A Daily Genesis

Genesis 6:11-14

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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:11a . .The earth became corrupt before God;[/B]

The word for "corrupt" is [I]shachath[/I] (shaw-khath') which means: to decay, decompose, and/or disintegrate; viz[B]:[/B] to become decadent.

The perspective "before God" indicates the Almighty's own personal estimation. No doubt the antediluvians disagreed with God's evaluation of their spiritual condition just like people today disagree with His evaluation. And again, this disparity of evaluations has its roots all the way back in the garden when humans became their own Gods; discerning right and wrong from within a humanistic system of values instead of their creator's.
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[/COLOR][B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:11b . . the earth was filled with lawlessness.[/B]

Crime is pretty much inevitable in a world of sinful beings sans cops and courts. Nobody was accountable for a single thing in those days. The only rules that may have existed were those among clans or in towns. But those rules wouldn't be universal. Rules like that would be different from clan to clan and from town to town. And primitive clans are known to war with each other on a regular basis like the Native Americans did here in America's early years.

I just hope I don't live to see the day when some sort of nationwide disaster, like a nuclear holocaust, occurs in America. Nobody will be safe. Electrical power will be out, the banks won't be open, ATM machines won't work, and everyone will be so desperate to survive. Roving gangs of thugs will prowl the rubble looking to scavenge and to steal anything not nailed down or protected by guards. Law enforcement and medical services will be so overwhelmed that dialing 911 will be no more productive than writing a letter to Santa Claus; that is, if telephones even work.

If hurricanes Katrina and Sandy taught us anything in New Orleans and Manhattan, it's that large-scale disasters produce large-scale anarchy and chaos.

According to the 2011 World Almanac, in the year 2009, there were a total of 4,343,450 violent crimes committed against individuals in the USA . The number of property crimes committed against individuals totaled 15,580,510. Those totals exclude arson and non-victim types of crimes like perjury, contempt of court, internet hackers, traffic violations, J-walking, trespassing, animal abuse, feeding parking meters, cheating on taxes; et al.

The criminal element has neither honor nor sympathy for its victims. After the September 29, 2009 tsunami subsided in Samoa, residents returned to neighborhoods only to find that their homes had been looted.

And to think the USA and its territories are a society of law abiding citizens. Just think what it must have been like in Noah's day with no law enforcement whatsoever to control crime. All I can say is; if something really bad should ever happen here in the USA, you'd better own deadly weapons like swords and guns plus lots of pepper and/or bear spray because neither your life nor your possessions will be safe after dark.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:12-13a . . God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah: I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.[/B]

Some people would probably like to translate some of that verse like this[B]:[/B] "for the earth is filled with violence through God." But Genesis doesn't say it was filled with violence through God; no, God said it was filled with violence through them.
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[/COLOR][B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:13b . . I am about to destroy them with the earth.[/B]

Here is set a precedent of God forewarning His own when He is about to execute a disastrous event upon the earth. The Passover was another such example. God forewarned Moses, and Moses' people, of the imminent annihilation of all the firstborn of Man and Beast in Egypt; which would also impact Moses and his people if they didn't do exactly as God said and paint the blood of a lamb on their door jambs (Ex 11:1-13). And our man Noah, super-duper righteous saint that he was, would have drowned right along with the rest of the antediluvians had he neglected to construct an ark. When God gives a warning, it is best to respond accordingly.

"A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it." (Pro 22:3)

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:14a . . Make yourself an ark[/B]

The Hebrew word for ark is [I]tebah[/I] (tay-baw') and just simply indicates, not a ship, but a nondescript box. The only other place tebah is used again in the Old Testament is of the little watertight container Moses' mom constructed to hide him from Pharaoh's assassins. (Ex 2:1-10)

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:14b . . of gopher wood;[/B]

Nobody really knows for sure exactly what kind of trees Noah used to make the ark. The word for "gopher" has nothing to do with little subterranean rodents. It's a transliteration of the Hebrew word [I]gopher[/I] (go'-fer) which only suggests a kind of tree suitable for building structures out of wood.

Some think it was cypress because the wood of those trees is so resinous that it resists rotting even after prolonged submersion in water. Others think it may have been cedar or spruce; which are good too. Unfortunately, this is the one and only occurrence of gopher in the entire Old Testament so there's no other passages that might help identify a specific kind of tree.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:14c . . make it an ark with compartments,[/B]

The word for "compartments" is from [I]qen[/I] (kane) which means[B]:[/B] a nest (as fixed), sometimes including the nestlings; figuratively, a chamber or dwelling. The construction of nests (and stalls) indicates the animals weren't just herded or jammed together like the crowds attending an outdoor Metallica rock concert. They were neatly stowed aboard in their own areas and apparently made to feel quite comfortable.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 6:14d . . and cover it inside and out with pitch.[/B]

The word for "pitch" is [I]kopher[/I] (ko'-fer) which means[B]:[/B] a cover. It can also mean a village (as covered in); and also bitumen (as used for coating) and the henna plant (as used for dye).

Kopher is a common word in the Old testament for "atonement" which is like pitch as a coating, or a covering, which not only serves the purpose of a sealing compound like the stuff people apply to weatherproof their patio decks, but also a concealment coating like paint and/or tar and feathers. Coating the ark with bitumen not only served to waterproof it; but also preserved the wood for future uses after the Flood subsided and Noah no longer had need of a titanic water craft.
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[/SIZE][B][SIZE=1]NOTE[/SIZE]:[/B] Bitumen is a naturally-occurring kind of asphalt formed from the remains of ancient, microscopic algae (diatoms) and other once-living things. In order for bitumen to be available in Noah's day, the organisms from whence it was formed had to have existed on the earth several thousands of years before him.

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