after the flood

Good evening friends,
After spending all that time in the ark, I'm sure Noah and his family were thrilled to have a little more space. Unfortunately, things didn't go perfectly smoothly after the flood either. In this story we see both Noah and his son Ham acting in less than idea ways. The story of Ham being cursed by his father has been used as a justification for the oppression of Africans and African Americans for much of history. As usual, when we use the Bible for oppression we're not following God's calling. The interesting thing about this passage is that Noah's anger focuses on Ham's son, Canaan, more than on Ham himself. That doesn't really make sense, but often we aren't logical when we're angry. That curse is important as the story progresses because Canaan is the ancestor of the people who inhabited the Promised Land (Canaan) before Israel came into it. Scholars believe this passage was written to reflect and justify Israel's conquest of the land.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 9:18-28

¹⁸The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled. ²⁰Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. ²¹He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. ²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵he said, “Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” ²⁶He also said, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave. ²⁷May God make space for Japheth, and let him live in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”

²⁸After the flood Noah lived three hundred fifty years. ²⁹All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years; and he died.

get my children out of the muddy, muddy

Good evening friends,
The first evening of our New Beginnings retreat was fruitful and engaging. I ask you to continue to pray for our urban Presbyterian congregations as we learn more tomorrow. I'd also ask you to keep the work of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in prayer as they host a festival the next two days at Sahlen Stadium (4 pm each day.) I pray that God will bring a rush of the Spirit in Rochester so many can hear the good news of God's love.

Today's reading gives us the story of Noah in the ark with his family and all the animals. It's a hard scene to imagine, but even out of destruction, God eventually brings new life.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 8:1-14

But 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; ²the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated;

⁴and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

⁶At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; ⁹but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. ¹⁰He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; ¹¹and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹²Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.

¹³In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. ¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

...there's gonna be a floody, floody...

Good afternoon brothers and sisters,
Today's reading actually gets Noah and his family into the ark to survive the flood God sends. It's hard to imagine being cooped up in a small space with all those animals. It's also hard to imagine what Noah's neighbors would have said as he built a giant ship in the middle of the desert. His courage and faithfulness are pretty amazing.
blessings on your faithfulness,
Sam

Genesis 7:1-12

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. ²Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; ³and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”

⁵And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. ⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. ⁷And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth. ¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹²The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

The Lord said to Noah...

Good morning friends,
Today's reading tells the story of God's warning to Noah about the flood that was coming and God's instructions for building an ark to rescue representatives of each species. The story of Noah and the ark is familiar and strange. We'll be talking about it on Sunday, so this is a good introduction during the week.
May God bless you as you start your day,
Sam

Genesis 6:11-22

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth.

¹³And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁹And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. ²¹Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²²Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

redo

Good morning sisters and brothers,
I hope your week is off to a good start. Our story today is a strange one about God being sorry that he made people because we are so messed up. The story also mentions Nephilim, an odd type of being that seems to be a cross between "sons" of God and women. The Bible doesn't explain that any further, but you'll notice further along when Israel gets close to the Promised Land, that some of their enemies are said to be descended from Rephadim, which seem to be related. They take on an almost giant-like quality in the later story. This passage is a reminder that there are stories and events that surround the Bible story and that the authors knew about but didn't write down. Most of those surrounding stories are lost, so we're left guessing the whole story from the fragments left in scripture.

Blessings,
Sam

Genesis 6:1-10

When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ²the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. ³Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.”

⁴The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown. ⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.

⁶And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

⁸But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. ⁹These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Methusala and Noah

Good afternoon friends,
Thanks to everyone for a great meeting and congregational meeting today. Today's reading gives us Methusala, known as the oldest man ever, living to the ripe age of 969 year. We also bring this bit of genealogy to a close as we meet the main character of our next story, Noah. May God bless you as you enjoy the beautiful weather and as you begin the new week,
Sam

Genesis 5:25-32

²⁵When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸When Lamech had lived one hundred eighty-two years, he became the father of a son; ²⁹he named him Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.” ³⁰Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters. ³¹Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years; and he died. ³²After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.