"Why did God destroy the earth?" Gen. 5-9
(The beginning of destruction)
Pastor Bob Hunter
Springwater Church
Today I want to put the wraps on the first segment of our series called "The Beginning." We’ve been studying the book of Genesis. Also known as the book of origins. The world as we know it has it’s genesis or starting point in this book. And that’s why the Bible is a book like no other. There is no other source of information quit like the Bible, when it comes to understanding how the world and it’s problems came into existence. The Bible stands apart as the only authoritative document on these matters. There is a lot of theory going around, and a lot ideas about how the world came to be, but no real facts, or detailed explanations that can rival what we find in the Bible.
So today I’m going to conclude our series on the beginning with the story of Noah. He is perhaps one of the best known characters in the Bible. You can make conversation with a stranger on the street by mentioning the story of Noah. The flood event and Noah’s miraculous escape from it has fascinated people for centuries.
(Read Gen. Ch. 6:1-8) and comment… God told Noah to build an Ark, it was a huge project, a mammoth undertaking. From beginning to end it took a 120 years. Have you ever been given an impossible task? Let’s suppose you show up for work Monday morning and in walks your boss or supervisor. At that time you are given charge over a project that is so huge and overwhelming that you begin to break out in a nervous sweat wondering how your going to complete it. Now you know how Noah must have felt. God gave Noah a project that was enormous in size. Building the Ark was no small task.
I can only imagine Noah’s initial response.
You know what I think Noah suffered from? I think he suffered from stress and anxiety. God tells you to build an Ark out in the middle of nowhere, the scope of the project doesn’t appear to make sense. In addition to that, you are given a preaching assignment to fulfill on the side. I don’t thing we have any idea how difficult the two of these must have been. God told Noah to preach a message of repentance to the people of his day. Sadly, nobody listened, there was not a single convert? Indeed God calls us to do some pretty difficult things doesn’t He? I just can’t imagine how stressful these responsibilities were, year in and year out for 120 years. The rejection, pain and ridicule must have been crushing to Noah’s mental health. If I were Noah I probably would have had a nervous breakdown, annually. One a year for 120 years! I would have been a complete basket case. How do you stay focused under that kind of pressure. Preaching is a hard enough task. Imagine preaching to people that aren’t the slightest bit interested in hearing what you have to say. That’s enough to drive anybody crazy.
Sadly, at the very end of those years, Noah witnessed the horrible destruction of the very people he poured his heart out to. His final moments on the old earth were marked by sadness and serparation. Imagine a crowd of people outside your door perishing as the rains persist and the water level rises. Many of whom you know by name and warned about this very event.
So why did God do it? Why did He destroy the earth, and rescue only a small remnant of faithful people? Why did God allow this to happen? There must have been reasons, what were they?
Reason #1 is this:
1. Man was rotten to the core.
I mean it was really bad, morally & spiritually. Things were falling apart. The world was filled with violence, corruption, illicit sex, organized satanic activity. The Bible says, "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw corrupt the earth had become, for all the people of the earth had corrupted their ways.." Gen. 6:11,12 Things were so bad that even God in all His mercy couldn’t bear to look at it anymore. It broke His heart to see what happened to creation. The days of Noah were a living hell. Noah preached for a 120 years and people ignored Him. The book of Peter in the New Testament says that God was long suffering toward people in the day of Noah, He gave them more than ample opportunity to turn from their wicked ways and they just didn’t do it. They loved darkness rather than light.
There is a human tendency in this world to ignore the reality of judgment. We casually dismiss the consequences of our actions in favor of complacency. People living in the day of Noah, ignored the words of warning and resisted the idea of judgment. So reason number #1 for the destruction of the world is pretty straight forward one: Man was rotten to the core and God was fed up with it. Something had to happen, it just couldn’t continue because God’s Holiness demands justice. In other words, He doesn’t allow sin to go unanswered. Reason #2
2. It was time for change of scenery.
God not only purposed the temporary destruction of humanity. But for divine reasons, He included the earth in that equation Gen. 6:13 says, "…I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth." Underline the word both. The earth was subject to destruction along with it’s inhabitants. God decided to change the scenery altogether. That’s why Dinosaurs are extinct. The earth before the flood was vastly different from the one that emerged after. The pre-flooded world was friendly to Dinosaur habitation. There were huge pockets of water in the firmaments that created kind of a greenhouse affect, that filtered out UV rays from the Sun and prevented droughts, diseases and famines, and premature aging. That’s why human beings were able to live for 900+ years. They didn’t have to endure harsh elements of living, like seasonal change and volatile weather patterns. But all that changed when God flooded the earth, the firmaments released their water reserves making possible a worldwide 40 day flood. I believe in total earth destruction as the Bible describes. Many view the flood as a local event. However, geological evidence suggests otherwise. What God says happened in the book of Genesis, indeed took place. After the flood there was piercing sunlight on planet earth. God immediately confirmed this change by sending more sunlight. For perhaps the first time in history, a rainbow appeared. Soon after the flood the average life-expectancy of a human was severely shortened. People started to die before they hit a hundred. Noah lived 350 years after the flood, he was the last recorded individual to live that long. The life span of a human being drastically dropped after the flood. For God said, "His days will be 120 years." Gen. 6:3. According to scientists and experts the flood affected everything from animal life, plant life, marine life, human life, etc. All of creation was impacted by that one event.
In the days of Noah, God elected to destroy the earth and all of it’s inhabitants. He used the flood event to change the scenery here on earth. The environment was changed. God manipulated the atmosphere. The lush green canopies of vegetation that allowed the Dinosaurs to thrive, were destroyed. The green house like environment that allowed Methuselah to live 965 years was done away with. God forever changed the scenery of planet earth. God also destroyed the earth to…
3. To give us a second chance (To bring about a new beginning.)
You see, God had a purpose for the destruction of the earth and it’s inhabitants. He did it for a reason. God had big dreams for the human race and wanted to give Noah and his family opportunity to fulfill those dreams. The destruction of the earth was intended to set the stage for life in the new world. Somehow God sovereignly knew that things were too far gone in the first order of creation to carry out his original plan. So destruction was necessary in order to give humanity another chance. Destruction for the sake of destruction is inconsistent with God’s character. God always has a purpose, He allowed the flood for a reason. The reason becomes clear to us in Gen. 9. When the flood waters receded and God introduces Noah to the new world. He made a covenant with Noah that day, and said, "Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’ Gen. 9:1
It was a day of New Beginnings for Noah and his sons in more ways than one. God blessed Noah and his family with all the resources of the new world. He gave them a fresh opportunity to re-populate and fill the earth. I guess you could say this was an offer they couldn’t refuse. Noah and his family were chosen by God to carry on the existence of humanity.
What you find consistent about Noah is this: He obeyed God and followed the Lord’s instructions completely. He and His family, agreed to be the ones that God would use to give humanity a second chance. God used Noah to carry out that plan in full and give the human race a spiritual fresh start.
So now you know why God destroyed the earth, he did it to erase corruption & set the stage for a new beginning. He did it to change the environment and the atmospheric conditions of the earth. God had a reason; destruction for the sake of destruction is inconsistent with his will. We may not know all the reasons until we get to heaven. But what we do know is that eventually through Noah, came the promise of Israel and the promise of a Savior. Yeah God! For giving us second chance. What a story!
TRANSITIONAL STATEMENTS & QUESTIONS: Now, I guess the question for us is: What does this story mean in today’s world? Does this account of Noah and His obedience to God, have any relevance to a follower of Jesus Christ in modern America? Well apparently, Jesus thought so. According to Jesus, we need to review the story of Noah often enough to be familiar with the coming of another judgment. Therefore it serves as another reminder. When the days of Noah return, we need to be ready for Jesus’ return because it could be very near. Jesus said His second coming will be marked by very similar moral conditions. He put it this way in Matt. 24: 36-41 "read passage"
And that’s why this story is important to us. Because when we see the moral conditions that were present in the day of Noah showing up again, we need to be ready; the return of our Lord is near.
So what do you think? On a scale of 1-10 how bad is it in your opinion? Have the days of Noah returned? Are we pre-occupied with pleasure? Is there blatant disregard for God? Has lawlessness prevailed? Has corruption taken over? Are people abusing the privileges of sex? What do you think? How would you answer that? Are we living in the days of Noah?
One thing is for sure, the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. God made a promise to Noah that it would never again happen that way. But that doesn’t mean that judgment is going to be withheld. God is not going to refrain from taking action. The destruction of evil is inevitable. God’s Holiness demands it. The sin problem must be dealt with and addressed. So we need to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord in the event of a spiral downward. If widespread corruption consumes our attention and takes over the world we live in. Then Jesus said, you need to recognize it & take note of the signs. When these things happen, lift up your head, because your redemption draws near. In other words, start expecting Jesus to come back.
Someday, there will again be destruction here on earth. But this time, not by flood, according to New Testament, it will be by Fire… 2 Peter 3: 3-7 "read passage"
Interestingly enough, what Peter says is amazingly consistent with John’s description in the Book of Revelation in Ch. 20 where it says, "that if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, then He will be thrown into a lake of fire." Vs. 15
The day of the Lord’s return will usher in yet another episode of destruction, this one by fire. God will use that event to erase the evil and set the stage for a new beginning. He’s not interested in destruction for the sake of destruction. The benefits of destroying the earth and it’s ungodliness will clearly be seen when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. You have to look at the idea of destruction like this: it’s God’s way of remodeling and recreating. The Bible says that the earth will be destroyed by fire, and after that event a new heaven and a new earth will emerge. And once again, the scenery will change, & things will once again be as God intended them to be… perfect. The great days of ‘no mores’ will commence. There will be no more pain, no more crying, no more grief, no more dying, the old order of things will pass away and behold all things will become NEW! Destruction, my friends, is merely a means to a redemptive end. It has a purpose, and where does it find it’s purpose? It finds it’s purpose in re-creation and reformation. Destruction for the sake of destruction is of no value to God. He doesn’t do things that way, it’s all moving toward a redemptive end. For we serve a God who works all things together for the good of those who love HIM!
Now how do we respond to a message like this? It’s kind of scary isn’t it? What are we going to do with ourselves? The moral and social outlook in our world is pretty gloomy.
Let me leave you with this one thought: By placing your faith in Jesus Christ you can escape judgment. And that’s all you need to do, say Yes to Jesus and No to the world. Noah and His family were rescued from the flood because of their faithfulness and obedience. God saved them, because they were in his eyes, righteous. And you can be saved too. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you enter into a saving relationship with God. Never will you suffer any harm that doesn’t prepare you for a better place.
God told Noah to build an Ark and have faith. He did. And when the rains came the Ark was lifted up high above the earth and spared the terrible destruction taking place on the earth below. When the second destruction by fire comes, God will give you and I same opportunity if we put our trust in Christ. We too, will be lifted up high above the earth, we will be rescued from the destruction of the ungodly. It’s the called the rapture, or the meeting in the air. God remembered Noah, when the earth was destroyed, and He’s going to remember YOU too! So don’t sweat it. It’s all going to work out. Your faith in Jesus Christ will save you from destruction. When Jesus Christ returns to earth, he’s going to lift us up high above the earth and save us from perishing with the ungodly. In the meantime, we need to be waiting, and watchful. The days of Noah I’m afraid have returned. The coming of our Lord is near.
(power point suggestion: create a background with dark images of churning water and a couple of flashes of lightening, use white text over.)
