Not a serious question, perhaps, but one of those things that can make the reading of Scripture less than a smooth ride, when we are hoping to glide through its passages in peace of mind.

What could Lamech, Noah’s proud father, could possibly have meant by saying that Noah, of all people, was going to bring some sort of “rest”? How could Noah be said to have been the bringer of “comfort”? Was not Lamech’s son the one who preached judgment all his life, and built a boat in which to survive that awful judgment with his family?

Did not Noah’s God firmly close the door when sinners began swimming around the boat crying out for mercy from the One who could rain a watery judgment from above?

Horror! Chaos! Nations broken down, families drowned, man’s sinful creations toppled! How could this possibly be “rest” and “comfort”?

Earth residents have differing ideas of rest and peace. Noah’s day was not all that different from our own, perhaps. Men were advancing in their own ways. But their sin was advancing too. The rest and peace of Eden had long been forgotten. Evil was on the planet, and was multiplying at an outrageous pace. Idolatry flourished. Violence .

No planet or nation or community or family or individual can be said to be at peace or rest when sin is so abundant. But Noah would bring rest.

His very name, chosen by a godly parent it seems, was “rest” or “resting place”. His life was a godly life, a righteous place where God Himself felt welcome to sit and repose. How the Lord loves people who act right. God’s very grace was manifested in this man. Later when God desired to list three of his top men ever in the area of righteousness, He listed this man alongside Daniel, and Job.

His name and his life were just the down payment of the rest that was coming. Sin had brought unrest, upheaval, animosity toward God. But rest was on the way.

Everyone knows the story of the ark and its residents. But take a look at the world after God’s wrath has been poured out. True rest. Peace. And new promises.

Multiply! Be fruitful! Fill the earth! Eat whatever comes to your hand, animals, vegetables. Enjoy! I have given you rest, now live it out.

It is this covenant, as far as the people of Earth are concerned, under which we still live. For God made this covenant with “all flesh.” Even now the Earth is a fruitful place upon which to live.

And such was the prophecy of Lamech. Did he not prophesy in that unique 29^th verse, that via Noah we would have “relief from our work”?

I was surprised to find that the curse of the Garden was removed after the Flood! God cursed the ground then and told mankind that it would be exceedingly hard to earn a living from the ground, which would bear thorns and thistles.

Commentators speculate that the prophecy merely means that Noah would come up with some better farm implements! Better cultivation methods!

I don’t think so. Water has a way of making hard soil malleable. From the days of the flood, the fountains of the deep have been opened, as well as the passageways of the heavens. This is not the same Earth that Adam knew. Even in cursing, God has blessed us and given us new hope. The “former things” have passed away.

So it will be in the final judgment. Men’s sins multiply. Judgment comes. But new heavens, new earth. God will not allow His creation to be corrupted forever. Great things are in store!

The promises are intact. Though evil has invaded again, the seasons and the rains and the pliable Earth remain. God says in Genesis 8:21 that He will never again curse the ground. Here is the total fulfillment of Lamech’s words. Using Noah and His own right arm God brought rest and comfort and a relief from all the hardness of soil and hardness of heart.