Bible Passage: Noah and the Flood – Genesis 6-7
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Mentioned Resources
- Do the Thing by Rebecca George
- Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
Transcript
Rebecca George
She is a podcaster, speaker, and author whose greatest joy in life is discipling others to pursue their passions in a way that builds the Kingdom. In her free time you can find her running outside, writing, or trying a new recipe with Garth Brooks playing in the background.
In Rebecca’s book, Do the Thing, she encourages you to pursue “your thing” (whatever it may be) with the grace and confidence only available to those with a gospel-centered, eternal perspective.
Connect with Rebecca:
Website: RadicalRadiance.live
Instagram: @rebeccageorgeauthor
Podcast: Radical Radiance
Slow to Anger
Here’s the quote I was referring to from Dane Ortlund (sorry I forgot his first name!) in Gentle and Lowly:
“Slow to anger.” The Hebrew phrase is literally “long of nostrils.” Picture an angry bull, pawing the ground, breathing loudly, nostrils flared. That would be, so to speak, “short-nosed.” But the Lord is long-nosed. He doesn’t have his finger on the trigger. It takes much accumulated provoking to draw out his ire.
Unlike us, who are often emotional dams ready to break, God can put up with a lot. This is why the Old Testament speaks of God being “provoked to anger” by his people dozens of times (especially in Deuteronomy; 1–2 Kings; and Jeremiah). But not once are we told that God is “provoked to love” or “provoked to mercy.”
His anger requires provocation; his mercy is pent up, ready to gush forth. We tend to think: divine anger is pent up, spring-loaded; divine mercy is slow to build. It’s just the opposite. Divine mercy is ready to burst forth at the slightest prick.”
― Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Correcting False Narratives
This story from our Bibles corrects so many of the false narratives of the world! Here are some of my responses. Rebecca had others on the podcast. You might have others still:
God doesn’t care what I do or how I live.
Apparently God does care what we do and how we live. He sent a flood because He, “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Because of this, God sent the flood, and, “Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died” (Gen. 7:22).
There is no God. There is no accountability
The flood is documented, not only in the Bible. Our earth bears the record that God does hold his image bearers accountable.
I decide what’s right for me. You decide what’s right for you.
Actually God decides. People in Noah’s day were not convicted or even aware that they had offended God. They were just going about their business, “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them away” (Matt. 24:38-39).
Having God in my life won’t make anything better.
Noah had God in his life and he was much better off when the flood came. One day, when Jesus returns and God’s wrath is unleashed upon the earth, those who have God in their lives will be far better off than those who don’t.
God is distant and uninterested in me
God was very interested in the affairs of people who were totally uninterested in Him. He was also very aware of Noah, who stood apart in his right living, in the middle of a crooked generation. “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Gen. 6:8-9).
My safety is in my own hands
No one was safe from God’s flood. There was no way to protect themselves, except to obey God and get in the safe place he had provided. Our safe place is Jesus, and the only way to protect ourselves is to be “in Christ”.
I can fly under God’s radar and avoid his wrath
None of us fly under the radar. God is close, not distant. He is aware of every detail from our lives. None will avoid his wrath, except, of course, they are saved by his grace.
God is mad at me, so I should hide from him.
God is slow to anger, but yes – he is eventually provoked to wrath. But there is no where to hide from God; we can only hide in God.
Are you tucked safely “in Christ”? Judgment for this world is coming. This is the only safe place. For more on how to find safety in Jesus, read this post.
