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Sarah Braxton

Understanding Noah’s narrative and the role of angels; both Biblical and secular

Updated: Jun 25, 2020

The narrative of Noah leans more towards a description of a covenant narrative. There is a structure in the narrative, from a calling to a commitment, and a transformative process. The Lord had found corruption in all the earth but Genesis chapter 6, verse 8 claims “…Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.” (Gen 6:8) So The Lord calls upon Noah to build an arch, because He plans on destroying the earth with a flood; “’I have determined to make an end of all flesh… now I am going to destroy them along with the earth… Make yourself an ark of cypress wood.” (Gen 6: 13-14) The change happens within God, when He establishes His covenant with mankind, “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood…”(Gen 9: 11) Noah however, is not a prophet. God speaks to him, and gives him warning of a flood, but Noah does not speak to the rest of the world about what was to come. A prophet is granted visions of things that may happen, but Noah was given direct instruction. He was to build specifically and gather. There was no part of witnessing toward the masses, which a prophetic role has.


The angels in the bible each have a significant role. There are angels that appear to send messages, and angels that appear within prophetic visions for glorifying Gods purpose. In Luke, Gabriel appears to Mary to deliver news about Jesus being born, the savior and messiah of man. “The angel Gabriel was sent by God… ‘You will bear a son, and his name will be Jesus.” (Luke 1:26, 31) There was also a cherubim that was explained in detailed description which seemed to have brought the throne of God to the prophet Ezekiel; “And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads… and above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne…” (Ezekiel 1: 25-26) Angels however, are depicted quite differently in biblical context and secular context. Within most depictions of paintings of angels, they are shown as human with wings, in white robes. The Bible in contrast has very distinct descriptions of what some of them looked like, “Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.” (Ezekiel 1: 6) Both the Bible and secular themes have a depiction of human features. As established before, most secular depictions of angels are shown as human with wings, and the bible states “Their appearance: they were of human form.” (Ezekiel 1: 5)


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