HOPE

Genesis 6:10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Ever notice that when a movie does really well, the director and/or producer start thinking about a trilogy? The number three holds special meaning for many cultures at many points in history. There is meaning to be mined that exists just below the surface in many points of scripture. Not a super spiritual meaning, not a key that unlocks spiritual blessing, just a fuller understanding of what scripture is communicating that takes a little digging.

Noah's three sons are named three times in the flood narrative; this is the first of the three times they are named. Any time you see a set of three referred to three times it is time to start asking some questions. Why are they mentioned? What is the significance? Where else is this group mentioned and where else are there groups of three mentioned? 

In the ancient world a son meant hope for the future of your family line. In this case not just Noah's line but all of humanity. Three sons was like God  telling Noah and the first people to hear the story of Noah, "Even though the future looks bleak, harsh, hopeless, empty, there is a hope for the future. This mess will not be the end of the story." 

We all experience set backs, we experience let downs. Those of us who breathe air have in the past and will experience in the future varying degrees of darkness. Noah bringing three sons onto the Ark reminds us that setbacks are not always just setbacks. Sometimes setbacks are set-ups for something more meaningful and life altering. And let downs are not always just let downs. Sometimes let downs, with a little letting go, can result in a lift off! 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the current situation the current mess does not have to be the end of the story.

Just a Meandering Thought...

WALK

Genesis 6:9 "...and he walked faithfully with God."

There are three men who are said to have walked with God in the early chapters of Genesis: Noah, Enoch and Adam.

Adam walked with God in ideal conditions, a place of utter perfection and peace. In a place that had almost no rules, not even have a dress code, where Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening with the divine designer of a perfect garden. In a place with one rule Adam still messed up.

We don’t know anything about Enoch’s situation but at the very least it was not the peace and perfection of the Garden. Even though Enoch had less than ideal conditions, God took him to heaven without having experienced death.

Noah walked with God and God delivered him from the flood.  We know that Noah had it pretty bad; yet he managed to walk with God in tough conditions.

Here is what I know: sometimes we are like Adam and we cave under the pressure of the storm. Sometimes we are like Enoch and God delivers us from the the storm altogether. Sometimes we are like Noah and God delivers us through the storm. God is still God, we trust, obey, look to, walk with, God.

We have little control over the situations we sometimes find ourselves. Sometimes life just happens, relationships at work turn sour, conditions at home become unsafe, family stuff becomes complicated… Love is lost and it feels like you will never find it again… pressure comes from unexpected places. God is still God.

May I state the obvious? Walking with God is not running from God, not hiding from God, not escaping difficulty, not a get out of jail free card. Walking with God is breathing every breath knowing God is there and knowing that that is not a bad thing. Walking with God is taking every step every day with an awareness that you are a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, miracle; it is seeing yourself in the mirror and knowing in your soul that you are God's greatest idea.  God sees something in you that you don’t see in yourself. God knows you in ways that you cannot know yourself apart from him. God accepts you at levels that you do not accept yourself. 

Just a Meandering Thought...

RIGHT

Genesis 6:9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

Noah is described as righteous and blameless. “Righteous” describes a person who observes God’s laws and avoids wrongdoing. There is a positive and negative aspect to being righteous, doing what is right and not doing what is not right. 

The author throws in the phrase "Blameless among the people of his time". This is not scripturally endorsed relativism as if Noah was blameless compared to the people of his time. Rather, even though Noah's generation was so "wicked" God decided the best course of action was a massive uncreation event, blameless means Noah could lay his head down at night knowing that he had dealt properly and fairly with those he interacted with. No one could point a finger at him and accuse him of anything that even appeared shady.

We are meant to see a contrast here. The corruption of the Earth and humanity stated earlier in the chapter compared to a righteous and blameless man, Noah. The future Noah saw is described in the first verses of  chapter six. An alternate future, one God desired to create, may have seemed like imaginative calisthenics. The contrast existed between the future that seemed inevitable and the future God wanted for humanity. Noah knew he had a destiny.

The events of Noah's time are intended to show us not so much why God decided to uncreate creation, but rather why God chose to save Noah. It was because of the nature of the relationship he maintained with God and the nature of the relationships he maintained with others, his neighbors. We should also see what is possible when both are in good condition.

Just a meandering thought...

FAVOR

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The term “find favor” is used of someone who has little to no power being associated with someone who has power. Someone of superior status helping someone with inferior status. To “find favor” is an expression used when someone is making a request of a superior. In Genesis 33 Jacob requests favor of his brother Esau. In Genesis 39 Potiphar helps Joseph, a slave, by giving him by giving him tremendous responsibility and status.

Scripture does not record many people finding favor with God. Adam walked with God in the Garden, but is not said to have found favor with God. Enoch walked with God but is not said to have found favor with God either. It is almost as if finding favor with God is not something that can be worked for or earned, it is simply granted.

Esau had an army at his back, Jacob had just his family placing him at his brother's mercy. Joseph was a slave in Potiphar's household, he was dependent on someone of a higher status for anything. Noah had no way to survive a massive flood he was dependent on someone with a higher status, greater resources. It was when these men found they had come to the end of their own resources that they could understand finding favor with someone greater and more powerful.

It is not our strength or abilities that makes us worthy of anything, not our ingenuity. Rather, when we recognize we don't have what it takes we become eligible for eternal resources from someone with a higher status than us.

Just a Meandering Thought...