The story of Noah and the flood is one of the most perplexing stories in Scripture. On one hand we see and hear the mighty and creative God destroy that which He has created (many have trouble with this, but let's go a little deeper). On the other hand we see and hear the relational Yahweh as he makes a way of salvation for people ... something He always does for the remnant. A few interesting facts:
1) Noah is very old in this story, about 480 when the building of the ark begins.
2) The building of the ark takes about 120 years (plenty long enough for the his neighbors to repent of their wicked ways).
3) Noah is professed to be righteous in the story but this might have been relative to those around him. They were a motley bunch!
4) The flood happens when Noah is 600 years old (that's a lot of work for an old guy ... I think I will stop complaining).
5) Noah goes on to live to the ripe old age of 950. It is interesting to note that the lifespan of people drops rapidly from this point on. For example, Moses is 120 when he dies.
6) I think the ark was about the size of 6 football fields ... hope there were no termites!
Lots of questions arise from this story. * Could it have happened? Science seems to confirm an ancient flood covering a large part of the known world. But I'm good with the written Word of God and feel that someday science (if the truth is pursued without bias and wrong assumptions) will be in total agreement with the truth of God's Word. * Could Noah have been that old? I hear people try to place the truth of this story into the context of our current knowledge. They say things like "Well years were counted differently then." Seems to me that the same measures for time have been written down by those inspired by God's Spirit to write. That would have certainly been true in the first five books which are attributable to Moses. The ages of people decline to what we view as 'normal.' And remember, there were no McDonalds and KFC's to clog our arteries. While I cannot fathom living 950 years, it isn't my book ... it is God's book, given to us for instruction, guidance, and living out life. * What is the point of this story? That could have multiple answers. One could be that the people were deemed "wicked" because they were corrupt and violent. This might be a good time to do a gut-check and ask our culture "Are we better?" The Tuscon shooting, government officials constantly on the take, slick 'procedures' for politicians to get their way (all parties), televangelists investigated for misusing the gifts given from well-meaning people, actors that are retained because they "can do the lines" even though they abuse women, pornography, terrorism ... you get the idea. My gut says we have a problem, The first point of this story is to do what the people of Noah's time did not ... repent (turn aroung ... go in a different direction). Another point of this story is that God always has a plan that will save His creation. It may sound crazy at the time (hey ... read the Bible and you will see some pretty strange things) but God's plan doesn't have to meet my standards ... I need to submit to God's standards. His way may seem hard, long, unpopular, even downright ridiculous, but if I trust God (like I sing on Sunday and Saturday) then I am the servant, not the master.
We'll leave it there for the evening. Thanks for being on this journey of learning, submission and love!
http://www.biblicaltraining.org/52-major-stories-bible/william-mounce
In Nelson's "Jesus Story Book Bible" when it talks about the rainbow at the end of the flood it refers to it as God's "war" bow that he has hung in the clouds. The story ends saying this, "God's strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more- but not on his people, or his world. No, God's war bow was not pointing down at his people.
ReplyDeleteIt was pointing up, into the heart of Heaven." WOW!!