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Opinion

Are Pinoys, like Noah, being told something?

- Federico D. Pascual Jr. - The Philippine Star

LISTEN: I did not see yesterday the promised biblical rainbow, supposedly a token of a no-more-flood Covenant with God. But the sun finally broke, although briefly, through the rain clouds hanging over us.

The floodwaters have subsided somewhat in the nation’s capital and nearby provinces. Like ants, people have started to pick up the pieces. That is good enough in the meantime, considering it could have been worse.

At the height of the floods on Aug. 7, I (@FDPascual) posted on Twitter: “Through flood and rain, LISTEN… God seems to be telling us something.”

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NOAH RECALLED: That same Tuesday (8/7/12), Genesis 8:7-12 was trending on Twitter among Philippine users.

Not surprising. That section of Genesis pertains to the biblical 40-day flood that swamped the earth and Noah’s ark surviving it with its load of creatures that were to populate the earth again.

Since most of us are stuck home and presumably have the time (except for those in evacuation havens and those still braving the rains to rescue flood victims), we run Genesis 8:7-12, King James version, below.

To better understand 7-12, we start rereading verses 1-6:

“1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:”

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FLOOD ABATED: Continuing, here are the 8:7-12 verses of Genesis:

“7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.”

Continuing: “13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.”

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THE COVENANT: We find God’s “9:11” no-more-flood Covenant in Genesis 9:7-15:

“7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. 8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

“11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

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RESEARCH: Past POSTSCRIPTs can be accessed at manilamail.com. Keep up with us via Twitter.com/@FDPascual. Send feedback to [email protected].

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ARARAT

ARK

COVENANT

EARTH

FLOOD

FORTH

KING JAMES

MONTH

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