Ge. 9: "Hey fellas, Dad's naked again!"

There are a couple of seemingly distinct stories in chapter 9. The first is the blessing and charge bestowed upon Noah and his sons as they left the ark. The second, a rather tawdry tale of what happens when you don't know when to say "When."

What I find most interesting about verse 1 is that it says God "blessed" Noah and his sons when he told them to be fruitful and multiply. He didn't "command" them. He didn't suggest it. What a blessing indeed it must be to know that you will be the root of the entire world's family tree. Also, it is a blessing to be able to do what God tells you to do. Amazing to get a command directly from God's mouth. And just in case Noah and his boys miss the point, God repeats it again in verse seven.

God puts the fear of man into all living creatures. Ah. This must be why birds frantically take flight when I approach to within 200 yards of them, and though I wish them no particular ill will. Maybe this "fear and dread" is similar to how we see God. I think animals in some way recognize just how special we humans are. Encountering humans is an awe-inspiring thing for them...in that they are in awe of God. And maybe this fear and dread comes from that fact that in verse 3, God tells Noah that animals are now food, where they weren't before.

It is with this point, we are shown God's reverence for life, as the command is given not to eat meat still containing the lifeblood. Does it mean that we can't have a steak cooked rare? Does it mean we can't start consuming the flesh of something while it is still alive? I lean toward both. Blood is precious, and is used for life, not for food. If God didn't want us eating something while it was still alive, I'm guessing he would have said something about the breath of life, not merely the blood of life. I still find the idea of biting into a living, breathing, bleeding thing monstrous, but that's not the explicit command here.

God says He (not she) demands an accounting for our lifeblood. Every single life is precious, and is not to be wasted. Not only human life, animal life. Each living creature from man down to...I don't know, fleas...counts for something.

The end of verse 6 could be read as "Whoever sheds the blood of (the image of God), by (the image of God) shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made man. Whenever I see "man" in the Bible, I am being trained to see "the image of God." Even Canadians? Especially Canadians.

Now we get to a covenant...a promise...a vow. Not only is it between God and Noah (man) and his descendants, it includes every living creature on earth. God promised us and them that He would never cut off all life with a flood. A flood would never destroy the earth again. God's in it to win it with the team He has on the field now. How would we be reminded of this covenant? A rainbow. Whenever there is a raincloud, and a rainbow appears, God will remember His covenant. Now we can see reminders in waterfalls and sprinklers too. Scientists for the most part have figured out what physically causes a rainbow. But it doesn't explain away the miracle of or diminish the purpose of its creation.

Verse 18 begins the antics of the house of Noah.

Noah planted a vineyard, and had too much to drink one day. He got drunk and got naked. Some would say he was the first Irishman. Ham came in and saw his dad laying there all wasted. (Whether or not he completely passed out is debatable. At any rate, he would have been primed for a serious chiefing.) He came out and told his brothers. Well, they, appearing to take the high road, walked in backwards and covered Noah with a garment.

When Noah "awoke from his wine" or sobered up (in my estimation), he found out what his youngest son had "done" to him. Whatever Ham did was enough to to bring the curse of inferiority and slavery of his descendants (Canaan) to those of his older brothers. If all Ham did was "see" his father naked, and not do anything about it, it would seem Noah went nuclear over nothing. Cursing one's descendants, who are in actuality your descendants, is big-time. We don't know if Ham wrote all over him with a Sharpie or did something much more...sinister. Moving on...

"Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."

"Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem!"

"May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."

My dad has had to scold me before. But never has he wished that my brother Jim's descendants enslave mine.

And Noah lived to the ripe old age of 950. Which means he died circa 1996.

And then he died.

Questions for God:
1. Why do we get to eat animals now?
2. What...never mind, I'm not sure I want to know what happened in verse 22.
3. To what extent are animals sentient in regards to their understanding of who you are? And how advanced are we in comparison to them, if at all...?