03 January

Bible in 365 Days

Genesis 8-11

Genesis 8

Upborne on the billows of judgment, the Ark rode securely, holding within it the nucleus of a new departure in human history. When the work of judgment was fully accomplished, the waters decreased, and the voice that had commanded Noah to build the Ark and to enter therein called him forth.

What a stupendous moment it was in the history of the race and in the experience of this man when he emerged from what had been practically a prison, and yet the vantage ground of God for the continuity of His plan and purpose for humanity.

He who by faith had renounced everything in obedience to God, in spite of all appearances, now stepped forth, the sole possessor of the earth. A new day was dawning for humanity, a day of new opportunity in which men would live with history's testimony to the fact of the divine government and judgment, forever speaking to them of the issues of sin and of the impossibility of escape from the government of God.

The first act of Noah as he found himself delivered from judgment and established in possession was a reaction of response and in itself was most significant. His first look was Godward, and his first act the erection of an altar and the offering of sacrifices.

This attitude and action were answered by a declaration of God which was full of grace. His knowledge of the fact of sin still remaining is declared, but henceforth it was not to be the gauge of His dealing with man. In spite of sin the promise was made that the natural order should continue, seasons come and go, and the day and night should not cease. In other words the declaration was that the earth was not to be involved in the chaos which followed the primal cataclysm (Genesis 1:2) but continue to be the sphere for carrying out His purposes in humanity.

Genesis 9

The new order in human affairs was initiated by the bestowment of a blessing on Noah and his sons. The first note of change is seen in the word which declared man's relation to the lower orders. In Eden man had governed by love and his own kingliness. With the loss of that kingliness resulting from his disobedience and rebellion, he had lost his true power of dominion, and that must now be exercised by fear and dread directly implanted by God in all the lower orders of life over which man was to rule.

Moreover, an alteration was made in the law of human interrelationship. A sterner rule than family discipline must be set up. Man must now hold the sword of justice, and himself insist on obedience. Another change concerned human sustenance. In addition to the green herb of the past, animal food was permitted under restrictions.

The earth was thus to be repeopled by a race living under new conditions, and at this point a new covenant between God and man came into force. Its terms reminded man that the promises of God are conditional.

A token of the covenant was chosen and established. God appropriated an existing wonder as the sign and seal thereof, the rainbow. The rainbow is born of light falling on raindrops and so is significant of judgment as related to love. Man was to look on this, remembering that God also was looking on it.

The chapter ends with the story of a startlingly sudden plunge into darkness. Noah is seen yielding to fleshly appetite. In the presence of the degradation of their father, the character of the sons was manifest. One, himself degraded, yielded to curiosity. Two, ashamed of the sin of their father, attempted to hide him. The cursing and blessing which fell from the lips of Noah were no capricious passing of sentences. Rather, they formed a clear statement of the tendency of character. The man in the grip of evil moved to slavery, while the man influenced by purity and love proceeded to government and blessing.

Genesis 10

In this chapter we have a simple and straightforward account of the dispersion of the sons of Noah and their families after the Flood. The descendants of Japheth moved toward the isles or the coastlands. The descendants of Ham moved toward the plains of Shinar and thence on. The descendants of Shem moved toward the hill country of the east.

It is not possible very clearly to define geographically today the districts occupied by various descendants of Noah.

What is clear, however, and to be carefully observed is that their movements were under a direct divine guidance, even though they may not have been conscious of it. Christian ethnologists still claim that all the races of today may be traced back to these revealed origins.

This chapter finds interpretation, in some measure, in the address of Paul on Mars' Hill in which he declared that God "made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation."

Genesis 11

In this chapter we have the account of a human movement against dispersion. The movement was one of rebellion and was frustrated by divine interposition. The divine intention was the covering of the whole earth. The human action was in opposition to that, as men said, "lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

This rebellious purpose was frustrated by the confusion of tongues. Necessarily belief in this story demands belief in the possibility of God's direct intervention in the affairs of men by what we sometimes speak of as supernatural methods. Any argument which is valid against the story of the confusion of tongues at Babel is equally valid against the account of the gift of tongues at Pentecost.

In this chapter we find the history narrowed. The lines of development through Ham and Japheth are omitted and the generations of Shem are given. This marks the selection of that branch of the race from which a man is to be chosen, out of whose loins a new nation is to spring, from which the great Deliverer will come.

In the last section of the chapter we have an account of the movement toward the adoption of a simple faith as the one law of life. Terah moved from Ur of the Chaldees. It is not stated that this was in response to a faith. The fact, however, that it was in the direction of the divine intention would suggest that it was so. Carefully observe these words, however, "And Terah...went forth...to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." It is the record of a start in a right direction which lacked persistence. Terah paused half way and dwelt at Haran until he died. The true man of faith is seen acting so far under the influence of his father; and bound by the earthly tie he abode with him in Haran.