21 Jan

In Genesis 4-11, God’s creation of man and the natural world shifts from fall and corruption to a rebirth through the saving of Noah. The causes that contributed to the Fall only grow larger after Adam and Eve are banished from Eden. Cain kills Abel in a sin of jealousy, which leaves two lines to continue on the human race after Adam. The descendants of Cain and those of Seth are from two distinct lines. According to Kass, Cain’s line makes up the “sons of God” while Seth’s line “carries the daughters of men” (157). When these two lines mixed, corruption ensues as the “god-like men” procreated with women. Adam and Eve sinned because they desired to be like God, and we see after the Fall this motivation continues. Humans lived extremely long lives compared to modern times, and so they perceived themselves as immortal, at least before Noah was born after Adam’s death. This contributed to the corruption of the earth and the atmosphere of lawlessness which led God to “repent” of his Creation. Men were unable to grasp their own mortality, and so they regularly committed sins of pride, lust, and greed in an effort to behave as they believed a “god” might. The story of Noah offers God’s remedy to this issue of mortality and a loss of innocence. Noah was born after the first man, Adam, died. This means he knew of man’s eventual death since birth. He was chosen by God for his simplicity and innocence, not because he was a powerful leader who was most like God himself. He was not the “hero” the men of the age would have identified, nor was Noah interested in the pursuit of beauty which consumed the proud, corrupted men. Noah was truly human, and embraced his humanity by obeying God and allowing him to restore order to the hierarchy of man and God.