Saturday, March 16, 2013

Noah and the flood

Genesis 6:The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.......
And the Lord said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." But Noah found favor with the Lord.

The story of Noah and the flood starts in Genesis 6.  The story creates an indelible impression of an old man building a very large boat and filling it with every kind of animal.  Then they have this Hollywood-like experience of surviving a flood that covers the earth.  It's hard to imagine a grander, more spectacular scenario.  But looking into the story a few new wonders seem to emerge about God.  In the first few chapters of Genesis we see the wonder of Creation, when God makes all we see from what can't be seen.  But man seems to have a few major issues and his relationship with God has become shattered. God reaches the place where He regrets making man.  The two new wonders we see through the story of Noah are: Judgment and Redemption.  God was fully ready to judge man and wipe out the human race.  He does have an end to His tolerance.  But then we see the second wonder.  In Noah God has found one man who is willing to put Him first.  And through the ark and through Noah's obedience we find the wonder of Redemption...God's willingness to start over again.

blessings,
Rob Smith

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