Continuing from yesterday, the priesthood in the time of Noah became corrupted again too soon.
Gen 6:1-3 [NIV]
1When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
I tend to believe that, at this stage, the “sons of God” here are indeed the priests in this priesthood. Like the sons of Eli and the sons of Samuel, they degraded themselves in their service to the Lord and brought disgrace to His name. God became grieved with the condition of man.
Gen. 6:5-7 [NIV]
5The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them.”
He brought the flood upon them and only the righteous Noah and his family were saved, along with the beasts and birds in the ark. The ark is a symbol of His Presence and Grace. Afterward He transferred them to a new land, and established a covenant with Noah.
First, He restored the things that were destroyed by the judgment of the flood back to mankind.
Gen. 8:15-17 [NIV]
15Then God said to Noah, 16″Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you-the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground-so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.”
He then assured Noah that He would separate the fate of creation from the fate of Man. Earth was no longer subject to judgments due to man.
Gen 8:20-22 [NIV]
20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22″As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”
God here pronounced that He will preserve Man as a race, but Man had lost its position to subdue everything under him, or to represent God to creation. Actually, God separated the creation from His dealings with mankind. Man’s sin was taken into account, but no solution was offered.
Gen. 9:1-17 [NIV]
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4″But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
6″Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
7As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9″I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10and with every living creature that was with you-the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you-every living creature on earth. 11I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
This is post is _Part 4_ in the series The Order of Melchizedek. To continue with this series, click on Pt 5. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2 and Pt 3.
Photo credit: flopper