Our Merciful God and the Flood

Our Merciful God and the Flood

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Amos 3:7 (NKJV)
⁷  Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

God is merciful, but He is also holy.  In His mercy, God, through His prophets, revealed the judgment of the Flood for at least 1,000 years before the Flood came.  We learn this and many other deeper truths when we study the meaning of the names of Biblical characters and places.

Genesis 5:21-24 (NKJV)
²¹  Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²²  After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³  So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴  And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Enoch means “initiated”.  The manifestation of the mercy of God in dealing with world-wide sin was initiated with Enoch.  Enoch is a picture of those who are taken out of the misery of their circumstance.  The picture is of the power of God to intervene in the lives of those who walk with Him

Before Enoch was “raptured”, he prophesied of the coming judgment. 

Jude 1:14-15 (NKJV)
¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men (evil people who pervert the order of God) also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵  to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." 

God, through Enoch, warned the world and gave opportunity for repentance.  Enoch had named his son Methuselah which means, “his death shall bring”.  Methuselah can also mean  ”man with the dart.”  Both definitions have to do with judgment.  Methuselah lived longer than any other person.  His life span of 969 years shows God’s mercy and forbearance in withholding judgment.  Methuselah died just before the Flood. 

Methuselah’s son is Lamach, meaning sorrowful.  Lamach pictures God’s heartbreak over the evil in the world.   Lamach, in his sorrow, showed God’s mercy by naming his son Noah.  Noah means “rest or comfort.” Genesis 5:29 (NKJV):  ^“And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

However, the evil was systemic and pervasive. The people ignored the preaching of Enoch. They ignored Noah as he spent 100 years building the ark.  They ignored the death of Methuselah.

 

Genesis 6:5-8 (NKJV)
⁵  Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
⁶  And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
⁷  So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
⁸  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Violence, in both man and beast, was the order of the day.  Life on earth was corrupt and that corruption led to devastating violence. But one man, Noah, was perfect in all his ways.

Genesis 6:11-13 (NKJV) 

 
¹¹  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²  So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³  And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

God, in mercy, sought to end the corruption and violence.  In that patient mercy, God also forewarned of coming judgment and gave opportunity for repentance. The message of judgment was preached by Enoch, lived by Methuselah, and prepared for by Noah.  People on earth were warned about 1000 years. 

2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV) “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

According to Genesis 7, Noah was on the ark for seven days before God closed the door and the rain began.  Anyone, who had wanted to, could have entered the ark.

The ark pictures the rest and comfort (the noah) we can find in Jesus Christ.  It is not our purpose either to ignore or to fear the storm of judgment.  It is our purpose to enter into the ark:  a relationship of peace and comfort in Jesus Christ. 

Softly and Tenderly

By Will L. Thompson

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!