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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Adam and Noah

There are many interesting connections between the Creation and the fall of Adam and the Flood and the fall of Noah. Here are some connections, and I will tell you what I think the significance is toward the end of the blog.

Genesis 5:28-29 When Lamech had lived a hundred and eighty-two years, he became the father of a son, and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground which the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands."

The people in Noah's day were bad enough that in his generation God would wipe out the world and begin again with Noah. Lamech, Noah's dad was looking for relief from the curse that they would have to work the land with thorns and the sweat of their brow. I am going to guess here that Lamech was looking to Noah as a type of Christ figure. Lamech names his son Noah, which means rest, and I believe that there is a play on words here when Lamech says, "(Noah) shall bring us relief" [Naw cham Hebrew for 'relief' looks almost identical to Noah's name in Hebrews letters.]

Adam is the one who names all of the animals. Noah saves all of the animals.

We can't really get into this now, and I have talked about it before, but the garden of Eden is a kind of Temple. The Holy of Holies, so to speak, is the Tree of Life. The Sactuary is Eden itself and the court, for everyone else, is the garden. My point is that it has three parts. Also the Ark had three parts - Genesis 6:16 - Make the ark with lower, second, and third decks.

With the flood, of course, there is a type of recreation. The first creation began all submerged in water. Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. At the end of the flood, the same thing happens. Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind (spirit) blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. When it says that a wind blow over the earth, that is the same word for spirit. So again we see the Spirit moving over the waters.

When God made Adam and Eve he told them to be fruitful and multiply. When God brought Noah out of the Ark he said this - Genesis 8:17 Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh -- birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth -- that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth."

Adam was placed in a garden, ate of its fruit and realized that he was naked. Genesis 9:20-21 Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent.

Adam went on to have three sons - Cain, Abel, and Seth. Noah had three Sons - Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The sons of Adam went on to make the world, in general, a wicked place that God would destroy by water. The sons of Noah went on to build the Tower of Babel and God would be merciful and confuse their languages.

I think the point of the parallel is what Dr. John Bersma from Steubenville said. He said that people might get tempted to ask God to just destroy the whole earth and start again with the good people. Yet it won't work, because the root of evil lives inside of us. That is why we need Jesus to come and deal with sin through His Death on the Cross.



P.S. Don't forget to check out my new blog www.goodhomily.blogspot.com

3 comments:

James Lau said...

Indeed an interesting connections between Adam & Noah

Anonymous said...

Yes the Church teaches that Noah is a Christ figure and the Ark is the Church.

hal barton said...

pretty good insight for you. Also think on this: Noah knew Adams grandson, Enos - and, almost all the other fathers of old. So he was a powerful continuation of the basic concepts of Adam who instituted the civilizing practice of marriage.