NOTES for Gen 7:11-8:22
The most remarkable part of the parable of Noah is its conclusion (Gen 8:20-22). It speaks of the union, the "covenant," that God makes with Noah, and in his person with all righteous people who have ever lived and are now living on earth. And at this solemn moment the full limitation of human nature and human possibilities becomes clear. The image of God here is deliberately made somewhat archaic. The God of the Bible in this passage resembles the gods of Homer: like them, He "inhales," drawing into His nostrils the smoke rising to heaven from the sacrifice, which ancient pagans thought the gods fed on just as we feed on food. But the definition God gives the human race at this point is extremely severe: "every intention of the human heart is evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21; in the Hebrew text it is precisely "intentions," not "thoughts," as in the Synodal translation). That is why destroying the human race is pointless: even if only one righteous person remains on the whole earth, as happened after the flood, evil will still enter the world, if not through him, then through his descendants. And yet, making a covenant with Noah, God promises him that the catastrophe will not be repeated (Gen 8:22). Here the limits of human righteousness become clear, and here also lies the answer to questions often asked of Christians: why was it so necessary for the Savior to come at all? Why was some separate, special people of God needed? Are there not enough righteous people in the world, some of whom did not know and do not know about God, yet nevertheless live according to His laws, keeping the commandments He gave? Today, however, people more often speak not of righteous people but of "good people," though this does not change the essence of the matter. The answer to these questions is simple and sorrowful: all the righteousness of all the righteous people in the world, people like Noah, all their faithfulness to God, is enough only to keep catastrophe from striking the world again, to keep it from collapsing into the abyss. This is the most they can do. They are not able to change the situation in the world radically or break the course of events, just as they are not able to change their own nature, damaged by the fall. For this, special efforts are needed; a special plan of God is needed, the plan for the salvation of the human person and the world, of which both the special people of God and the Messiah-Christ become a part.