Imagine you're the first person who ever told this story. You're creative, you're insightful, and you also have a whole lot of pride for your tribe. You want your people to know how special they are, and how much the gods favor them. This is the fourth part of the story - a continuation of the story you've been telling the last few days after dinner. You're people gather around the fire, and you begin . . .
And so, the Great Power blessed Noah and his sons. The Great Power also gave them the task of refilling the earth with their bloodline.
And the Great Power told Noah, "All the birds and the beasts will be afraid of you, as well as everything that creeps on the ground and swims in the sea. Why? Because they will be food for your people. No longer are you only authorized to eat anything green that comes out of the ground, but you can eat anything you want. Just don't eat anything that's still alive, because the blood is for me. For now on, I require blood offerings from both man and beast. Since blood represents life, I need a continuous token of your devotion to me."
And so, that's why we make the sacrifices we do today. We believe that the Great Power has favored us above all other tribes and people groups, and that the Great Power needs sacrifices in order to make sure we're devoting ourselves to what the Great Power represents.
The Great Power continued, "Whoever takes the life of a human will be avenged by a human. You are all marked with my image, so don't forget that. Now go out and make babies. Fill the earth with your bloodline."
Then the Great Power told Noah, "I'm establishing the following covenant with you and your family, and every living thing that's on the earth right now, as well as every living thing after you: there will never be a flood that destroys creation again. The sign of this covenant will be the bow of colors you see in the sky right now."
And Noah looked up and saw what we call today a rainbow. It looked just like the bow we use to hunt with, but was full of many different colors.
And the Great Power continued, "Whenever a storm comes, it'll be dark and cloudy. But after the storm moves on, you'll see that the colored bow replaces the clouds signifying this covenant I've made with you today. And when I look at the bow, I'll be reminded of the covenant I've made with all living creatures from here on out."
Now Noah's sons are the ones who got the ball rolling. They had to sleep with their own tribeswomen in order to start repopulating the earth.
Noah took all the pairs of plants out of the barge and started gardening. He also created a vineyard with the grapes he'd taken on the barge. In the season of harvest, Noah used the grapes to make wine, and one night he got very drunk and out of control. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing, so he stripped down naked and started flopping around in the tent where everyone slept.
Not having a clue, Ham stepped inside and saw the show. He didn't know what to do or say, so quickly got out of the tent before his dad could see him and he told his brothers what he saw. With a smile on their faces, they knew their father was just having a little too much fun. So, they grabbed a blanket, walked inside, and covered their dad. It was a very nice thing to do. But when Noah woke up and heard about what happened, he was upset that his son Ham didn't cover him right away when he saw what was going on.
So Noah angrily told Ham, "Because you didn't clothe me when I was naked, your people will be slaves to your brothers' people. The Great Power that guides Shem will be your master. The Great Power that guides Japheth will also be your master. And because of what your brothers did for me, I will allow their tribes and families to marry together and help each other repopulate the earth."
Noah lived to be 950 when he died.
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