Genesis 6:9-22
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
How do you feel about the idea of God deciding to destroy the world? I think that a lot of us struggle, rightly, with this picture of an angry God.
I think that is because we see anger in ourselves and it is so ugly and violent and destructive and we don’t want God to be like that. We don’t want a God who would try to control people or force them to bend to His will. We don’t want a God who will destroy those who choose a different path.
However, I think I would struggle to believe in a God who doesn’t get angry.
Let me explain. A few years ago I was in Mumbai and I met a girl called Sunni. She told me how her parents died and her brother raped her, so she decided to run away. Her friend found her a job in the city, so she travelled with him to Mumbai. He took her to a brothel, closed the door behind her and sold her to a stranger. For years she was told she had to pay off the debt, servicing men every day and night.
I walked around the building, noting the locks on the outside of the door, not intended for protection but for control. I stepped over rats and smelt the sin of her prison.
She told me of her rescue and how a group of Christian missionaries had fought for her, rescued her and rehabilitated her. She spoke with a smile as she described her new life and hope she has.
As I went home I felt pure rage. Liam Neeson style:
“If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
You have ever felt this?
Imagine a drug dealer moved into your neighbourhood and started selling drugs to your kids. How would you feel? Angry. Because you love them.
In a broken and dangerous world, it is impossible to love without feeling anger. The problem isn’t so much the anger but the root of it, what we love is the issue.
For us, anger usually flows out of what we love the most… me. It proud. It is self-righteous and it is toxic. Because we have a love problem.
God’s anger is nothing like ours because God’s love is nothing like ours.
He isn’t volatile, he doesn’t fly off the handle or storm out the room or punch holes in the door. God isn’t trying to control or bully you. He loves you.
Our anger is like a soldier with an assault rifle, God’s is like a surgeon with a scalpel. Our anger spirals out of control, It is disproportionate to the offence. God’s is patient and measured.
God loves his creation and he can see how corrupt and violent the world has become. We are told that that Noah is that last righteous man left on Earth. God sees beyond Noah through history to the millions of people who will be at risk if Noah is not rescued. He has waited and waited, but His love compels him to act and to rescue the last righteous man.
God’s flood is a rescue plan to prevent the total destruction of his creation. It is justice, protection and grace that carried the righteous through the storm. His love and his anger protect and sustain us.
