Why did God destroy all of living creation and show Grace to Noah?
In part, the reasoning behind God destroying anything has to do with judgment. What’s hard for the human mind to grasp is “Why is there suffering?” or “Why must God judge?” assumes the reality that there is, in fact, a supreme moral law giver. In other words, if there were not evil and sin, and a God who is good, we have no basis to ask questions with any expectation except that life is merely a random, or perhaps statistical, and suffering is merely an artifact of chance.
Without God’s goodness and the real presence of evil in the world, asking spirtually disturbing questions is an exercise in futility. In other words, without a creator God, without an eternal purpose for humanity, we find that there is no intelligence reason, only mere chance, and one cannot argue when life is only a roll of a dice.
The Bible, what God wants humanity to know, teaches otherwise. The Bible helps us understand God in a way no other historical document can. It is remarkablly consistent despite being a composition of writings over 1600 years, and over 40 authors in difference languages. The plan of God, who God is, why He does things and the presence of evil in the world are these that are both consistent and in a sense, evolutionary, albeit part of God’s long term plan to reveal Himself.
The flood was preceded by the massive generation of human morals. In Genesis is this written:
5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 And Yahweh said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among those in his generations; Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. -GENESIS 6:6-13
When it comes to Noah, he “found favor in the eyes of Yahweh” (Genesis 6:8). That statement involves several understandings of God.
God is sovereign: If he chose to destroy all things and spare Noah (and his family) that is God’s perogative.
God is omniscient: God is eternal and not restricted by time. He could know that Noah would be one who would respond in faith to his commands to built an ark and yet it was also a choice by Noah, founded on faith, to follow God’s instructions.
God is Love produced in Mankind the freedom of choice: This is intricately tied to the fact that God love and love is a choice. God did not create man as an object that could not respond in love and to worship by choice. We can struggle with the idea that all of humanity at the time of Noah that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” yet we must come to a startling reality that sin is a serious problem because it is with God. If you love someone, you will not continue to sin against them.
God is Holy: This is perhaps the single characteristic of God that is the most difficult to grasp: God is Holy and righteous. Scripture portrays God’s judgment of evil in small and large scales. As image bearers of God, we long for justice, and so does God. God hates sin but we are blind to much of our sin. Despite this gross chasm, God’s plan is to live in harmony with his people, His creation, when all those who are chosen can enjoy each other’s presence and God’s glory abounds.
Sin cannot exist in the direct presence of God, It may very well be that God purposely is keeps hidden though His presence is evident all around us. Therefore, those who choose to ignore God and God’s conscious call to faith and repentance have and will choose to be separated from God. Judgment of sin is as certain as God is Holy and a Righteous Judge. The unholy (unprotected by the blood of Christ) are separated from God eternally in a place that is known as hell, where the torment reigns and not the comfort of God’s common grace which we all enjoy in our earthly life.
God is Powerful: He holds the world and the universe together and can act upon the earth and the heavens in Judgment: God can command the earth the be overwhelmed with water, fire, or whatever He chooses. He can roll up. the heavens like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4) in his waging war against His enemies.
God is Merciful: We know that only God is good No one is good except God alone.(Mark 10:18). We don’t have to look far to see that Noah was not a sinless person either, however, God works with the willing as he has shown throughout the Bible, regardless if they are Israelites or not. Is it possible that God showed mercy on some of the people of the earth who drowned? the Bible does not state that, but we know that God is just and merciful, if people repented because of the flood and impending death, then God has shown that He will save a sinner even just before death (e.g. the thief on the the cross next to Jesus).
God’s ultimate plan is to save the world through One Man, the only one who is able. In the story of the flood, the human race that started with Adam, who was responsible for the Fall into sin, led to Noah, a faithful yet flawed person, was a reset in a world filled with evil. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God and the promised Messiah, as a Servant of God, took upon himself the sin of all who would come to genuine faith that leads to Salvation. Jesus suffered the punishment that each of of those who believe deserves.
The result of sin is death, yet Christ defeated death and through His Resurrection is it possible for believers to be glorified in His Righteousness, in glorious blessing of eternal life and for the glory of our magnificent and good God.
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel from the late Pastor John MacArthur, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
All quoted excerpts have footnotes removed, usually from Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), sometimes from New International Version (NIV), on rare occasion the Amplified Bible (AMP).
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