10.12.06
After the Flood
Noah built an altar to offer a sacrifice to God. God liked the smell of it and swore he would never destroy humans again, despite their strange evil dispositions, and the rainbow became as a sign of this covenant.
"Replenish the land and multiply", God commanded. It was the same commandment as the one given to the first inhabitants of this world.
Humans still had dominion over the animal world, but one concession was made: It was now OK to kill beasts for food. God decided to bear with men's violence.
However, humans were not allowed to taste the blood: "The blood is the life". As God has dominion over existence, the blood belongs to him.
Murder is not tolerated. If anyone kills another human, that person must die. As humans are in the image of God, humans should not be killed.
There is then an episode when Noah gets drunk. The first cultivator of the vine wouldn't have known the effect of alcohol, or so we are told. The point of this story is to blame the descendants of Noah's son, Ham. He saw his father naked in his tent and told his two brothers, who instead of lacking respect for their father, a serious offense for semitic people, cover him. Ham will be cursed, and that would explain why the land of Canaan was inhabitated by "bad" people...
"Replenish the land and multiply", God commanded. It was the same commandment as the one given to the first inhabitants of this world.Humans still had dominion over the animal world, but one concession was made: It was now OK to kill beasts for food. God decided to bear with men's violence.
However, humans were not allowed to taste the blood: "The blood is the life". As God has dominion over existence, the blood belongs to him.
Murder is not tolerated. If anyone kills another human, that person must die. As humans are in the image of God, humans should not be killed.
There is then an episode when Noah gets drunk. The first cultivator of the vine wouldn't have known the effect of alcohol, or so we are told. The point of this story is to blame the descendants of Noah's son, Ham. He saw his father naked in his tent and told his two brothers, who instead of lacking respect for their father, a serious offense for semitic people, cover him. Ham will be cursed, and that would explain why the land of Canaan was inhabitated by "bad" people...
The Prideful City
Noah's descendants increased and spreaded over the land. There is the idea that people have a place God assigned for them. It is then their duty to "subdue" that place that is their home, and find out where "home" is.
The author of this part of Genesis then gives a geographical and ethnical report of his knowledge of the world. He then goes on explaining that some people got together to settle in a large city instead of scattering across the land like God wanted them to.
These men decided to build a tower so high that it would reach the heavens. The men wanted to "make a name for themselves" instead of being the humans God intented them to be. Ancient temples descriptions in lower Babylonia mention that their tops "reached the heavens". High towers on a vast plain would give this illusion.
It is said that God "came down to see" what was going on and with the Council of Heavens, or whatver we want to call it, God then descended to strike the tower and punish the humans' pride. God confounded their language and scattered them across the earth.
This episode was regarded in the Talmudic literature as a rebellion against God. It is not self-confident ambitious men that God couldn't tolerate, but men who decided he was so unimportant that they could become higher than him. It reminds me of Satan, that beautiful angel that rebelled against God out of pride.
I think the lesson I learn from the Babel story is that we can be whatever we want, we can -and should- have dreams and be ambitious, but we must never forget that God is the Master. He's above us, no matter what!
The author of this part of Genesis then gives a geographical and ethnical report of his knowledge of the world. He then goes on explaining that some people got together to settle in a large city instead of scattering across the land like God wanted them to.
These men decided to build a tower so high that it would reach the heavens. The men wanted to "make a name for themselves" instead of being the humans God intented them to be. Ancient temples descriptions in lower Babylonia mention that their tops "reached the heavens". High towers on a vast plain would give this illusion.It is said that God "came down to see" what was going on and with the Council of Heavens, or whatver we want to call it, God then descended to strike the tower and punish the humans' pride. God confounded their language and scattered them across the earth.
This episode was regarded in the Talmudic literature as a rebellion against God. It is not self-confident ambitious men that God couldn't tolerate, but men who decided he was so unimportant that they could become higher than him. It reminds me of Satan, that beautiful angel that rebelled against God out of pride.
I think the lesson I learn from the Babel story is that we can be whatever we want, we can -and should- have dreams and be ambitious, but we must never forget that God is the Master. He's above us, no matter what!
