6.htm