Week 5: Noah Builds an Ark Lesson Information Title:  Noah Builds an Ark Objectives:  Resources: Fr Daoud Lamei on Genesis Arabic with English notes below https://notes.morcous.com/books/genesis/page/08-genesis-5-6   https://notes.morcous.com/books/genesis/page/09-genesis-6   https://notes.morcous.com/books/genesis/page/10-genesis-7   https://notes.morcous.com/books/genesis/page/11-genesis-7-9   Fr Tadros Yacoub Malaty - Genesis Commentary https://www.dropbox.com/s/zpat4ujj5q6p7o6/Genesis%20%28Small%29%20-%20Father%20Tadros%20Yacoub%20Malaty.pdf?dl=0 (Short one) https://www.dropbox.com/s/f6o1ujr3kcj7wxm/Genesis%20-%20Father%20Tadros%20Yacoub%20Malaty.pdf?dl=0 (More Details) Origen on Genesis https://www.dropbox.com/s/tu6z3xy90bdc4om/071%20Origen%20-%20Homilies%20on%20Genesis%20and%20Exodus.pdf?dl=0   St John Chrysostom on Genesis https://www.dropbox.com/s/2nh6ekts33si8fu/074%20St%20John%20Chrysostom%20-%20Homilies%20on%20Genesis%201-17.pdf?dl=0   Reading: Genesis 6-8 Key Verse: Lesson Structure Read Genesis 6:1-7 "the sons of God" and "the daughters of men" The sons of God are the line of Seth, who taught his children to love God and be with God The daughters of men are the line of Cain, who did not pass down the knowledge of God St Luke, in his genealogy of Christ says "the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God" Limiting days of man to 120 years God will not strive with you forever if you keep rejecting Him Are we flesh? Or are we spirit? Are we living according to the flesh? Or according to the spirit? The Lord tries to shorten our years so that we don't live hundreds of years without repentance Giants Mighty men who liked to fight and go to war and kill lots of people They would measure their success by how many people they killed or how much they stole The devil loves to make the most sinful people famous "mighty men of renown" and give them a name on earth "Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" What a scary concept - every single intent and thought was evil There is no moral compass, or conscience, or guilt, or remorse for any sin Sadly, doesn't this remind us of the world today? The Lord was sorry and decided to destroy man and beast Did God sin? Did God make a mistake? The Scripture is using human language to help us try to understand the divine will We contemplate on God's love all the time, but we forget that God hates evil and that evil is incompatible with God who is the source of all goodness There was no repentance, which is the most important Read Genesis 6:8-12 Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Read Genesis 6:13-22 Construction of the Ark God is a God of order Typology of the Ark The Ark is a type of Baptism (salvation and rebirth and new creation by water) The Ark is a type of the Cross (salvation through wood) The Ark is a type of the Church (and is considered to be the First Church made by hands) Those who are inside are saved. Those who are outside are not. Everyone has a chance to come inside... until the door is closed. The Church is shaped like the Ark - even the word "Nave" which refers to the area that makes up the body of the church, is from the word "Navis" or "Naval" meaning "ship" Allegorical Interpretations of the Ark Origen discusses the three decks of the ark representing the three levels of Biblical Interpretation: Literal, Tropological, Allegorical The door that is in the side of the ark represents the Eucharist - the door to salvation. Because it is on the side of the ark, and the ark is a type of the Cross. And from the side of the Cross came blood and water. Origen uses Numerology with the dimensions of the boat (the length 300 cubits, the width 50 cubits, the height 30 cubits) - see page 96 part 5 Read Genesis 7 Seven of each animal? Or two? Seven of every clean, two of every unclean Why are more clean animals needed? To offer Sacrifice How did Noah know what is clean or unclean? The Law of Moses is not here yet? Natural Law which God communicated to those early people like Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah After seven more days, I will cause it to rain on the earth The first time God told Noah, He didn't give a timeline. Then He came 100 years later and said "it's in seven days" The first time God told Abraham about his son, He didn't give a timeline. Then He came 20 years later and said "this time next year" Some people want specific answers and timelines from God when they pray for something. God doesn't work this way. God may give a general or blurry picture of His will, until the right time when He reveals more details. Everyone needs to be in before the rain starts. Once the door is shut, that's it. Someone might not have believed Noah until they started to feel the water... it's too late When the day of judgment comes, it will be too late to repent. When the day of your death comes, it will be too late to repent. The 10 virgins - 5 inside, 5 outside. When the 5 came, the door was shut and the Lord said "I say to you, I do not know you" How did Noah get all the animals? Adam, before the Fall of Man, resembled God and had no enmity with animals. He played with them and loved them. The Fathers say that as one comes closer to God, he starts to resemble Christ, and the animals would treat him as such St Barsoum the Naked who had a huge snake in his cave, became friends with the snake. It was a regular snake, but he was not a regular man. Daniel in the Lion's Den - real ordinary lions that eat humans after the fall, but not humans before the fall. The more a person becomes like Adam before the Fall, the more the animals recognize the Creator in him Where did the water come from? Rain from up top - "windows of heaven were opened" Rain from down below - "Fountains of the great deep were opened up" Am I in the ark? We might think we are in the ark because we go to church every week But I need to be in the ark at all times and all days Read Genesis 8 God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals Noah sends a raven and a dove Noah's patience in leaving the ark Noah's first inclination is to offer a sacrifice Covenant will be discussed in the next week Review Questions Homework