Spiritual Meaning of

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Gen 8:1-5

Three distinct things are mentioned in connection with Noah: He was just, he was upright, and he walked with God. These three are said to be the generations of Noah. Now, in what sense were justice, uprightness and obedience, or what is the same, walking with God, the generations of Noah? If Noah is to be understood as standing merely for an individual man, he may have possessed these moral excellences, but understood in that way, it is difficult to see how justice, uprightness and obedience can be called the generations of Noah. The passage reads: "These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man, and upright in his generation, and Noah walked with God." There is no difficulty here; for by Noah is not meant an individual, but the new church which was being raised up; consequently, the generations of Noah were the great cardinal principles of that new church; and these were what is meant by justice, uprightness and obedience. These virtues as cardinal principles, are called nativities or generations, because they were to result from the regenerative process which the Noetic people would undergo. To understand this teaching it will be necessary to divest the mind of the modern conception of the word church. We think of the church as an ecclesiasticism, as an organizaiton of men and women who accept a definite creed and organize for the purpose of propagating a certain set of doctrines; but this is not what the Bible and the church writings mean by the term church.

The church is a state of life. It is formed in man by regeneration. This does not mean that the organization with its ecclesiastical order, is not necessary, for it is. But organization and ecclesiastical laws are humanly constructed things. They are not the church; for strictly speaking, a church, as a thing apart from regenerating human souls, is as impossible as heaven would be as a thing apart from the angels, in whom it is formed by the inflowing of the Divine of the Lord. The church on earth is a regenerating humanity. The church ends when, instead of being regenerated, men remain in the love of themselves and the world; and consequently a new church is this work of regeneration beginning again in the remnant left in the old for the commencement of a new church.

Thus the Adamic Church ended with the spiritual flood it brought upon itself, and the new church, called the Ancient Church, commenced with Noah, who stands for all the people left in the Adamic Church, who were capable of undergoing the new processes of regeneration by which alone they could be saved. The spiritual generations or nativities of this new church, which arose, are what are meant by the generations of Noah; and these were justice, uprightness and obedience, or walking with God.

There is a Divine order observed in these generations of the Noetic Church. Justice is the first mentioned, because it belongs to the heart life of the church in that it consists in the very good of charity. Uprightness is next mentioned, because it has to do with the law and order of truth, by which charity is formed and exercised. Lastly, walking with God is mentioned, because it stands for the principle of Obedience in the daily life. These were the generations of Noah.

But these three graces were not existing in a full state of development at the time it was said: "Now, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." The capacity for them existed, as is always the case with the remnant at the end of the church; but their development was to be realized in a subsequent state of the Ancient Church. We must also remember that the people who formed the Ancient Church, in the beginning, were the descendants of a corrupted and fallen race of the Most Ancient Church. They partook of their corruptions and differed from them only in the sense of having remaining with them a plane on which could be built a spiritual life. It was through deep regeneration that the principles denoted by the generations of Noah, were so far developed as to be capable of distinct presentation to the outlying world.

Here we reach an important fact. The Adamic Church did not include the whole of mankind then existing on the earth. There were immense populations who had never sustained any vital relations to the Most Ancient Church. They were what we would call Gentiles - people in the great body of humanity, but outside the church, which was the heart and lungs of the whole body of humanity then existing. Noah was the remnant in the Most Ancient Church. The outlying mass of people, who because they were no vital part of the Most Ancient Church, were not involved in its moral corruptions, were those in whom the religion of the Ancient Church was established. These outside people were not all of the same genius. Their dispositions were various; each had his own individuality, their peculiar bent and capacity of mind. In general they constituted three distinct classes. Each class received from the teaching of the Noetic Church that which was best suited to its genius. Now, let us get a concrete idea of all this: The Ancient Church, as we have said, contained three cardinal principles, called the generations of Noah, which were justice, uprightness and obedience. The three classes into which the people were divided, who were capable of being influenced and saved by these principles were called Shem, Ham and Japheth. These are said to be the sons of Noah, because they stand for the three kinds of people who were reached and brought into the Noetic Church. The teaching of the church concerning justice, or the doctrine of charity, appealed most strongly and was most attractive to the people called Shem; and they were brought into the church by it. The teaching concerning uprightness, the doctrine that revealed right laws of truth and that awakened the understanding to an intellectual appreciation of the truth, appealed to, reached and brought into the church, the people called Ham. The teaching concerning obedience, the doctrine which clearly defined one's walk with God, or religion in daily life, attracted those to the church who are called Japheth. Thus Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth stand, not for individuals, but for distinct classes of individuals in whom the Lord formed the Ancient Church. This is what the story means. By Noah's wife and the wives of his sons, are meant the affections with which each class of individuals comprising the church received its teaching. All of these were saved in the ark, that is, by the church which was built up in their minds. The flood came, but they were saved. They endured temptations and were purified.

Think now of the wind that passed over the earth and dried up the waters, and you will see that it is used as the symbol of the truth. For as a natural wind evaporates water, so Divine truth disperses falsities and restores the mind to health and vigor. The truth gained daily in its power over the minds and lives of these people; like a spiritual wind, it dried up the waters of falsity and brought to view the landscapes of a new life. The waters receded. Ah, but it was through mighty and prolonged struggles that this was done. But out of those struggles they were brought; and then, in their hearts, there grew up from the Lord, a great love for Him and for each other, and for all the world. It lifted up their minds; it filled them with deep thankfulness; it elevated every phase of their life. They had been exposed to great spiritual danger but now they felt secure in the great love that had come to them. They had struggled; now a sweet rest had come to them. How beautifully the Divine allegory tells us of it: "And the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat." What a beautiful ending!