The flood brings a new beginning. Yet, in spite of this fresh start, the human heart remains the same: "the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth" (Genesis 8:21).

Creation begins anew, but the climate has changed considerably. God makes accommodations for a creation corrupted by human sin by giving laws intended to curb human sin. God does this because God remains committed to the original blessing (Genesis 1:28). God's covenant with all creation will guarantee that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.

Renewed Blessing, New Law, New Covenant (9:1-19)

God's declaration of the original blessing is heard in humanity's new beginning, with one small modification that takes into account human sinfulness. In both declarations, God "blessed" and commanded humankind to "be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth." The modification is in regard to the changed climate. In the original blessing, humankind was called to "rule over every living creature." Humankind remains the steward of God's creation, but now "rule" is exercised in a hostile climate: "The fear of you shall be upon every creature" (Genesis 9:1-2; cf. Genesis 1:28). The nature of humankind's reign in a sin-cursed world involves subduing by terror rather than by trust. The world which was "very good" is now full of "fear and dread."

God's repetition of the original blessing reveals God's determination to bless in spite of human sin. The blessing remains but it is now experienced in a sin-cursed world: "What was enjoyed as blessing now becomes essential to stave off extinction. The blessing has not been lost, but the climate has changed considerably."[1] Two immediate evidences of God's blessing are the heirs born to Noah's sons (Genesis 9:19) and the growth of Noah's vineyard (Genesis 9:20). Multiplication and the earth's continued fruitfulness remain.

But in order for human to go forward, new laws are given to curb sin's edge (Genesis 9:3-7). Laws now primarily restrain evil in a disordered world. Animals are given for food, as long as the blood is not consumed - a practice of pagan religions that sought to increase their life-force through consuming blood (Genesis 9:3; cf. 1:30). The sanctity of human life is upheld by God's call for justice in regard to murder (Genesis 9:5-6). Clearly, the human race "after the flood" is not "back in Eden."

God's commands are now commands for an abnormal world. God accommodates the law to the human condition. It would be nice if the only two commands we needed were "love God and love others." But the human heart is corrupt. Law must make allowance for this new reality. This is true for many of God's commands. There would be no need for "thou shalt not steal, commit adultery, or covet" in a sinless world. It is because of the hardness of heart that God's law is given (see Matthew 19:8). This has important implications for the remainder of the Bible. Contrary to some perspectives, law is not simply a reflection of God's character, but sadly, too often a mirror of the human heart and its corruption.

But God's response to humanity's sin is not simply to add more laws to curb sin. God also enters into a covenant with all humanity and all creation (Genesis 9:8-17). A covenant is a legal agreement between two parties. It assures that what is promised will be given. Generally, covenants require mutual privileges and responsibilities, but this particular covenant is unilateral and unconditional. God promises that creation will never again experience complete destruction. The rainbow becomes a visible symbol of this spiritual reality.

Despite humankind's sinfulness, God is for the world and its preservation and flourishing. Evil will be held in check by the law. Grace will be demonstrated through God's faithfulness to God's promise assured by covenant.

To summarize: The flood returns creation to its original state, but with significant changes. Sin still remains. Creation is no longer "very good" but "corrupt." The human heart is not innocent, but clouded by sin. Since humankind's future flourishing cannot depend on human faithfulness, God's covenant now supports and sustains God's relationship with creation. Because of God's covenant, God remembers Noah and all creation, represented in the animals that accompany Noah on the ark. Since the climate has changed, new laws arise to curb the expression of human sinfulness.

Noah's Drunkenness and Canaan's Beginnings (9:20-27)

Evidence of God's blessing and the curse of human sin is found in the story immediately following the flood. Tragically, it is possible for God's people to abuse God's blessing.

Noah's vineyard is a good thing - evidence of God's blessing. This was recognized by ancient Israel. Vineyards were an important economic reality for Israel. "Vines, the grape harvest, and wine symbolize God's blessings of life and fertility (see Pss 80:8-16; 104:15; Isa 5:1-7; 27:2-6; Hos 2:15; 9:10)."[2] However, Fretheim notes that "[b]lessings can be abused; that which makes the heart glad can also promote drunkenness (see the warnings in Prov 20:1; 23:31-35; 31:6-7; Isa 5:11). What is good within God's creation can be made perverse by inappropriate human behavior."[3]

Righteous Noah, the blameless man who walked with God in a corrupt society falls prey to drunkenness.[4] He abuses God's gift. The result: Noah lies naked (he "uncovered" himself) in his tent, having drunk himself into a state of unconsciousness. Put simply: Noah is smashed and streaking. He is so drunk he passes out naked. Public nakedness was looked down upon by ancient Israel. Such public exposure brought shame and disgrace. The puritan Matthew Henry warns, "Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall."

Ham's reaction to Noah's situation is shameful. He "saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside" (Genesis 9:22). The exact nature of Ham's sin is somewhat controversial. Various possibilities exist. One theory is that Ham shames his father by rebelling against parental authority - failing to honor his mother and father. The actions of Ham are contrasted with Shem and Japheth who "took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness" (Genesis 9:23). 

Others suggest that Ham had sexual relations with Noah. Noah "knew" that something had happened because when he awoke, he was aware that he had been violated.

Others argue that Ham had sexual relations with Noah's wife. To "uncover nakedness" is a euphemism for sexual activity in the Pentateuch (see Leviticus 18:7-8).

It seems that the first option is most likely. "Ham errs in what he does with what he has seen. Rather than keep quiet or seek to remedy the situation, Ham tells tales to a wider public. The matter entails not simply a breach of filial piety, but the public disgrace of his father."[5] If this is the case, Noah "knew" because Noah's act had become public knowledge through Ham's disgraceful actions.

Regardless of the exact nature of Ham's sin, Noah responds by cursing Ham. In the book of Genesis, a patriarch's curse and blessing was believed to possess special power, determining the course of future events.

The curse is pronounced upon Ham's son, Canaan. What exactly does this mean? Perhaps it suggests that both father and son were responsible for Noah's public disgrace. Perhaps it speaks of the effects of the sin of parents upon their children (see Exodus 20:5). Just as Noah is grieved and disrespected by his son, so Ham will be grieved and disrespected by his son.

Ham's descendents will be a "servant of servants." In the Hebrew, this is a superlative construction implying that Ham's heirs will be "the lowest of the low." For better or for worse, the curse provides theological justification for Israel's future conflict with the Canaanites. Post-exodus Israel now possesses a theological reason for which they must remove the Canaanites from their land.

One thing is clear and we would be remiss to notice this: "This text mentions enslavement in the wake of sinful behavior; such a human practice is thus clearly set at odds with God's creational intentions. As with the sentence in 3:14-19, humans should, appropriately, work to overcome this effect of sin."[6]

Shem begins the line that will lead to Abraham. The Israelites, the Canaanites, and the Philistines (represented by Japheth) represent the prominent groups occupying Palestine in ancient times. The statement that Japheth will "dwell in the tents of Shem" seems to imply that Israel will not have sole occupation of the Promised Land, but will be forced to share it with others.

In the midst of God's continued blessings, the curse is manifest in drunkenness and its effects, disrespect of parents, and in familial conflict. Fretheim summarizes:

"good and evil" patterns in life persist. God's work of blessing influences the worlds of human and nonhuman, family and nation; but there are also deep human failures due to the "evil inclination of the human heart" (8:21). This mix of goodness and evil will accompany every human endeavor, whether familial or sociopolitical, and every relationship, whether personal or communal, down through the ages to our own time.[7]

Noah, as the new Adam, has failed as miserably as the first Adam. The earth remains under a curse. Like his forefathers, Noah's life ends with the solemn pronouncement: "and he died" (cf. Genesis 5). Noah is certainly not the messiah his father desired (cf. Genesis 5:29). Things are no different now than prior to the flood. The human heart remains sinful and in desperate need of divine redemption.

The Repopulation of the Earth (Genesis 10)

Chapter 10 is an genealogy of Noah's family. Seventy peoples are mentioned in this chapter. This may signify that the entirety of the known world is included (seventy is often a number used to communicate completeness). If this is the case, the genealogy underscores the ultimate unity of the human race in spite of differences of language, race, and color. All humankind belongs to one world. We all share a common humanity.

Nimrod stands out in this chapter. He is a "mighty man" - the first empire builder - and a "mighty hunter" - celebrated for his hunting prowess. Even though he shows no sign of honoring God, he lives his life "before the Lord" (Genesis 10:9).

Again, in the midst of human waywardness, "The multiplication of peoples across the face of the earth constitutes a fulfillment of the divine blessing and the divine command to "fill the earth" (1:28; renewed in 9:1, 7).[8]

The Judgment of the Nations (Genesis 11:1-9)

The Tower of Babel is the final story in the chapters recounting the corrupt state of primeval humanity and its need for divine redemption - a redemption that begins with God's call of Abram. In this account, the gift of language is abused. It becomes a means through which humanity's unified rebellion against God reaches its zenith.

The people of Babel build a temple tower - a ziggurat, a stepped, mountain-shaped structure. It is purposefully built to be a direct affront to God - humankind's attempt "to reach into heaven" apart from God. It represents a claim of equality to the Creator. It is humankind's attempt to storm the very gates of heaven. It is humankind's mass attempt to "be like God" without God. As such, it is the embodiment of human pride and self-sufficiency.

Some suggest that the tower is a twisted way to achieve a self-sufficient means of immortality: "Let us make a name for ourselves" (Genesis 11:4).[9]

Though this may be the case, it seems like the heart of the sin of Babel is found in humankind's attempt to resist God's blessing in order to keep from being scattered across the face of the earth: "otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth" (Genesis 11:4). The people fear scattering and take actions to prevent it. Their self-serving unity resists God's scattering activity. The tower thus represents a "fortress mentality" that has no concern for the good of the world. "The building projects constitute a bid to secure their own future as a unified community, isolated from the rest of the world."[10] This is in direct opposition to God's blessing in Genesis 1:28 (repeated in 9:1). The people do not want to multiply and fill the earth. They want no part of God's original blessing.

No matter how high the tower is, it cannot reach to God. God still must "come down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built" (Genesis 11:5; cf. 11:7). This not only demonstrates the futility of the tower, but it also reveals that God judges justly. God will not act until God has thoroughly surveyed the situation.

God's judgment is pronounced in order to prevent humankind from fulfilling its true potential for sin. Like the new laws of chapter 9, God's judgment acts as a curb to human sin. God dissolves humankind's self-serving unity through the confusion of languages in order that humankind will "scatter abroad over the face of all the earth" as God intends.

In the confusion that results from God's judgment, the people of Babel give up building the tower (Genesis 11:9). "The very name they sought to make for themselves becomes a name for confusion, making them famous for their failure."[11]

The people's isolationist view puts the whole world at risk:

God thus counters their efforts to remain an isolated community by acting in such a way that they have no choice but to obey the command. God does this by making their languages so diffuse that they can no longer communicate, having to leave off what they are doing, move apart from one another, and establish separate linguistic communities. The confusing that leads to their scattering (confusion is the only means cited by which God does this) thus becomes a means to another end: the filling of and caring for the earth in fulfillment of the creational command. God thereby promotes diversity at the expense of any form of unity that seeks to preserve itself in isolation from the rest of the creation.[12]

Present Relevance

As we look forward into the New Testament, we find two points of contemporary significance in this account. First, the church must refrain from a fortress mentality, seeking its own welfare at the expense of the world.

In the interests of unity and preserving its own future, the members often stay close to home and don't risk venturing forth (see Jonah). The command of Matt 28:18-20 calls for the church to scatter across the face of the earth. If the church refuses this call, God may well enter into judgment against the church and find some way of getting us beyond our own church cliques out into the world on behalf of the creation. The unity of the church is not to be found by focusing on unity, building churches and programs that present a unified front before the temptations of the world. We receive true unity finally as a gift, found in those things that are not tangible or centered on one's own self-interests. Unity will be forged most successfully in getting beyond one's own kind on behalf of the word in the world.[13]

Second, the confusion at Babel is reversed in the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. Human unity apart from the Spirit of God can be devastating. But human unity in the Spirit blesses the world with God's redemptive presence. In the Spirit, the human family shares a common language by faith. With one voice we cry, "Abba." With one purpose, we declare, "Jesus is Lord." With one heart, we sing, "Hallelujah!"

© Richard J. Vincent, 2008