Love Covers A Multitude of Sin
Today’s reading from Genesis 9:18 through Genesis 10:32 is a bit longer, and it is so because it’s another chapter that covers a bunch of genealogy. This time, it’s the genealogies from the sons of Noah from whom the entire earth wasĀ repopulated after the flood. But before it gets into the genealogies, this chapter tells a story of excess, drunkenness, and disrespectful behavior.
Noah was a farmer, so after getting off the boat, he planted a vineyard. From the fruit of his labors, he drank a bit too much wine (it is easy to go overboard when you have gone without something for a very long time) and passed out in his tent. I’m guessing his robes came undone, or the wine made him warm, and he stripped them off, but for whatever reason, he was laying there completely naked. What happened next changed the future of many people groups.
Noah’s youngest son, Ham, happened by his father’s tent. Instead of backing out and respecting him, he ran to tell his brothers all about it. Now remember, the sons who entered the ark were married men and their wives, so this was a full-grown married man running off to make fun of his father to other full-grown married men. I think there is likely much more to the story, but here’s what I see: The states of mind before the flood were not only lacking any direction toward God, but they were so selfish, they were immature. Learning to care for others instead of just yourself takes time and maturity, so selfish people often act childish by being demanding, having temper tantrums, and/or being just plain silly. I think Ham came on board with the mindset of those who had just been destroyed. Maybe all but Noah boarded that way, but I believe Ham “missed the boat” mentally and emotionally when he did not learn a lesson by watching the end result of that evil behavior. And that childish behavior caused problems from his son, Canaan, on down the line because Ham did not create a legacy of maturity and obedience that could be taught through the generations.
As with all of God’s stories though, there is always some good news to find. In this case, it was the two older brothers who walked backward with a blanket and covered their father’s nakedness instead of making fun of him. Were they mature because they were older, or had they matured as a result of the last year and the lesson learned from the destruction of mankind? It’s hard to tell, but in a literal way, they fulfilled Proverbs 10:12 where it says, “Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions” (Amplified Bible). The immature son disrespected his father, and hated him enough to try to stir things up against him in the hearts of his brothers. But his brothers loved their father and chose instead to cover his transgressions. I also like the way this is stated in 1 Peter 4:8 (Amp)….”Above all things have intenseĀ andĀ unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives andĀ disregards the offenses of others].”
We have a Savior who feels love toward us, so when given the choice to mock our sins and put them on public display for punishment, He chose instead to cover us–with His own body and blood. He took the public display, the mocking, and the punishment on Himself. And because mercy and love is more powerful than punishment and hate, we have the promise that His love covers our sins, not only unto the third and fourth generation (as it is with those who hate God), but unto thousands of generations of those that love God and keep His commandments. (See Exodus 20:6).
Merciful God from the Beginning
Not only was I out and about after reading today’s portion from Genesis 3:22 through 4:26 (end of chapter 4), I was driving, so I couldn’t do the entry from my phone app as I intended to do on days when I’m running. I just got home and looked at the clock, so time is short, which means I’ll have to keep this short. But I’m determined to make my best effort to write every day.
Yesterday, the Scripture ended with man and woman knowing they were naked and sewing fig leaves together to cover themselves. And then God shed the first blood to cover them completely. It was only after I began studying the Hebrew roots of my faith and falling in love with the old testament that I saw God in a new and merciful light, and this is the first place I saw Him that way. I had always believed in God as the “Big Meanie” in the old testament who got nice when He robed Himself in flesh in the new testament. But now, I see Him wanting to visit with Adam and Eve, and feeling pain because of the sin that has now divided them. Scripture says that for God, associating with the flesh is “strife” ( see Genesis 6:3), and He will not have it that way forever.
So, here is God with the new creation, the ones He called “very good,” and it’s hurting Him to even visit with them. What does He do? He causes Himself a bit more pain by slaying yet another of that which He has created, so the blood can temporarily cover the sin and allow Him to fellowship with them once more. I believe He hurt over killing that animal even more than most animal lovers would hurt. I don’t think it was a small thing for Him with that sacrifice or any sacrifice He demanded later. But it was a necessary sacrifice in order for God to participate in the lives of those He made in His very own image.
As this reading begins, we have God setting up angels to guard the “Tree of Life” to make sure that mankind cannot touch it and eat and live forever. That is a huge act of mercy because had they eaten from that tree after being in the sinful state caused by their eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have been doomed to live in that terrible state forever. Imagine having a front row seat to all the darkness and evil in the world and having to sit and watch it forever. That would have been their fate if God had not intervened with His mercy. Yahveh God purposely caused the knowledge of evil to shorten their lives, so they would not have to live forever in hopelessness. Not only is that a great mercy from Him, it is still only the beginning of what He would do to give hope and a future to those who love Him. Amazing!
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It has been quite awhile since I was in a “home ec” class, but I know I liked the cooking ones better than the sewing ones. Maybe because I could eat my creations. š Of course, I did get called to the principal once as a result of one cooking class. I made my first and only lemon meringue pie, and I brought a piece of it to my Spanish teacher. When the principal called me in, he asked if I was the one who gave pie to the teacher. I thought I’d done something horribly wrong until the principal told me the teacher gave him some of it, and he just wanted to know if I had any left and would bring some to him.
Well, Israel already had their cooking class back when God rained down manna for them. In today’s reading from Exodus 26:1 through Exodus 26:14, they get their sewing class. God gives them detailed instructions for making the curtains of finely woven linen for the wilderness tabernacle. He gives them measurements, amount of material, colors of yarn–royal colors of blue, purple, and scarlet–and even the color of the loops that will be used to hang the curtains. He tells them to use their artists to create embroidered cherubim (angels) in the drapes and to add golden fasteners, so the curtains can be joined as one complete unit.
After the linen curtains, God instructs Israel to make coverings with sheets made of goat hair. He gives strong details for making the coverings, but it is clear by the details that artistry is not of the same importance for the outer covering as for the inside drapes. This is what I was talking about when I spoke of the hidden beauty in an earlier post. And if goat hair isn’t enough to hide the beauty inside, Israel is then instructed to make more outer coverings of ram’s skins dyed red followed by dolphin or porpoise skins. That detail is given more clearly in the Amplified version of the last verse.
I think the thing I’m loving about the wilderness tabernacle is that everyone is working together with detailed instruction, and each person is to work within his or her own strengths. In my high school home economics elective, I was given the choice of “Threads” or “Grub,” so I could take the class I was most interested in. I tried the sewing one, and I think I remember making a blue corduroy pantsuit, but it’s long enough in the past that I don’t recall if I ever finished it. But I do remember that neither of those things was ever a strength to me like writing (especially poetry) and singing were. I am thankful, though, for everything God has allowed me to learn and experience in life. I’m even more thankful that He is a personal Creator that knows the strengths and weaknesses of those who walk with Him.
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February 3, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, covering, Creator, crystalwriter, curtains, design, Exodus, God, Holy Bible, instruction, Israel, Lord, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, Scripture, tabernacle, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh | 2 Comments