The Movie Time Trap and Noah Have a lot in Common

If you haven't seen the movie Timetrap, this post contains lots of spoilers.

During Sabbath school, people in my Sabbath school class were discussing what it must have been like for Noah and his family when they stepped off the ark. Listening to the discussion, I started to think of a movie I watched a while back called Time Trap. It's about a professor who goes missing while investigating a series of caves and the grad students who go searching for him. Almost immediately after entering the gave, things take a bad turn and they end up trapped below ground. At one point, they send a scout to the surface via scaling the wall (since they've lost their equipment and not everyone has the ability to climb out). When she reaches the surface it's a waste land, there's no cell reception, and a weird triangular thing is in the sky. It is from this experience that they discover time moves differently in the gave than it does on the surface. It turns out the deeper in the cave they go, the slower time moves for them or the faster time is moving on the surface. There's a lot of plot on why the professor was interested in the caves and what they find down there, but what makes me relate it to Noah is the scene I just mentioned, and the final moments of the movie. In the end, they are rescued humans of the future—humans who live in outerspace (on the weird trangluar thing in the sky 😂). They are given a chance to live in the new civilization where they have healing waters that bring people back to life and cure ailments.

When Noah got on the ark, mankind was thriving in the worldly sense of the word. The Bible says people were eating and drinking and marrying right up to the day of the flood (Matthew 24:38). I imagine one day people were moving about, buying and selling in the markets, throwing feasts, dancing and singing, and then suddenly there was silence and emptiness. I imagine something akin to surviving a tornado—one minute you're running to your basement to seek shelter and when you emerge, your whole neighborhood is gone. Now that we've experienced COVID, imagine the days of early March 2020, and then suddenly the entire world was shut down.

When the students in Time Trap send someone to the surface, they believe they've been in the cave for an hour or so. In their minds, all the person has to do is call for help so someone can come rescue them. However, when the person reaches the surface, gone are the cell phone towers that would have allowed that communication. The terrain is nothing like it was only "an hour" before when they entered the cave. Imagine going into your house, then walking back outside moments later to discover all your neighbors' houses are gone. Forest and weeds have overtaken everything and wild creatures are roaming your neighborhood freely. Or worse (like the movie), everything is a barren wasteland; there are no homes, no trees, no animals, just dust and dirt. I imagine that's how the first days of the flood were for Noah. Everything and everyone (other than his immediate family) was gone, buried under water. Sure God gave him the plans for the ark, and he had been planning for the flood, but in the midst of the flood I wonder if Noah started to fret about what to do after the flood.

Time Trap ends with the people in the gave being rescued and taken aboard a space ship. In truth, the space ship seems a metaphor for Heaven. Part of the mystery of the cave is water that heals (a Fountain of Youth, if you will) and this water is aboard the ship. Injured members of the group are healed and members of the group who were killed are brought back to life. They are the last of their kind as the humans who save them have evolved into a different subspecies of humanoid.[1] Similarly, when the ark comes to rest, Noah and his family are the last of their kind in a very foreign world. Granted, the flood would have damaged much of the vegetaion of the earth so it would not have been Heaven-like, but it was a new start. In theory it had the potential to turn in to a paradise. Noah and his family have been survived the storm and now they have the opportunity to live out the rest of their lives.

Subsequently, Noah get's drunk—did he bring wine with him on the boat in anticipation because you know, it takes a little minute for things to ferment... As we discussed inth the Sabbath school class, Noah was likely overwhelmed by what happened. Though the movie ends on a positive note, you have to wonder how the students felt when they processed that they would never see their friends and family again.

Although both the students of the movie and Noah have much more permanent experiences, living through COVID has brought so much more clarity to what it must have felt like for Noah. Such a sudden shift can be traumatic. What do you think it was like for Noah and his family when they stepped off the ark?

References and Footnotes

1. This is not an endorsment of macro evolution, just a statement of what is portrayed in the movie

The Great Flood

Practically every culture around the world has a story about a worldwide flood. This definitely seems like a common knowledge event.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Genesis 7:1 CSB

All around the world, people know there was a flood. Practically every culture has a story about it. In some ways they're very different and in some ways, they're very similar.

Abrahamic Faiths

The Abrahamic religions share the story of Noah and the Ark

Sumerian

• the epic of Gilgamesh (most often brought up)
• recorded on 12 stone tablets
• Gilgamesh reigned for 126 years; was afraid of death and searched for immortality
• Utnapishtim was an immortal man met by Gilgamesh; his story is similar to Noah
• Utnapishtim was given immortality after building a ship called “preserver of Life” and surviving the great flood. He brought his relatives and all the species aboard the ship
  • Note, someone like Noah would seem immortal to people who lived after him and had significantly shorter lifespans!

Aztec

• Titlacauan (an Aztec god) warns a man and his wife of a flood
• They are sealed inside a cypress tree
• In this story the people aren’t killed in the flood, they’re turned into fish!
• The man and woman disobey Titlacauan (who told them only to eat one ear of maize) and eat fish
  • This is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden where God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
  • They are punished for disobedience; Titlacauan turns them into dogs
• Then the world starts over (somehow)

Greeks

• Zeus is the angry god
• Zeus has Deucalion (the son of Prometheus) construct an ark for him an his wife
• The flood is 9 days long and the world is destroyed (the Biblical flood lasts about a year)
• The ark rests on Mount Parnassus
• After the waters recede, Deucalion offer sacrifice to Zeus
• Zeus tells them to throw stones over their shoulders to repopulate the earth; those thrown by Deucalion become men and those thrown behind his wife became women

Hindu

• a fish (perhaps a deity) tells a man the world is to be destroyed in a great flood
• He builds a boat and ties it to the horn of the fish
• This boat is guided to a mountain
• He performs a sacrifice
• A woman rises from the sea and that who he repopulates the earth with

China

• a farmer captures and imprisons a thunder god
• the farmer's his children release the thunder god
• so the thunder god warned them there would be a flood
• they hid in a gourd he gave him that would keep them safe
• the brother and sister are the only survivors
• multiple endings exists (mostly to get around incest)—one says the repopulated the human race by creating them from clay
  • Remember God created humans from the dust of the earth, othen referred to as clay

Norse

• Earth flooded with blood, not water, when Odin and his brothers killed a giant
  • Giants are first mentioned in the Bible at the time of Noah's flood
  • Revelation 14:20 talks about blood running so deep it reaches the horses' bridles
• a couple made an ark and were saved

Aboriginal

• a frog drank all the water causing a drought
• the other animals tried making him laugh
• when he laughed the water came out and flooded the land
• his laughter sounds like thunder (thunder seems to be a running theme)

Buddhist

• Samudda-vāṇija Jātaka
• 1000 Dishonest carpenters, they upset the village by taking money without delivering
  • Interesting that they are carpenters (Messiah is also a carpenter)
• they built a ship to leave and arrive on an island haunted by spirits
• the spirits give them on rule: bury their human waste to keep the island clean
• They ignored the rules, so the spirits decide to flood the island
• one spirit becomes a ball of light in the sky and warns them they should flee
• another spirit told them the first spirit was joking
• there was a wise ruler and a foolish ruler over the carpenters
• the wise ruler told his people to build a ship; the wise man and his people set sail, while the foolish man and his people died

First Nations

Waynaboozhoo survived a flood caused by the great spirit via a raft

He floated for a month

he sends animals into the water to get mud from the old world to rebuild

3 different animals attempt to get the mud (reminds of the 3 with the dove to find land in the Biblical account)

the mud grew on a turtles back until it was the size of the whole earth

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: Luke 17:26 CSB

References

1. Lennlee Keep. "A Flood of Myths and Stories". PBS. February 14, 2020
2. "World Flood Myths". Ark Encounter; visited June 2021

Would You Rather: 377 Days in the Ark or 430 Days on Your Side

Would you rather is a fun game to play, particularly when getting to know someone. A person is asked to choose betwen two things of equal desiring—making it hard to decide and opening dialouge as to why the person chooses the option they choose. Recently I stumbled accross several versions of "Would You Rather?: Bible Edition" and found the questions quite intriguing. I've decided to answer one every Sabbath. Let me know your answer to today's "Would You Rather?" in the comment section.

Would you rather be couped in the ark for 377 days with the animals or lay on your side for 430 days?

Answer: Be couped in the ark for 377 days

Backstory

Noah & the Ark

If you follow the timeline outlined in Genesis 7-8, you can calculate the number of days Noah was on the ark. The flood began on the seventeenth day of the second month when Noah was 600 years old. However, Noah entered the ark seven days before it started to flood. So the beginning of his tenure in the flood was on the tenth day of the second month. Later we see that it is on the twenty-seventh day of the second month the next year that the Earth is dry and Noah is able to exit the earth. From the tenth of the second month to the tenth of the second month the next year is exactly one year (365 days by our calendar, but 360 days by the Israelite's lunar calendar). We can then add the time from the tenth day of the second month to the twenty-seventh day (17 days) to get a total of 377 days by the Israelite calendar. This is the duration of time that Noah remained inside the ark taking care of the animals.[1]

Ezekiel on His Side

In Ezekiel 4, God tells the prophet Ezekiel to take on the sins of Israel by lying on his side. First he was to lie on his left side for 390 days, representing the North Kingdom. Then, he was to lie on his right side for 40 days representing Judah. This adds to 430 days total that Ezekiel was meant to lay on his side.[2]

Rationale

This would you rather was pretty easy for me to deicde, but there are pros and cons of each once you stop to think about it.

I love animals, and beccause God didn't put fear of man into animals until after the flood, I'm convinced Noah could communicate with the animals he saved. Thus, for me the idea of being with these animals for a little over a year is kind of exciting. As a farm girl, I have experience with taking care of animals and its a very peaceful life—I imagine this is very close to God's original plan for man in the garden. We also know that Noah wasn't alone on this journey, he had his wife, his three sons, and his three daughters-in-law.

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. Genesis 6:13 KJV

The down side of choosing this option is that you also would see the death and destruction of the flood. I imagine people rushed toward the ship when they realized Noah had been right all along. Noah and his family probably lost friends during the construction phase of the ark, but there were probably people they tried to save up until the last moment. If you think about it from a spiritual aspect, we all have friends or family that don't believe. They love us and we love them, despite our differences of belief. If the Lord came back right now, those people would be lost. In Noah's time they probably didn't have this phrase but "survivor's guilt" may have been a major factor in his post-flood life (it also explains why he got drunk).

The upside of Ezekiel's situation is that there wasn't much work involved—the laziness in me appreciates that. However, that's really the only benefit I can see...

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:4 KJV

It's selfish, but I wouldn't want to take upon myself "the inquity of the house of Israel." It would be quite boring and tedious to lie on one side for such a duration. Also, there is no mention of a partner, so it's likely Ezekiel did this completely alone, almsot like an exile. During this time, God gave him specific requirements about what and how much he could eat. Nothing about this experience sounds plesant.

Of course it's the sacrifices like these that are the most important. Given the choice, many of us would not have suffered for mankind the way Christ did either. It takes a deeper level of compasion and love to take on the burdens of even one other person and sacrifice your own freedom. Just last night I was discussing "over-population" and the fact that there are people starving. Someone said we don't have enough resources to feed everyone, but the truth is, those of us in wealthy countries are hoarding food. Dirty Money on Netflix has an episode about the avocado business. These avocadoes are coming from places where the population is poor and in one place, the avocado trees are given priority when it comes to water. So, in order for all many of the people who promote vegan and healthy lifestyles to consume the number of avocadoes they consume, those people have to suffer. It is difficult for us to willingly restrict ourselves to a more bland but accessible diet. In this way, I admire Ezekiel because he did something I'm not ready to do yet: sacrifice himself for the good of the people.

Which would you rather do?

References and Footnotes

1. Genesis 7-8
2. Ezekiel 4
3. I found many versions of "Whould You Rather?: Scripture Edition"; this question was found in a version made by Megan Briggs of Church Leaders

Speak Life feat. Sam

This episode is about the importance of how we talk about people (and ourselves. When I was in graduate school, I was appalled to see caregivers constantly tell small children how "bad" they were—especially when the kids were not doing anything outside of normal child behavior. In the Bible, patriarchs of families took the time to speak prophecies of greatness (or disaster) over their children and each of these prophecies came true. These parents understood the power of the tongue and wielded it to lift up the children they saw potential in and tear down those they saw on a path of destruction. I see a lot of the latter in our society today, but not as much as the first. Sam and I discussed the general apathy people have for what they're saying and have come to the conclusion that we should be much more precise in how we speak about others.

No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 CSB

Examples of Patriarchs speaking blessings and curses over their children:

• Noah curses Canaan, blesses Shem (Genesis 9:24-27)
• Isaac blesses Jacob, lowkey curses Esau (Genesis 27)
• Jacob blesses/curses his sons (Genesis 49)

People often express their disdain for a person's decisions by condemning the child and set low expectations/standards from the onset due to their experience with the parent.

²⁰From the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;
he is filled with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:20-21 CSB

Have you ever seen parents speak blessings on their children the way the patriarchs did?

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Ephesians 4:29 NKJV

The Power of the Tongue

• Ephesians 4:29
• James 1:19-26-8
• James 3:5-12
• Matthew 12:24
• Matthew 15:11
• 1 Peter 3:10
• Proverbs 10:19
• Proverbs 15:4
• Proverbs 15:8
• Proverbs 17:9
• Proverbs 17:27-28
• Proverbs 12:6-7
• Proverbs 12:13-14
• Proverbs 12:18-19
• Proverbs 15:1-2
• Proverbs 18:6
• Proverbs 18:20-21
• Proverbs 21:23
• Psalm 34:13
• Psalm 52:2-9
• Titus 3:1-2

I used to say I felt bad and then I actually felt bad. There is actually evidence that you can make yourself sick that![1]

The verses Sam mentions about "speaking life" and "dry bones" are in Ezekiel 37

Nehemiah & Clearing Debt

In the episode we veered off topic a bit to talk about unity and the tendency for opposition to come from the inside. I mentioned the podcast I did on Nehemiah and how he dealt with a situation where the rich Israelites were taking advantage of and abusing the poor Israelites. That episode is linked below;[3] the verse I mentioned in reference to debt being cleared after 7 years is found in Deuteronomy 15:1.

The Law of Attraction is Not Christian

It's really hard to wrap our around this concept with veering to "the Law of Attraction" and saying things like "speak it into existence" and "name it and claim it." The danger of most New Age teachings is that they get somethings, maybe even most things right—but a little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:9)! The missing piece is God. There is power in The Word, not my word. I can only speak something into existence if I have surrendered my voice to God and it is actually the Holy Spirit speaking. We must keep this in perspective.[2]

¹³By rebellious speech an evil person is trapped,
but a righteous person escapes from trouble.

¹⁴A person will be satisfied with good
by the fruit of his mouth,
and the work of a person’s hands will reward him.
Proverbs 12:13-14 CSB

Pineapple Fried Rice -- Not Burned!

Update on the Rice Situation

I started cooking rice right before I started recording the podcast with Sam and totally forgot! For those who are curious, once I went back and cooked rice while I wasn't distracted, this is how it turned out.

References

1. Melissa Malamut. "Can You Think Yourself Sick?". Boston Magazine. April 4, 2013
2. Philia Ministries -T he King is Coming. Christians & The Law of Attraction Deception". YouTube. February 20, 2017
3. Ree Hughes. Most Likely To Be a Revolutionary". PSALMS to God. February 18, 2019
4. Malala. Malala Fund; visited March 3, 2020

The Pioneer

Pioneers blaze the trail and work through hardships to do something no one else has done before. God called us to be a peculiar people, which means we are called to travel a road that isn't widely traveled, and often we may need to pioneer our own way. It's scary, but there is definitely someone in the Bible to learn this trick from.

Season 1 Episode 5

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.Marianne Williamson[1]

00:01:39	Hey guys welcome back the PSALMS to God podcast. So today's superlative is "The Pioneer." I really, really wanted to go with "Most Likely to March to Their Own Drum Beat," but that was way too long for the template that I use when I promote the podcast and I didn't want to rework the template, so I was like I need something that says the same thing in less words. That's how I got to "The Pioneer," but as always, when God works things out, He work things out for the better, because "The Pioneer" actually embodies more than just marching to your own drum beat. And I thought it's actually more fitting, because it goes into so much more and to the responsibility that we have to march to our own drum beats.
00:02:29	So a pioneer is someone who is not afraid to try something new; they don't let fear get in the way, and they are able to do something that other people haven't done before. Whether it's something like—whether it's a thought or an activity or technology, or living in a different location, or of living in a different manner. All of these things are pioneered. But what's more is because they've done this, because they braved whatever societal stigmas, whatever hardships they had to go through, other people can follow in their footsteps, and that is a crucial point I think was missing from the original superlative that I wanted to do. And I think it's important because as Christians, a lot of times God calls us to do XYZ and XYZ is counter-culture, because we live in a society that is not following God. So when we are faced with doing something for God, a lot of times it is overwhelming or it's fearful—we are fearful of doing it because we don't want to stand out. We just want to blend in, bide out time and get through it and get out. And so being able to look at a Biblical example of somebody who has been able to withstand this type of pressure and be put through the wringer by society, is something that I think we can all benefit from.
00:04:03	Me, personally, I've always been a bit of a weirdo. I've never been what people would call "normal." I'm a little socially awkward. I'm a computer scientist, you should know that I'm socially awkward.[2] It started when I was really little. I remember being Elementary School—I'm pretty sure this entire situation came about because I was being lazy, but I'm not 100%, because I don't really remember—but at some point in my elementary school years I decided that it would be cool to wear mix match socks. So, at any given day, at any given time, it was not surprising if I just had on two totally different socks. Now granted, I usually match the socks. So you know, I might have one like a sock that's green and white striped with a sock that's solid green or green polka dot—they'd be the same shades of green, it's just there's different designs on the side because it's not the same sock. Like I said, the laziness part: I think what would happen is that my mom would tell me to mate my socks and instead of mating the socks, I would just put them in the drawer. So then you know where my mom would get me up and I would have to go to school, instead of trying to match socks in the drawer, I would just pick two socks that have the same colors in them and put them on my feet.
00:05:29	Rosie Kerr Naturally, when I showed up the school like this, people had questions. My teachers had questions. My friends had questions. They were like "what are you doing Shiree, those socks don't match?" Luckily for me, when you're like eight, people don't expect you to be a fashion genius. So it really didn't stir up too much drama; like I didn't get like hammered or picked at intensively, but one of the things I realized as I got older is that I could have let all of those questions deter me, but I didn't. For some reason, I just kept doing it, and eventually it became a thing. Not only did it become my thing, but some of my friends did it too, and so it became almost cool to wear socks that did not match. And I did this all throughout high school, and no one ever picked at me. I'm guilty of doing this in college, in grad school... Look if I have on your boots or something at work, I may have done it at work as well—though now I do try to make my socks match most of the time.
00:06:40	But I definitely didn't get as much pushback on it as I thought I would have. However, I did witness one of my friends picking at someone else who had done the same thing. And I had to stand up and say "yo I'm wearing mismatched socks too!" Like, why are you picking at this person but not picking at me? In that day I learned that the moment that we become comfortable with ourselves and we don't care what they think, they don't have anything to say to us. It's only when we are afraid and when we're nervous about what it is that we're doing that people feel like they have the right to push back on what we're doing. Now of course, socks...I mean at the end of the day they're socks. Nothing about what I put on my feet should matter; like this has nothing to do with anything. It's a completely trivial matter and if you got time to pick at me about my socks, you need a life—like I'm just being real. So once I got out of high school, I've never had anybody comment on my socks. I don't think it matters. I would be floored if somebody took the time to comment about the fact that my socks don't match, at 30 years old, because there's just so many other things to worry about. But as Christians, there are things that we are called to do that are more important and that are not as trivial as footwear, that will come up and that we have to stand for.
00:08:16	So, the person that I think is the best example of doing this, and can guide us through this process, is Noah. And once again, you know, God works it out so that whatever it is that He's telling me to talk about or I feel like needs to be talked about, it's always working around in my life around me, because right now it's raining. It's been raining since yesterday and I would love to just get in my bed and go to sleep, but alas I have a lot to do. So, we're going to talk about flooding, and water, and Noah, and it's appropriate because I hear the sound of the rain as I speak.
00:09:00	So Noah's story is given in Genesis 6; it goes all the way through Genesis 9, I believe. And I'm pretty sure most of you are familiar with it so I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty details, but basically, Noah was in a place where there was no major body of water, but God was telling Noah that He was going to flood the Earth. And it was going to be a massive flood, and no one was going to survive but Noah and his family. So He told know what to build this massive ark (or boat) and this boat was going to be so large that it was going to house multiples of all of the animals, because Noah was tasked with saving each species of the animals, as well. And so Noah actually goes through and does this. He listens to God. He takes the specifications. He builds the boat to the specification, rounds up the animals, puts them on the boat, and when the flood comes, he and his family are on the boat and they survive. That's the short version of the story. What they don't tell us is the obvious point that Noah had to have been considered a lunatic in his day.
00:10:12	I mean just imagine you're in say, Oklahoma, and your neighbor decides to build a massive boat. Like what are you going to do with that? Where do you plan to put it? What good is that? You would think they were absolutely crazy, and we know that the people around Noah thought he was crazy because Noah was the only righteous person left. God was purposely sending the flood to destroy the wickedness that was there, so saying "God told me to do this," was probably not a valid answer for these people. They probably laughed Noah to death. Like they, I mean, the jokes they probably would have had. They would have thought he was insane man. And on top of him building this massive boat which would have been an engineering feat among feats—things that they probably never seen before—he also wanted to put all these animals on it! I have been there when we've loaded horses, even cows, and loading them onto a trailer is very difficult. You've basically got to trick them into these enclosed spaces. They don't like going into that. Now granted some of that could be because after the flood God cursed—God put part of a curse on to the animals that they would fear us, with good reason.[3] But I imagine it still would have been difficult to orchestrate getting all of these animals onto the ship. It's not like Noah was going out and getting like a goat, or you know, a cow or something that he just had laying around the backyard. He was getting like lions and cheetahs and giraffes and peacocks. I mean that's crazy! It sounds absolutely crazy if you're not coming from the point of God told me to do this, so God's going to make a way for this to happen.
00:012:15	Noah would have faced immense public scrutiny, because it's not like you could hide this boat either. It's not like something he could just do in his free time. You know, like I wake up and I try to do my devotionals every morning. I try to do devotionals at lunch. These are things that people don't necessarily have to see you do. Nobody knows what I do when I wake up, and sometimes I eat lunch outside, sometimes I eat at my desk, but I could just as easily eat it, you know, in a room where no one's watching me, and do my devotional. That's not something that's necessary a public display, but building a boat that size—you cannot hide that. You got to, you got to put it out there, and then people say "What is this? What are you doing?" What are you going to say? I mean like you're supposed to tell the truth, so you got to say "I'm building a boat because God told me that He's going to flood the world." And you know, people are going to say what they were going to say. And for Noah, obviously we know the end of the story. All those people who laughed at Noah died, and Noah lived. So we want to be on Noah's side. We want to be the people that listen to God, and did what sounded absolutely crazy even though people were picking it us and carry fourth that, you know, that that that mission.
00:013:39	And I think that when we look at what happened with Noah, it's kind of hard to bring that into society today, because we know that there's not going to be another flood—God's not going to ask us to build a massive ship, that's not going to happen—and so it's easy to think of it as just like really grand and almost more symbolic, because we think like He's not going to ask me to do anything that crazy. But every day we are tasked with doing things that sound crazy in our society.
00:014:15	One of the things that came to my mind as I was preparing for this episode is a conversation I had with a bunch of my friends about waiting till marriage to have sex. And that is definitely not something that's considered normal in our society. While I know more people than most that have waited, I know a lot of people who have not. And it's something that even amongst Christians is not normal which is what makes it even harder. Because you know, you would think like okay society is out here doing XYZ, you know that's fine, but as long as I stay within The Church—as long as I stay within the Body of Christ—people will be doing the same things that I am. They will have the same expectations that I do and so it'll be easier. But that's not actually the case. A lot of people who are within the church or people who profess to believe in God do not necessarily wait until marriage to have sex, and so as I was talking to my friends all of us are in our late twenties or early thirties, and I don't think any of us that down when we made that commitment and thought we would be this old when we got married—most people think they're going to get married in their early twenties. So it's a commitment that you make thinking that it's not really going to take that long. You know it's going to be over. And when you are young, people don't necessarily see it the same way. You know, when you're 16 you're saying "yeah, I'm going to wait until I get married to have sex," that's cute; that's endearing. People think that that's great. They're proud of you. When people meet you in you're 29/30 and you're saying that they're like "Wait, so you serious? Like you haven't? At all? Like that's crazy!" And suddenly it goes from being cute to being crazy.
00:016:11	And we were talking about, you know, not only the burdens that come with waiting and the stigma that comes with waiting, and just navigating the whole situation—navigating dating and all of that—but also the expectations of who you will date. Because sure it's fine for us to make that commitment and and for us to have that expectation for ourselves, but then when you start talking about finding a man that is of the same age that has made the same commitment, it starts to be a little more fuzzy. Obviously, you want somebody who will wait with you, but whether they've been waiting up till that point or not, is a point of contention&mash;or at least it was interested in this topic and this discussion that I was having. And one of the things that, you know, we were point out that it's really hard to find a 30 year old man who has waited.
00:017:13	And it seemed like an impossible task, but as I was studying the story of Noah and I was thinking about, you know, how these things were related and how they parallel, I realized that what we always miss when we talk about Noah is that he wasn't alone. We like to go into the "oh I'm never alone because Jesus is with me," and yes, Jesus is with us. We're never alone, but in a lot of times we're actually not alone physically either. You see Noah was the person that God chose, but he had a family surrounding him. He had his wife, he had his three sons, and he had their wives. And for them to have gotten on the boat, they must have been on some wavelength with him, because from the jump God said that they were all going to be on the boat with him. So God must have seen something in them, as well. In addition, I mean, let's be real—I don't know how y'all's parents are, but my parents do not play the you-don't-do-anything-but-you-get-to-reap-the-rewards card. They don't get down with that. So, if my dad was building a massive ship to save, you know, us from some impending flood, unless I was a toddler, he would expect me to help. Whether is just holding up the board, weather's going into town to get some nails, whether it's you know rounding up the animals, putting hay in there or food or something—I don't know, he was going to instruct me to do something. So I have a feeling that even though the Bible doesn't specify who did what or how, you know and all the credit is given to Noah, I'm pretty sure at some point he told his sons to help out. And society would have come for his sons, too, and his wife. You know, people would have been like "what is your dad doing?" And I'm sure they had to stand up for their dad—or husband in the case of his wife—and they were there with him.
00:019:14	The same thing happens at the end of time. God tells us that they will be a 144,000 sealed people—God's people, standing up for what is right and doing what is right. Now in a planet where there are 9 billion people,[4] 144,000 is not a lot, and if they're scattered across the globe it's really not a lot. Of course each one of those people is going to feel alone because of the distance between them—because they're few and far in between. It's hard to find each other. But the fact is they're not alone, just like me and my friends were having that conversation, we are not the only people that that are struggling with this issue. We're not the only people waiting, and so it stands to reason that if we are being obedient to God, other people are also being obedient to God and somewhere out there are these men that have been obedient to God, that you know eventually God will intersect our paths.
00:020:23	What's important, where the whole aspect of pioneering comes into this conversation, is that in order to blaze that trail, in order to go forth, we have to be brave, obviously. We have to be willing to step out and be different and to not blend in. and this is what the Bible calls shining our light, being a light just like Christ is Thee Light. We're supposed to imitate him and be lights for our corner of the world. So He's calling us to shine a light in the darkness, and when you shine your light I can see you, and I feel more comfortable shining my light. And when the two of us—and then you can see me and now we see each other, and we both feel more comfortable about whatever it is that God has called us to do. And if each light is turning on, we light up the world, because each of us is shining in whatever it is that God has called us to do. And we're able to recognize each other because we're able to see that we're not the only people doing something that's not what society normally expects. And that is the beauty of being in the Body of Christ together. That is how we help each other, that is how we make each other stronger, and that is also how we find the strength to continue to do what God has told us to do, no matter how alienating or how odd it may sound.
00:022:09	so I challenge for you guys is to let your light shine. Don't be afraid of standing out, of being the weirdo, the oddball—having people call you quirky, or you know whatever names they come up with. I know I'm not always up on the lingo, so I'm sure they got some new names in the book. But don't worry about that, because God has called you to be you, and He's called you to do specific things. He calls us a peculiar people, and we are supposed to be a peculiar people.[5] So, don't be afraid to stand out because whatever it is that He has outlined for you, whatever blueprint He is giving you, no matter how crazy it sounds, at the end of that blueprint you're going to live and the people who picked at you are not. OK? And that is a very, very important thing. You want to be able to take that leap of faith and do the crazy thing that God has told you to do, so that you can reap the rewards later—as opposed to believing the devil's lie, and you know ganging up with society and saying that is impossible and losing out on your blessing and losing out on eternal life. That is not what I want for you and that is not what you want for yourself. So, be weird with me and you know wherever you are, know that you have a fellow weirdo out there, because I'm out here being weird myself. So that is all I have for today's episode I'm glad you guys soon and I hope you will continue to tune in, even though I just confessed that I'm a weirdo. And you can find the transcript for this episode at www.psalmstogod.com/thepioneer. Don't forget to subscribe. I will see you next Monday.

Footnotes and References

1. Marianne Williamson. A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles". 1992
2. I'm sorry to all the normal Computer Scientists out there who hate this stereotype and are actively trying to combat it.
3. Genesis 9:2
4. Yeah, so there's only 7.6 billion people on the planet, but you get my point. (source: World Population Meter)
5. Deuteronomy 14:2

The Commandments Before Israel

What came first the law or Moses' hike up Mount Sinai? Many people would have you believe the law only applies to the Israelites and was first instantiated on Mount Sinai. However, there are examples of the law being enforced well before Moses' and the Israelites embarked on the Exodus. Let's look at some of these examples and discus what it means for us today.

Introduction

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Claire Anderson

People point to the law of Moses and the 10 Commandments as "Jewish law". When I explain that I keep the Biblical Sabbath, people continue the conversation by referring to it as the "Jewish Sabbath." We'll skip the distinction between Israelites and Jews, in favor of moving on to a more interesting topic: commandments that appear before Moses climbed Mount Sinai.
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The Proof is in the Pudding

Before I go into specific examples of specific laws, I want to talk about the obvious. In the beginning the only law given to Adam and Eve was not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Once Adam and Eve broke that law, they were expelled from the garden and not only lost access to the Tree of Life, but the Tree of Knowledge too. Since they were barred from entry from the garden, it was impossible for them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge again. Yet, by the time of Noah's generation sin was so rampant, God decided to destroy practically everyone and everything with a flood.

Romans 3:20 tells us that knowledge of sin comes from the law, while Romans 5:13 tells us that sin can't be imputed (or represented) without the law. Basically we are being told in Romans that sin has existed in the world from the moment Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, but we only know we have sinned when there is a law to define sin. We see this more explicitly in 1 John 3:4 where sin is defined as transgression of the law.

That begs the question, how was there sin in Noah's day if there was no law until Moses? We could say that by barring them from entry to the garden specifically to protect the Tree of Life, God was implicitly creating the laws not to enter the garden and not to eat from the Tree of Life. However, we know that these people weren't all sneaking into the Garden of Eden—which was fortified with an Angel carrying a flaming sword—to steal fruit from either trees. God didn't need to create a law about the treasures of the garden because He made it impossible for them to get to it. That would be like our government writing a law that makes it illegal to live on Mars.

The chain of events tells us God must have given the first people some sort of law to live by. This law may not have ever been written down and was likely just passed down from parent to child through upbringing and verbal affirmation (or condemnation). When examining what was considered wrong and sinful pre-Mosaic law, we can see how God's law has not changed.
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Sacrifice and Offerings

³And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁴And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.Genesis 4:3-5 KJV

One of the first glimpses we see of life after the garden is the giving of offerings to God. Cain's anger grew as a result of God's favor toward Abel's offering over his on. Abel not only gives God a firstling of his flock, but the fat of the animal as well.

Doesn't this sound familiar? Leviticus goes into thorough detail about how animals are to be offered to God. In these passages God instructs that the fat is not to be eaten, but given to Him. Now, isn't it telling that Abel was shepherding a flock, sacrificed the offspring of his flock, and reserved the fat for God when he didn't even eat meat? Livestock would have been handy for many of the tasks they had to carry out, so it makes sense that he had a flock. However, why would he think to kill and sacrifice the animal? These sacrifices were a gruesome reminder that it was supposed to be us who died because of sin.

There were no pagan cultures around to influence Abel and Cain and the devil isn't mentioned in the narrative, which means Cain and Abel were inspired (or told) to bring sacrifices to God. At some point between the creation of Adam and Eve and Genesis 4, God instructed them to bring offerings to Him. This proves that sacrifices were a thing well before Moses began writing the law down.

Genesis continues to show us examples of the patriarchs building altars and sacrificing to God. Clearly some protocol had been established for this type of behavior well before Moses.

Examples of Sacrifices in Pre-Mosiac Law
Bible Verses	Example
Genesis 4:3-5	Cain and Abel offerings to God. Cain's was an offering of the field (grain), while Abel's was of the flock (burnt)
Genesis 8:20	Noah offers burnt offerings for every clean animal to God after the flood.
Genesis 22:1-18	Abraham almost offers Isaac, but God sends a ram to be offered instead.
Genesis 35	Jacob builds an altar, then pours a drink offering on the altar.
Exodus 10:24-25	Moses' argument to the Pharaoh about letting the Israelites go includes the need to give God sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Exodus 18:12	Moses' father-in-law gives a burnt offering to God in honor of what God has done for Israel. This is just before the Israelites reach mount Sinai.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

The first crime to be committed after Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden is murder when Cain kills Abel. God condemns Cain for this action and He is punished. If Cain was unaware that it was wrong to kill Abel, why did he lie about it and why did God punish him? When Cain is angry/jealous of Abel, God warns Cain that "sin lieth at the door" (Genesis 4:7), which is a big clue to what Cain did and did not know. Also, this mirrors Jesus' statement that we are in sin just for being angry at our brother without cause (Matthew 5:22).

Since God is telling Cain that he is about to sin and Cain clearly hides the fact that he killed Abel as though he knows it is wrong, based on the Bible's definition of sin and our own knowledge of human nature, we must assume Cain knew that it was wrong to kill. Thus there must have been a law of some sort stating the murder was wrong, even in the days when only the original family was on the earth.
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Noah Knew Clean and Unclean

People are quick to say clean and unclean, particularly when it comes to animals/diet, was only for the Israelites. Moses defines clean and unclean in Leviticus 11, but Noah knew the difference back in Genesis 7:2. God instructs Noah to bring more of the clean animals than the unclean ones. Once Noah and his family are back on dry land, God tells Noah he may eat meat and Noah makes a sacrifice when the clean animals. When God tells Noah he can eat the flesh of the animals, he doesn't specify clean or unclean, though he does bring up the issue of blood, which is repeated by Moses. Despite God not telling Noah specifically not to eat blood, we have to remember that the act of eating flesh usually followed sacrifice—they ate the meat they burned on the alter (i.e. cooked). Leviticus covers many of the laws about who could eat the sacrifices and when they could be eaten. Noah would have eaten the clean animals he sacrificed. This also explains why more of them were brought on the ark.

Sodom & Gomorrah

When we think about sin, it's impossible not to think of Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities were eradicated, never to be built again, due to the sins being committed within their borders. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is given in Genesis 19. Let's put this in perspective of time. Just before destroying the city, God reveals His plan to Abraham who bargains with God to spare the city. Abraham's son Isaac is the father of Jacob who is the father of the 12 men the Tribes of Israel are named for. Therefore Abraham is the great-grandfather of the progenitors of the nation of Israel. Moses isn't even born until the descendants of those 12 men had been in captivity in Israel for roughly 400 years. Needless to say, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were not Israelites and were quite far removed from the law being written down by Moses.

So what sins were committed in Sodom and Gomorrah? The one that probably comes to mind first is homosexuality; this one is the most obvious in Genesis 19. However, Ezekiel 16:49 provides a more extensive list of sins committed. Ezekiel tells us that Sodom was prideful, idle, ignoring the poor, haughtiness, and committing the abomination. Moses writes several laws about how to treat the poor when he and the Israelites are in the wilderness, but none of these had been written yet. Each of the things God despises in Sodom are the same things Jesus warns us about in the New Testament! We are told not to be proud in James 4:6 and Philippians 2:3 (to name a few). We are told of the dangers of idleness in 1 Timothy 5:12-13. Jesus tells us to be mindful of the poor in Luke 14:12-14; it is them that we should strive to feed! Haughtiness is spoken against throughout the Bible. The abomination is probably sexual immorality. All of these were considered sins before Moses and in the New Testament.

Levirate Marriage

The Levirate Marriage is outlined in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. The idea was that if a man died before his wife bore him children, she was to marry his brother, who was to provide an heir to the deceased brother's lineage. We see an example of this with Judah and Tamar. Judah was one of the 12 sons of Jacob; his descendants make up the tribe of Judah and most of the people we call Jews today are descended from him. Judah's eldest son married a woman named Tamar, but died before Tamar conceived. Tamar then married Judah's middle son, who tried to avoid producing an heir and was struck down by God. Judah refused to allow her to marry his youngest son, but in a strange twist of fate, ended up fathering Tamar's twins anyway (Genesis 38). The Israelite nation was only just forming at this time and Tamar was actually a Canaanite. While it's likely that she converted to worshiping the God of Abraham and abiding by His laws, for her to be so persistent that her child's father come from Judah's line implies that this was a common tradition on the region. God is clearly not saying that it's a new thing in Deuteronomy, rather He's confirming it as an actually party of His law.

Remember!

When God writes out the 4th commandment, did you ever wonder why He said "remember" before introducing the Sabbath? I've never said "remember" before bringing up something the other person or people didn't already know about. If I'm introducing something I want them to remember, I might say "Don't forget..." but it's not likely that I'm going to say "Remember to go to the grocery store next week". Just think about it; the command to remember something is literally asking you to think about something that has already happened. When did it already happen? During creation. God created the Sabbath from the very beginning. He didn't make that day holy while the Israelites were waiting at the foot of the mountain; it was holy from the first Sabbath ever created. It's never not been holy! In fact, before the Israelites get to Sinai, when God explains the food situation to the Israelites, He reminds them to collect double on the sixth day because none will fall on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:23-30).

Something to Think About

There are two reasons I think it's important to think about this. One, to realize that God's law is absolute and just. Two, to have a more solid foundation when the world brings up similarities between the law Moses wrote and "older" laws found in civilization.

Just Laws

People use the idea that the law was written for the Jews to justify not giving up habits that are condemned by the law. We see this logic fall apart when we poke harder. No one who argues that that they don't have to keep the Sabbath or that they can eat whatever they choose will agree that they can commit murder. The habit of picking and choosing which laws we choose to abide by severely hampers the message broadcast by the church. There's a lot more to the topic of understanding God's law than simply what is covered here. Obviously some rules did change; we don't sacrifice any more and people can't marry their relatives (Adam and Eve's children all married their sisters/brothers, remember). I discus the law a little more in the post entitled The Law, but eventually I plan do something a little most organized and coherent. Nonetheless, I think this is part of that idea. God didn't just make up laws for one group because He thought it would be fun to watch them struggle to keep them. Those laws are meant to protect the health, spirit, and well-being of His people, and since there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28), these laws are for the good of all mankind.

Stolen Laws?

Many of my non-believing friends and acquaintances have accused Moses of plagiarism based on the fact that the 10 Commandments are similar to laws that had been in existence long before the Israelites reached Sinai. I don't think it's the least bit odd that other cultures came to the conclusion it was wrong to kill, steal, lie, or cheat on your spouse. Even atheists will agree on that. The Bible talks about deception being the biggest reason for sin, especially in the end times. Even in the beginning, Eve was deceived into eating the fruit. Mankind's instinct identifies obvious evil behavior with no problem. Therefore it isn't shocking to find similarities across these laws.

What's more, these tribes and nations all funnel back to the same point. The Egyptians, for instance, descended from Mizraim who was the son of Ham. The Israelites from Shem who was Ham's brother. Shem and Ham would have been raised with similar morals and I imagine those morals would have been passed on to their children much like a game of telephone. Each of us is raised to believe certain things and behave a certain way, but we also have the free will to choose other paths. In my childhood church, we were all given the same lessons but life gave us different experiences. We each turned out different. Someone of us believe exactly what that church taught, some believe something a little different, some might not believe at all anymore. Yet we retain a lot of similarities in our behaviors and moral standards, regardless of where we ended up. The same can be said of how laws and beliefs spread after the flood. God's reason for telling Moses to write it down was to preserve the real information since so many versions were popping up around the world. This was God giving His one-on-one interview after the tabloids had leaked faulty information.

References

1 Chronicles 1-9: Genealogies

Insights from the genealogies are pointed out.

Introduction

The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles gives us the lineage of the Israelites. It starts by walking us through from Adam to Noah to Abraham, then traces the lineage of Ishmael and Isaac, before zeroing in on the 12 tribes of Israel. It is a bit hard to follow the names due to multiple wives and chronology bouncing between brothers. Below are a few things that stood out to me.
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Ephrath, Caleb's Wife

Caleb, one of the only two spies to trust God to lead the Israelites to victory, married a woman named Ephrath. I find this interesting because throughout the Old Testament we hear about the Ephrathites. When I first read the word "Ephrathites" I thought it was a misspelling of Ephraimites, but I noticed that the people referred to as Ephrathites all grew up the region known as Judah, specifically around Bethlehem. Once I realized this, I assumed they were dubbed the "Ephrathites" because the descended from a man named Ephrath. However, 1 Chronicles 2 makes me wonder if they inherited this name from a woman? Resources state that the name is given after the old name for Bethlehem, Ephratah.^[1] Of course, that only makes me wonder how Bethlehem received that name in the first place...
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Canaanite Women

Whites in the South spent a lot of time trying to craft their version of Christianity to paint Black people as inferior and deserving of slavery. People even twisted the Curse of Canaan to extend to Ham in attempt to justify the treatment of slaves. Interestingly when we look at the lineage of Judah laid out in 1 Chronicles 2, we can see that the line of Judah sprang from a Canaanite woman. This means David, Solomon, and Jesus all have ties back to Canaan and to Ham.
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Simeon

The end of 1 Chronicles 4 covers information on Simeon's descendants who essentially merged into Judah. However, a remnant of Simeonites survived through the reign of Hezekiah and killed the Amalekites living in the land to establish their own place.
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References

1. "Ehrathite". BibleStudyTools.com; visited February 2017

Shem

Shem is one of Noah's sons and one of the eight people to survive the flood. His descendants settled in the Middle East and Asia. It is through him that the nation of Israel is born. His name gives us the words "Semite" and "Semitic." Scholars debate on whether he is the eldest or middle child.

Introduction

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Shem.
Please remember the Bible does not
specify a description for most individuals.

Shem is the middle son of Noah; he turns 100 two years after the flood. Shem is an ancestor of Abraham, and thus the Israelites are descended from Shem. Shem dies at the age of 600 years old according to Genesis 11:10-11. Shem's descendants are known as Shemites or Semites, the word Semitic derives from Shemite^[1].
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Eldest or Middle Child?

Some deny Japheth's position as eldest due to Genesis 10:21, however a careful inspect will show that Japheth is in fact the eldest of the three sons. Those insisting that Japheth is not the eldest are confused as to whether "the elder" refers to Shem or Japheth (the confusion stems from different translations, it seems fairly apparent in the King James Version that Japheth is the elder of the two). It is easily gleaned that Japheth's brother, Ham, is the youngest based on Genesis 9:24. To determine that Japheth is the oldest we need two verses: Genesis 7:6 and Genesis 11:10 From Genesis 7:6 we know that either at age 500 Noah began having sons, or he had already had all three son by the time he was 500. the flood occurred 100 years later, when Noah was 600. If Noah began having children at 500, his oldest child would be 100 at the onset of the flood. If Noah finished having children at 500, his youngest son (Ham) would be 100 at the onset of the flood. However, Genesis 11:10 tells us that when Shem is 100 years, it is 2 years after the flood. This means that Noah was 502 when Shem was born and Shem cannot be the oldest. Since, Ham is the youngest and Shem is not the oldest, Japheth must be the oldest.
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Bible Verses

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;Genesis 7:13

These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:Genesis 11:10 KJV

Other Verses on Abraham

• Genesis 5:32; 6:10; 9:18,23,26-27; 10:1,21-22,31; 11:11

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Character

Not much is said about Shem in terms of his character. When Ham tells Shem and Japheth of their father's drunkenness and nakedness, Shem goes with Japheth (backward so as not to look upon Noah's nakedness) to cover him. From this we can conclude Shem was at the least respectful to his father.
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Descendants

Shem has Elam, Asshur, Apraxad, Lud, and Aram. Through Shem's son Apraxad, we have the lineage of both Abraham and Lot. One of Shem's descendants, Eber, is thought to be the namesake of the word Hebrew^[2].
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Nations

Shem's son Elam creates the nations of the Elamites and Persians. Asshur was the progentiator of the Assyrians and Northern Iraqis. Aphraxad's descendants created the Chaldeans, Hebrews, Arabians, and Moabites/Palestinians. Lud's descendants created the Ludim, Lubim, Ludu, Lydians, and other groups in Asia Minor/North Africa. Shem's final son Aram is the progenator of the Syrians and Lebanese^[3]. Shem's descendants populated the Middle East. Any of the tribes originally speaking Semitic—Semitic stems from the word Shemite—languages are descendants of Shem. Countries with populations speaking semetic languages currently in the world are Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Suda, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen (Arabic), Malta (Maltese), Israel (Arabic and Hebrew), Ethiopia (Amharic, Tigré, and Tigrinya), Ma'lūlā, Syria (Western Aramaic), Eastern Aramaic/Turoyo (Turkey)^[4].
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Other Posts about Shem

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References

1. "Semite". Dictionary.com. 2015
2. Holman Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible. pg 27. 2014
3. "The Table of Nations". bibliotecapleyades.net. 2015
4. "Semitic Languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015

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Lamech

Two Lamech's are introduced in the book of Genesis: one is a descendant of Cain and the other a descendant of Seth. Like the two Enochs, these men contrast similar to the original brothers. One commits murder, the other gives birth to and raises Noah. We We aren't given much detail about either, but their legacies speak for themselves.

Introduction

Two Lamech's are introduced in the book of Genesis: one is a descendant of Cain and the other a descendant of Seth. Lamech, descendant of Cain, is given a much longer description than Lamech, descendant of Seth, but it is obviously that have drastically different personalities.
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Bible Verses

And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.Genesis 4:23

²⁸And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: ²⁹And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.Genesis 5:28-29 KJV

Other Verses on Lamech

• Genesis 4:19-24; 5:28-31

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The Two Lamechs

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Lamech.
Please remember the Bible does not
specify a description for most individuals.

Lamech: Descendant of Cain

Lamech the son of Methusael is a descendant of Cain. He is the first man to take two wives (Adah and Zillah). Like Cain, Lamech is a murderer. For some reason Lamech thinks that if Cain was to be avenged for killing his brother, Lamech should be avenged even more so. Lamech has 3 sons—Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain—and one daughter, Naamah.
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Lamech: Descendant of Seth

Lamech, son of Methuselah is a descendant of Seth and the father of Noah. We are not told much about him except that he names Noah with anticipation that Noah will bring comfort to man.
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References

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Genesis 6-10: Noah & the Flood

An examination of Noah, his family, and the flood mentioned from Genesis 6-9.

Introduction

Genesis 6 through Genesis 9 details the events of the global flood including the cause, the preservation of life, and the aftermath. These chapters identify the first covenant between God and man and further illustrate the concept that the price of sin is death.
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Evil of Man Before the Flood

The Sons of God and Daughters of Men

In Genesis 6, we are told that just before the flood the "sons of God" married "daughters of men" and became very evil. There is much discussion as to what is meant by the sons of God versus the daughters of men. There are people believe sons of God refer to angels even though out of the 10 times this phrase appears in the Bible only once does it refer to angels[9]. In Matthew 22:29-30, however, Jesus tells us that angels don't marry, making it highly unlikely that in this case this is a reference to angels. The only plausible chance would be if these were fallen angels, which doesn't make sense; why would Moses still refer to them as sons of God? The phrase sons of God is reserved for those who are righteous and follow God. If sons of God refers to fallen angels, is this something that is still occurring even today? Many believe the sons of God refers to the chosen line Seth and the daughters of men refers to the corrupt line of Cain[7][8]. Regardless, we are told that the children of these matches were corrupt men with great power.

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Genesis 6:2 KJV

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God Repents of Creating Man

It saddened God that man was so intent on committing acts of evil. Some have argued the fact that God repents or is sorry for creating man (Genesis 6:7) "proves" God does not know the future. However, a more logical explanation is that God knowledge that man would fall to this depth did not stop it from hurting Him when He saw how they behaved. A modern example would be when people go shopping on black Friday: they know it will be hectic yet they still go looking for deals—during the chaos it is likely that they regret coming, even though they knew beforehand that it would be that way, and when they return home with their majorly discounted merchandise they are happy again that they decided to go.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5 KJV

It was the evil in the hearts of man that caused God to destroy them with the flood.
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120 Years

In Genesis 6:3 KJV tells us that God put a limit or expiration date on mankind. The question is if this time (120 years) referred to a cap in how long man would be allowed to live (you'll notice that after the flood people live shorter lives) or if it referred to how long it would be before He destroyed the world with the flood. After the flood there are still people who live to 120 years, though if you assume God is restricting how long man can live in this passage, He does not say when He will limit the age of man. It makes sense that if He were restricting age, it would be a gradual process, as the surviving humans would need the extra time to repopulate the Earth. Supporters of this theory also argue that it is possible that the shortening of life was a trait given to Noah and his sons at the moment God spoke, which was passed down genetically (which would also take time)[1]. Currently there is a woman claiming to be 127 years old, however, she does not have proof[5]. The Guinness Book of World Records cited the oldest human to ever live to have been 122 years old[6]. While this is far from the 969 years of Methuselah, it is still greater than 120 years. Yet there are still counters to explain the possibility of someone living beyond 120 years. In this passage God is speaking of His disdain for man's wickedness an inclination to follow the flesh as opposed to God. In some versions of Exodus 20:12 KJV, God says that your days can be prolonged by honoring your mother and father (other translations use "long" instead of "prolonged"). Thus, it is possible that those making it above 120 years were granted a prolonged life for their conduct. It is my opinion, however, that God was speaking of how long it would be until He brought about the flood—this theory has no contradictions. Plus, in Psalm 90:10 KJV, we are told the average lifespan of mankind is 70-80 years. Not only is this consistent with what we see, there is no contradiction as we are being given an estimate or an average. In Genesis 6:3, the 120 years appears absolute. It is hard to say for certain which is the correct interpretation.
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Giants/Nephilim

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. Genesis 6:4 KJV

Many legends, myths, and stories have been created for the mysterious Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 (the Nephilim also appear in Numbers 13:33). So who are they? Are they the unholy offspring of angels and mankind, like some suggest? A portion of the population that grew into giants? Neanderthals!? There are three main suggestions for who the Nephilim are: half-human/half-angel offspring of "sons of God" and "daughters of men", royalty/nobility, or heroes. We know that they existed both before and after the flood, so if they were giants in the literal sense the gene to produce giant offspring must have been within Noah and his sons as well since they return after the flood. If indeed fallen angel went against their angelic nature to produce children, this would have had to occur after the flood as well (which is theoretically possible). Royalty and heroes were bound to reappear after the flood, so that is possible as well.There are arguments for an against each theory (some of the arguments for and against Nephilim being half angel, half man are discussed in the section entitled The Sons of God and Daughters of Men). An in depth argument that the Nephilim were the product of fallen angels can be found here, and brief analysis on many of the theories can be found here.

The main problem I have with the argument for Nephilim being the offspring of man and angel is the timing. In the link above the author suggests that the devil was attempting to "poison" the seed of Eve (remember Genesis 3:15) so that the Messiah could not come to defeat him. The problem with this theory is that if the devil actually believed this was possible, why wouldn't the angels have continued this behavior until the Messiah was born? Why would they only infiltrate one family (Anak)? This is a bit of a plot hole in this theory to me... Of course the devil doesn't have the power to know the future so its possible that he began this course and then changed his mind. Later in the Old Testament we will meet Goliath who is a literal giant (in 1 Samuel 17 he is said to be over 6 cubits tall which is more than 9 feet!), so it seems unlikely that the term "giants" was being used figuratively. It is possible that it was a trait that managed to only be viable in a subset of the population. The tallest man on record was 8ft 11in[10] (exactly one inch shy of Goliath...), so it is possible that this gene still exists, but was simply more prevalent back then. It is hard to say for certain, though I lean towards the latter in my personal opinion.
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God Chooses Noah

Even in all the chaos and evil of mankind, God is able to find one person whom He still considers righteous: Noah. Genesis 6:9 tells us that Noah was just and "perfect in his generations." Perfect in his generations means that compared to those of his era or generation (already referred to as wicked men by God), Noah was very righteous[3]. For this reason Noah is blessed by God and his family is spared from the flood. In Genesis 6:8 the word grace—like the grace we received upon Jesus' sacrifice—is used to describe Noah's blessing. Note also that there is a word play in the original Hebrew words for Noah and grace; both words are made of the same two consonants in reverse order[3].

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8 KJV

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The Ark

Noah is instructed to build an ark and in Genesis 6:14-16 we are given the specifications of the ark. It was made of "gopher" wood which is thought to mean either pine or cypress[3][2]. God tells Noah that the ark should be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall. A cubit is approximately 18 inches, which means the equivalent contemporary measurements would be 450ft (137.16m) long, 75ft (22.86m) wide, and 45ft (13.72m) tall. That's roughly 33,750ft² of space on each of the three floors Noah is instructed to build in the ark. This would be a massive ship.
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Parallels with Adam

There are many parallels between God's instructions for Noah when he exits the ark and God's instructions for Adam.

	Adam	Noah
Dietary Instruction	Genesis 1:29-30 - Can eat herbs and plants	Genesis 9:4 - Can eat both animals as well as plants
Exceptions to Dietary Instruction	Genesis 2:17 - Can't eat from the Tree of Knowledge	Genesis 9:3 - Can't eat blood
Fill the Earth	Genesis 1:28 - Be fruitful and multiply	Genesis 9:1,7 - Be fruitful and multiply
Punishment to the Earth	Genesis 2:17 - Cursed is the ground, it brings forth thorns and thistles	Genesis 9:2 - Animals now have fear
Man is Special	Genesis 1:26 - Man made in God's image.	Genesis 9:6 - Murders of men must receive death because man was made in God's image
Price of Sin is Death	Genesis 2:17 - God says "You will surely die" of eating the forbidden fruit	Genesis 9:5 - Sacrifice required

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The Covenant

Before Noah even begins building the ark, he is told by God that if he follows God's instructions God will make a covenant with him. After the flood, in Genesis 9, God makes the first covenant to man with Noah. In this covenant He promises not bring another flood to the Earth as well as promises not to punish the Earth for man's mistakes. God then sets a rainbow in the sky as a sign of this promise. Nay-sayers may suggest this is an elaborate explanation of the rainbow which always occurs after the rain, but an obvious question is: if it was made up, how did they know it wouldn't flood again and that world would never be destroyed by water? All scientific versions of the end of the world also end in fire.
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The Flood

Animals

Genesis 6:19 is the origins of the two by two idea; here Noah is instructed to bring two of every animal to the ark, one male and one female. Later in Genesis 7, Noah is told to bring clean beasts by sevens and unclean animals by twos. In Genesis 6, God was defining a pair for Noah: one male one female. God was explaining to Noah that in order to keep the species alive a pair of each species was needed. In Genesis 7 God is telling Noah an exact number to bring. In essence He said told Noah it requires 2 to say the species survived the flood but He wants more than two aboard the ship. It is unclear if sevens refers to seven pairs or groups of seven. Some believe it to be seven pairs, others think three pairs with one left over for the sacrifice Noah gives God directly after the flood. Note that by referencing clean and unclean animals, we are also being told that either Noah already understood the distinction of clean and unclean animals or that this is the moment the distinction was made to God's people. Thus the notion of clean and unclean predates Judaism.
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The Timeline

Once Noah finishes the Ark, God tells Noah the flood will begin in 7 days. We are told that the flood began on the 17th day of the second month during Noah's 600th year on the Earth. In the Jewish Calendar, Iyar is the second month which aligns with our April or May (naturally, remember, April showers bring May flowers)[4]. However, they could mean the second month after Noah's birthday, it is not clear. When the flood started, water came from both "the fountains of the deep" and from the sky. This means it not only rained but water came from out of the ground as well. This continued for 40 days and 40 nights (this could possibly mean simply 40 days as in Genesis 1 we are told night + day passed and it was the first day). The water reached a height of 15 cubits (22.5ft) which overtook the Earth for 150 days. It took another 150 days for the water to recede from the Earth. The Earth was dry on the on 27th day of Noah's 601th year (a little more that 1 year later). An in depth overview of the timeline is shown in the article Biblical Overview of the Flood.

In History

It is common knowledge that the story flood persists throughout many cultures in the ancient world. In a future post, we'll look a some of them and discuss the significance of the global flood.

References

1. Cramer, Guy. God's Limit on Man's Years. Trinity Consulting. 1998
2. "Gopher Wood". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906
3. Holman Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible. pg 19. 2014
4. "The Jewish Month". Chadbad.org. 2008
5. Li, David K. "127 Year Old Said to be the Oldest Person to Ever Live". New York Post. August 31, 2014
6. Oldest Person Ever. Guinness World Records. 2015
7. "The Sons of God". The Bible Study Site. 2015
8. "Who Are the Sons of God?". Associates for Scriptural Knowledge. 2014
9. "Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6?". GotQuestions.org. 2015
10. "Tallest Man in History". Guinness World Records. 2015