Lessons From The Flood

Almost 2 years ago a movie was released called, "Noah". Now this movie claimed to be the blockbuster hit of the year and was early on hailed as a "great biblical movie". When the release of the movie came, most of those evangelicals who went to see it were disappointed to see how Hollywood twisted such a great event in biblical history for its own purposes and ideological slant. The director himself came out as an atheist and even admitted that he intentionally made the movie to show how absurd the biblical story was and to show how ridiculous God and Noah were. It's no surprise that those in Hollywood would want to the spin the biblical story to their own ends but what is truly sad is that those who are not students of scripture go to watch a movie like that and come away thinking that's what scripture says. One thing that we as believers must always keep up on is the study of the Word of God. The flood story is one from the bible that has probably drawn more criticism and conjecture from the scientific and atheist community. Did the whole earth really flood and all life, except those on the ark, perish in the global deluge? Why would a loving God destroy the life that He created? Can we really believe that the flood encompassed the whole earth? First, we need to take a look at the book of Genesis and set the stage for the flood to really find out why God felt it was necessary. Genesis 6:1-8 says:

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man, and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (ESV)

So we see that as the human race began to multiply and expand on the earth there began to be trouble. We see a race of people or beings called the Nephilim show up and add the spread of trouble on the earth. Now I'm not going to get into detail about the identity of the Nephilim in this but if you want to do your own case study on it you can find a lot on the topic. So it says that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So put this into layman's terms this basically means that evil was everywhere and there was nothing good happening from anyone and not even their thoughts brought about anything good. Think of the evil that we have seen and experienced in our world today, in the time of Noah this was amplified a hundred fold. Jesus actually says in the gospels that when he returns the world will once again be like the days of Noah. We cannot begin to presume to understand or know what the conditions were like socially before the flood. Humanity lost its way and things were getting worse and worse every day. People went their own way, did their own thing, did what was right in their own eyes regardless of the consequences and well-being to others. So scripture actually says that God regretted making man. This didn't mean he didn't still love them but he was heartbroken at the sight of His children straying so far from Him. The earth had become so corrupt the God chose to cleanse it, to start over of sorts, and this is where Noah and the ark come into play. So what can we learn from the flood story? Well, first we can see that there are consequences for our actions. There is a thought today that if no one gets hurt it's all good to go ahead and do it. What we tend to not think about are the repercussions that come from our actions that might occur down the road. The flood itself is a testament to the fact that there is nothing that is hidden from God no matter how secretive we think we are in hiding it or doing it. There is not one act on this earth that goes without being seen by God in Heaven so this should spur us on to walking on the right path. The second thing we can glean from the biblical story of the flood is that judgment comes to everyone. No matter what we do, no matter how far we go, not matter how much we try to hide our sin there will come a day when we have to make an accounting of the actions we have done on this earth. The people of Noah's day did as they saw fit and gave no care to their actions and the fact that one day they would have to answer for it. God is just in His judgments and he judges according to our actions. The whole reason for the flood was to cleanse the earth from the rampant sin and evil but it could also be viewed as a deliverance of sorts. If the human race had been allowed to continue in their path without restraint, evil would have spread to the point where no good could have been found and Noah and his family would have been non-existent anymore. Sometimes the judgments of God can seem cruel and even make us wonder why He does it, but when you look at the situation the judgment of God can be seen as a deliverance of evil from those who are suffering. There is no telling what unspeakable evil that Noah and his family would have to endure if the human race had remained unchecked. Also, there is no telling how depraved those people were and those who were being brought into the world (children) were being delivered from an unspeakable horror that would consume their lives. The final lesson that can be taken from the flood is that God does cover sin. While it is true that the world was destroyed completely by water, sin was washed away, at least for a time, that shows us that God does seek to eliminate sin. The flood represented the covering of the sins of that generation just as it would speak to the covering of sins by Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Just as God delivered the old world from sin, so we are delivered from our sins through Jesus Christ. Just as those in that world didn't believe that the flood was coming as a consequence of their sin and evil so those in our own time will not and do not believe that Jesus Christ will one day come back for those who are his and end this world and those who seek to do evil continually forever. 2 Peter 3:1-13 says:

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (ESV)

In your family time, this week really look at the story of the flood and what it must have been like for Noah and his family. Talk about why God found it to be so sad that people we being and doing evil continually. Talk about Jesus's victory over sin and how one day he will come back for those who believe in him.