(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE DISPENSATION OF THE GOSPEL GIVEN TO NOAH.

NOTES.

1. Why a Dispensation of the Gospel was Given to Noah: The reason for giving a dispensation of the Gospel to Noah seems to have been the same as that which led to the giving of a dispensation of it to Enoch—viz., the increasing wickedness of the people. There had been no break in the line of righteous men who held the priesthood; but the increasing wickedness of the people, and the necessity of warning them of impending calamities required the dispensation of the Gospel given to Noah. In order to understand how complete the dispensation of the Gospel given to them was, it is necessary that the student compare Book of Moses ch. viii:19, with ch. vi:43-68, as suggested in the references given in the analysis; since it is said that Noah was commanded to "go forth and declare his Gospel unto the children of men even as it was given unto Enoch" (ch. viii:19): and how fully the Gospel was given unto Enoch can only be appreciated by a comparison of the texts given above.

2. The Character of Noah: "That the conduct of Noah corresponded to the faith and hope of his father we have no reason to doubt. The brevity of the history satisfies not human curiosity. He was born six hundred years before the Deluge. We may reasonably suppose that through that period he maintained the character given of him: 'Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.' (Gen. vi:8, 9.) These words declare his piety, sincerity, and integrity, that he maintained habitual communion with the Father of Mercies, by the exercises of devotion, and that he was an inspired instrument of conveying the will of God to mankind. The wickedness of the human race had long called upon the wisdom and justice of God for some signal display of his displeasure, as a measure of righteous government and as example to future ages. For a long time, probably many centuries, the better part of men, the descendants of Seth, had kept themselves from society with the families of the Cainite race. The former class had become designated as 'the sons of God,' faithful and obedient: the latter were called by a term evidently designated to form an appellation of the contrary import, daughters of men,' of impious and licentious men. These women possessed beauty and blandishments, by which they won the affections of unwary men, and intermarriages upon a great scale took place. As is usual in such alliances, the worst part gained the ascendency. The offspring become more depraved than the parents, and a universal corruption of minds and morals took place. Many of them became 'giants,' the mighty men of old, men of renown (nephilism) apostates (as the word implies), heroes, warriors, plunderers, 'filling the earth with violence.' God mercifully afforded a respite of one hundred and twenty years (Gen. vi:3; I Pet. iii:20; 2 Pet. ii:5), during which Noah sought to work salutary impressions upon their minds, and to bring them to repentance. Thus he was 'a preacher of righteousness,' exercising faith in the testimony of God, moved with holy reverence, obeying the divine commands, and, by the contrast of his conduct, condemning the world (Heb. xi:7); and probably he had during a long previous period laboured in that benevolent and pious work." (Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, Kitto, vol. II, p. 425.)

3. Conditions of Society in Days of Noah: "Very remarkable. however, is the glimpse which we get [from the Bible] of the state of society in the antediluvian world. The narrative it is true is brief, and on many points obscure: a mystery hangs over it which we cannot penetrate. But some few facts are clear. The wickedness of the world is described as having reached a desperate pitch, owing, it would seem, in a great measure to the fusion of two races which had hitherto been distinct. And further the marked features of the wickedness of the age were lust and brutal outrage. "They took them wives of all which they chose:" and, "the earth was filled with violence." "The earth was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. * * And it came to pass when men (the Adam) began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born unto them; then the sons of God (the Elohim) saw the daughters of men (the Adam) that they were fair, and they took to them wives of all that they chose. And Jehovah said. My spirit shall not for ever rule (or be humbled) in men, seeing that they are (or, in their error they are) but flesh, and their days shall be a hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim [the giants] were in the earth in those days; and also afterwards when the sons of God (the Elohim) came in unto the daughters of men (Adam) and children were born to them, these were the heroes which were of old, men of renown." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Art, Noah.)

4. Of Several Bible Difficulties in the Noachian Dispensation: (1) The name "Noah" has presented a difficulty to Bible Expounders. Noah's father, Lamech, assigns as a reason for giving him the name Noah—"This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." (Gen. v:29.) This is usually made to refer to the general curse put upon the land because of the fall of Adam (see Art. "Noah" Smith's Bible Dictionary); but the Book of Moses (P. G. P.), explains that "there came a great famine into the land, and the Lord cursed the earth with a sore curse, and many of the inhabitants thereof died." (Book of Moses, viii:4.) This was doubtless the cause of Lamech naming his son Noah, which signifies "rest," in the hope that there would be a "rest," or relief from the famine which had so long distressed them.

(2). The second difficulty is in respect of the passage "When men began to multiply on the face of the earth; and daughters were born unto them, the sons of God saw the daughters of men and they took them wives of all which they chose." Who were these sons of God? Who were these daughters of men? A variety of interpretations has been given, (a) The "sons of Elohim" (sons of the Gods) were explained to mean sons of princes, or men of high rank, who degraded themselves by contracting marriages with the "daughters of men," i. e. with women of inferior position. (b) A second interpretation, not less ancient, understands by the sons of Elohim (sons of the Gods), angels. And a long list of authorities may be cited for the belief that the angels consorted with women of the earth and begot a race of Giants (see Smith's Bible Dictionary Art. Noah, also Kitto same title.) A third interpretation, however, suggests that the sons of Elohim (the Gods) refers to the family and descendants of Seth, and by "the daughters of men," the women of the family of Cain (Smith's Dictionary, Art. Noah). In the Book of Moses, however, is found a complete explanation of the matter; "And Noah and his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed, and they were called the sons of God." (Book of Moses, ch. viii:13.) This does away with the necessity of believing that angels became the consorts of earthly beings, the daughters of men. Strangely enough the Book of Moses, in the Pearl of Great Price, gives the reverse order of the matter to that related in Genesis. In Genesis it is stated that 'The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; "and they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. vi:1-2). In the Book of Moses it is stated that "when these men [the sons of Noah] began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, the sons of men saw that those daughters were fair, and they took wives, even as they chose." (Book of Moses, viii:14.) The facts in the case, however, seem to be that there was a willingness on both sides to this amalgamation of races forbidden to each other. The grand daughters of Noah seemed willing to consort with the descendants of Cain, "the sons of men." (Book of Moses viii:14); and later the sons of Cain, having in mind that they too, were descendants of Adam, through Cain could retort—"We are the sons of God; have we not taken unto ourselves the daughters of men?" The fact is, however, that the other descendants of Adam were forbidden to inter-marry with the seed of Cain—"the sons of men;" (cf. Book of Moses, ch. viii:13-15, 21; with Book of Abraham, ch. i:21-27.) It is gratifying to know that the results of the latest deductions of Biblical scholars favors the views presented in the Book of Moses: "The interpretation, however, which is now most generally received, is that which understands by 'the sons of the Elohim' the family and descendants of Seth, and by 'the daughters of man (Adam),' the women of the family of Cain. So the Clementine Recognitions interpret "the sons of the Elohim." So Ephrem, and the "Christian Adam-Book" of the East: so also Theodoret, Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome, Augustine, and others; and in later times Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and a whole host of recent commentators. They all suppose that whereas the two lines of descent from Adam—the family of Seth who preserved their faith in God, and the family of Cain who lived only for this world—had hitherto kept distinct, now a mingling of the two races took place which resulted in the thorough corruption of the former, who falling away, plunged into the deepest abyss of wickedness, and that it was this universal corruption which provoked the judgment of the Flood." (Smith's Dictionary, Art. Noah.)

(3) The third difficulty is found in the passage: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Gen. vi:5-7.)

If it "repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and grieved him at his heart"—why then did he make him? For surely God's fore-knowledge was such as to fore-know what man would become in the earth. Then why be sorry that he had created him, since God's foreknowledge must have taught him what kind of a being man would be? The matter is set right in the Book of Moses revealed to Joseph Smith, where it is said: "And it repented Noah, and his heart was pained that the Lord had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at the heart. And the Lord said: I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Noah that I have created them, and that I have made them; and he hath called upon me; for they have sought his life." (Book of Moses, ch. viii:25-26.)

5. A Covenant of the Lord with Noah: Among the first acts of Noah, who may be regarded as the "second father" of the human race, was one of worship, for he built an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings unto him. Renewed communion in fact with God. And the Lord covenanted with him in that day, that while the earth should remain, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not cease. (Gen. viii:20-22.) And in token of this perpetual covenant, "I do set my bow in cloud, said the Lord, and it shall be for the token of the covenant between me and the earth. * * * * And I will remember my covenant which is between me and you (Noah) and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." (Gen. ix:13-15.) Of course it must not be supposed that the Lord at this time created the rain-bow for the sign of his covenant, for since ever there was sunshine and rain and dark clouds, there have been rain-bows and will be. But the Lord pointed to this beautiful phenomenon already existing, and made it the sign of his covenant with man.

6. The Seven Precepts of Noah: "It is an old tradition of the Rabbinical Jews, on which they lay great stress, that at this juncture Noah delivered to his children seven precepts, to be enjoined upon all their descendants. These prohibit, 1, idolatry; 2, irreverence to the Deity; 3. homicide; 4, unchastity; 5, fraud and plundering; the 6th enjoins government and obedience; and the 7th forbids to eat any part of an animal still living. Mr. Selden has largely illustrated these precepts, and regards them as a concise tablet of the Law of Nature. Though we have no positive evidences of their having been formally enjoined by the great patriarch, we can have no great reason for rejecting such an hypothesis." (Biblical Literature, Kitto, 427.)

At least one of these precepts is very emphatically set forth in Genesis, given with the penalty of it; namely, the great law against taking human life and the penalty which every where justifies the law of man; namely, "who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man." (Gen. ix:6.) Unhappily, however, the law in executing this penalty does it in such manner that the blood of condemned murderers is not shed, since in the majority of countries the death penalty is executed by strangulation instead of by the shedding of blood. The phrase, "for in the image of God made he man" is significant, and is fatal to the claims of those theologians who interpret the scriptural saying, that man wras created in the image of God, to mean that man was created in God's "moral image," a most absurd conclusion. As if there could be a moral image. But the phrase here quoted carries this significance: Thou shalt not kill a man, for he stands in the image of God. And thou shalt not mar that image of God, thou shalt not bring death unto it. It is sacred. It must not be marred by mortal hand.

7. The Death of Noah:—It is said that Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, but the manner of his life and where he spent it is not given. He must have been alive at the confusion of tongues at Babel, but whether or not he was in the valley of the Uphrates at that time may not be learned. There have been those who seek to identify him with the Chinese character Fohi whose tradition was that Fohi's advent among them was preceded by a flood which wholly covered the earth, but all here is conjecture. (See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Kitto's Biblical Literature, Art. Noah.)