The Flood

Unless you don’t listen to any news at all, you’ll all no doubt know that America are going to the polls to elect their next President. It will either be Donald Trump or Kamala Harris,

Now, you’ll all have your own opinions on who you would prefer to get in, or maybe for some of you, you just want all of it to stop… but something I think almost everyone can agree on, is that society is not in a great position at the moment.

Cost of living is a huge problem. We’re becoming more divided as a society. We’re in a rapidly changing world and we don’t know how to handle it.

Things are feeling more and more chaotic.

This is a problem in America. It’s a problem here in Australia, and the reality is, it’s a problem I suspect in every developed country around the world.

Into this situations, politicians around the world step up and try to tell us that they have the solution. They will fix the cost of living crisis. They will heal our divided society and bring us all back together. They’ve got what it takes to keep up with the rapidly changing world.

Now, if you’ve been keeping an eye on elections around the world, it has been suggested that we are seeing a general swing to the right of politics, which seems to be what is happening in countries like France and Germany.

I want to suggest, however, that we’re actually seeing a shift against incumbents, and that’s because, as much as opposition leaders will promise big, the problem is too big. There are issues that neither the left nor the right of politics can fix.

But here’s the thing… as a society, we still think we can fix the problem before us.

But how are we going to fix the problem, when I don’t think we even know what the problem is?

But you might think… but didn’t I just say the problems, that is, cost of living, fractured society and the like?

I’d say - they are actually the symptoms of the problem, not the problem itself.

You see, I’m going to argue that in fact, it is when we open up the Bible that we start to understand the problem better.

Now, you might be able to see where I’m going with this - the problem is the sin in the world.

That is correct - but when we say that, it can be easy to get the wrong picture in our head. You see, we can think of this in terms of God coming up with a whole bunch of rules that we have to follow, and if we break any of his rules that he has decided on, then that will spell bad news for us.

In many ways, this picture of the problem is what the Pharisees in the time of Jesus held to. They had reduced all of God’s commands into 613 rules - but Jesus was highly critical of this approach.

You see, when we reduce the problem of sin down to breaking a bunch of rules, we actually miss the bigger picture.

So let me take you back to the first few chapters of the Genesis… to the place we were at before I went on some leave.

Let’s go to Genesis 3, to the moment that we commonly refer to as the Fall.

It was the moment that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

It’s the point that can often be baffling to many people. Why is there such a big deal made about a bit of fruit? Sure God can make whatever rule he wants, but really? Are we meant to believe that the eating of a piece of forbidden fruit is going to change the entire course of humanity, and indeed the whole creation?

The answer, is because these are not just some arbitrary rules that God decided to make. Eating the forbidden fruit was a change in thinking for humanity.

You see, humanity was made in the image of God. We were made to represent God. But humanity was not content with just being God’s representative. Humanity wanted to be like their own little gods.

Eating the fruit for Adam and Eve was taking the step to be more than image bearers. It was saying to God, I don’t need you, I can do this on my own.

This is the essence of sin.

Yes there are still rules - but these are not arbitrary things God thought of, they are rather helping us to understand God’s design and purpose for this world.

When we sin, we are saying to God, I don’t care about your design… I don’t care about your character… I can do this better with my own ability.

So the big question that I want to explore this morning is what is the path way forward?

If I’m suggesting that no politician, regardless of what party, is able to move us forward, is there even a way forward?

Well, this morning, we’re coming to a very well known story - it’s the account of The Flood.

The account describes the corrupt world which existed, and God then sending the monster of all monster floods to rid the earth of this corruption. But he had instructed Noah to build an ark where he would take his wife, and his three sons along with their wives, and of course two of each kind of animal.

In the process, this remnant would be saved and life would continue.

We might know this story, but as we go through it, I want to think about it from the perspective of how we can move through the chaos that we are experiencing.

You see, in the time of Noah before the Flood, I suspect people thought they could improve the situation by themselves.

So let’s dig deeper...

Recognizing Rampant Rebellion

Genesis 6 starts with an account that can leave us shaking our heads wondering what exactly is going on.

The world population is increasing - that parts pretty clear. But then the sons of God start having children with the daughters of humans.

Now you read that and quite naturally you need to ask, who are these sons of God and who are the daughters of humans? And let me be up front and say, we can’t be 100% certain, but there are a few theories. I don’t want to get too caught up in this, so let me go through it really quickly.

A common theory is that the sons of God refer to angels, and the daughters of humans are humans. In other words, angels and humans are having babies together.

Another suggestion is that it is the sons of God are the godly line descended from Seth that we read about in chapter 5, and the daughters of humans are the line of Cain that we read about at the end of chapter 4.

There are a few other suggestions as well, but I think what is clear is that people are taking matters into their own hands. They’ve made themselves into heroes. It’s no longer about God, these people are men of renown because they can do it on their own.

They’ve subverted the order. When the forbidden fruit was eaten, the eyes of humanity were opened to realise that we can do it on our own.

I want to suggest, this is far more than people doing a whole bunch of naughty things. This is about a subversion of order.

So let’s think about ourselves from this perspective...

You see, when we think about this from our normal way of thinking about sin, we go to our ethical framework. We can think about our sexual ethic. We can think in terms of how we treat others.... of levels of integrity and honesty…

When we think in these terms, we’ll tend to conclude… well, there’s a few areas I need to work on, but boy, isn’t the rest of society bad? Of course the things are the way they are based on the absolutely atrocious way people are behaving.

Now there is truth to all of this, and I don’t want to discount the ethical side to this, but when we think of sin in terms of subverting God’s good order, well it can also change our perspective.

I’m thinking in terms the way we think we can do it. We might not state it in such blatant terms, but we may as well say, I don’t need God, I can fix this problem myself. Certainly our actions would often indicate this is the way we are thinking.

Obviously this is very much the case of people outside of the Christian community, but sadly our Christian witness is being hampered by the fact that we think we can solve the problem because we’re somehow better and more qualified.

So let me get this straight, your ability to help society is not based on your superior abilities or qualities. You are not the heroes of old or men of renown.

And so this all needs to start with recognising the rampant rebelliousness in our own hearts.

Yes there are massive problems out their in the wider society, but if we want to make a difference, we need to recognise that we get the order wrong. We think we can do it ourselves.

Obedience Opens Opportunity

Well, into this rebellious world God raises up Noah, who in Gen 6:9 is described as a righteous man and blameless among the people of his time.

Now, it needs to be noted, this description does not mean that he was without sin.

The Bible states elsewhere in no uncertain terms that no body is without sin, and Noah is not an exception here.

This is rather a description of his stance towards God. It’s a recognition that even when you slip up, if you humble yourself before God he can change you.

Take King David who was also described as righteous and blameless. This is the guy that slept with another man’s wife and then had the man murdered - hardly blameless!

But yet he was able to humble himself before God and align his heart to God’s.

This is how we should think about Noah.

Well, God sees this in Noah, and in Gen 6:13, God speaks to him directly.

God tells Noah how he is going to destroy the people and the earth because of their corruption. But Noah is to build an ark.

God then tells him exactly how he is to build it. The type of wood he should use. The dimensions. The opening in the roof and the opening in the side for a door.

He tells him how he is to bring two of every kind of creature onto this ark, and also that Noah shouldn’t forget the food for them all as well.

Well, imagine being Noah in this situation.

The account doesn’t tell us what Noah’s first thought is, but I’m imagining that it is something along the lines of - that’s impossible!

First of all, building a boat of that sort of size, even by today’s standards would be a massive undertaking and would require a lot of specialised equipment. Giving this task to Noah seems a little out of his ability.

But then when you build it, you’re still not done. How in the world are you meant to gather two of every kind of creature.

And then he wants you to get food as well!

Surely it’s impossible.

Well, dare I say, yes, it is impossible.

Did you notice that God didn’t ask the men of renown and the heroes of old?

They might have fancied themselves to be able to do it.

But God wasn’t after somebodies abilities… he was after obedience.

Obedience that says - okay, I have no idea how that’s going to work, but I’m going to trust that if you want it to happen, you’ll make it happen.

So Gen 6:22 simply says: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him”.

It doesn’t tell us how, other than that through obedience, God makes it happen.

If we want to make a difference in this world, it’s going to start with us saying to God - I’m ready to listen. When you talk, I will follow.

It’s not going to happen with our cleverly thought out strategies - and that’s not to say that a strategic plan is not valuable - but it’s value is only in the extent to which we are handing it over to God.

It can be hard to truly hand things over to God. We have to let go of our self. It might mean that some things are going to be a little less pleasant for us. It might mean you have to give up some privileges you currently have.

But when you let go and give things over to God, you will start to see powerful things happen.

Endure through the Expanse

Now, it’s easy at this point to jump to the end of the story and see how it all works out.

Noah was obedient, and he and his family got to enjoy a new creation with God, where corruption has now been wiped out - well, maybe… maybe not.

But it’s important to consider the trials that Noah would have had to endure.

First the task of actually seeing the ark being built. We’re not given much of a description of how that went, but I can’t imagine it would have been easy.

When we get to chapter 7, it’s finally time for them to enter to ark. An ark full of animals, so I’m thinking it’s perhaps quite stinky and messy, so hardly the type of cruise ship that many people like to go on today.

Gen 7:4 tells us that they actually get on the boat seven days before the rains actually started, so I’m thinking these seven days must have been rather odd - perhaps the family wondering why they are actually there. Although it was during this time that the animals just start coming.

But then the rains start to fall.

For forty days and forty nights, they would have been rocked and thrown all over the place.

Now, I don’t know how Noah and his family would have gone with sea sickness, but given that they were not seasoned sailors, I’m thinking there would have been quite a bit of sea sickness. I’m also imagining that the animals probably would have struggled with the swell as well, so this would have been no easy time.

By the time the rain finally ends, they still have another 150 days on the water.

Noah was obedient, but this did not mean it was easy.

Sometimes it can be easy to think that if we are obedient to God and spend time with him that our life will be easy, and if life’s not easy, that perhaps we’re doing something wrong. Actually, sometimes it can be the other way around.

So why be obedient? Because it’s better in the long run. Because obedience leads to life.

Sometimes the easiest thing in today’s world is to just go along with the way society is. But this is not what’s best.

Covenant of Continuation

So where does all of this lead?

Ultimately they are saved.

Noah sends out a raven. But it found no land.

He sent out a dove. It also found no land.

But then he sends a dove once more. This time the dove returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf.

They came to land on the mountains of Ararat - which unfortunately for those who have tried searching for it, is not an exact location but rather a general region.

By Gen8:15 God finally tells Noah and his family to come out of the Ark.

The first thing Noah does, is make an offering to the Lord.

God makes a promise. A promise not just to Noah but to all his descendants - that includes us.

The promise is that never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.

With this he provides a sign - the rainbow in the sky.

A symbol that is now often used for something very different, but yet a symbol that should be very meaningful to us. Whenever we look up at the sky after some wet weather and see that glorious display in the sky, we’re reminded of the promise that God has made.

But what is it exactly that the rainbow represents?

Well let’s think about this account...

As you start to read the account closely, you start to notice language that describes a de-creation… things going back to where we were in Genesis 1:2. If you recall the second verse of the bible, it describes a formless and empty earth covered with waters. During the flood, we’ve effectively gone back to Genesis 1:2.

As the flood waters recede, we get a type of re-creation. Much of the same language used in the first two chapters of Genesis are repeated. We get a repeat of the command to multiply on the earth and be fruitful.

God is showing that he can restore order.

But to be part of the restored order, you need obedience.

There is actually hope through the chaos that we’re currently seeing. But it’s not in any leader. Neither Kamala Harris, nor Donald Trump are going to be able to restore order.

For that matter, no Christian is going to be able to restore order with their own abilities.

Rather it is through the work of Jesus.

And the story of Noah points us to Jesus. The one that has restored order.

It’s interesting that Jesus in fact reminds his disciples of the story of Noah when he was talking to them about his second coming.

Matthew 24:37 sees Jesus describing his second coming by saying: “As it was in the days of Noah”.

And this ultimately is where we will see the full restoration of order.

You see, the rainbow in the sky is the reminder that the full restoration of order is still coming.

Conclusion

We really do live in chaotic times, and despite politicians of all stripes telling us that they have the solutions, they really don’t.

There is only one person that does, and that is the person of Jesus Christ.

A restored order will only be fully realised when Jesus returns, however, as we walk closely with Jesus, we will begin to see glimpses of this restored order.

But it firstly takes a recognition of the rampant rebelliousness in not only the society around us, but also in our own lives as we try to take control ourselves.

It secondly takes obedience - with a willingness to listen and follow where God leads.

But this requires endurance, but it leads to the great promise that God will never destroy the earth by flood because he is in the business of restoration.

You can be part of God’s restored kingdom by putting your faith in Jesus.

Let me pray...

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