INTRODUCTION
Sometimes the way things develop can just make you want to cry!
You pay 20 grand for a shiny new automobile. But within all too few years it is a decrepit rust bucket and gets sold to the junk yard for $25.
Or you enjoy a hike through the woods of our land, marvelling at the pristine beauty and majesty. And then you hear of the last stand of great white pine being threatened with extinction to stave off bankruptcy of some unprofitable saw mill for a year or two, while forever scarring the landscape.
Or you drive towards downtown and notice graffiti defacing the walls of buildings, and windows broken in a bus shelter -- vandals at work again.
Maybe the vandalism happened at your home.
Indeed - sometimes the way things go can make you want to cry!
Can you imagine what must have gone on in God's mind as he witnessed the marvel of his creation being twisted, violated, and corrupted by sin-riddled people? The masterpiece of God's handiwork, his creation, had become corrupted, says v.11. It was filled with violence; all the people on the earth had become corrupted.
Corrupted - If you've ever had a computer file corrupted you know the meaning - twisted, mangled, unusable in its present form, destroyed. The people had corrupted their lives and the earth on which they lived. They had, in effect, already destroyed it;
a world full of vandals. a bunch of bulls in God's beautiful china shop.
The opening chapters of Genesis describe how God took chaos and crafted out of it a most beautiful work of art -- orderly, precise, integrated...
the Cosmos.
Subsequent chapters describe how the crowning achievement of creation, the image of God, His partner and associate on earth -- man and woman --How they took that orderly, precise, integrated work of divine art and began to tear it apart, undoing what God had done up. And all of that culminates here in Genesis 6 & 7 when God steps into the fray, catches the vandals with hammer and graffiti brush in hand, so to speak, and stops things short. Enough is enough.
The result is the great flood.
In Genesis 1.6-10 God separated the waters in the sky from that on and below the land, creating dry ground, bringing order from a watery waste. In that order he creates the beauty of vegetation, animal and human life. Now in Genesis 7.11-12 we read of God reversing his hand; the barriers he put in place collapsed and the watery waste from before creation, a desolate nothingness rules once more.
The pre-creation state of chaos is reintroduced. The old earth, the first earth, is totally obliterated, totally except for the small group huddled on that ark as it rocked and creaked on the waves of the storm.And God started over. Like taking a fire truck full of whitewash and spraying down the building wall that had been defiled by graffiti. Now - let's get one thing out of the way.
This account has given rise to much heated debate and interested discussion over the generations. People spend a lot of time talking about whether the flood was local to the Mediterranean Area or world-wide, what the architectural design of the Ark was like, where Mt.Arrarat is located, and the like. In fact, folks get so caught up in this that it strangles their effective study of the passage. They can see no further than this preliminary sort of speculation. And that's a terrible shame.
Because, you see, much as these may be interesting questions for a rainy day after the dinner dishes are done, they miss the heart of the narrative, side-stepping the main reason God had this account included in the Bible.
The heart of the matter, what is relevant and needs to be taken home from here today are not the speculations about hydrogeology, but clear prophetic statements about how God deals with stubborn, rebellious people who sit amid the shattered ruins of the pristine playground called creation.
At the heart of the flood story is NOT water. Rather, it's something called "covenant." Covenant - where individuals or groups enter into commitments with each other. Not just any sort of commitment, but from the bottom of their heart, soul-based commitments, lasting commitments.
Covenant - A good, everyday example of covenant is marriage, where a woman and man pledge themselves, with deepest love, from the bottom of their hearts, to each other -- for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, till death do us part.God made covenant with our first human parents, spent time with them, built relationship...... and they threw it all back in His face. Junked it.The account of the flood is God's response. And the most amazing part of the whole thing, what gives hope in the midst of chaos, is when everything seems to have totally fallen apart God does not give up.
Unlike we who send our car to the wrecking yard, who fill waste disposal sights with outdated refrigerators, and who toss worn out clothes into the garbage without a second thought, God does NOT completely scrap creation. Oh, yes, there has to be a radical reordering, and it involves a painful decision to wipe out almost everything. But the structure is kept in place. Humanity and the animal species are preserved in the ark.
We are brought face to face with the most incredible sort of determined parental love and concern here in the account of Noah. Awful though it is, this creation is still the handiwork of God. Humanity is still his image, his flesh and blood so to speak. So it is that God doesn't give up entirely on his creation and his people. His keen eyes pick out Noah, the one faithful person left.
And he makes the extraordinary effort to make a saving covenant with him, to guide and protect him along with some from the animal kingdom to begin repopulating the earth, even though he was fully aware that the genetic defect of sin still sat deep in Noah's heart and that sin would appear very quickly again.
God was not blind. With divine foresight he knew that Noah would get drunk on wine and be disgraced by his son, he knew that Babel would be built, he knew that Sodom and Gommorah would develop. He knew all that, these things that later chapters of Genesis recount for us. And still... God simply could not give up entirely on his creation. Because, you see --- God's love is very, very stubborn.
The very, very stubborn love of God.
How long would you hang in there when the one you love dearly slaps you in the face, runs away, destroys your prized possessions, insults and belittles you, and commits adultery on you --
How long?
The stubborn love of God refused to totally give up on humanity.
Refused in the days of Noah.
It was that stubborn love of God that later caused God to make a decision even more painful than having to send the Flood; that was the decision to send his one and only son to suffer and die for us.
Jesus Christ faced a Deluge not of water but of sin and death. It washed over him on the cross. But it did not drown him. He rose again - the Victor! He withstood to the final end. And all his people, all who accept him into their lives as Saviour and Master, are saved from the horrible destruction of eternal death under the curse of sin in hell.
Jesus Christ - fulfilling and securing in eternity the covenant that God initially made with humanity. Doing what God does in covenant --- taking the first step.
-- being the main player.
-- always remaining faithful.Did you notice that about the flood account?
It was the Lord who sought Noah out.
It was the Lord who had Noah build the ark.
It was the Lord who brought the animals to Noah.
And that's how things remain to this day. The Lord seeking, guiding, working in the lives of people -- wanting them not to be destroyed, but to be in secure and faithful relationship with Himself.
And that's the great part of the message for you and me.
That when we've come to the end of our rope; when we realize that we can no longer wind our way through life alone anymore; when we realize that meaning and satisfaction in earthly existence has to be found somewhere deeper than jobs and hobbies and vacations; when, perhaps, we wrestle with feelings of shame or inferiority; when we've emptied our bag of tricks; when we discover that we've wandered away from God.
In those empty, dark moments all is not lost.
Because the stubborn love of God is still there. The love that didn't give up in the days of Noah. The love that propelled Jesus Christ through His life and suffering, his death and resurrection.And there is room for us to respond.
Like Noah.Lord said, "Build an ark." Noah had to choose, and to act. Lord says to us, "Place Jesus first. Love Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength...."
Hear that call well, my friends.
It's not a harsh demand into a life of subservient slavery.
Rather, it's an invitation into relationship. Lasting love relationship with our Creator through His Divine Son.
A relationship that builds life, whole life, eternal life.
The Lord calls to us.
Now we, like Noah, need to respond.
Respond understanding that, finally, one day there WILL come an end to the present order.
The bible is very clear that what happened in Noah's day, judgement and the destruction of the world, is a prelude to the final day, when all creation will once more be flooded. This time, though, it will not will water that accompanies the thunder. It will be fire and brimstone. 2 Pet 3.6,7 "....long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men."
A trumpet is going to sound, one far louder than the one blaring through the Corel Centre every time the Senators play - you know, the one rallying the fans.
This trumpet will assemble all people before Jesus Christ as Supreme King and Judge of all creation. And everything as we know it will end. Those in relationship with Jesus will be ushered into eternal glory on a restored, recreated earth. Those who have turned their back on him consistently, stubbornly, and refused to turn, refused to love, refused to serve, refused to honour - they will be shut out, lost from any further chance of a lifeline relationship with the Master -- lost into outer darkness.... forever.
Which leads me to the last thing that must be mentioned when we consider the devastating judgement of God on the old world of Noah. That has to do with Noah's neighbours. Do any of you remember Bill Cosby's spoof on the building of the ark? It featured an exchange between Noah's neighbours and Noah: "Hey, old man, whatcha buildin?" "A boat." "Hah! And what are you going to do with that here?" "Ha, Ha, Ha, I can't tell you." "Get on... Captain Nemo, what's it for?" "I'll give you a clue. How long can you tread water? - ha, ha, ha!"
Cosby's version is, of course, totally fictional, and totally wrong. 2 Peter 2.5 calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness." We're not given the details, but we can be sure that there were no secrets. Noah was up front about what was happening and why as he interacted with the spectators that certainly must have gathered round to gawk at the hulk going up in his backyard.
Finally, one day, the clouds and thunder and water came. Can you imagine the chilling sound that must have been heard from inside the ark when people began to bang on the sides, realizing what had happened. Noah has been locked inside, safe, by the hand of God. At least he would have been able to live with himself in the knowledge that he had done what he could. It was they who refused to listen.
"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all." (Lk 17.26-27)
What a chilling thought that is. Now, also, people are too busy eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage to worry about tomorrow, their eternal tomorrow. One day terror will fill their hearts and they will bang on the door, but it will be too late. Perhaps indeed we will be safe inside. But what of the sounds of terror outside. Will we be able to live with ourselves, convinced we have indeed done all we could to tell them?
The bible says, "God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Pet 3.9) If you've ever wondered why Jesus hasn't come back yet -- that's why. There are still more to come in. Could it be your neighbour?
Could God be calling you to talk to her?