Noah Part 1: The Hero They Needed

Over the next thousand years after the initial fall in the Garden of Eden, Mesopotamia seems to have devolved into a sort of Gotham on steroids. Mankind just progressively spiraled further and further from God’s initial purposes for them, and this progression appears to have accelerated at a specific point in the timeline when the Sons of God started interfering in human affairs (Genesis 6:1-4).

While the writer of Genesis seems to gloss over this situation, a more detailed account can be found in the pseudo-apocryphal book, First Enoch. Mike Heiser highlighted a great analysis of this story from Genesis 6 on his blog almost ten years ago. Click here to access this article via Heiser’s blog. 

It is important to note that a supernatural view of the Sons of God in Genesis 6 was the overwhelmingly accepted interpretation of this passage during the Old Testament period, through the time of Jesus and up until around 200 AD or so when it fell out of favor with a few specific early church fathers. I am not going to spend time here laying out the reasons why the supernatural view is superior to all others and the only defensible interpretation of this passage but had to at least mention it since it provides the backdrop for Noah’s entire mission.

What the Bible does say is that these giants (Nephilim) were mighty men (gibborim) of renown (shem). The use of the word gibborim here helps to reinforce the idea that the Sons of God were divine as this word is used to describe people who were half-man, half-god. The word shem simply means name, or fame. Different translations also use the word “heroes” to describe these men. So, at this time, the known earth is being dominated by these half-man, half-god heroes who had made great names for themselves. In keeping with the Gotham theme, these would be the heroes that culture deserved, but not the heroes they needed.

At this point the story shifts from the infamous, heroic men of renown to a man named Noah, whose name means “rest.” This is appropriate, as he appears against a backdrop of unrest in his culture as we just reviewed. This is an example of foreshadowing, which appears frequently throughout the Bible. Yahweh loves a good story.

In Genesis 6:8-9, we read that Noah found favor (chen) in the eyes of Yahweh and that he was righteous (thmim) and blameless (tzadi(k)) among the people of this time. Let’s break this down:

Chen, written as favor in Genesis 6:8, is a Hebrew word that can also be interpreted as grace. Rabbi Julian Sinclair notes:

“It also means grace and beauty, as in "Chen is deceptive; beauty is illusory" (Proverbs 31:30). One senses that chen is a type of attractiveness that might be superficial or unearned. Indeed, in Yiddish, machen chen means to flirt.”

Other instances of chen used in this way are when Ruth finds chen with Boaz (Ruth 2:10) and Mary finds favor with Yahweh (Luke 1:30) or when Esther obtained chen with King Xerxes I (Esther 2:17).

Noah is also described as Thummim which is translated righteous, but can mean innocent or faultless, and tzadi(k), which is usually translated blameless.

Hebrew Today notes that the use of the word tzadik seems to indicate that Noah was a

person who safeguarded and protected his eyes from evil things and protected his mouth and speech from saying bad things.”

Basically, the writer has included several words to make it plainly clear that Noah was better than basically everyone else in his generation. While he was not perfect, he had not engaged in the debauchery that was pervasive at this time. Not only that, he seems to have shielded his immediately family from these things as well. Some scholars would say this included preventing the seed of the Nephilim from infiltrating his family. Bottom line, Noah saw what was going on in the world around him and did not participate. He stayed loyal to Yahweh.

By doing so, he was able to become the hero they needed.

Genesis 6 introduces to us two very wild juxtapositions:

1.      At this point, we’ve definitely left the Garden of Eden. It’s way back in the rearview mirror. This post-Eden society and the culture of Mesopotamia have devolved into the worst that humanity can be.

2.      The culture, heavily influenced by fallen divine beings who were engaged in a supernatural rebellion against their creator, has raised up these mighty rulers who have built kingdoms and made names for themselves. The men of renown are now running the show, while quietly, the Bible introduces an unlikely hero. After a thousand years of having the heroes it deserves, the earth is about to meet the hero it needs.  

The implications for our culture today are significant. Our culture is embracing every kind of evil. We live in a world full of men of renown. Men who live to be “of name.” The ones we build monuments for. Trophy collectors. We live in a world where common advice from a young age is “make a name for yourself.” And we live in a culture where there is no rest. Amidst all the turmoil, all the hatred, all the conflict, all the despair and depression and anxiety and hopelessness, we need Noah, rest. Today we have the heroes we deserve, but where are the heroes we need?

The beginning of Genesis 6 outlines two paths for us to choose between: striving to become men of renown or choosing to become men of God. The heroes of Noah’s day lived to make their own names great. They were men of name. Household names. Men with songs written about them. Men of reputation. Envied. Imitated. Worshipped. Then there’s Noah. His name does not strike fear. It simply means rest. He is not widely known. He’s simply a husband and father who was careful about what he looked at and the words he used. He was not perfect, but God chose to see him as innocent. And of all the men of renown God could have chosen, he picked Noah.

Who are you striving to be? Whose name are you living for? What kind of life are you living? Your answers to these questions might indicate where you find yourself standing with what happens next. Will you be a hero this world deserves or one it needs? Noah Part 2 coming soon…