Today I read Genesis 9 which has always raised questions for me. In this chapter God tells Noah and his sons that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood. And as proof of His covenant, God gave them the rainbow. I have always been confused if there were no rainbows before this point or God just used something that they were all familiar with it and so that's why He chose it. Joseph Smith stated that the millennium will not occur in a year where there are rainbows. Now, my question/confusion is, if there were no rainbows before this, how is that possible? I mean, surely it rained before this point. The earth had been around about 1700 years by this point and there had never once been water refracting off of the rain droplets in the sky? I just don't see how that's possible. Of course, I know that with God anything is possible so who knows.
I've also never been clear just exactly why Ham is cursed. I think it's gotta be more than just him laughing at the fact that Noah passed out drunk and naked in his tent. It seems to me I have read something on it in the past, but I don't remember what it was now. But for whatever reason, Ham was cursed to not have the priesthood in his line. His line is where Egypt comes from and the line of Pharaohs.
I have also often wondered why, and how, people in the olden days were able to live so long. I mean, Adam lived almost 1000 years. Noah was 500 years old when he was commanded to build the ark and lived to be 950. How in the world were they able to live that long? I'm pretty sure at least in the case of Adam, Noah and his sons they were able to live that long so they could have more children and populate the earth. Today if for some reason, a regular man and woman had to repopulate the earth, it would be a little hard without the woman being constantly pregnant for almost 30 years. What a horrible life that would be. I also wonder what changed. Why did people slowly start living shorter and shorter life spans? By the time we get to Abraham and later Moses, both men didn't make it to 200 but were well past 100. So why did the lifespan shorten? I suppose it is one of those questions that I will find out the answers to in due time. It is fun to think about and theorize on though. Until tomorrow.
Ham married out of the covenant, a woman descended from Cain, therefore his posterity couldn't hold the priesthood. See Abraham 1:21-24. Bro. Skousen says "Probably the Lord selected this impressive phenomenon of nature [the rainbow] which is usually associated with the end of a rainstorm as an appropriate 'toaken' for the new covenant between Himself and Noah. It does not appear that the sign of the rainbow was new, but its use as a token between God and Noah was new." (The First 2,000 Years, pg. 223)
ReplyDeleteBro. Skousen also says that the reproductive period for couples in ancient times was 500 years. Why do you think that would be horrible? If a woman is healthy and lives for almost 1000 years, don't you think the Lord would bless her to be able to endure pregnancy and breastfeeding? I can't find it immediately but have been taught since I was very young that the race was pure anciently and that was one of the reasons for the longevity. Perhaps your wife had a difficult pregnancy. I didn't get married until I was 30, had five children in 10 years and wish I'd had time to be able to have 5 or 10 more. My grandmother had 15 children with no problems whatsoever. I imagine that it was much like Lehi's family in the wilderness--"And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that . . . our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men;" (1 Nephi 17:2)