Judgment is God's strange work.
We know God judges. We sense that he must judge. (God wouldn't be right if he let off a Hitler with no judgment.) But still, judgment is difficult for us, especially when it comes to the flood, which is the greatest demonstration of God's judgment in all the Old Testament.
We do not understand all that God does but it may help to remind ourselves of certain things:
- God is just. He is fair. It is appointed for all humans to die. We do not have a problem that humans die, so why do we have a problem if God has all humans (except eight) die at one time?
- God is sovereign. He is God. He is free to do as he chooses. We answer to him; he does not answer to us. He is the Potter; we are the clay.
- God is holy. He hates sin. We cannot begin to fathom the unimaginable holiness of God.
- At the time of the flood, mankind was exceedingly wicked. (The Lord 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. Genesis 6:5) Yet, God was patient with mankind. In fact, God waited 120 years to bring judgment upon the earth. 1 Peter 3:20 says that "While God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared." And 2 Peter 3:9 applies God's patience to every generation: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."
- God is far more compassionate than we are. We must not kid ourselves; God is far more merciful and loving than we could ever be. In a future day, he would go to the greatest lengths to provide salvation for a rebellious race.
We may not fully understand what God did in Noah's flood, but the proper response for us is not to criticize God but to be reminded that God is the Judge of all the earth, that God will bring a great day of judgment on the earth again when Jesus returns, and that we had better flee to God as Savior before we face God as Judge.
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