Over the next three lessons we are going to look at Noah and why he is so important to the life of faith:
• The rainbow part 1; its importance in the covenantal scheme of things
• The Rainbow part 2; an exegetical review of the promise of God to Noah
• Noah in the New Testament; Looking at the reflections of the New Testament on the Old Testament
• Bonus Material: John Calvin on Hebrews 11. 7
As Christianity has become diluted in the Western world there has been a free bonanza of taking religious symbols, twisting them to mean something new for various reasons:
• Making Money (examples such as Lady Gaga and Madonna)
• Political gain of certain groups
• Attempts to rebrand religious symbols for certain projects.
The rainbow, the bow of God is not any different to this. Perhaps in this set of blogs I am trying to show that the rainbow in certain traditions runs very deep. Although I am writing from my own faith vantage point, it is important to note that within all of the Abrahamic traditions the rainbow is very important. Every culture in the world in which the sun has shone and rained will have had a sense of awe in this beautiful multicoloured bow striking through the heavens. I saw the following verse from Keats the Philosopher which spars between science and Art:
“Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Unweave a rainbow” (Taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_in_culture)
Dawkins got the wrong end of the stick I think taken from wiki:
“In contrast to this is Richard Dawkins; talking about his 1998 book Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder, wrote:
My title is from Keats, who believed that Newton had destroyed all the poetry of the rainbow by reducing it to the prismatic colours. Keats could hardly have been more wrong, and my aim is to guide all who are tempted by a similar view, towards the opposite conclusion. Science is, or ought to be, the inspiration for great poetry.” (from ibid)
How the world moves!
No Keats was not wrong… The world that God created is filled with more than scientific facts. ‘1+1=2’ is one type of fact but so is the phrase ‘I love you’. Humanity is more than hard logic. Humanity in the image of God carries with it science, ethics and aesthetics. This is why the rainbow is so beautiful. Within human culture God has ordained that it is a reminder of:
• the rational (Truth)there is cause and affect; Laws (In this case the flood)
• Ethics ((Goodness)We should treat others, with dignity and respect (The pre-diluvian world failed with basic human morality))
• Aesthetics ((Beauty)The rainbow and many other things of beauty are in the creation (God’s hunting bow was multicoloured just like Josephs special tunic and it is an object of beauty))
The Romantic movement Keats included is a correction and reminder to us that the world is more than just hard scientific facts.
What we will look at
In the first section we will consider the rainbow in terms of God’s covenant with Humanity that in this particular way he would not flood the earth again. The rainbow as a symbol from God therefore reminds us of God’s Justice, mercy, and love. The rainbow only appeared after the wrath of God and hence the Noahic sign was God setting his military bow down. This represented the end of his vengeance.
In the second section we will look at the text of Genesis and the promise. This is important because we need to understand what God is trying to say to us through his word. When we look at this section we need to remember that God reversed some of the creation back to chaos. The world went back to being under water again in which there was no land. God was at war with humanity and metaphorically and literally firing his arrows that hit the mark and destruction except one family; Noah’s family. In some sense Noah could be seen as God’s second creation story as the world was born again with a new promise.
In the third section we will look at verses in the New Testament and how the New Testament understands the story. You might want to fast forward but these are the verses I will contemplate:
Matthew 24:37-38, Luke 3:36, 17:26-27, Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, and 2 Peter 2:5
This section is important as we wait for the Second Coming of Christ. We need to be ready for this great and glorious day. The warning however is that most people don’t care much for the Judgement of God on humanity and then in an instant thing will happen and for those who have rejected God it will be a terrible day of God’s vengeance. Noah and the flood are a call for Christ’s Church to be ready for his coming.
When I pondered on these things, I felt that God has built into the very fabric of creation and into the human race moral rules and duties. At this level I look at scripture at the most basic level even before looking at the work of Christ. God at his most basic is Moral and we ought to love and care for our neighbour whoever that person might be. This happens at very many levels:
- The immediate family members
- Caring for our pets
- Our immediate neighbours
- Our community
- Our local leaders and decision makers
- Our larger area (State (US; Borough UK; regions; Finland)
- Our Parliament (White House (USA); Parliament (UK); Uduskunta (Finland))
- The International bodies such as the United Nations
At all these levels the most basic question is how do we treat the most vulnerable in our society? Vigilance should always be used for the widow, orphan outsider et al. It is interesting that just recently in Yle Finland was found to be somehow the third most racist country in Europe. This includes structural racism in the Finnish State that stops foreigners from getting into the higher paid jobs.
Example sites to look at:
- amnesty.fi/finland-must-dismantle-structural-racism-now/
- yle.fi/a/3-10531670
(To reach these sites HTTPs is needed at the front of the address)
The bottom line at what ever level; How do we treat our human fellow beings? I think Noah is a wakeup call for everyone not just those who have a monotheistic background such as Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
Whether or not your world view is that of cause and effect (Hinduism, Buddhism et al) or Monotheistic such as God bringing judgement (also cause and effect). The bottom line is that we ought to love our fellow human being like us this includes in practical ways such as basic necessities:
- Food
- Clothing
- Roof
- Warmth
- Friendship
- Hope
I hope that you will enjoy this series on Noah which will come out every Friday.
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