Some Samples of its Alleged Inaccuracies.
THE DELUGE
Nor has the inspired account of the Deluge escaped the rude hand of mistaken men. Very lately there has emanated from the press, by a professed protestant teacher, charges of “historical inaccuracies in the Bible,” and “contradictory statements,” which, he says, “cannot be true.” “As an example,” says he, “compare Genesis 6:20, with Genesis 7:3. ‘Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind.... two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive.’ ‘Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.’” The charge of inaccuracy and contradiction is, that the direction in one chapter is that Noah is to take two of every kind, and in another chapter seven. Let us see how far it be an inaccuracy, or whether it be not a ministry of Christ, and an example of the divine perfection of the Word.
If the reader turns to a paragraph Bible, he will find these statements in two separate paragraphs, the first extending from Genesis 6:13 to the end of the chapter, and in it God is commanding, and God is obeyed by Noah. Observe, it is God here. The other expression referred to begins with Genesis 7, and ends with the fifth verse, and here it is Jehovah commanding, and it concludes with, “Thus Noah did, according to all that Jehovah commanded him.” The first allusion to “two of every sort shall come unto thee (Noah) to keep them alive,” is God’s (Elohim’s) care of His creatures to preserve every kind alive in the earth. But when we read of His taking “of every clean beast by sevens, his male and his female,” it is God as Jehovah who speaks. And why? Because He is now arranging as in relationship with man for sacrifices— types of Christ. The paragraph, therefore, begins with, “Jehovah said unto Noah, Come, thou and all thy house, into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation” (Gen. 7:1). How striking this is! It is God as Jehovah owning relationship on the ground of redemption with Noah, the man of faith, as we know he was. (See Heb. 11:7). We are therefore told, in the next place, that he was to take clean beasts, by sevens, and also the fowl of the heaven by sevens, and it is then added, “to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth,” for the judgment of the deluge was at hand. Now, the reason of this addition to the general command of two of every sort is very manifest to souls who have to do with Christ, as taught and led by His Holy Spirit. It was Jehovah’s mind that the accomplished work of Jesus, on which all our blessings are founded, should be frequently before Him in figure by the offering up of sacrifices. For this, “clean beasts,” and “fowls of the heaven” were indispensable, for surely nothing unclean could typify the Holy Saviour. Had there been only “two of every sort,” the offering of some in sacrifice would have put an end to those particular kinds of created beings. So the “sevens” left ample room both for sacrifices, and “to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth.” Thus Jehovah, who counted His people “righteous” on the principle of faith in a coming Redeemer, shadowed forth Christ in the “clean beasts,” and “fowls” for sacrifices, as Adam and Noah in their measure also were figures of Him, as “the last Adam,” in having dominion over the created things around them. We find that, no sooner did Noah emerge from the ark, and set foot on the purged earth, than he “builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar,” which most blessedly typified Christ’s sacrifice of Himself. “And Jehovah smelled a sweet savor; and Jehovah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake.” Now, where is the “inaccuracy”? Is it not clear that the “sevens” were actually needed for the sacrifice of “burnt-offerings;” and, if not provided for, would have at once exterminated some, at least, of the “two of every sort”? Where is the “contradiction”? If two applied to all unclean animals, and seven to clean ones, because of the requirements of sacrifices, Where is the difficulty? The child of God, to whom the Scriptures are “profitable,” and for whose “comfort” they are written finds a real delight in the contemplation of such passages of Holy Scripture, as opened up to him by the Holy Spirit; while the philosopher, and all other of the wise and prudent of this world, see nothing to interest, and try to see much to find fault with. Now we trust it is clear to our readers, why it is said of Noah, that “Jehovah shut him in,” while in the same verse it is said, they “went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him” (Gen. 7:16). The Scriptures abound with such marks of their divinity. How true are our Saviour’s words to the Father, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (Matt. 11:25-26).
(Continued and to be Continued)