A Warning and a Flood

(Washed clean in the Mercy of YHVH)

Primary Content (From 1 Sefer Moses, the Book of Beginnings):

• Chapter 10 – The Warning
• Chapter 11 – The Flood
• Chapter 12 – Washed Clean

Additional Reading (Comparison Texts):

• Genesis 8 from the Inspired Version of the Bible
• Book of Rayaneck – Chapter 3:22-37

Objectives:

• Compare and Contrast: Washed Clean in Waters of Mercy vs Drown in the Flood

Kabbalistic Concepts:

• Mercy
• A Pierced Heart
• A Light for the Journey

Notes Before Reading:

I have included the flood account that is recorded in the Book of Rayaneck as a comparison text.  It doesn’t line up verse for verse like the JST and the KJV do, but it covers the same time period, so there is plenty of overlap to consider and leverage as a way of thinking about the 1 Moses account more deeply.

Engage:

Engage the Concepts through Comparison

These chapters use water to accomplish a few things that are very different from each other.  The water washes the creation clean,  it also destroys the wicked unrepentant.  Allegorically, it quenches the lustful passions within.  Consider the different things the water does, and compare and contrast them to reach deeper understanding of Water.  Chapter 10:7-10 pulls all of those ideas together into a few short verses you could consider, but really all three of these chapters are full of these contrasting ideas about water.

Engage the Spirit through Contemplation

There’s a lot of hints in here that the literal narrative of the events of the flood are not what the author is hoping we will focus on.  In the Rayaneck account, the flood on the earth cleanses all of the other planets too.  In the account on the plates of brass, the lustful desires of the flesh are destroyed in the flood, and that the raven was out as an ambassador spreading wisdom.  These ideas are beyond a mere flood destroying everything on the earth other than Noah and his sons and their wives.   I invite you to ponder upon these chapters with a prayer in your heart as you consider what deeper meaning is woven into these chapters.

Engage the Group through Discussion

When you meet together as a group to discuss the content of these chapters, here are some ideas to help get the discussion going:

• The account from Rayaneck makes it sound a lot like a DNA corruption problem that needed to be washed away, what are your thoughts on that?