Today we’ll finish our two-part series on baptism and what it really means by discussing Noah and the flood. In part one, found here, we discussed baptism mainly from the New Testament. We saw how baptism has nothing to do with dunking your head in water. It is the process of ascending levels of consciousness, and we accomplish this in the mind, through meditation.
We have to remember that the ancient writers of scripture veiled the spiritual meanings through myth and allegory. In today’s society many of us are accustomed to viewing the Bible literally, or at least we are accustomed to the idea that others do, (which still has an enormous effect), but the original writers were explaining how the kingdom of God is within you through symbols, allegory, and mysticism. This cannot even be gleaned from reading up on mainstream ancient history. The only way to get an appreciation for an early esoteric perspective is to read the original writings and thoughts of early church fathers carefully, in combination with the Jewish rabbis, and paying attention to the dichotomy that evolved between the 2nd and 4th centuries. Those who think they understand the times from reading mainstream historical references will never get a true historical perspective. It’s all quite biased. Rule number 1 in history courses anyway is the read the original. That’s where new ideas and books are contrived, and I’ll admit, they can be argued either way. Subtle language is everything 🙂
Is the literal View of Noah’s Ark Possible?
I thought it might be beneficial to begin with why we shouldn’t view Noah and the ark as literal. It would be impossible to put two of every kind of animal in an ark, no matter how big it was. Out of the estimated 8.7 million species of life on earth today, 950,000 of those are animals. Many creationists sites argue that many hundreds of thousands of those species could survive a water flood, so the number of animals that actually needed to board the ark of the size and measure mentioned in Genesis could be done. Some even claim hundreds of dinosaur species were aboard. But these claims could never measure up. It’s strange, because many creationists will exclude most insects even though the Bible mentions “creeping crawling” things. Esoterically there’s a reason for that which we will address.
The animals were supposedly in the ark for over a year. Do you know how much food, clean water, and man-power (for clean-up) it would take to take care of hundreds of thousands of species of animals, including dinosaurs! It would be impossible for eight people! It takes hundreds of people just to take care of a decent sized zoo with only hundreds of species. I applaud those who want to do research and come up with all ways of how this could be accomplished ( because I always enjoy a mental challenge), but they’re simply reaching for something that’s just impossible. I assure you, there’s a much better way of viewing this story that makes sense.
Even if you could prove that the number of animals on the earth needing to survive a flood could be aboard, and eight people could do the job, you could never account for the fact that the highest mountain top (Everest) could be covered with water and everyone would survive. The oxygen levels and frigid temperatures alone at those altitudes would make it impossible for most species to survive, including the eight humans aboard! And if you argue that the earth split in the days of Peleg and therefore account for these tall mountain ranges being formed after the flood, you’d have to admit that the Himalaya Mountains are only five thousand years old. We don’t have to stretch scientific truths to get to the true meaning of this story. It’s so much simpler. We just have to use the common sense and brain that God gave you. Again, no offense taken to those who want to believe the story is literal. I feel your pain, because I’ve been there. But the fact that this story is a universal myth doesn’t take away from the great spiritual truth that it teaches. In fact, it enhances it, far much more than any literal interpretation, so we don’t have to be scared that the Bible and God are not real just because it’s NOT Literal. And we all need to recognize these facts so the Bible can be taken seriously, not just by believers, but by everyone, because the stories are truly meant to impart profound wisdom: the kingdom of God is within you and always will be. And every Biblical story reflects a part of this truth.
So what’s this flood story and Noah really about?
Noah and the Ark is about YOU! And it’s a Universal Story of Spiritual Cleansing and True Baptism!
To understand how this is a spiritual story about you, let’s look at a couple of very important verses which predicate the entire physical / spiritual mystery veiled through the universal motif of this great flood story.
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair: and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit will not always strive with man, for that he is also flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:1-3).
These verses are so rich with symbolism and spiritual meaning that an entire book could be written on them. Let’s dissect them one at a time in short.
Men actually have many meanings in scripture, depending on the context. But the overall meaning here is the potential of the mind of man, including the divine mind. Within your brain is the choice to choose to live in the divine, or the mundane. The spiritual life, or solely the physical with the truth revealed by the senses (ignorance and illusion). Men were on the earth, and the sons of God are symbolic of spiritual egos which incarnate within the mind / brain and physical body. This is simply a spiritual potential. Great potential. The earth is filled with mind because the latent spiritual ego (having all the potential for good) is living on the earth within the mind of man, but in its early stage of development it is tempted and drawn downward towards carnal living, represented by the daughters (lover of affections and lower emotions – desires) who were fair (the senses entice us).
What is the Bible saying here? Simply, that although the mind has great potential to ascend (resurrection), it first went through a period of great descension, or involution, and came down in a physical body in the physical world ruled by the senses and illusion, to begin it’s ascension upwards. Men took beautiful daughters meaning they become lovers of their lower desires and emotions. We’ve all been there, right? We will see this as the ark (your mind) rises above the highest mountain (an ascension of the mind) to be cleansed in a metaphorical baptism (the flood).
Verse 6:2 says they (the mind, which has potential for the divine) took them wives. This means that the mind married with the lower emotions, or desires which birthed the lower ego and caused great spiritual, emotional, and mental conflict on earth. Great violence and conflict. This is the wickedness of man. God then says that his spirit will not always strive with man, which means that after 120 years, 1+2 +0= 3 (the number of resurrection) will happen after nature has run its course. 1 is the number of God, and 2 is the number of body and soul, or you and God.
Let’s continue with the next revealing verse:
“And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth if filled with violence through them, and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Gen. 6:13).
We must understand that God isn’t some man sitting up there waiting to judge the earth with violence. This violates the principle that his mercy endures and last forever. For everyone. Again, it is an allegory. What is being said here is that the LORD will judge through mercy, which means man has the ability to rise above his lower passions and desires, but he has to submit his ego to God. He will destroy them with the earth because the earth is the physical vehicle which perishes until man’s involution and evolution is complete.
God then tells Noah to make an ark (remember, a symbol for the mind) and to seal it with pitch within and without. This is important. In meditation the mind is sealed from within, and from the senses without.
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without” (Gen. 6:14).
The word gopher, according to Strong’s, “comes from an unused root, probably meaning to house in…”
The house is you, and more specifically the mind. We’re reading from ancient text within the context of an ancient culture, and even the best sources say “an unused root word” which “probably means…” but yet we take things at face value in the English translated from Latin, from Greek, from Hebrew! And we’re supposed to just assume it’s literal translation. Again, there’s so much more here than literalism.
The texts continues…
“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female” (Gen. 6:19).
Another vital verse to understanding this mystical text: it specifically mentions male and female. Is it a literal male and female? No. Proof for this? Earlier in Genesis God mentions that man is made in his image, both male and female. Is God both male and female gender? No. He is a spirit, which has no gender.
Male and female is the same principal as ying and yang. It’s bi polar energies, and it has to do with the mind, both the conscious and subconscious.
Man takes into meditation both of these subtle energies, the energy of life into his mind. The cattle, which represent the lower desires of the earth, and the fowl, which symbolize the higher aspirations of thought within you. The creeping crawling things are our darkest and deepest seated parts of the ego. Take all of it into meditation, and be still and know that he / it (I) am God. And the mind is renewed.
How does the story of Noah and the ark show this?
Noah is symbolic of your individuality, and the potential to ascend. The name Noah also means “to rest.” Again, this is what we do in meditation. We rest, or be still and “know” that he is God as the Psalmist stated.
In the next chapter of Genesis God commands Noah to take seven pairs of the clean beasts, but then it’s emphasized that he take also of the fowls of the air in sevens. We have already mentioned that fowl symbolize the higher aspirations and good thoughts of the mind. Noah was especially to take those as he and the ark (mind) ascended above the highest mountain tops (metaphorically) as the earth was cleansed by water.
If you remember Genesis 8:4 states that the ark rested upon the mountains of Aarat. The word Aarat means a high and inaccessible mountain. This symbolizes going within yourself and raising consciousness in meditation to the highest level.
In the first article to this series we discussed baptism through the New Testament in five levels.\
- Earth = The physical body, including the brain
- Water = The astral body, which is our emotions
- Air = The mental body, which represents our thoughts
- Fire = The upper mental plane, which the Holy Spirit (Fire) cleanses the mind
- The Good Mind = The highest state of consciousness, represented by pure light.
So let’s break this down for Noah and the ark:
God must cleanse the earth / physical body which starts in meditation. The flood waters come nd eradicate the emotional turmoil, which also happens in meditation. The ark begins to rise into the air, even covering the highest mountaintops. We’ve already discussed why this couldn’t physically happen, but allegorically, the thoughts of the mind are being cleansed as well. Noah eventually releases a dove on top of the mountain. Why? The dove represents peace. In mythology it is especially representative of a gentle, peaceful person. The mind cleansed through meditation becomes this. It is all about reconciliation from inside yourself to the anyone else. Thus the violence of man, which God stated was in the mind and heart of man, is cleansed. This is in contrast to when he sent the raven first. The raven represents symbolically a bird of veracious appetite with a raucous call. Indicative of the violence of man or the mind united with the lower desires and the emotional appetite that comes with it. If you read the story of Noah over again, the raven kept flying back and forth until the earth had dried up, or had been completely spiritually cleansed. Then it was appropriate for the doth to go forth until it had plucked the olive branch. The cleansing was finished. And so was the cleansing was the mind of man.
Thus you can see the entire story represents the mind. The fact that Noah and the flood represents the true baptism of meditation and the renewing of the mind should now be evident. But of course the choice to view it literally or not is on you, and as always, this blog is a forum for you to share your thoughts, and will always be respected by this author. All comments and discussion is welcome.
Blessings.
Great dissemination……..follow you all the way ……No ..to the gopher wood allegory…..more inclined to think of the Ark as “the total of Humanities consiousness”……which must be raised and raised ..to the spiritual…..over eons of re-incrnation( be holy as your father in heaven is holy).
Dont forget that the ascention you correctly identify…only started in the past 150yrs …untill then the ego
was bottoming and the “i am” revelling in carnal life……come on “etheric insight”…..Come lord Jesus ,Come.
really enjooy your thoughts…totally see your esoteric insights…and mostly aggree.
Robert…
You bring up a great point about the total of human consciousness as well.
I believe you are very close to the truth here. The symbolic stories establish a framework for the meaning of truth that is the innermost being of every-one. The esoteric meaning has been concealed for thousands of years and was revealed to a few but hidden from many. Water and fire are both ways to describe the Spirit of Truth, because both are cleansing. Spirits are thoughts and the thought of God is the most inclusive of all possible thoughts. Unclean thoughts are unclean spirits and they are put through the fire until only truth remains.
Thanks for the comment, Mystic. Exactly. And what angels are.
Is the Adam and Eve story, and onward, an allegory of spirit descending into matter after they had eaten the forbidden fruit off the Tree of Knowledge, and the story of Moses and onward an allegory of the psyche journeying up the Tree of Life?
I am trying to form a big picture of the Pentateuch to make it easier to understand.
Laurens…
You got it!
All the stories from the bible are literal stories that really took place. U must be born of the water and of the spirit.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Being born of the spirit is when u recieve the gift of the holyghost with evidence of speaking in tongues. Just like in the day of pentecost in the upper room tongues of fire fell upon them which is the holyghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Thats when u get Gods power over sin. There is a real place called hell and heaven is real. After this life we will go to one of those places. This website is full of lies n deception. Gods holy word is true and we must obey it. He died for our sins so we could make it to his kingdom because he loves us. We are is creation from the beginning. Let no man deceive you. God bless you
I like this Joshua. Your article deepens the meaning of the stories and ignites the desire to participate in such transformation internally..versus just observing the “literal” interpretation and hoping for the best.
Meditation and tools for transformation:
So HOW does one do this? Particularly the eradication of fear you mentioned in Part One? Where there mantras..prayers..meditation tools specific to this work? If so..would you share?
Willow
Willow, sorry for the late reply. I have an article on meditation at the top of the page, as well as some articles on this site if you type meditation in the search bar. I enjoy Zazen the best, which shows you in stages. Teaching the mind to concentrate and beginning to experience the gaps between thoughts is where so much healing comes in.
Joshua,
A great article with a lot of meaning. But as always I have a few additions.
You write:
“We saw how baptism has nothing to do with dunking your head in water. It is the process of ascending levels of consciousness, and we accomplish this in the mind, through meditation.”
I believe that both ‘dunking your head in water’, which I do not feel is a very respectful term to use, and meditation are ways to get to the same result. You are right that it is all about a process inside you, and not about a physical action, but to go and sit in a position that is right for meditation is a physical action as well. Both ways can lead to this positive result, and both ways can also lead to nothing. It is all about the attitude and intention with which you begin either of them but the one is not necessarily better than the other. Of course it is possible that meditation is better for you but do leave open the option that the way that goes through baptism is not in itself a lesser way.
I agree with you that the story of the Ark of Noah can only be taken symbolically. And then it has an enormous meaning. The word Ark in Hebrew is ‘teva’. This also means word. The dimensions that the ark had to have were 30, 300 and 50 cubits respectively and these numbers form the word ‘lashon’, which means tongue or language. So one of the meanings of the Ark is Word and Language. The Ark is/contains a Message.
You write: “Noah is symbolic of your individuality, and the potential to ascend. The name Noah also means “to rest.” Again, this is what we do in meditation. We rest, or be still and “know” that he is God as the Psalmist stated.”
Noah is Noach in Hebrew, in numbers written as 50-8. Indeed it means to rest but it is also part of the root of the verb that means to comfort, to console. When you reverse the characters of Noach, you get ‘chen’, which means mercy, love. The total value of this name is 58, which is also the numerical value of the name of the mountain called Nebo, where Moses supposedly died. However, you can read this name as ’50-bo’, or, higher awareness (50) is in him, ‘bo’. When Moses climbs this mountain it means that he is ready to ascend and is doing so. When you reduce 58 (5+8), you get 13 which is the numerical value of both ‘ahava’, meaning love, and ‘echad’, meaning one, oneness, unity. So there is a lot of meaning in this one name!
I love your explanations on numerolgy, Anny. Always so much insight. Thank you.
How can I learn more about numerology an show to use it in a way to understand the deeper meanings of the Hebrew and the Bible
Baptism is being fully emerged and u must repent of all your sins first then get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the holyghost. Dont not be deceived and yes our merciful God will judge everyone according to his works. He destroyed with a flood before and this time it will be with fire. He will come back with wrath. Hell is real and so is heave and we will go to either one when we die. Please dont be deceived. The power of the holyghost is real. The father the son and the holyghost are 1! There is plenty of scripture revealing that. They are 1.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Deuteronomy 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Amazing. Thank you
Jacomina
Joshua,
Great article! I find it funny (to say the least) how far people can go trying to justify that a global flood happened in the past, all those calculations to justify that the ark could have boarded all living animals, how much water poured down from heavens, etc. I remember being a kid and watching a TV programme saying that they’ve found the remains of the ark atop mount Ararat and being amazed by that discovery. I clearly remember when I stopped believing that this was an actual happening, it was when I watched an episode of Cosmos (the new version with Neil DeGrasse Tyson) when he starts telling the story of the flood and then he unveils that actually that is a story not exclusive to the Bible, but inspired by Gilgamesh epic. I felt like I was discovering something really important, just like when I discovered the sun wasn’t really yellow lol! Then I went after the epic of Gilgamesh and saw all the similarities, but even then I wasn’t ready for the esoteric view behind it. I believe there is a lot of connection with everything you wrote here and Gilgamesh journey, he has to go to the bottom of a lake (ocean? pool? I don’t quite remember) and pick a flower that will grant him immortality and make an old man become young again. Isn’t this what we do when we meditate? We go down and deeper and deeper to discover who we truly are and find our immortality. Besides, he’s all surrounded by water, so that could also be a sort of baptism, don’t you think? Spiritual, of course. When he finds the flower, he feels calm and tranquil, could it be that he was still and knew that he was God (though he already knew that he was half-god, but I digress…)?
There are also accounts of a flood in Hindu sacred texts, again, quite similar to these narratives. In one hand, it could be an evidence that an actual flood did happen, for a literalist could think “see, other religions also state that the flood happened” (this is me trying to see things in their point of view), but on the other hand, it enforces that this concept of cleansing and meditation, the spiritual teaching of it, is present in our collective unconscious. I am much more inclined to this last option, it makes much more sense to me.
Blessings!
Vinícius
Vinícius,
Your mention of Gilgamesh and the lake made me think of the old tale Iron John. Thank you. Iron John was also found in a lake. Robert Bly adopted this story..using it as a means to assist men with rites of passage..yet it has a biblical connection also worth exploring if you are so inclined. As a Native American..I find rites of passage pragmatic and very valuable for men…and community. Women have their versions of stories and their own ceremonies to assist in their journeying. Since we are here in this world for a time..I find it fun and useful to reflect on the eternal and the transitional journeys men or women experience.
Check it out:
http://www.robertmprice.mindvendor.com/epi_ironjo.htm
Willow
Willow, thanks for the additional reading recommendation! Indeed, the reflection on the eternal and the transitional is essential in our journeys. Personally I find it that we lack proper rites of passage, I think the ones we have are quite shallow in our modern society.
Vinícius
HI Joshua:
When you wrote, “…be still and know that he / it (I) am God” it reminds me of what was written in ‘A Course in Miracles’. For some, it is a difficult idea to accept that I am God….. but it is all about knowing we are all one (non-duality). Thanks for your great posts.
A lot of meaning to what you have written.
Good job my friend. I have been on this journey many years. It always about us and whats happens inside where the kingdom of God is located. One thing I have discovered is there is always more! Also there is often more then one analogy or meaning. As the Kabbalah writers say there are at least 7 layers of meaning from the surface meaning.
I am curious have you read any of the writings of JJ Dewey? Might want to check it out if not, some fascinating stuff there. freeread.com
Thanks Blayne. Unfamiliar with JJ Dewey but thank you for the additional resource!
Wonderful! I agree, I am a minister and the scripture be renewed by the power of your mind is the key here.
The Misunderstanding Comes In When One Fails To Understand A Human Design,ie Spiritual And Literal Desins.Those Who Think Baptism Be Practiced Literally Think Literal,the Bible Says..They Should Leave It Away And Be Matured(heb.6:1-3).Let The Spiritual World Forgive Them For Turning The BIBLE A Spiritual Book To Literal Book.Spiritual Baptism However Is Different From Literal One,SPIRIT is idea so active in the spiritual world that operates to enforce life into the letter world (jn 6:63).The Literalists Dont Understand This Coz It Is Foolishness To Them..(1 Cor 2:14).THE SUMMARY of GEN 6 Thru 9:GOD Instructing NOAH =Superconscious idea,NOAH=conscious Message Being Sent For The Care Of The Right Thing,BULING BOAT/ARK=faithful Spiritual Action One Must Take Thru Prayer/meditation(..pray Always,..Man Ought To Pray And Never Loose Heart..1thes 5:17/luk 18:1-2).SONS Of God Marrying DAUGHTERERS Of Men=higher/conscious Pure Spiritual Ideas Mixing Up With Lower/subconscious Idea,this Results Into Impurity Called SIN