Mercy

Is God Good? (Part Two: The Flood)

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Be sure to also read: Is God Good? (Part One).

In the Old Testament there were times when God killed nations of people at once–even all but eight people in the day of Noah and the flood–but He was still good.

The Lord gave me a metaphor to describe the steadfastness of His love and goodness within the destruction of the flood.  He asked me:

If you had a farm and all the animals caught a really painful, harmful disease that was definitely incurable what would you do?  Surely, you wouldn’t want them to have to go on living like that and to have babies who would also live tragically painful lives.  So, wouldn’t it be more merciful for you to kill (as quickly and painlessly as possible) the infected animals before they got worse, multiplied, and infected others on the farm?

God’s goodness means He is concerned not just with the here-and-now of our lives, but with the eternal–with the whole big picture.

Something had happened in the days of Noah which caused God to take action by destroying life on the earth: there was ungodly sexuality, violence, and evil reigned continually in the hearts and thoughts of men (Gen 6).  In fact, it’s so bad that God not only kills the large majority of the earth, but lowers the lifespan to 120 years so that future generations would have less time to cultivate evil (Gen 6:3).

The people were so corrupt that God in His infinite knowledge knew there was no hope for them turning to Him without His violating free will, which He chooses not to do; their hatred was too deep.  They were infected with the disease of wickedness, because they choose to cultivate the wickedness of their hearts.  In order that they would not multiply and produce more kids (who would be raised in wickedness and endure eternal punishment), and so they would not create for themselves even more sin (which would ensue even more judgment), God, being full of mercy and justice, chose to kill them.

This wasn’t God’s ‘plan’–He never delights in killing anyone.  Scripture says that He was “sorry” and “grieved in His heart” by man’s actions (Gen 6:6-7).  These aren’t the emotions of an uncaring God, but of one who is so intimately involved with His creations that their apostasy deeply saddens Him.

It made God sad that the people would choose wickedness over Him, but He could not let them dictate and infect the decisions of future generation, nor could He let them continue to destroy themselves in their wickedness.  So it was in His goodness and perfect love that God destroyed and cleansed the earth with water, saving only Noah, his family, and the animals that were left with them in the ark.

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Ignorance and Responsibility

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I work occasionally as a parking enforcement officer–a job I started to get myself through college, and have enjoyed so much I probably will never fully quit.

As I write parking tickets, I’ve often encountered angry people and have had to share with them what they’ve done, while still executing justice.  I’ve heard every excuse, and one time was nearly killed by a man who had parked over an hour in a 30 minute parking zone and, in rage, attempted to run me over with his truck before the police got involved.

One of the most common excuses is not knowing the rules of the road: “I didn’t know that wasn’t a parking space.”, “I didn’t know I needed a permit in that area.”, “No one told me I couldn’t drive through the bus center.”, and so forth.  Some of the people I meet are really nice people who really didn’t know they were in the wrong; more of them are lying (evidenced by the computerized system I carry of every ticket and warning they’ve had in the past).  Regardless, it’s the responsibility of those who drive to know the rules of the road (and of parking).  It’s my responsibility as parking enforcement officer to judge rightly and execute judgment according to the law.

I say this because many Christians neglect to actively pursue the Lord–even though it’s clear that love (demonstrated through obedience) is the first and foremost commandment.  We don’t, in the new covenant, have a rule book to follow as the Jews did; instead, the Holy Spirit writes the law on our hearts and connects us to God so that we can know and walk out His will.  Without the pursuit of God through the Holy Spirit (by reading the Bible, dialoguing with the Lord in prayer, connecting with other Christians in fellowship,…) we miss knowing Him.  And if we don’t know Him, well, He’ll still have to execute perfect judgment.

The season of God’s mercy is NOW.  Right now we’re alive and have the choice whether to learn God’s heart and choose His ways, or whether to drive our lives by our own rules.  And while I can give ‘warnings’ to those parked in the wrong spot (the gift of surprise mercy), God’s mercy is only available until we die, after that His judgment can be nothing but Just because He can’t go back on His word.

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