Saturday, October 25, 2008

Genesis 9:

Summary: The Lord blesses Noah and his sons. He renews the "multiply and replenish the earth" commandment that he gave to Adam and Eve. The rainbow is the symbol of his covenant not to destroy man. Noah curses Canaan because of the event that transpires at the end of this chapter (The event is a little strange, so I'll talk about it in the reflection section.

Personal Reflection: First, it seems like we once again have to authors depicting the same scene. In chapter 8, the covenant between God and man is described, and then it is described again in chapter 9. Chapter 9 is the "zoomed-in" version of the story. We are told that the rainbow is a sign of the covenant, and we are told lots of other things that God requires at the hands of Noah after he leaves the ark. We have the same kind of thing happening back at the very beginning where chapter one describes the sweeping creation of God, and chapter two goes more into detail about the story itself.

The rainbow: here I just wanted to say that it is pretty much awesome that God chose the rainbow as a symbol of this covenant.

The story at the end of this chapter about Noah being uncovered, etc. etc. Is a little bit odd. Since, as the story is told, no one seems to be really at fault here, except maybe Noah. There have been several suggestions of what this story means. First, it may be that Ham saw the nakedness of his father and was happy about it (he told his brothers about it when he simply could have taken care of it himself). Or perhaps it is confusing because verse 21 leaves the situation ambiguous as to why Noah was uncovered. Someone else may have done the uncovering. On source suggests that Noah's garment was stolen. Whatever your personal thoughts on the matter, here are some links to commentary for you: David Guzik, Matthew Henry, LDS Institute Manual.

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