You and I, we have Noah to thank for being here. He’s our g-r-e-a-t…Grandpa. I don’t think we generally think of Noah as a prophet, but what else do you call men to whom God reveals things before they happen?

I have to give credit where credit is due.., Veggie Tales helped me to notice that Noah was a prophet. I read Genesis 7:1-5 and into my mind popped unbidden the modified lyrics from the Jonah movie (complete with big band and in Larry the Cucumber’s voice), “Noah was a prophet, ooo, ooo…” If you know the rest, I had to say, “but he really really got it.” (And with that I will close the tent flap on what is the 3-ring circus of my mind). This bizarre line of reasoning led me to start comparing Jonah and Noah.

Jonah was a prophet. Noah was a Prophet.

Jonah was in a boat in a storm. Noah same.

Jonah was in the boat avoiding what God commanded.

Noah was in the boat obeying what God commanded.

They are both saved from certain death in a watery grave.

Jonah was tossed out of the boat. The sinners who called on other gods were left in the boat. Jonah was swallowed by a fish, and taken into the depths, but survived.

Noah was safe inside his boat. The sinners who called on other gods were left outside of it. They sank into the depths and did not survive.

Jonah was deposited on dry land after escaping death. Noah, same.

Noah preached but nobody repented.

Jonah preached and everybody repented.

They each get a plant. Noah gets an olive branch. Jonah gets a gourd.

Seriously, what is with this? I’m not imagining this am I?

Noah builds an altar and thanks the Lord for His compassion in sparing 8 people (and the animals) from destruction.

Jonah builds a hut and waits for destruction but is frustrated at God’s compassion in sparing 120,000+ people (and the animals!).

What’s with the animals? So fascinating that they are highlighted in both stories!

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there were more parallels. Those are just the ones I notice initially. But seriously, is that not wild?!

By the way- THIS is one very helpful way to study. Keep your eyes peeled for parallels. Notice repeated things. They’re not random. And notice the things that are repeated but backwards- like the times above where Jonah is like a photonegative of Noah. When we find them we stop and say, “Hold on. That’s too many times to be an accident. What is God trying to draw my ninny-headed attention to?”

So what is God trying to draw our attention to here? I honestly don’t know but I have some ideas. The main one that presents itself is God’s Compassion. We tend to Satan would like us to think of YHWH as angry and cruel; an omnipotent judge Whom you dare not cross. But God is so compassionate to the ruthless, wicked, and utterly clueless people of Nineveh (and the animals!) that Jonah is miffed. Jonah has more compassion on an overnight gourd. Might we see what happens if we look at the Noah story through the lens of divine compassion?

One might fairly ask, “How is annihilating the entire earth’s population in a cataclysmic flood…compassionate?” If you read my post on Genesis 6, then you know my views on what had been taking place on earth. To borrow the discrete terminology of Chuck Missler, the “fallen angel mischief” had resulted in horrid atrocities- animal and human hybrids that were soulless violent entities. Non-canonical documents and plenty of tribal oral history corroborate and tell of a time when earth was inhabited by these creatures which generally fed on raw human flesh. It’s something right out of the scary films I absolutely avoid. The Bible only says “the earth was filled with violence” Don’t read that and think “micro aggression.” It was terror to live then.

Would it be kind to allow these bloodthirsty giant creatures who – again, Native American lore here- were picking up humans and eating them on the run… is it kindness to leave humanity to them? Sometimes compassion looks an awful lot like brutal destruction. Just look at the Cross.

Selah…

According to 2nd Temple period literature, the Jewish scholars understood that these hybrid creatures perished in the flood and their disembodied spirits- being neither human and so destined for Sheol, nor fallen angel and so assigned to the abyss- they’re left wandering between realms or inhabiting other bodies. The New Testament calls them “unclean spirits.” And that’s exactly what they are. I again refer you to Dr. Heiser for details and all the scholarship on this.

There is a ton of fascinating stuff tied in with all the dates in the Noah account. I am not the person to unpack that. Dr. Chuck Missler made several videos on it. Dr. Ken Johnson of biblefacts.org has great content on this too. Highly recommend it if you geek out on calendars and dates. Oh, and I’ve heard that the Ark Encounter in Kentucky is amazing. I definitely want to make a visit.

One last tidbit chunk idea thought. I share it because this is the kind of stuff that makes average Christians feel intimidated. And that riles me up. We haven’t gotten to the Law of Moses yet where clean and unclean animals are defined. How does Noah know which is which? Some scholars would call this an “anachronism”- (a-knack-chrone-ism, fun to say and makes me feel rather clockish 🕰️ like Cogsworth). This $10 word just means something appearing out of its proper time- like Marty McFly hoverboarding in the old west. Doesn’t belong.

The argument goes: Moses penned the book of Genesis and he knew about clean & unclean animals because God spelled it out on Sinai. So this detail of clean and unclean animals is Moses interpolating into the text. Sounds very impressive. It still doesn’t explain how Noah was able to collect the clean animals in sevens and the unclean in twos if he didn’t know which was which. My hypothesis: God told Adam, for the sake of doing basic pre-Mosaic sacrifices. Abel somehow knew to bring as his offering “the first of his flock” and not some random turtle he picked up by the road. Somehow he knew. There are only Cain, Eve, Adam, and God around to explain. I bet a 5 year old could figure this out.

Abraham lived before Moses and the Law. He was a great builder of altars and offering acceptable sacrifices on them- I mean, think of the ram in the thicket. (Ooo that one is SO good. Can’t wait til we get to it!!!) So Abraham knew. Abel knew. Noah knew. God must’ve told them. It’s not recorded in the text, but the hints are there so I’m going with that. If God can give Noah detailed instructions on building a 3-story boat, I don’t think we need to get bent out of shape on how he knew which animals were clean then start spouting off fancy ideas about anachronisms and interpolations.

And with that my friend, I bid you a fair day.