The Great Flood
NL1.1 for Sunday, September 11th, 2022
Ok, here we go on the first reading of the Narrative Lectionary- Year 1. And what a place to start.
The Text
Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17
Last Time on ‘The Story’
Well, there is not exactly a ‘last time’ since this is the first reading for this year, but it is certainly not the beginning of the story. Luckily, both you and your folks are likely to know much of the story before. The story of Genesis 1-11 is sort of a pre-history. It is highly based on the foundational narratives of the Babylonian people (Think, Epic of Gilgamesh) as well as others (Egyptian, Canaanite, etc.), but in so doing also forms a critique of them.
Genesis 1 and 2 tell two separate creation stories which cast God/the LORD as a bringer of order, and a shaper of chaos (as opposed to a defeater of chaos), who creates all of humanity in the image of God (as opposed to the king alone being the image bearer). God creates humanity to be in right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. The sign for this right relationship is the beautiful garden of Eden, where God walks with humanity, where they are naked and unashamed, and where they commune with all of creation. However, that relationship is broken when the humans seek to define good on their own, instead of trusting in God’s rule (Genesis chapter 3). As a result, the relationship with God is broken, and they are sent outside of the garden. This sets the stage for the rest of Genesis and all of Scripture, we are forever seeking to be back in that garden place.
Outside the garden, things are not good. In Genesis chapter 4, Cain murders his brother Able, which displays very clearly that the relationship between humans has also been broken. This murder is duplicated by one of Cain’s descendants, Lamech, who seems to boast in his accomplishment of killing a young man who injured him. This downward spiral of violence continues, culminating in a very strange story in Genesis 6:1-4 where the ‘Sons of God’ see the ‘daughters of Men’ and have sex with them. This could mean anything from literal angelic beings/demigods to a very colorful telling of a very basic story. Either way, the earth is so full of violence that God chooses to intervene.
The Story for this Week
God has a very unflattering assessment of humanity, that “every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually” Yikes! And yet, we can’t argue too hard against the idea. I don’t know about you, but my first thought is not usually the most loving, Christlike option. This forms the basis of the story that is to come. We should also say this this assessment forms the basis of much of Western Christianity, which sees humanity as deeply broken. This is something that I am still working on, but suffice it to say that there are those who are pushing back on this ‘original sin’ take on humanity, and calling us to the ‘original blessing’ of participating in the great Story of God. Either way, being deeply broken, or unwilling to participate in God’s Good Work, there is something off about humanity. We are capable of such darkness, even as we are drawn to the light.
Because of this violence (and possible god-human half-breeds) God’s plan is to flood the whole earth, to wipe out all of humanity (with some notable exceptions). It is at this point when we must stop and assess how we hear this in a modern context, as well as how it would be heard in the ancient context. I am going to be honest, God who ‘does a genocide’ is a tough look. A supposedly loving God who would murder millions (billions?) of innocent people because they weren’t doing what they were supposed to do is hard to swallow.
Perhaps it would be helpful to stop and think about the ancient context at this point. To them, the Great Flood was not a fun story to put up on a nursery wall (because who doesn’t like animals, rainbows, and the destruction of humanity?) but a well established fact. The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest written stories we have from the 2nd millennia BCE, tells the story of a worldwide flood which would have been ancient for its readers. We have archeological evidence of 250+ ancient cultures which have a story about an ancient flood. For them, there was no question of IF a flood happened, it definitely did, the argument could have been WHY. Many of these great flood stories tell the tale of arguing gods, or a contest between gods. The flood in these stories does not center the human beings who die as a result of it, they talk about the gods and their affairs.
The Hebrew telling, however, does not explain this disaster as the result of capricious divine action, but as a deliberate one. This flood is a direct result of the violence and destruction brought on by human hands. This is not a careless act rooted in divine ego, but an intentional act rooted in God’s justice. Perhaps at this point, we might point out the possibility of connection to our modern context. In this story, creation itself rises up as a result of the sin of humanity. The imagery is very much of the violence, greed, and callousness of humanity being washed away by the flood. Whether we want to admit it or not, the slow but steady rise in temperature, the increase of destructive weather (we have had two ‘hundred year hurricanes’ in 20 years in New Orleans), etc are a direct result of humanity’s greed, violence, and apathy towards God’s creation. Creation itself is crying out as the result of our sinful actions. Is it really that different?
However, not all of humanity is in need of destruction. One man, Noah, is righteous (in right relationship with God, others, and creation). God instructs him to build an Ark, a huge boat. There is clear illusion here to Eden. This is a three leveled place made of wood (in Hebrew, the word for ‘wood’ and ‘tree’ are the same), surrounded by all of the animals of creation, and packed with an overabundance of food. Genesis is no only picking up imagery from Eden, but also the idea of a chosen few which will be picked up next week. Creation is also a part of the ongoing story, a raven and doves (also featured in the Gilgamesh narrative) provide assistance.
In the end, Noah and his family are saved, and God makes a covenant with them and all of lifekind (Covenant is another important theme for Genesis, Scripture in general, and this year of the Narrative Lectionary). You might also notice that God’s assessment of humanity does not change very much from the beginning of the story to the end. In Genesis 8:21 (skipped over in this pericope) God makes the proclamation that “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth.” Humanity does not change, but in this story, God’s assessment of them does. It is almost as if God has realized that humanity is not going to become suddenly better, but they are still worth working on and with. Violence may be our inclination, but trough Grace, we are given the time to learn and grow.
Pop Culture References
Lots of options for pop-culture references, the obvious (but bad one) is Noah. Of the ones of things that this movie got correct (a least compared to the Genesis account), none are particularly helpful. However, it may be a touch point that people know.
Beyond that, there are any number of disaster movies and stories. The best, of course, is ‘Deep Impact’ (though my wife would argue that ‘Armageddon’ is better, or at least has more Ben Affleck in it). ‘Don’t Look Up’ is a spectacular look at natural disaster and the way that humanity deals with impending doom, definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it (content warning though, may not be suitable for all viewers).
Links
Sermons: My Sermon from 2018; ‘The Great Flood’ My Sermon from 2022 (I did a series of Genesis 1-11 over the summer)
Videos: Genesis 1-11 Overview from the Bible Project; The Book of Genesis Part 1 from Bible Project; Gilgamesh and the Flood from the Histocrat;
Podcasts: ‘Noah’ from the Bible Binge Podcast; ‘God’s Spirit in the Flood Narrative’ from the Bible Project Podcast; Bible Worm Podcast; Working Preacher;
Commentary: Working Preacher;
Presbyterian Hymn Suggestions
“O Master, Let me Walk with Thee” Glory To God 738
“God of the Sparrow” GTG 22
“O Love that Will Not Let Me Go” GTG 833
Prayer of the Day
God of garden and flood. You call us to faithfulness, but we too often choose violence. Our own actions come back to bite us, and we hurt those around us by our callousness and apathy. Draw us into your presence, to your garden place of abundance. Let us rest in your grace and learn from our mistakes. Amen.