I frequently think of Noah’s story as a tragedy, but I was reminded today that his story also includes progress and hope. God’s plan to redeem all of creation does move forward with Noah. It’s both. There’s tragedy and disappointment, as well as progress and hope.

Progress

I will never again curse the ground because of humanity … (Genesis 8:21)

You can read that statement in multiple different ways, with a variety of implications, but I think the best way to read it is a statement of redemption and progress. The point is that God gave humanity a chance to partner with him (chs. 1–2), and they chose to listen to another voice (ch. 3). “The end of all flesh” was apparent to God (6:13) — that is, God clearly saw that humanity, if unrestrained, would destroy creation — so he cleansed the land. He started a new creation with Noah. The sentence quoted above is God affirming that he will not allow humanity to corrupt creation in this way ever again. It’s a statement of promise and hope. Redemption has already begun in Genesis 8.

Disappointment

When Noah’s story resumes it goes awry just as quickly as Adam and Eve’s story. This is what I was talking about in the opening line of this post. This is the tragedy I always think of first. When we turn the page from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3, things immediately fall apart, and it’s the same with Noah. We turn from Genesis 8:20–9:17 to Genesis 9:18–29 and things fall apart. Adam and Eve’s garden choice (ch. 3) led to family disfunction and murder (ch. 4), and Noah’s vineyard choice (9:21) leads to family disfunction and sexual deviance (9:23–27). In the end, Noah dies (9:29) just like Adam (5:5). Death still reigns.

Hope

The hope was that Noah would lead humanity and all creation back into the rest of Eden (5:27), and in a sense he did. He was righteous and whole (תָּמִים / τέλειος, 6:9), and he was spared. God worked through Noah to bring humanity through the flood waters into a new creation and renew the plan that he started with Adam and Eve (8:1–9:17). Through God’s renewed partnership with humanity (via Noah), he promised that the ground would never again be cursed. That’s good! That’s progress. Noah does bring a measure of rest and renewal, but it isn’t enough. It’s not finished. Creation is not yet whole, but there’s progress indeed. The hope of redemption moves forward with Noah.

It’s Both

Noah drank (9:21), he was led into shame (9:22–27), and he died (9:29), just like Adam ate (3:5), was led into shame (3:7–11), and died (5:5). The story makes clear that the problem of the human heart is deep-seated and isn’t going away soon. At the end of Genesis 9 the hope of rest and renewal is unrealized. We are still waiting for one who will bring comfort and cure the human heart. Many pages are yet to be turned before one will say, “It is finished,” but the plan is moving forward. In Genesis 8:21, God essentially says, “Never again will I allow humanity to make this sort of mess of creation.” This is good news.