The story of Noah about the flood that engulfed the hole world was the kind of tragic story which would be told time and again in the Ancient Middle East World. Similar stories were told in the lands of Mesopotamia, with a difference. In the story of Noah, there is only one God, the Almighty God; while in the stories of the neighbouring countries, there were many gods, quarrelling among themselves and always getting annoyed with human beings. In their stories, the flood was fruit of the gods’ annoyance and jealousy; while in the Bible, it is the result of human sin.
The world was so evil that God regretted to having created it (Gen 6:5-6); in fact, it looked as if his creation was a failure, having turned against him. However, even in his anger, God cannot punish the just together with the sinner and he will find ways of carrying out his plans, even in the face of sheer rejection from human beings.
A new beginning
The flood represents the end of the old world and the beginning of the new one. It is the beginning of a new order, in which we find a renewed commitment of God to his creation. God announces that “Never again will I curse the ground.” To Noah, he gave the same command which he had given to Adam: “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 9:1). And he made a covenant with Noah and all the creatures of the world:
And God made a covenant with Noah, a covenant that deals with the universe: “I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: the birds, the tame animals, and all the wild animals that were with you” (Gen 9:9-10). This covenant is a universal covenant, by which God commits himself to care for the Universe and for man in a special way.
Symbol of the baptism
In his first letter, Peter wrote that the flood water is a symbol of the Baptism. The flood purified the world of a corrupt and sinful generation; the water of the baptism “saves us now”. “It is not a removal of dirt from the body”, but a pledge (or appeal) to God made in communion with Jesus Christ and by his resurrection (1 Pet 3:21).
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