Metaphysical meaning of Noah (mbd)
Noah (in A.V., Matthew 24:37, Noe), no'-ah (Heb.)--rest; calm; quiet; peace; tranquillity; equilibrium.
a Son of Lamech. "And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed" (Gen. 5:29). Noah built the ark in which he and his family were later saved during the Flood (Gen. 6:8- 9:29). b Noah was also the name of one of the daughters of Zelophehad, a Manassite who had no sons, and whose inheritance went to his five daughters (Num. 26:33; 27:7; 36:11).
Meta. The Noah of Genesis 6 to 9 was the son of Lamech. Lamech means a strong young man, and signifies the strength of youth, and Noah means rest. Thus it is in the strength of our youth that we idealize the material and attach our spiritual enthusiasm to the things of sense. But the law of reaction sets in: Noah (rest) finds "favor in the eyes of Jehovah." If in the strength of your youth you have indulged in the things of sense, the law of spiritual equilibrium, the Lord, Jehovah, is now working itself out in a rest, and you may have bodily ills. This is where the race of wicked thoughts drowns, and your earth is cleansed.
Noah can also be said to be the obedience through which seed for a new state of consciousness is saved.
Again, Noah typifies the consciousness at rest in God (Gen. 6:9). In Genesis 6:10 the three sons of Noah represent states of mind. Shem, meaning renown, typifies the spiritual; Ham, meaning warm, typifies the physical; and Japheth, meaning extender, typifies the intellect or reason.
The interpretation of Genesis 6:11 is that, when the faculties of mind have been used in wrong relation to Truth, certain destructive processes set in and the "earth" (the man-made realm of thought) is in a state of corruption.
Genesis 6:12: The law of the Lord begins to regulate the consciousness of man. The flood is representative of the baptism of Spirit, and is necessary in order to establish equilibrium in the three planes of mental activity.
Genesis 7:11-13: When the whole man (Noah and his wife and his sons and his sons' wives) has been washed in the regeneration, he takes refuge in the "ark" of the Lord. Man rests in the spiritual part of his consciousness, even in the midst of a flood of error.
Genesis 7:14, 15: Man takes into the ark all the ideas inherent in Being. The positive and the negative (the "two and two") activities of the organism are never separated.
Genesis 7:16, 17: By laying hold of spiritual ideas as the only reality, and declaring Spirit to be all in all, one is lifted "above the earth" and "shut . . . in" with Jehovah in perfect safety.
Genesis 7:18-20: Water represents unexpressed capacity. The whole "earth" (realm of manifestation) is filled with potential ideas, waiting for words of Truth to move upon the intelligence of the "waters" and bring forth spiritual realities.
Genesis 7:21, 22: When the faculties of mind find their poise in Truth, all lesser ideas die or disappear through a process of transmutation. Even the ideas that seem to contain the "breath of the spirit of life" are lost sight of in the fuller realization of Spirit as the only presence and power.
Genesis 7:23: When man lets go of his false sense of things and discerns God to be the one source of all good, he rests in spiritual consciousness (Noah) with his pure ideas of Being ("they that were with him in the ark").
Verse 24: The waters prevail so long as it is necessary to cleanse the "earth," thus making ready for the expression of purer and truer ideas.
In Genesis 9:8-17 Noah (the consciousness), with his sons (states of mind), after his purification (the flood) is very closely related to God. God covenants or agrees to bless the purified consciousness and its realm of ideas (seed). Every idea (living creature) that is illumined of Spirit--even ideas related to the body consciousness (earth)--is blessed when man knows the creative law and cooperates with it.
Once the consciousness has been cleansed and man has awakened to his spiritual nature, he is saved through obedience to divine law and is no longer subject to dissolution through negative means. This "covenant," which is eternal, is to those who give up mind and body into the keeping of divine law. The "bow" signifies the orderly arrangement of ideas in Divine Mind, and their perfect manifestation. One who is poised in Truth rests in the consciousness of God's presence, even in the midst of error (the cloud).
When man is obedient to the guidance of God he will never be flooded by negative conditions. The rainbow is a sign in the heavens symbolizing the perfect blending of the race into obedience to one harmonious Christ principle--the endless circle of natural perfection coming out of obedience to divine law.
The woman named Noah pertains to the establishment of poise and equilibrium in the soul of the unfolding individual.
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Preceding Entry: Noadiah
Following Entry: Nob
