Centuries before the Biblical narrative of Noah's flood was compiled, in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, a Noah-like figure named Utnapishtim, survives a global flood by building a giant ship where he and his family, along with the world's animals are carried safely through the storm. And it's not only the Babylonians who rehearsed similar tales, but throughout the ancient near east, epic tales like Utnapishtim's flood were spread far and wide.
It's clear that neither Utnapishtim nor Noah are historical figures. They may be based on a real-life person who survived a localized flood, but in their current versions it is obvious that the facts of the original story, if in fact there was an historical anchor to it at all, have been altered in the service of a mythopoeic narrative. And since the Epic of Gilgamesh pre-dates the Old Testament Pentateuch, the Biblical compilers obviously borrowed from Gilgamesh, and not vice versa.
However, this does not mean that there are not great truths to be learned from both Utnapishtim's, as well as Noah's story. Since this blog covers the big narrative of the Bible, we will focus on the story as told by the Biblical authors in Genesis 6-9.
As Genesis winds its way through the fall of humanity in the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, a pattern of the ever-widening effect of human sin and brokenness becomes evident. This pattern grows unchecked until even spiritual beings are affected by human rebellion (Genesis 6:1-4).
As YHWH looks down on humanity, he discovers that wickedness is rife and that "every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually." (Gen 6:5). That's amazing! You would imagine that at least occasionally someone might have had a nice thought, if not at least a neutral thought. But no, humankind had gone to hell in a handbasket! The state of humanity is so twisted and disgusting that we are told that it brought God himself to repentance. God was sorry that he had initiated this whole human experiment to begin with and so he decides to undue his creation. After initiating the creation process, YHWH begins a de-creation event, beginning with people, moving to the other animals, and even reaching the birds of the air. This order is the exact opposite of the order of creation as told in Genesis 1. It is clear, God has moved from creation to de-creation. But is this the final word in the story?
Thank God, no! There's one man, who compared to the sorry scumbags of his generation, is a fairly stand-up guy. His name is Noah, and not only does he walk with God, but he will also be the one through whom humanity, the other animals, and even creation itself will be rescued.
If you have forgotten the Noah story, go back and read Genesis 6-9. You will read about Noah building a gigantic barge where he, his family, and a representative selection of the earth's animals will ride out the storm and the global flooding catastrophe to come. After several months, the flood waters subside and Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark eventually walk back out onto dry land.
Rather than destroying the entire creation with the flood, YHWH instead uses the global catastrophe to cleanse the world. The de-creation of the flood leads to a re-creation, so that when Noah and his family walk out onto the soil, they are entering a whole new world. Noah now becomes a kind of "Adam and Eve" like figure. Just as Eve reached out her hand to take the fruit, so Noah plants a vineyard, but then misuses God's good creation and gets drunk on the wine, the fruit of the vine. In fact, he gets so plastered that he is running around naked and making a fool of himself. His son Ham makes matters worse by mocking his own father, bringing down a curse on him and his descendants. Ham's story reminds us immediately of the curse of Cain and the brokenness and sin that proliferated through his genetic spawn.
So, we are in a sense, right back where we started. Out of his love, grace, and mercy, God made a new creation. But the human beings in this renewed world were just as broken and sinful as the humans in the previous iteration of creation. Like the earlier stories in Genesis 1-5, the Noah story is "fictional" on the surface, but as deep as the mighty ocean in its depth. It is as true in a universal sense as any story ever told.
The Noah story gives us a clear glimpse of where the Biblical narrative is going. Because like in the Noah story, the story of the Bible is the story of "Creation to New Creation". It's the story of God and how he comes to dwell with his people. But where will this story end? Is there a solution to human sin and brokenness? Where is this story going? Read on... - Shay