Seder 7: Genesis 9---A Question on Human Diet

 In Genesis 9:3, God tells Noah and his family, "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.  And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything."  

A lot of dietary latitude is given here, but is it as broad as our English translations make it sound?  In his NIVAC commentary on Genesis, John Walton discusses the meaning of remes, the Hebrew word for "moving thing" in verse 3.  Walton says that this word is in no place "a catch-all category for all creatures."

He explains that there is an Akkadian cognate nammasu/nammastu, "which typically refers to wild animals that travel in herds; they are distinct from wild animals that hunt or scavenge, from the domesticated cattle, and from the docile beasts that do not tend to be found in herds"---animals like deer, antelope, gazelle, and ibex.  So Genesis 9:3 may be kind of a deer hunting license.   

There is mention in Genesis of distinctions between clean and unclean animals (Gen 7:2,8; 8:20).  So it may be that we should see Genesis 9:3 within such a framework.  Since the narrative in Gen 1-11 is quite laconic, there is no way to be dogmatic about such things.  

Seder 1: Psalm 104---A Psalm of Creation

 Commentator Willem Van Gemeren calls Psalm 104 a "descriptive song of praise."  It presents beautiful pictures of Go's greatness as Creator of all.  

There are a number of connections between Psalm 104 and the book of Genesis.  Verses 6-9 are related to the third day of creation from Genesis 1.  Verse 9 refers to the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:  "You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth."

Verse 19 refers back to Genesis 1:14 and the roles of the heavenly bodies in helping define a worship calendar and setting up an orderly structure for the activities of life: "He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting." 

Creation as pictured in Psalm 104 is not a one-time event, bur rather an ongoing process.  God sustains and renews life, and he may also choose to take it away.  

The psalm ends in verse 35 with a prayer that all creation would be submitted to God: "Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more!"  In the midrash on Psalm 104, the sages assert that this is a prayer for all to repent and cease from sin.  When that occurs, they say, everyone will praise God as at the close of verse 35.  

Much of Psalm 104 addresses God in second person.  There is some shifts, though, in vv 3-5 and verse 19 from second person to third person.  Some early Christian interpreters viewed these shifts as places where God the Father speaks about the Son.  We see this in Hebrews 1:7, where the author quotes Psalm 104:4 as an example of the Father speaking of Jesus' superiority over the angels. Psalm 104:4, according to Hebrews 1:7, has God saying that Jesus "makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire."

There are traditions about the creation of special "wind angels" and "fire angels," and about God changing angels to wind or fire according to his will.  Hebrews 1:7 implies that the Son has authority over the angels.  

 Early Christians identified several passages in the Tanakh in which members of the Godhead speak about or address each other.  This kind of interpretation is known as prosopological exegesis and has been the subject of some recent research, for example by Matthew Bates, Kyle Hughes, and Madison Pierce.  

Seder 143/144: Deuteronomy 12---Worship Central and Local

 In Deuteronomy 12-26, Moses urges the children of Israel to seek righteousness (16:20) in all areas of life.  His instruction shows how the Israelites can carry out the principles of the Decalogue in their time and context.  Roughly speaking, he addresses the points of the Decalogue in order.  

Daniel Block sees Daniel 12 as organized into two sections:

• 12:2-14--an invitation to joy and satisfaction in God's presence.
• 12:15-27--an invitation to joy and satisfaction at home.

The first section begins with a charge to destroy all traces of Canaanite religion, which was pervasive in the land.  Pillars representing Baal and poles representing Asherah were to be destroyed.  Names of towns were to be changed if they had been named after deities.  And pagan worship practices like cult prostitution and child sacrifice were not to be emulated by the Israelites.  

Instead, Israelites were to worship at an as-yet-unidentified place that would be 

• chosen by God.
• located within the tribal allotments of land.
• stamped with God's name. 
• a destination of pilgrimages.

This would be a place for many activities, including

1. seeing the face of God.
2. public reading of Scripture--31:11.
3. learning to fear God.
4. celebrating before God.
5. eating meals hosted by God.
6. presenting sacrifices.
7. keeping the festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
8. settling legal disputes--17:8-13.
9. service of the Levites
10. presenting firstfruits and thanking God--26:1-11.
11. giving charity to the needy.
12. demonstrating community solidarity by including everyone.

God would choose the place once the nation is established in the land (vv 10-11).  The fact that Moses issues a double invitation in verses 5-12 is indicative of God's great desire to fellowship with his people.

Block notes that our English translations tend to use language connoting a law or command in these verses.  But Deuteronomy 12 actually gives an invitation to exciting opportunities to celebrate in God's presence, worshiping as he authorizes.  

We know that the place ultimately chosen for Israel's worship was Jerusalem (2 Sam 7).  

The central sanctuary was intended to unite Israel as God's people, rehearsing their history and God's mighty deeds on their behalf.  From this place God's rule and blessing would extend throughout the land and, ultimately, throughout the earth.  The central sanctuary would also highlight the king's role as patron of national worship.

The establishment of this central worship location did not preclude worship at other locations.  After all, Levites would live throughout the land and were to fulfill a pastoral role. Any consumption of meat was an occasion to thank God, in a broad sense a form of sacrifice.  There was local worship as well as national worship.  

Moses in Deuteronomy 16:21  seems to be assuming that other altars would be built.  The altar at Mt Ebal in Deuteronomy 27:5-7 is one example of a legitimate altar not connected with the tabernacle.  A number of others are mentioned:

• Judges 6:24-27--Gideon was told to pull down an altar of Ba'al and build one to Yahweh at Ophrah.
• 1 Sam 7:17---Samuel built an altar at Ramah.
• 1 Sam 16:5--Samuel celebrated a religious festival at Bethlehem.
• 2 Sam 24:18-25---David built an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah.
• 1 Kings 18:30---Elijah rebuilt "the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down."

There are also, of course, references to illegitimate altars in the historical books, like the ones Jeroboam had built at Bethel and Dan (I Kings 12-13), and the ones used to Ahaz (2 Kings 16:4) and Manasseh.

Another thing that would not occur exclusively at the central sanctuary was consumption of meat--Dt 12:15, 20-21.  Block notes that the word for "slaughter" in Dt 12:15 is zabach, a word that usually means "to sacrifice."  (Some exceptions are 1 Sam 28:24-25; 2 Chron 18:1-2; Ezek 34:2-3.)  In some sense, Block says, any meal at which meat was consumed was a sacred event, a sacrificial moment.  The modern division of life into sacred and secular components is artificial.  

Moses gave lots of leeway to the Israelites in the matter of eating meat at home.  The major restrictrion was the familiar command to not eat blood (Dt 12:23-25; Lev 17:10-15).  This is a universal taboo (Gen 9:3-4), upheld in the New Testament (Acts 15:19-20).   

Seder 90: Lev 17---Rules for Preparing and Eating Meat

At this point in the book of Leviticus, we transition from instructions for the priesthood to instructions for all Israelites.  The emphasis will be on holiness in all areas of life.

Chapter 17 may be specifying that during Israel's wilderness sojourn, all butchering of "sacrificeable" animals was to be for sacrifices (vv 1-4).  If so, that restriction would be lifted once the nation settled in Canaan (Deut 12:13-15; 20-25).  

The main point, though, is that both during the Exodus and afterward, all sacrifices were to to be made at the tabernacle or temple.  This restriction was meant to lessen the likelihood of idolatrous worship.  Lev 17 mentions, in particular, sacrifices to "goat demons, " which may have  been underworld deities.  (These entities are elsewhere mentioned in 2 Ch 11:15 and Isa 13:19-21).    

Israel was not to engage in syncretistic worship, a principle also emphasized in Isa 66:3-4, part of a traditional haftarah for this seder.  

Leviticus 17 goes on to repeat the commandment not to ingest blood (see Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; 7:26-27).  This is out of respect for life, and also because blood had been set apart for the purpose of making atonement.  Certainly this commandment also had the effect of discouraging people from drinking blood for superstitious reasons---e.g., because they thought it would make them stronger.  

Seder 75: Psalm 15---Coming into God's Presence

 Psalm 15 begins with a repeated question:  "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?  Who shall dwell on your holy hill?"

The mention of "tent" and "holy hill" makes us think of pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for a festival.  As these people were approaching God's presence, they would be examining themselves.  They might well ask, "Who am I to be approaching the holy God?"  

Some scholars suggest that this psalm was used in a liturgy for people coming to the Temple.  Perhaps a priest and a worshiper would alternate in saying the lines.  Such a ceremony would remind pilgrims that in physically climbing up to Jerusalem, they also wanted to ascend to a higher spiritual level.  They wanted their journey to make a lasting difference in their lives. 

The answer to the question in verse 1 is summarized at the beginning of verse 2:  "He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart."  The goal is integrity in all aspects of life---in doing and speaking.   

"Blameless" was the word used for Noah in his walk with God (Gen 6:9).  God directed Abraham to "walk before me and be blameless" (Gen 17:1).  Blamelessness does not necessarily mean "sinlessness," but it does mean being submitted to God and committed to following him.   

Psalm 15, a wisdom psalm, asserts that good results will follow from this way of living (v 5).  Such a person will "never be moved."  The faithful pilgrim ascending Mt Zion will become like Mt Zion.  Here we are reminded of another psalm:  "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved" (Ps 125:1).    

The midrash on Psalm 15 reflects on how God himself embodies the qualities listed here.  For example, God does not "put out his money at interest," but gives freely (Isa 55:1).  It also cites examples of people who had these qualities.  Elisha was one who "swore to his own hurt" in refusing to take payment from Naaman (2 Kings 5:6).  So was Elijah when he predicted a 3-year drought (I Kings 17:1).

Seder 9: Gen 11---The Rebellion at Babel

Genesis 11 describes a rebellion that took place at some point after the Flood.  If Gen 10:25 is a reference to this event, then according to the Masoretic Text, the rebellion took place a little over a hundred years after the Flood, but the Septuagint places it over 600 years after the flood.  (For more on the chronological issues here, see for example this link.)

People had been commanded to "fill the earth" after the Flood (Gen 9:1), but a group at Shinar resisted this command and united to build a structure traditionally known as the "tower of Babel".

Scholars today recognize this structure as a ziggurat.  A ziggurat was shaped like a pyramid and filled with dirt on the inside.  On the outside was a staircase, at the top of which food and a bed were provided for the god that they hoped to attract to come down to them.  Ziggurats were built next to temples for the worship of that particular god.  Behind their construction was the premise that gods had needs that people could meet, and then these gods could then be manipulated.  (For a good discussion of these things in Gen 11, see for example John Walton's commentary on the book of Genesis.)

In response, God says to his heavenly host,"Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech" (v 7).  At that point the nations are scattered (v 8).  Elsewhere, the Bible indicates that God delegated responsibility to supervise various nations to members of his heavenly host, reserving for himself the project of working through Abraham and the nation of Israel (Deut 32:8-9).  The description of that project begins in Gen 12.

Seder 8 Sermon: Show Yourselves!

In his sermon at Church of the Messiah on May 2, 2020, Kyle Kettering took his title from the reading from the prophets in Isa 49:9, where God says to the prisoners, "Come out," and to those who are in darkness, "Appear."

This seems to be a fitting text for a time when we are trying to find a balance between protection from the Coronavirus and returning to a more normal life after a period of staying at home.

Kyle observed that when Noah's family went out from the ark, his children were tasked with restarting the world (Gen 9:18-19).   Similarly, the next generation plays a crucial role in carrying on a witness for God in the world, so our work in making disciples (Matt 28:19-20) begins with our young people.

Seder 8: Gen 9:27---Watch your Antecedents

The only words of Noah recorded in the Bible are in Gen 9:25-27, when Noah invokes a curse upon Canaan (v 25) and blessings upon Shem and Japheth.  Here I want to focus on v 27:

"May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant."

The meaning of Noah's invocation depends upon the the intended antecedents of the pronouns in this verse.  One possibility is that "him" refers to Japheth.  In that case, "dwelling in the tents of Shem" could mean sharing in the blessing that God promises to Abraham, a descendant of Shem through whom all nations are to be blessed (Gen 12:3). 

On the other hand, "him" could refer to God.  In that case, God dwelling in the tents of Shem could refer to God dwelling with Israel, a nation that will descend from Shem, in the tabernacle and temple, and ultimately to God coming to "pitch his tent with us" in the person of Jesus the Messiah (John 1:14). 

Either interpretation is possible.  There are also two possibilities for "his" later in the verse.  If "his" means "Japheth's", then Noah is calling for Canaan to be a servant of Japheth.  On the other hand, if  "his" means "God's", then Noah could be calling for Canaan to ultimately become a servant of God.  Some Canaanites--e.g., Rahab--did become servants of God---and God's plan is for all to submit to him ultimately (Isa 45:22-23, Phil 2:9-11).

Gen 9:27 is one of several examples of pronoun ambiguity in the Bible.  When there is more than one possibility for the antecedent of a pronoun, it can be fruitful to explore all the possibilities and see what we can learn from them.  In some cases the ambiguity may be deliberate and may be a way of communicating the multiple possibilities in a succinct manner.

Seder 8: Genesis 9-10---Ham and the Curse on Canaan

In Genesis 9 God stated his commitment to bless the whole earth, for all time, as symbolized by the sign of the rainbow.  He gave Noah and his family the task of repopulating the earth.  They carried out this task, as recorded in the table of nations in Gen 10.

The process of "replenishing the earth" was not an entirely smooth one, though.  Human sinfulness continued to be an impediment to human progress, and we see one example in Gen 9.

Genesis 9:18 reminds us of the names of Noah's sons:  "The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  (Ham was the father of Canaan.)"

Israelite readers would have taken note of the parenthetical mention of Canaan here.  The Israelites would later be charged with driving out the Canaanites from the Promised Land, and they were cautioned not to follow the practices of the Canaanites.  What was the background of these people?

We go on to read that Noah at one point drank too much wine and was passed out, naked, in his tent. Ham disrespectfully advertised this fact to Shem and Japheth, who were careful to cover up their father.  Noah later invoked a curse upon Canaan:  "Cursed be Canaan:  a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.''(v 25).

Two questions arise from this passage:  (1) What sin did Ham commit? (2) Why was Canaan singled out for a curse?

One possible answer is simply that Ham had disrespect for his father.  Noah had prophetic insight that Canaan was the son of Ham who would especially exhibit the sins of his father, and so he invoked a curse upon Canaan.

A second answer, popular among Jews and Christians in the early centuries AD, is that Ham castrated his father.  The rabbis, ever on the lookout for possibilities of measure for measure justice in the Bible, described it this way:  Ham prevented Noah from having a fourth son, so Noah invoked a curse upon Ham's fourth son (see Gen 10:4 for the sons of Ham). 

A weakness of this view is that there is nothing about castration in Genesis 9.  What the text does say is that Ham "saw the nakedness of his father'' (v 22). Elsewhere, in Lev 18 and 20, to "see the nakedness" of someone or to "uncover the nakedness" of someone refers to a sexual act---see Lev 20:17, which indicates these phrases are synonymous.  Significantly, the discussion of forbidden sexual unions in Lev 18 and 20 is prefaced with an admonition to avoid the sins of Egypt and Canaan (Lev 18:3).

Based on the connection with Lev18, 20, a number of interpreters propose that Ham's sin was a sexual act, either with Noah or with Noah's wife.  The latter possibility would give the best explanation of why Canaan was singled out.  If Ham committed incest with his mother, and Canaan was the product of that union, this could explain why Canaan was singled out for a curse.

This possibility fits with Lev 20:20-21, which refer to having sex with a man's wife as uncovering that man's nakedness (which, in turn, is synonymous with seeing the man's nakedness).  In this scenario, Ham is a precursor of Reuben (Gen 35:22).  Also, the Canaanites, like the Moabites and Ammonites, would have originated from an act of incest. 

In Ancient Near Eastern cultures, one way to assert dominance within a clan was to sleep with the clan leader's wife or wives.  Think, for example, of Absalom's behavior with the concubines of David (2 Sam 16).  Ham and Reuben may have had similar motives.  In this case, Noah invokes a curse upon Canaan because he does not want Ham's line through Canaan to be dominant.

For further discussion, listen to episode 158 of the Naked Bible Podcast and see the paper "Noah's Nakedness and the Curse on Canaan (Genesis 9:20-27) by  John Sietze Bergsma and  Scott Walker Hahn, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 124, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 25-40.

Seder 7 Sermon: Coming out of the Ark with God's Guidance

After over a year of patiently waiting in the ark, Noah and his family go out at God's command (Gen 8:14-19).  God instructs them to be fruitful and multiply, reaffirming the commission he had originally given to Adam.  It was a time of renewal of creation.

In his sermon this week, Rob Wilson looked at the parallels between Noah's situation and our circumstances at the end of April 2020, when we wait at home wondering about how and when to come out and resume normal activities. 

In Gen 8-9, God made an eternal covenant with all life on earth, symbolized by the rainbow.  Noah and his family would represent God in starting a new world. 

Later God called Israel to represent him, and he promised to send the Messiah, who would "bring forth justice to the nations" (Isa 42:1).  He and his followers after him would be "a covenant to the people, a light to the nations" (v 6).  Ultimately there will be a new world which will be so great that the former world will no longer be remembered (Isa 65:17-18; Rev 21:2-7).     

Rob emphasized that God will instruct us as we go out and restart the world.  As we do so, we are to properly represent God in the world.  He urged us to trust God and seek his guidance.

Seder 6: Chiastic Structure of Gen 6-9

One way to increase our understanding of biblical passages is to recognize their underlying literary structure.  One kind of structure that appears often in Scripture is the chiasm, where the first literary unit in a passage connects with the last one, the second to the next-to-last, etc..  In such a structure, there is often a unit in the middle whose message is emphasized.

Jewish biblical scholar Joshua Berman, a Bible-defending scholar whose work is always worth reading, has recognized a chiastic structure in the flood narrative in Gen 6-9.  Here it is below.  Notice that the center is in Gen 8:1.

HT:   Doug Dudis

A. Elokim pledges to Noah to destroy all flesh (6:13)

B. Flood to destroy all flesh (6:17)

C. Covenant to sustain Noah and his animals (6:18–20)

D. Command to gather food while world is destroyed (6:21)

E. Command to enter the ark + fulfillment (7:1–5)

F. Year 600 – beginning of the flood (7:6)

G. Birds enter the ark (7:8)

H. Seven days waiting for Flood (7:10)

I. Rain on the earth (7:12)

J. Birds enter the ark (7:14)

K. Hashem shuts Noah in (7:16)

L. Forty days of Flood (7:17a)

M. Waters increase (7:17b–18)

N. Mountains covered (7:19–20)

O. 150 days when waters prevail (7:24)

God remembers Noah (8:1)

O’. 150 days when waters abate (8:3)

N’. Mountaintops visible (8:4–5)

M’. Waters abate (8:5)

L’. Forty days of receding waters (8:6a)

K’. Noah opens window of ark (8:6b)

J’. Raven and dove leave ark (8:7–8)

I’. Water on the earth (8:9)

H’. Seven days waiting for water to subside (8:10)

G’. Dove leaves the ark (8:10b–12)

F’. Year 601 – the earth dries (8:13)

E’. Command to leave the ark + fulfillment (8:15–19)

D’. Commands regarding food in the new order (9:1–5)

C’. Covenant to sustain all flesh (9:8–10)

B’. No flood will destroy flesh (9:15)

A’. Elokim pledges to Noah to preserve all flesh (9:17)