Outside of the "6 days of Creation" debate, it seems that the next biggest argument Christians have (under the topic of literal interpretation anyway) is whether or not The Flood was truly "global" or not. Once again, the question I have is...does it really matter? I used to believe that it was a truly global flood, and I think I still am drawn towards that belief, however the more I think about it, the more I realize that it realyl doesn't matter whether the flood was over the entire Earth, or just the "known-world" at the time.
There is little doubt that some sort of flood truly happened. Even without the Biblical account, there is evidence of floods n fossils (not even counting how most religions, and many tribal cultures have their own version of a "flood story"). Here are my thouhts on the biblical account of Noah and the Flood:
First of all, we look through the genealogy of Adam to Noah. The first thing you notice, or at least I noticed was the age of people. The YOUNGEST ancestor (at least in the list mentioned...chances are there were more people than that in the line between Adam and Noah), lived to be 777 years old. Now, whether or not that is an exact age or an estimate doesn't change the fact that, these people lived a very long time. The next major thing I noticed, is that, there is one person who was seen righteous enough to not have to die. Chapter 5:24 says, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away". What? God took him away? Everyone else it says, "____lived to be ____years old, and then he died"...not Enoch. God took Enoch away. I want to know more about this guy? Why do we skip right to Noah...why not a chapter or 2 on the first guy in the world to not die? Sounds like that would be a pretty fascinating story. And the most incredible thing is...they just move on down the line. They say this, and then move to the next person in the line of Noah (who happens to be Methuselah...the oldest man in recorded hsitory).
Finally, we make it to Noah. Although, first, there is a very confusing verse. Chapter 6:4 says, "The Nephilim were on the Earth in those days-and also afterward-when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown". What the-? I have no idea what that means. Any ideas? Confusing stuff...anyway, moving on.
So God sees that man is wicked, and verse 6 actually says that "the Lord was grieved that he had made man on Earth, and his heart was filled with pain". That's pretty strong words there. But, like when God noticed Job as righteous, God notices Noah. Now, instead of torturing and testing Noah, God decides to SAVE Noah, and destory the rest of humanity. Taking a somewhat different approach here, but hey, God moves in mysterious ways right?
Now, I don't know if it is just the NIV version, or whether or not we were just adding things to the story, but this account seems to skip over the part where Noah's neighbours mock and make fun of Noah. Growing up I was always taught that Noah tried to save the rest of the world, and offered space on the boat, but people mocked him, and didn't listen. But...at least in the NIV translation, that never seems to happen (or at least it was not recorded). Also, the NIV doesn't give God's directions using "cubits", instead they use "feet". Now, it's really a moot point, but I was kind of looking forward to reading the "make it this many cubits wide, and this any cubits long". I wanted to be able to envision Bill Cosby's "Noah" talking with God. Oh well.
After the Ark is built, we are told that "God shut them in". The door to the ark was closed by God himself. Sounds pretty impenetrable when it's put like that. No one was getting in after, and no one was leaving the boat (not sure why they would want to, but they couldn't even if they did). Then, the rains come, and wipes everyone out, and we know the rest of the story.
It's a pretty fascinating story, and one that I think, unfortunately we dumb down to make it suitable for kids. The story is not about a boat party, or cute little animals sticking their heads out of a window while a beautiful rainbow forms overhead (like the children's picture portray it). This is a story about an ANGRY God. A JUDGING God. A SAD and GRIEVING God...and this is a story about thousands (perhaps even millions...not sure the population size of the time) of people drowning. Where are those pictures on the nursery walls of the church?
But going back to the debate about whether it was truly global or not (because I'm not doubting that God did judge the world in the form of a flood...there is enough historical and scientific evidence to point towards the fact that it did happen). Does it really matter? I know I ask that a lot, but I think it is important to think about. Sometimes we get so caught up in our traditions, and what we were taught as kids that we make the mistake of thinking that, what we were taught HAS to be right and is vital to our Christian faith. I'm not going to come out one way or the other on this debate, and that's because it really doesn't matter. God got angry, and he judged those who were wicked. God saved the righteous, and then he vowed to never do it again (at least in THAT form). The story shows a God who is both ANGRY and MERCIFUL. He both judges the wicked, and saves the righteous. He is also a God who keeps his promises. That is really all that matters...that we can trust God, and know that he is going to do what is right and Just. God is in complete control, just like we learned in the creation story and in the story of Job. It seems to be a theme here...God is in control of everything, and while we don't always understand they WHY, we know that it is always going to be for the best.
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