Board index ‹ Noah's Ark & the Flood

[A Thousand Legs]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I was taught God flooded the world to rid it of wickedness and corruption. But immediately after the waters subsided the drunkenness and curses began flying and here we are, still in the midst of rampant wickedness. Was it a failed plan, or just an expression of a wrathful God?

[jimwalton]

There is never indication that God flooded the world to rid it of wickedness and corruption. Genesis 8.21 is clear about that: "The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.' " Humans had a sin nature, and the purpose of the flood was not to erase our sinful nature.

The concerns of the ancient world were about order, non-order, and disorder. The creation story portrays how God brought order to what was disordered. The flood story is also one of order and disorder. God used the forces of chaos (non-order: the sea) to judge the disorder (Evil and violence) people had brought to creation. He also used those same forces to reestablish a modicum of order. In this way the flood is a re-creation (mirroring Genesis 1). This is why the narrator includes the story. He is showing how God had worked to bring about order in the past (creation and flood). This serves as an introduction to YHWH’s strategy to advance order yet again through the covenant (Gn. 12). The covenant is an order-bringing strategy.

The point was never to rid the world of wickedness and corruption. So it certainly was not a failed plan. But it was the expression of judgment of a loving God who (1) refused to let sin tank his whole creation, and (2) was determined to preserve a humanity that was not totally corrupt.

[A Thousand Legs]

Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing!