Genesis 6:13-22 Bible Teaching

The Linguistic Analysis of "Earth" and "World" in Scripture

Welcome Prayer Song Silence Genesis 6.13- June 12th 2022

Biblical Context and Interpretations

ON SCREEN

1st Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, <`aphar> and lifteth up the beggar <'ebyown> from the dunghill, <'ashpoth> to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne <kicce'> of glory: for the pillars of the earth <'erets> are the LORD'S, <Y@hovah> and he hath set the world upon them.

SONG For the Law was given through Moses

So, last week we left off with verse 13 where we read

Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

I said last week that I would investigate the word here translated earth. If you turn to 1st Samuel 2:8 (which I have written on the board) we have a passage that speaks to both earth and world, saying

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, <`aphar> and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, <'ashpoth> to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth <'erets> are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.

So, in the Hebrew, erets is translated earth, which means, “to be firm;” and speaks of the earth as a land, a country, a field, the ground, a way, wilderness and then whole earth.

Hebrew and Greek Translation

In the Greek Septuagint the word translated from erets is ghay, and means the same thing.

When scripture in either Hebrew or Greek wants to depict the whole world, it uses tebel (taybule) in the Hebrew and kosmos in the Greek.

So, as we see in the 1st Samuel passage on the board there are distinct words in Hebrew and Greek that fully describe the whole world and then words that better describe area, land, ground, country or area.

In our assessment of the flood range the word used allows for a geographical flood because the word translated earth is erets in Hebrew and ghay in Greek.

Simply put, the whole matter would have been put to bed if the Hebrew used the word taybule and the Septuagint used kosmos – and we would have known it was world wide – but they didn’t.

And so from a linguistic point of view, the question is not settled as to the flood being world wide and a door is frankly left open for it to have been potentially geographical.

This is one insight alone and does not make the case either way. We will get to more as we progress through the text.

Instructions to Noah

Okay, let’s go on into our text for today continuing at verse 14 where God said to Noah

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Alright, let’s back up a bit and jump back to verse 13

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come

Noah's Ark and Its Construction

Before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

It makes sense that if all the earth was to be submerged, whether it be the region or the world, all things which thrived on the earth (flesh is what Moses wrote) would drown. To prepare Noah and his family and all the animals that would go on this ark God says at verse 14:

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

The word ark describes a vessel or a hollow place capable of holding or containing something. Moses uses the same word (taybaw) in Exodus to describe the vessel he was placed in as a baby when he was sent into the watery bullrushes to escape deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God.. But the word to describe the ark of the covenant which would contain a number of sacred artifacts for the nation is not the same but instead arown, which too is a container but more in the shape of a box. Here the word describes a container that would be shaped to float while bearing cargo – same with the basket made for the baby Moses.

Material Used for Ark

On the term Gopher wood some think that cedar is meant; others, the cypress. I think Cypress because the Greek word used to describe Cypress is comparable to the Hebrew translated Gopher wood plus –

• Cypress wood was used anciently for ship building
• It is not subject to rot or worn invasion.

That being said, both the Hebrew Targums translate it cedar; and the Persian translations, pine or fir. What we can say – it was wood.

We also note the word, pitch, which is kawfar in Hebrew and it means to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel:– appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation). And I’ve mentioned that it is the same word translated propitiation – meaning, to cover as in the shed blood of animals propitiating for the sins of the nation. Here we see the symbolism of Noah and family and animals entering into the ark covered in tar (bitumen) which protected them from the watery onslaught outside just as believers are covered in the blood and able to enter into the presence of God after this life.

Dimensions of the Ark

Then God gives Noah some specific instructions on construction, saying:

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Now, a cubit was the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger which is generally assumed to be about eighteen inches – but if Noah was short or really tall there is play on this figure. Taking 18 inches as a general cubit length, the ark must have been 450 feet in length, 75 breadth, and 45 high. Some scholars after extensive research in the past believe that the cubit standard was more like 22 inches, and from this standard it appears that the three hundred cubits of the ark's length would make it then 547 feet long; 91.2 feet wide and fifty-four feet eight inches in height and would have weighed about 8162 tons. In a modern recreation of the Ark called Ark Encounter the dimensions are 510 feet long, 85 feet high and 51 feet high.

Understanding the Capacity of the Ark

To throw some comparative numbers out there, the UPS facility in Canada is 850,000 Sq ft, Tesla’s Fremont CA factory has 5.3 million sq feet, and the Tesla Giga factory has 10 million square feet and can hold, according to Musk, 194 billion hamsters!

So, what about the ark? Most critics believe that the capacity of the ark was much too small for the things which were contained in it. And, what was in it?

• Eight total persons from Noah's family
• One pair of all unclean animals genus, (like canis – all dogs coyotes, wolves)
• Seven pairs of all clean animals genus
• The animals described are either –
  • Every group from the whole world, or
  • From every group from all of those in the basis of the earth that was to be covered.
• And then there is the question of areas of habitation on the three floors and the provisions to sustain everything on board.
• For how long? It appears that he was on the Ark for 364 days give or take – so about a lunar year start to finish.

Keep all of this in mind, as well as the ability for eight souls to properly dispose of all the animal waste over that period of time as we move on. We will come back to these observations later.

Trust and Faith in God's Plan

Understand something however – God had Noah actually build a boat that would manage His effort to save a remnant of man and beast from death. This was a physical act and so I would caution you about inserting the ever easy attitude of, “well God can do anything” like shrinking the dinosaurs to fit or causing all the animals to not relieve themselves for a year.

I realize that God can do anything – but if taken to an extreme, why not just suppose that God lifted all eight souls plus the animals into the heavens while he destroyed the earth or did some other supernatural act? Why make Noah go to all the trouble? Unless there is lesson for us to grasp from this.

He has us do our part, and He then does His. Abraham, take your son up into the mountain to sacrifice but God would make sure they came back down together. Moses, go to Pharoah and I God will do what is necessary to bring the nation out of Bondage. Jonah, go to Nineveh, David, step in and fight Goliath, Jeremiah, go and preach to a hard-hearted people, Peter, step out on the water, man with the withered hand, stretch it forth, lepers, go wash in the river, people believe on my Son . . . and in every action God requires, He is there do then step in and do His part.

A Two-Way Street: Our Actions and God's Response

The two-way street. I suggest that the story of Noah was as much a test for the Man and the end product and purpose. Yes, God could have put an oxygenated protective bubble around all that were saved instead, or put them into hibernation, or shrunk them down to the size of grains of sand and placed them on a platform – whatever.

But the story of Noah is another type for us – a type for our stepping forward in faith and trusting the commands the Lord gives us in our lives, which includes that fact that He will also do His part. I have zero questions about God’s ability to make anything happen. But in His interactions with Man there always seems to be this two-way street of our acting, and His responding or His acting and our responding.

In our day, the ultimate expression of this is to believe that God will redeem us and bring us into His Kingdom by faith in His Son? Will He

The Story of Noah's Ark

Do His part of the promise is the continual question – and we are all just like Noah, living out our lives in the expectation that God will do what He says.

Let’s keep reading our text (as the story of Noah is spread out over a few chapters) and address other factors as we go.

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

The use of the term window gets pretty interesting even though the number of opinions is varied. The word window best means “clear or bright” causing some scholars to translate the term to “light,” “a transparency;” and “the noon.” Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel, an expert of the Torah believed that it was a precious luminated stone which Noah, by Divine command, brought from the river Pison. (sound familiar, Book of Mormon readers?) Window can simply mean an opening presumably near the top of the ark that could be secured and opened to let light and fresh air inside. It appears that it should be taken in a collective sense signifying apertures for air and light.

Moses adds, “In a cubit shalt thou finish it above,” which most agree that God probably wanted the roof to extend above the window a cubit. We also read that the ark had three stories – so we can multiply our square footage on the board three times. That’s a big boat.

The Covenant with Noah

Verse 17

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

The wording here speaks of God’s hand bringing these flood waters on earth – and the assumption seems to be that there was never, and will never be again according to the promise God makes to Noah, another like it. (verse 18)

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

This is a fantastic passage folks as it speaks to so many things in the relationship human beings have with God.

Understanding Covenants in Scripture

So, let’s talk generally about “covenants” then work our way through them in scripture. Of course, a covenant is a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith, translated to covenant, is rooted in the phrase, “to cut," and therefore the term hearkens back to the Old Testament practice of cutting or dividing of animals into two exact parts, (and where we might get the phrase, “we cut a deal”) and the contracting parties passing between these two parts making a covenant.

We will read in Genesis 15:1-21 all about a covenant made between Abraham and God which describes in detail how the animal was cut in two but then in that case while Abraham slept God walked between the parts.

In Jeremiah 34:18-19 we also read the following:

Jeremiah 34:18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Various Uses of Covenant

In the New Testament, the Greek word translated to covenant is dee-ath-akay which is also translated testament. I think testament is a misnomer and covenant ought to remain.

In a quick survey of scripture we find that the word covenant is used as a

• compact between man and man (Genesis 21:32) and also between tribes or nations (1st Samuel 11:1; Jos 9:6,15)

Genesis 31:50 speaks of entering into a covenant where Jehovah was solemnly called on to witness the transaction and hence it was called a "covenant of the Lord" (1st Samuel 20:8)

In Proverbs 2:17 marriage is called "the covenant of God" because the marriage was made in God's name.

In Isaiah 28 even wicked men are spoken of as acting as if they had made a "covenant with death" to not destroy them or with hell to not to devour them.

We also find that the word is used

Covenants in the Old Testament

With reference to God's revelation of himself in the way of promise or of favor to Man.

There are a whole bunch of times covenants are brought forward in the Old Testament, and here is the first with Noah, then Abraham, then there is covenants of the priesthood (described in Numbers 25:12-13; Deuteronomy 33:9; Nehemiah 13:29) and of the covenant of Sinai (Exodus 34:27-28; Leviticus 26:15 which was afterwards renewed at different times in the history of Israel. (Deuteronomy 29:1-29; Joshua 1:18; 2nd Chronicles 15:1-19; 23:1-21; 29:1-36; 34:1-33; Ezra 10:1-44; Nehemiah 9:1-38) In conformity with human custom, God's covenant is said to be confirmed with an oath Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalm 89:3 and to be accompanied by a sign (Genesis 9:1-29; 17:1-27).

So covenants in the Old Testament included oaths, and signs. (Sound familiar) The term covenant is also used to designate the regular succession of day and night (Jeremiah 33:20) the Sabbath (Exodus 31:16) circumcision (Genesis 17:9-10) and in general any ordinance of God (Jeremiah 34:13-14)

Hence covenant is synonymously referred to in scripture as God's "counsel," "oath," "promise" (Psalm 89:3-4; 105:8-11; Hebrews 6:13-20; Luke 1:68-75).

God's Covenantal Promise

When God is involved in making covenants with Man it is always about God's covenantal promise to bestow a blessing (Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah 31:33-34).

In Numbers 18:19; Leveticus 2:13; and 2nd Chronicles 13:5 we will read about a "covenant of salt" which indicates an everlasting covenant where salt is used to convey perpetuity.

Under Adam, there was established a COVENANT OF WORKS wherein Adam was placed in the world. In this covenant, the contracting parties were (first) God, the moral Governor and creator, and (second) Adam, a free moral agent, and representative of all his natural posterity (according to Romans 5:12-19). There was a promise "life" given (Galatians 3:12) and there was a condition of perfect obedience to the law God gave them with the opportunity for choice in the forbidden fruit of the "tree of knowledge," If in this covenant, the free moral agent Adam chose to disobey the covenant, the penalty was death (Genesis 2:16-17).

The Covenant of Obedience and Faith

The promises of this covenant were based on Adam choosing obedience to the covenant – life if obedient, death if not – and the "tree of life" was the outward sign and seal of that life which was promised through obedience.

In the end, what the covenant of Obedience was really about was faith – would Adam choose to believe God and therefore be obedient, having continued access to the tree of life, or would he act in non-faith and freely disobey and reap the promised death to come, being forever removed from the tree of life?

This covenant in the garden was abrogated (or done away with) under the gospel of Jesus Christ as as He fulfilled all its conditions in behalf of his people, and now offers salvation on . . . ??? that’s right, “on the condition of faith.”

This covenant is still in force, even in the age of complete fulfillment as all of us, through Christ, have had the onus of disobedience paid for once and for all but remain in a place where we can choose to live by faith in God through Christ, trusting in His promises . . . or not.

God’s justice is meted out on all via reward, meaning the right to partake of the Tree of Life in the Kingdom above in glorified resurrected bodies or to be removed from access as a result of choosing to live by self-will and receiving bodies of lesser glory in our reward.

God is just – make no doubts about this. But the payment for sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. has been made so He is propitiated, His wrath poured out on the House of Israel, and now He justly rewards all according to their freewill choices to living by faith and love, or not.

When we come to the Apostolic Record, we realize that we are beginning to see the COVENANT OF GRACE, as Mallory will sing: For the Law was given through Moses, but Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Covenant of Grace

The conditions of this covenant on the part of God is that everything necessary for His Son to accomplish His work would be established (Hebrews 10:5; Isaiah 42:1-7) then He would support Him in His work (Luke 22:43) and He promised Him a glorious reward for His work when done (Philippians 2:6-11) which included the investiture of all authority and power and the full administration of everything related to the fulfillment of all the

Covenants and Faith

Former contracts, the establishment of the New economy, the reconciliation of the World to the Father, and the Salvivic adoption of any and all who choose faith.

Christ, the mediator, fulfilled all of the covenantal conditions on behalf of his people, and dispensed to them all its blessings until that age was complete, and now the covenant of God to the world returns to the original covenant made in the Garden – choose you this day whom you will serve, self or the Lord – and receive life or death accordingly, as life with God is the only true definition of life and life without God is the only true definition of death.

In the Old Testament all covenants between God and Man were cleansed or purified by the cut body of an animal – (right in two) symbolic of there being two participants – Him and Man. Therefore, as a means for God to enter into an agreement with fallen Man, the shed blood of an animal “cut in two” was used to purify the human party. So, covenants, from what I can tell, almost always include the concept of a sacrifice.

Covenant and Sacrifice

Obviously, when Jesus was offered up and His flesh was torn for the sins of the world, that perfect blood purified the world and brought all who receive the offering by faith into relationship with Him. Interestingly, in the ancient world, most nations, when they formed alliances, made their covenants or contracts in the same way.

We must remember that a covenant between God and Man is always the disposition of good things faithfully declared, which God here calls his, as arising from his grace towards Noah (Ge 6:8) but there is always an implicated condition on the part of Man.

The covenant made with Noah signified, on God's part, that he would save Noah and his family from death by flood in the ark. Noah's part was that he would by faith and obedience make and enter into the ark, as the writer of Hebrews says in 11:7

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

And so we repeatedly see the pattern established with Covenants between God and Man. God promises, human beings choose to act – or not – in faith. And the results from both sides are seen.

Peter's Perspective

Interestingly, Peter wrote in 1st Peter 3:18-22

1st Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

What Peter was saying to them is that Jesus part was done and to show that they accepted and received it IN THAT DAY, the like figure (water – pictured in the flood) does now save us BY THE RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ (but listen to what he adds to this statement in his PARENTHICAL CLARIFICATION)

(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,)

In other words, Peter points out that believers were saved by faith on the resurrection evidenced by water baptism, which was “the answer of a good conscience before God.”

So long story short, God provided a Savior, and the means of salvation – that was GOD'S part: and our part is to accept this Savior and His life death and resurrection by faith and then, if we are sons and daughters, to follow Him.

Conclusion

In the story of Noah, we are presented with a story that will repeat throughout the Biblical narrative – Have faith in God and He will come through on His promises, choose your own path and the result (in those days) was perishing.

The Principle of Salvation and Judgment

We see this with Adam, we see it with people in the days of Noah, in Sodom and Gomorrah, in the Nation of Israel and Babylonian and Assyrian captivity, in the age of the apostolic record pointing to the Great and Dreadful day of the Lord. All of it had to do with material perishing, physically dying, by water, sword, or fire. The principle remains on earth today – believe and receive His Son by faith and He will fulfill all of His promises.

But because the last enemy (death) was overcome (according to 1st Corinthians 15) and God having reconciled the world to Himself in that day, the conditions placed upon belief now are to perish in another way – to be saved to His Kingdom and thrive or not, and dwell outside of it and all of what it consists. Sorry for that lengthy sojourn, so let’s pick it back up at verse 19 where God continues and says:

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Why God didn’t destroy all the animal creation and just pop more out is unknown but whatever His reasons are always right. I tend to think that the animals that were willing to hear His voice rather than follow their own carnal path were saved while the rest were destroyed with aberrant Man (but this too is a conjecture. And he repeats at verse 20-22.

Noah as a Preacher of Righteousness

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Last week I openly asked about what Noah did while preparing the ark and about him preaching. I forgot that we read in 2nd Peter 2:5 that God:

. . . spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

From this line it is believed that Noah, as a preacher of Righteousness, did preach before the flood. Obviously, the people in Noah's time are represented as sentenced, given a chance to change (120 years) but then being the recipients of God's justice due to their freewill choices.

The Narrow Path

Interestingly, and I suggest that this is supremely revealing, only eight souls were saved. In Sodom and Gomorrah, it appears to be less than 10, and the church bride of Jesus day appears to have been vetted down to a very small group comparatively speaking. Remember the principle that Jesus plainly and repeatedly taught, saying:

“Strait is the gate and narrow the way and few be there that find it.”

I am seriously of the opinion that when it comes to entering the Kingdom above, the way is narrow and broad are the paths outside of it.

We will talk about the animals more next week. Okay, comments, questions? Prayer.