The Good News About Noah's Flood

The Bible says that God is abundantly good, merciful and of great kindness. Exodus 34:6, Jeremiah 31:3. To sum up who God is we are told He is love itself. 1 John 4:8, 16. These statements are beautiful, powerful, and inspire hope in our hearts - that is until we review the history of the Old Testament. Such stories as Sodom and Gomorrah, the 10 plagues of Egypt and the flood raise objections that are hard for us to simply pass over and difficult to comprehend from a God of love.

How can such a good God kill?
How can a kind God drown an entire world, plague and destroy people, or burn a whole city - especially when He could simply make them all drop dead in an instant?
Why would a God of love that is willing to give His own Son for everyone, choose to destroy those He loves?
If God’s law of love says “Do not kill,” then why does He kill?

If we are to trust the Bible and its claims on God’s good character then there has to be more to these stories than simply “Man was evil. God was angry - so God destroyed and killed.” There is more to the story! We must dig deeper than a surface reading of these stories and of the entire Bible.

Here we will dwell on the flood and what it reveals about God’s character. More importantly, what does God’s character reveal about the flood? To look at the flood more closely we must go to the beginning.

We need to consider the condition of our world before the creation week started. What was here before creation week? The Bible tells us that the world was empty, and darkness was upon the face of the waters or deep. Genesis 1:2. Dry land does not appear until day 3 of creation week, so we know that this world was completely covered with water. Sound familiar?

What did God do with all of this water? On day 2 He divided the water into water above, and water below, with a space in between. Genesis 1:6-8. Notice there still is no dry land, simply water above and below with a heaven or sky in the middle. Then on day 3 God made the dry land by gathering the water together into one place which He called “Seas.” Genesis 1:9-10.

Now for one of the most important points - How exactly did God create or do all of this? The Bible says that “God said…” and it was so. When the Creator divided the waters to make the sky it was “by the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” and when He gathered the water together to form the sea He made a “decree that it cannot pass.” Psalm 33:6, Job 38:8-11, Psalm 33:7, Jeremiah 5:22. It was God’s word that put everything into place, and it is God’s word that keeps everything in place for He upholds “all things by the word of His power.” Hebrews 1:3. Notice that God does not simply create and then leave, but His word stays “upholding all things.” Everything remains and continues because of God’s word.

Before moving on let's review the major points so far:

In the beginning the earth was covered with water.
God moved some of the water above, and what was below He gathered it together to make the Sea.
God made and continues to uphold everything by His word.

Have you noticed that the flood looked just like the beginning of the world? The whole globe was covered in the flood waters - above the highest peaks. Genesis 7:19-20. There was no dry ground anywhere, only water. During the flood the world simply returned to the way it was before creation week. The big question is how? What made the world be covered “with the deep as with a garment” so that the “waters stood above the mountains?” Psalm 104:6.

It is here that we are faced with two choices:

God in His grief and anger actively destroyed all the evil inhabitants of the world - and His tool of choice was drowning.
God removed His word that upholds all things and the world returned to how it was before creation week.

Option 1 is the prevalent view in the world. Sadly this view depicts God as tyrannical - “If you don’t obey Me, I will destroy you any way I desire.” This does not sound like a loving God! Jesus said that by seeing Him we see the Father. John 14:9. Can you see Jesus drowning man, woman and child? The One who never turned a sick person away, the One who told the adulterous woman “I do not condemn you,” even more so the One who said “I judge no man.” Luke 4:40, John 8:11, John 8:15. When we honestly consider this view we can see that it does not harmonize with the character of God clearly revealed in Jesus.

Therefore we must ask, is option 2 biblical and fitting with the revelation of Jesus?

First let us consider if option 2 makes sense. If one builds a roof and then removes the supporting structures, does the roof come crashing down? If one puts water in a “container” and then somehow removes the container, does the water flow in all directions? If God by His word set water above, below, and made boundaries to preserve the dry land, and then He withdraws His word, everything will return to how it once was. This is fitting with the Biblical account that all things were made and continue to be upheld by His word.

The hardest question about the flood though is not so much “how” it happened, but “why.” Why did God remove His upholding word and allow the world to return to its original form? The simple answer is - the people asked Him to.

Crazy thought right? Why would anyone ask God to “let go,” especially to their own destruction?

What were the people like at the time of the flood? Genesis tells us that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. Can you imagine that? The people had only evil thoughts. God gives more detail when He shares that “the earth is filled with violence through them.” Genesis 6:13. Now let’s think realistically - if the earth is filled with violence by people who only think evil, how long would humankind survive? It makes sense then that He who can see the “end from the beginning” would say “the end of all flesh is come before Me.” Isaiah 46:10, Genesis 6:13.

It would be easy to stop here and conclude that God simply “sped up the process in mercy” by killing everyone, but is this Biblical? Did Jesus kill anyone? Did He destroy the Jews who “sought to kill Him?” John 7:1. No, instead Jesus died for them! John 3:16, Romans 1:16. The Creator was rejected by His own creation. John 1:3, 10, 11. Where is the vengeful tyrant, the God who drowns or burns those who reject Him? He is not seen in Jesus, who is “the express image” of the Father. Hebrews 1:1-3, John 14:9. Jesus reveals to us that God is so loving that He even lays His own life down for those who reject Him.

If it is not God’s practice to “speed up the process” by killing everyone, then what does He do? It is here that we must seek a deeper understanding of the time of the flood. The Bible tells us that history repeats itself and illustrates this in the story of Jerusalem. Ecclesiastes 1:9, 3:15. In the book Jeremiah God shares that “violence and spoil is heard in [Jerusalem]; before Me continually is grief and wounds.” Jeremiah 6:6-7. God saw that their eyes and heart were dedicated to coveting, shedding innocent blood, oppression, and violence. Jeremiah 22:17. All these descriptions of Jerusalem fit the description of the people at the time of the flood: only evil thoughts and full of violence. Genesis 6:5, 13. Based on the understanding that history repeats, and in God’s eyes Jerusalem had the same condition as the people before the flood, then how God dealt with Jerusalem can shed light on how He handled the flood.

We have already touched on how Jesus responded to the Jews rejecting Him - He died for them. The love of God for those who hate Him is infinite. Jesus wept while speaking to those who despised Him. Luke 19:41-44. In tears He shared how they did not have the peace He wanted them to have, how enemies would surround them and destroy them. He wanted to gather into His arms the very ones who rejected and killed His messengers, and soon were to crucify Him. Matthew 23:37. This is the picture of God the Father, for when we see Jesus we see the Father. John 14:9. He, the Father, is just like Jesus: merciful, full of grace, abundant in goodness and truth, and ready to forgive! Exodus 34:6, Psalm 86:5. Here is unlocked the character of God in the flood. Just as Jerusalem was filled with violence, so was it before the flood. Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, so the Father had a heart of sorrow that overwhelmed Him to tears for those countless sinners before the flood. It grieved Him at His heart as He saw the end of all, for the earth was filled with violence. Genesis 6:6, 13.

The unchanging God did not destroy the world with a flood. Malachi 3:6. Instead, through Noah, He pleaded with the world to turn to Him and be saved because He did not want them to die. Isaiah 45:22, Ezekiel 33:11. He warned them that if they do not stop their violent and evil ways, but continued to reject Him, then He would give them what they want: God would leave them, and without Him their house would be desolate. Jeremiah 22:3 - 5, Matthew 23:38. All the while God’s heart is aching with the thought “How can I give you up! How can I surrender you! I have loved you with an everlasting love!” Hosea 11:8, Jeremiah 31:3.

At the time of the flood the world was full of violence, in every thought and in action. The people rejected God and His message as He pleaded with them to turn from their evil and self-destructive ways. This God of immeasurable love so respects each person's freedom of choice that He will give them what they want, even if it breaks His heart. The people of the flood did not want Him around. After 120 years of pleading with them He respected their wish, and He left. When God left, so did His power that upholds worlds. His word that held all things in place was removed. There was nothing to hold the water above, the borders of the seas, or the fountains of the deep. Everything returned to how it once was - the waters overflowed their boundaries, fell from above the sky, and the fountains were broken open. The earth was once again completely covered with water. All was left desolate.

In reconsidering the story of the flood, as we take the Bible for what it says, we can see that truly God can be trusted. He is not a vengeful tyrant who drowns, burns, tortures and destroys those who refuse to love and obey Him - No! The truth about God is that He loves us with an infinite love that is so strong He gave up everything for us! He will not take away our freedom to choose, but He wants us to know the result of our choices. He has told us simply and clearly that sin separates us from Him and results in our death - and this He demonstrated on the cross for us to see.

God is love. In every aspect, in every moment, He has enduring and unchanging love for you.

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