In the first 11 chapters of Genesis we have the creation myths, of structure from chaos, that we have a choice : our way or God’s way, that we can choose violence or peace. Humanity chooses a path that spirals downwards. We may have distrust of others. Shame and guilt is found which leads to defeat and departure from what God had set aside for us.
We have Cain and Abel, tasting the first death in the Bible. There are relationships which involve someone called Lamech and his multiple wives, and the offspring are interestingly called the sons of God. Lamech is proud of his vengeful approach to life. So what’s God’s response to all this?
Well, it starts with God being sad, grieving over humanity, and then decides the cleanse it of every kind of wrong – it’s a reset for the world. Then there is a flood in Mesopotamia. Noah leads the response – if you haven’t yet watched Evan Almighty, please do, and notice in the clip who are the estate agents – and Noah is deemed to be the new Adam. This, again re-emphasises that ongoing cycle of creation, fall and then re-creation.
Ah, but Noah then plants a vineyard – a great biblical theme. He then gets totally drunk, and one of the sons of Noah, Ham, defiles his Father. Even after this world reset, humanity hasn’t changed course. The people are still seeking power in terms of total control, this time in their ability to build. They intend to build this enormous city with an amazingly tall tower. If all could be understood with their Babel tower, then they would have that control.
Enuma Elish
The creation story we have heard previously has precedent. Possibly as far back as the second millennium BCE, the Babylonian’s had a creation story called Enuma Elish. It all starts with a chaotic roaring mass of water, where a god called Marduk fights Tiamat, who is seen as one that embodies the deep swirling water, depicting destruction. In their story, God, with Marduk, creates order out of this chaos – from the carcass of Tiamat – lovely. The Enuma Elish unfolds across 7, yes seven, tablets, not days. The plan for each of the different segments, tablets or days, appears very similar. At its conclusion, a huge city is built, with a tall tower or ziggurat – suggestive of Babylon or Babel. This poem might well resonate with the first readers of Genesis.
The Fall
This area of our faith has developed significantly over the millennia. Our understanding of the Fall is that sin entered the world in this process and we have been ravaged ever since. Sin is a key word as many of the Atonement theories link the forgiveness of sin with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Augustine, was a Christian Bishop from Carthage in Africa. He despised the place, noting that it was a ‘hissing cauldron of lust’. It might well explain his desire for sex strictly only within marriage and only for producing children. He also believed and heavily influenced the Church, as it was then, to say that original sin passes through the generations. Babies are born sinful.
There are alternatives. Danielle Shroyer speak softly Original Blessing. She writes,
“if you really acknowledge the goodness in people, you can just see their faces being so receptive and grateful for that. And when you show in the way that you live or in the way that you explain things to that person how that has to do with this connection that we all have to this higher power – this God, this spirit in the world that is life-giving and generous and good – then we end up all kind of on the same page. It’s an act of togetherness rather than, ‘There’s something seriously wrong with you, and until you acknowledge it, you’re going to go to hell.’”
Nomad Podcast, quote from Danielle Shroyer
The flood (no, it’s not another day in Glasgow)
Noah is also seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Babylonian story from the late 3rd millennia BCE; so still before when Genesis was formed. The latest fragment is purportedly dated to 1800 BCE. This poem, written across around 12 tablets, was for the Assyrian people. It speaks of a god who seeks to destroy civilisation bar for one family, including Utnapishtim (their Noah character), and all the animals. Sounds familiar… Oddly their king, Gilgamesh, lived for what we would deem an expected lifetime, contrary to Noah’s years.
Conclusion
What can we make of the overall theme of the first 11 chapters from Genesis? Is it that our possibly perceived understanding is affected by our belief that we are reading original fresh depictions of the history of the first days, when they originate from another geographical area, a different culture, and from a different time.
What we may take from this is that the first set of authors of Genesis wanted to convey an understanding that God continually seeks to reset our world following our repeated attempts to take an alternative path. These first 11 Chapters portray a theme of episodes which need to be redrawn using some characters to which we might more fully understand. Hence, stage left, awaits Abram…
I found the dialogue interesting