How High's The Water Mama

Have you ever been on a flood watch? Laura tells of such events in her childhood. They lived up river in Idaho with each years spring runoff bringing a watchful eye on the river level since the area experienced annual flooding. The common question for children who live in flood plains is probably, “How high is the water, Mama?” Each year not only up river but in areas around the world where flooding is a problem, decisions are made as the river rises to either ride out the flood or evacuate and return later to see what damage has been done. Laura has told me of times when they would take the evacuation route, driving out of the area with the water having risen in places so that it touched the bottom of their car doors. Through it all, they never lost their home. It eventually did end up floating down river, or is that up river, but that was after they had sold and moved into town. Wise decision for them, a tough one for a relation who bought them out.

Genesis talks about rising waters, about tempting not only nature, but God, and the consequential results of those decisions. From Genesis until today, temptation has not escaped us. There is probably an area of your life where the water is rising and you are looking out to see how high it has gotten before you are swept away. Society has hit its high water mark and the river is running high. It is time to change the course, to dam up the flood and to rescue the victims before the door of the ark is closed for good.

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD . Tough words from Genesis 6. God, grieved He made mankind, men and women doing what they wanted with disregard to the Creator, disregard for their own lives. Then God notices someone who is going against the flow of the current, someone not swept away in the flood of humanity out for their own interests, God discovers Noah.

Genesis 6:9 continues 9 This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

We know the story, the ark was built, Noah took 7 of every clean animal and bird and 2 of every unclean animal along with himself, his wife, his sons and their wives, the door was closed and for 40 days and nights it rained and for 150 days the waters flooded the earth, the ark and its contents the sole survivor. God establishes a covenant with Noah, a rainbow, and states he will not entirely flood the earth again. God said I am making a change in how I will do things in the future. Sadly, man never made such a deal.

We read years later in Luke 17:26 a conversation Jesus is having with his disciples when he states "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30"It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."[4]