2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (ESV)
1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
2 Corinthians 8 would be a chapter sufficient to destroy all thoughts of prosperity preaching. Paul is writing to ask the Corinthians to give for the relief of saints in need. Later, in the same chapter, he declares that the same could come back to them, and it may happen that those same saints can give to the Corinthians when they are in need. It does not look like a faith-based, get-rich-quick scheme.
What is really cool here is the things that combined to bring about the giving from the Macedonian Christians. Verse 2 shows us three things that are combined: severe affliction, abundant joy, and extreme poverty. What would you expect to come out of that recipe? If you were given severe affliction and extreme poverty poured on top of your joy, what would you do? Well, the Christian’s joy makes all that turn into a wealth of generosity. In our poverty and our pain, we give to others for their relief, to the glory of God.
Christians, we are not to be about hording wealth in this life. We are to spend ourselves, out of joy, for the good of others and to the glory of God. May we become such people. May we never use the faith as a means of earthly financial gain. Instead, may we spend ourselves in this life for the joy of honoring God and for the hope of the life to come.
Clarity is not the Problem (1 Kings 13:14-22)
1 Kings 13:14-22 (ESV)
14 And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16 And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17 for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’ ” 18 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he lied to him. 19 So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
In this strange passage of 1 Kings, we meet a prophet of God. The man, in the verses before this section, called out the judgment of God on the northern kingdom and on Jeraboam, the wicked king who was setting up an idolatrous altar.
God sent the prophet to the north on a mission and with some specific instructions. The instructions included that the prophet was not allowed to eat food or drink even water while within the borders of the northern kingdom. This would be an uncomfortable but not impossible task.
Suddenly the prophet from the south meets a man from the north. The northern man tells the prophet from the south that he too has heard from God. He tells the man from the south that God has told him that the southerner was to join him for a meal within the borders of the northern kingdom. And the southern prophet sits down to dinner.
The problem is, the man from the north was lying. He had no word from God. He wanted to mislead the southern prophet. And he succeeded. The southern prophet’s refusal to follow the clearly-given command of God results in his death.
How often is it that the command of God and its clarity is not at all our issue? How often is it that we look for ways not to follow Scripture simply because we do not want to? How often do we, when life gets uncomfortable, look for someone who will tell us what we want to hear, that our desires are OK and we have obviously not understood Scripture rightly?
I once remarked that the process of tuning a guitar string for me was like what I see many believers, including myself, do. I pluck the string and check the tuner’s answer. I then ask again and again and again until I get an answer I like. Then I stop asking. And I’ve certainly seen the same thing among church members.
A simple example is often in matters of the heart. A Christian woman desires to date a man whose life shows no genuine evidence of conversion. The Scripture obviously forbids Christians from marrying non-believers. The woman asks people if they think it is OK for her to date the man. She wants to. She feels deep down that it is God’s will for her to date this guy. Regardless of the direct command of Scripture against the pairing, she asks person after person after person until she runs across one person who will tell her that what she wants to do is OK. Then, armed with confirmation, she begins a relationship that leads to her hurt and which goes against the commands of the Lord.
There is no doubt that you can come across somebody who will tell you that the Bible supports just about anything you want. Those who do not care about honest biblical interpretation, contextual analysis, and faithful hermeneutics are easy to find. People who will compromise the teachings of the word for the sake of their strongly felt desires are all over the place. If we are honest, all of us will be tempted to read what we want in the word.
But, if we want to honor God, we have to let the word of God speak for itself. We have to interpret the text as its authors and its Author intended. We have to be faithful and find the true, genuine, honest commands of God. Then we are called to obey.
And do not let yourself pretend that the Bible is too hard to understand simply because there are people out there that will twist it. So very much of the Bible is crystal clear. Yes, there are hard topics. But, for the most part, the Bible is blatantly obvious if we will just let it say what God intends for it to say.
The southern prophet in our passage above knew exactly what God commanded. For the most part, you and I know exactly what God has commanded. May we not compromise and listen for the person who will offer us what we want more than what the word says. May we, instead, hear and obey the word. The truth is, following God’s word leads to life and joy that is far greater than any compromise we could ever make.
The Smell of Your Life (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
How interesting that Paul uses the concept of smells and the triumph to depict the work of believers in the world. Part of the Roman triumph was the parading of prisoners and victorious generals through the streets. One element of this victory parade was the perfuming of the air.
Paul says that he, and other believers, are used by God in a way that reminds us of the triumph. We travel through the world. And everywhere we go, as we preach the gospel, we change the smell around us. To some people, the preaching of the gospel is the fragrance of life. To some, the message of Jesus smells like death.
Paul asks, “Who is sufficient for these things?” The implied answer is that we are not. God is so much greater than us that we could never be sufficient. We cannot change the world on our own. We lack the ability. I would argue that we cannot change anything for the good without that change being empowered by the Spirit of God for the glory of God. But, such change is the mission of our lives in many ways.
So, Christian, how do you change the smell of the world around you? Do you love your spouse and children if you have such in your life? That changes the world. Do you worship Christ with other believers? That changes the world. Do you show genuine love and kindness to your neighbors? That changes the world. Do you take food to people in need? That changes the world. Do you share the message of Jesus with those who do not know him? That changes the world.
Do note, please, that sharing the message of Jesus smells different to people. To some, it is life. To others, it is hateful and death itself. Our job is not to figure out who will like it and who will hate it. Our job is not to persuade people to change their mind. But, our job is to tell the truth in the world that God put us in. When we see someone receive the message with joy, we know it was the fragrance of life. When we see someone hate the message, we pray for them and trust that God is able to save them by his sovereign power if such is his will.
Lord, I, like many, am not sufficient for the task. However, I pray that you, by your Spirit, will empower me to spread the fragrance of the gospel. Help me love you, love my family, love my church, and love the lost. Help me to speak the truth and spread the gospel. I also ask that you allow me to see more who will receive the message as the fragrance of life.
His Word is Good (1 Kings 8:56)
1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)
“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”
When the building of the temple was complete, Solomon held a great celebration and consecration. The people prayed significant prayers and made massive animal sacrifices before the Lord.
What caught my attention here are the words that Solomon proclaimed as he praised the Lord before the people as the celebration wrapped up. Solomon proclaimed that the Lord had faithfully fulfilled his promises to Moses. Israel was at rest. Israel was in her land. Israel had been divvied up and divided into tribal lands. God had been faithful, and the king, as it were, signs the receipt.
I will not proclaim that this means that there are no further promises for Israel, either national or spiritual. Such an argument is beyond my purpose this morning. But I will say that the words of the king are significant. Who would have ever believed that what God promised Moses could have ever come to pass? Who would have believed that what God promised Abram could have come to pass? The truth is, for this day to have come in Scripture is an evidence of the miraculous power of the almighty God.
God had moved a family of 70 to a foreign land. He grew that family to become a nation of millions. He rescued that nation from slavery in Egypt. He protected the nation from self-destruction as they focused on idols and not on the Lord. He gave them victory over enemies. He gave them land on which to live. God did it all, everything he had promised.
The reason we need to think about this is not so much about an eschatological position regarding Israel. What I think is most significant is what it tells us about the faithfulness of God. When God makes a promise, he keeps that promise. If God promised Israel a land, he gave it. If God promises us eternal life in Christ, he gives it. When God lets us know that, no matter how bad things get in the world, he has the victory, well, he has it.
Resurrection Matters (1 Corinthians 15:19)
1 Corinthians 15:19
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul is often combating false teaching and faulty thinking. From this passage, we find that there must have been some people in Corinth who denied the possibility of a person rising from the dead. Who knows, perhaps they were too sophisticated in Corinth to believe in such seemingly fantastic things.
Interestingly, I can think of people in my own past who have said similar things. I’ve heard people say, “It really does not matter if you live after death. It is worth it to be a Christian, because you will live a better life.” Of course, there is a sense to what such a person was saying. It is better to follow good standards like being a good husband, good father, and giving person. It is better to avoid drunkenness, adultery, and violence. So, maybe life is better following the rules that God has given.
But God disagrees with the sentiment that is put forth by the person who says that resurrection does not matter. The Lord inspired Paul to tell the Corinthians that, if Christ is not raised, we are most of all to be pitied. Earlier in the same chapter, Paul said that if there is no resurrection, our faith, Christianity itself, is vain—meaning empty and useless.
The resurrection matters. The fact that Jesus rose from the grave matters. The fact that we will live beyond death matters.
It matters that Jesus rose from the grave, as this is our hope. Somehow, the resurrection is the completion of the cross-work of Christ. We are not saved from sin if Jesus did not physically rise from the grave. The resurrection proves to be true all that Jesus claimed about himself and about how it is that we are to be saved by grace through faith. And, the resurrection of Jesus is the forerunner of our own resurrection to eternal life, a real and bodily resurrection.
Our resurrection matters too. Our resurrection reminds us that there is something beyond this life. There is a genuine judgment. God will ultimately and perfectly do justice. For those who are in Christ, God will perfectly and justly show mercy. There is a reason to let go of some seeming goods in the here and now for the same of infinitely greater rewards in the future. There is a way for us to say goodbye to believers who die knowing that this is a temporary parting. There is a way for us to face hardships and persecution in this life knowing that there is an eternal reward that far outshines the pain and sorrow we have faced in the here and now. Truly, our resurrection matters. If we are not to rise from the dead, our faith is useless, just as the Bible says.
"Does God Change His Mind?" Answering an Accusation of Contradiction
Jeremiah 18:8 (ESV) – and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
1 Samuel 15:29 (ESV) – “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
I recently received a question asking how we reconcile the statements in the two verses above. Is there a contradiction in the Bible in the discussion of whether or not God changes his mind? How do we deal with this?
While these verses may appear contradictory at first glance, it requires a fairly aggressively negative reading not to be able to harmonize them. What we want to do is to interpret the statements of the text as they were intended. Differences between author and imagery account for what appear contradictory.
What are the two authors of the two verses intending to communicate? Jeremiah is helping those who hear him to understand that God will have mercy on certain people in a specific situation who are otherwise destined for disaster. God intends and has determined that disaster will befall a particular nation or group that continues to fail to hear his warnings. However, Jeremiah also communicates to us that God will not destroy the people if they will repent.
The Samuel passage is different. The prophet Samuel has just pronounced a certain judgment of God on King Saul. Saul will lose the kingdom to someone else for his refusal to obey the command of God. There is no going back on this. No matter what Saul does, another family will carry the kingly line of Israel. God is not fickle. He will not change his mind here.
Now, are those who thoughts contradictory? I would argue that they are not, as the authors are discussing different issues, even if similar words are used. One author is using the picture of changing God’s mind as a way to call people to repentance. God is all-knowing, and he most certainly knows what he will do. However, the threat of destruction for an unrepentant nation is real. Similarly, the promise of reprieve for a nation that repents is equally real.
This is not at all similar to the kind of mind-changing depicted in 1 Samuel 15. In the Samuel passage, King Saul will not be allowed a reprieve, even with repentance. God does not promise one thing one day and then go back on it. In this sense, he does not change his mind.
Reading the text fairly, we can see that two separate authors, in two very different situations, writing hundreds of years apart, writing from dramatically different social and political situations, use a similar type of phrasing to declare true things about God. In the situation with Jeremiah, the people can find mercy if they repent—thus God will change his mind from the destruction headed their way. In Samuel, Saul can do nothing to regain the blessing of God—thus the statement that God does not change his mind.
So, does God change his mind or not? It depends what you mean by the question. Is God dishonest? No. Does God know exactly what he will do in all things? Yes. Yet, we need language that will help us understand a situation like the one in Jeremiah. God honestly promises destruction for a people given their current direction and intent. However, God will also have mercy on them when they repent. Changing his mind is a humanly understandable and acceptable way to describe that mercy. Now, God also knows, before the situation ever comes about, whether or not the people will repent and thus whether or not he will have mercy. But he is not going to tell them the future. He is only going to give them the promise that they are destined for destruction unless they turn from their sin. Thus, from our point of view, it will look like he changed his mind.
Honestly, this comparison of the two verses helps to understand some wonderfully true things about what God tells us in the gospel. We are all dead in sin and destined for destruction. So long as we live, however, we have the opportunity to see that situation change. We can come to Jesus, seek his forgiveness, and give our lives to his lordship. If we do, we will no longer be dead in sins, but will have been made alive by God and forgiven. We will go from being objects of God’s wrath to being his children.
How should God speak to a person who currently opposes him but who will one day be his child? He should tell that person, “You are destined for destruction.” But, he can also honestly tell the person, “You can be forgiven in Christ.” When that person comes to Christ, God can say to that person, “You have always been destined for my mercy.” And in none of this is there a genuine contradiction. All the statements are true.
However, if a person dies without ever turning from their sins and trusting in Jesus, God can say to that person that he never changes his mind. Once they have died, there is a judgment that the person will face that is never going to change. God is not fickle. He does not change his standard. He saves those who repent and come to faith in Jesus. He commands all people to turn from sin and trust in Jesus for salvation. He does not change that standard, so it can certainly be said that he does not change his mind.
The logical fallacy of equivocation is to unfairly apply the same meaning to a term when that term is being used in different ways. For example, one might say that the game of baseball has evolved. To argue that the evolution of baseball proves that Darwinistic evolution is true is improper reasoning. In the two cases, the word “evolve” is being used to mean different things.
To argue that the verses above contradict is to commit the fallacy of equivocation. The situations are different. The intents are different. The authors and contexts are different. Yes, the same phrasing is used, but not to say the same things. The verses do not contradict in any fair, logical discussion.
Ordinary Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
One of the weaknesses in the Corinthian church was a love of the dramatic. Early on in the letter, Paul defended his apostleship as it was compared to other impressive teachers. It seems that the Corinthians were fascinated and deeply impressed when big things happened. The factionalism that Paul wrote against showed that this church loved to get behind the man who most showed them something great.
Here, we enter a section in which Paul will talk about the gifts of God’s Spirit in the church. It should not be a surprise that a church with a fascination with the extraordinary would mishandle the gifts. These folks were looking for a show, for power, for flashes of glory.
But notice what Paul says to the church right here at the beginning of the discussion. There are varieties of gifts, service, and activities in the church, but there is only one God. In each case, the power of God is given to individuals, not for personal empire-building, but for the common good. God gives some people one kind of gift and another gift to others. We are not to be overly fascinated by the more showy gifts. We are not to be ashamed of the ordinary gifts. Instead, God calls us all to use the gifts that we have been given for the good of the entire church body.
I’ve recently been reading Michael Horton’s book, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. In this book, Horton points out that we should not think that God only works through the fantastic. Sometimes the greatest work that God does is through ordinary people serving him in ordinary ways. We need to stop thinking that ordinary is somehow beneath us. We are ordinary people. God is great, of course. But part of the way that God does his work in a way that surely glorifies him is when he uses ordinary people in ordinary ways to change the world. It would glorify God less to make us all super heroes. It glorifies God more when truck-drivers, home-makers, doctors, plumbers, teachers, police officers, firefighters, pilots, cooks, waitresses, engineers, politicians, and every other type of ordinary person in the world serves him. God is not just wishing that the church was filled with more movie stars, oil tycoons, and professional athletes so that the work could be done. Of course, he will save such folks and be glorified by how they serve him too. But, the point is, God is glorified when those of us whose names will never be known outside of our little circles of friends are faithful to him and help the good of the local body of Christ.
This chapter reminds us that God gives a variety of gifts to his people. All people of God are gifted by God. You, if you are a believer, have been gifted by God to play a role in the building up of others in the church. There is something about what God’s Holy Spirit is doing in and through you that is supposed to make the church stronger. Maybe it is a gift to teach. Maybe it is a gift to care for others in a special way. Maybe it is a gift to help encourage people toward maturity. Maybe it is a gift of a heart that loves giving to others or showing hospitality. Maybe it is the gift of a nature to serve behind the scenes. Who knows? But God has gifted us all, and he wants us to use those gifts for the sake of his glory in the local church, the ordinary, standard, lovely, local church.
This encourages me. I need not look for the spectacular gifts in order to matter. I do not need to be given an extra-biblical revelation of future events to matter. I do not need to experience a miracle of speaking in a language I do not know. God may gift me however he wants, and it will all be for the sake of his church. However, if God wants to do the miracle of growing Christians through the ordinary work he does in my life, through the gifts that he has given me that will not make me a person anybody remembers in a century, that is to his glory and for my joy.
Yours the Day and the Night (Psalm 74:16)
Psalm 74:16 (ESV)
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
Like many of the Psalms, Psalm 74 is a prayer of deep need. The psalmist has experienced hardships, and he is asking God to intervene for the glory of God’s own name.
Verse 16 caught my attention this morning because of its contrast. God owns the day. God owns the night. The surrounding verses show God’s sovereignty over land and sea, over beasts and men.
The reason that this verse grabs me is related to how men have often imagined deities. Read ancient myths or even modern fantasy fiction. False gods often have very clearly circumscribed powers. There are gods of the hills and gods of the valleys. There are gods of the seas and gods of the mountains. There are gods who are strong in the day and gods who are strong in the night. Only the true God of the Bible, however, is God over all.
Consider how great it is to know that God is unlimited by any boundaries. He is God over the day. He is God over the night. He is God over the sea. He is God over the land. He is God in the mountains. He is God in the valleys. He is God in the first and third worlds. He is God when we are sick and God when we are healthy. He is God when we are rich and God when we are poor. He is God over summer and winter, over heat and cold, over light and ark. There is nothing that stands as a limiting factor before our God.
The God of the Bible would not have been imagined by men of old, because men could not handle imagining a God sovereign over all. God is bigger than human imagination. God is greater than our greatest dreams. As Anselm’s Ontological Argument tells us in a simple paraphrase, a being that is the greatest possible being, one upon whom no improvement can be made, must exist, because existence is part of the perfection of the being. Anselm aside, the fact that we see here a description of a God beyond any human imagining, a God over day and night, heat and cold, is a picture of the true God over all, the real God who made us.
How encouraging this all is. God is over all. My life does not limit him. My will, my weakness, my failures do not limit him. Neither does my strength, my power, my rightness improve upon him. He is perfect. He is over all. How great it is that he would allow me to be called his servant and that he would call himself my God. How much greater still that he would call himself my Father and call me his child. Truly, to know him is an honor and a joy. And even when life is hard, God is still over all, perfect and right.
The Beautiful Structure of the Flood Narrative
Sometimes the structure of a biblical passage helps us to better understand it. An interesting structure leads us to grasp that there is design and beauty behind the transmission of the account. The account of Noah and the flood in Genesis 6-8 is an example of a passage that has more design behind it than we might realize.
The flood narrative is in the form of a chiasm. This structure is a common ancient pattern in which items repeat in reverse order—think 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 or a-b-b-a. It is called a chiasm after the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter x. Readers often find chiasms in the Psalms, as this device was often used in biblical poetry. See the verses below with my notations added:
Psalm 95:4-5 (ESV)
A 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
B the heights of the mountains are his also.
B’ 5 The sea is his, for he made it,
A’ and his hands formed the dry land.
Notice in the A lines, the psalmist is repeating thoughts about the hands of God and the land. In the B lines, we see reference to the mountains and sea, clearly creations of God that are not the typical land. Thus, the 1st and 4th lines parallel each other while the 2nd and 3rd lines parallel one another.
While it is interesting to find these structures in the texts of Hebrew poetry, it is also interesting to find them in a more major text. Scholars have claimed for years that such a structure is to be found in the narrative of the flood in Genesis 6-8. Not all scholars define the chiasm in exactly the same way, but the presence of the structure is clear. See the following examples:
From: R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing in Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), Genesis 6:9.
Title: “These are the generations of Noah.”
Introduction: Noah’s righteousness and Noah’s sons (6:9-10).
A God resolves to destroy the corrupt race (6:11-13).
B Noah builds an ark according to God’s instructions (6:14-22).
C The Lord commands the remnant to enter the ark (7:1-9).
D The flood begins (7:10-16).
E The flood prevails 150 days, and the mountains are covered (7:17-24).
F God remembers Noah (8:1a)
E 1 The flood recedes 150 days, and the mountains are visible (8:1b-5).
D 1 The earth dries (8:6-14).
C 1 God commands the remnant to leave the ark (8:15-19).
B 1 Noah builds an altar (8:20).
A 1 The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind (8:21-22).
From: Lee Anderson Jr., “A Deeper Understanding of the Flood—Making the Most of the Message,” (Answers in Genesis, April 1, 2014); Accessed 25 May 2016, available from https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/making-the-most-of-the-message/; Internet.
A. Transitional Introduction: Noah and His Sons (6:9–10)
B. The Corruption of All Flesh (6:11–12)
C. God’s Resolution to Destroy the Earth by Flood (6:13–22)
D. God’s Command and Noah’s Response: The Entrance into the Ark (7:1–10)
E. The Beginning of the Flood: The Inundating of the Earth (7:11–16)
F. The Rising of the Waters (7:17–24)
G. God’s Remembrance of Noah (8:1a)—central theme of the account of Noah’s Flood
F’. The Recession of the Waters (8:1b–5)
E’. The End of the Flood: The Drying of the Earth (8:6–14)
D’. God’s Command and Noah’s Response: The Exodus from the Ark (8:15–19)
C’. God’s Resolution Never Again to Destroy the Earth by Flood (8:20–22)
B’. The Covenant
A’. Transitional Conclusion: Noah and His Sons (9:18–19)
Besides the way that these authors see the events as parallel, readers can catch clues of the structure in the repetition of numbers. Noah gets 7 days warning before entering the ark. The rains come for 40 days. The waters prevail for 150 days. The waters recede for 150 days. The land dries for 40 days. Noah sends out the dove for 7 days at a time. The pattern is certainly there.
Now, why would we care about the presence of such a structure? Is this all just for Bible nerds who like to see things others don’t? On the one hand, this is not necessary for someone to see on their own in order to gain the truth of God from the flood narrative. At the same time, seeing the chiastic structure of the flood account shows us at least two things.
First, the chiasm shows us the hand of God and the wisdom of Moses in the composition of this event. Moses was reporting history to us. Yet, as he wrote the account, he also chose to structure the telling in such a way as to make the passage stand out, especially to those who were accustomed to this kind of poetic device. There is a sweet and subtle beauty to what is written here, a hint of the artistry of God in the pages of holy Scripture.
Also, in many chiastic structures, the central point or central two points are the keys to understanding the passage. IN this instance, the statement that God remembered Noah is the very center, the turning point of the passage. God did not leave Noah to the flood. God was faithful to his promises. The reason humanity exists and that God’s promises did not fail is because God remembered Noah. The mystery of the flood narrative is not the question of why God would flood the world, but rather why would God allow anyone to survive. The center of the chiasm shows us that the reason that God allowed the survival of humanity is that God has remembered, been faithful to, his promises.
Some Reasons to Believe the Flood
If you have ever been around religious skeptics, you have probably heard attacks on the biblical account of the flood. One such opposition to the flood narrative is an argument that other religions have similar flood stories. Clearly, the skeptics will argue, if multiple religions have the same sort of flood story, we can understand that all religions are the same with all the same sorts of myths.
I believe that there are three responses to this sort of skepticism. First, I would argue that it makes perfect sense that multiple ancient religions would have a flood story. If a global flood actually took place around 2300-2400 BC, one would expect that this story would have been passed down through more channels than inspires Scripture. After all, both American and British history books tell of the war of 1776 even if they might call it by a different name or have a different opinion of its causes. Thus, the existence of flood narratives in other religious texts is no argument against the Bible.
Looking to the other side of the coin, I would argue that the second thing that we need to grasp here is that the flood narratives from these other religions is not at all the same as the Bible’s telling. For example, the Bible is quite clear that it is the sin of man in the face of a holy and just God that is the cause of the global flood. But, as we read in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament:
According to a related flood story, the Atrahasis Epic, twelve hundred years after man’s creation his noise and commotion has become so loud that Enlil starts to suffer from insomnia. Enlil sends a plague to eradicate boisterous humanity, only to have his plan thwarted. Next he tries drought and famine, which are also unsuccessful. Finally a flood is sent, which Atrahasis survives by building a boat. To call this noise moral turbulence or, to understand the clamor of mankind as man’s chronic depravity reads into the text far too much. The problem is simply that there are too many people, with the result that there is too much noise. There is a limit on Enlil’s auditory capacities. It really should not surprise us that in a system of thought where the gods are not necessarily morally superior to human beings, and where the line between good and evil is blurred, there is no recording of the fact that man is to be drowned because he is a rebel and a sinner.[1]
Others compare the ancient myth of Gilgamesh to the Noah account. But there are significant differences. Gilgamesh survives the flood floating in a vessel that is a perfect cube—a shape unlikely to float or to remain upright. The biblical ark is shaped with perfect ship’s proportions. In Gilgamesh, the flood was a week-long event whereas the biblical account takes over a year.
In Scripture, God is clearly sovereign over the world. He is fully in control of the flood and its horrors. But see the following descriptions of how the flood terrified the false gods of the Gilgamesh tale (:
The gods were frightened by the Flood,
and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall.
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth,
the sweet-voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed:
‘The olden days have alas turned to clay,
because I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods!
How could I say evil things in the Assembly of the Gods,
ordering a catastrophe to destroy my people!!
No sooner have I given birth to my dear people
than they fill the sea like so many fish!’
The gods–those of the Anunnaki–were weeping with her,
the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief(?),
their lips burning, parched with thirst.
Six days and seven nights
came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding,
the flood was a war–struggling with itself like a woman
writhing (in labor).
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and) flood stopped up.[2]
A fair look at these accounts says that, while there are understandable similarities, there is no way to see the Bible’s account as just the same as other ancient myths. Noah’s account is far less fantastical, far less confused, and far more simple and logical.
The third response, the one which is most important, is that the flood narrative is part of Holy Scripture, a Bible which speaks for itself of its own inspiration. Jesus believed in the flood. The witness of the Holy Spirit throughout the generation speaks of the truthfulness of the flood. The tone and feel of the Bible’s narrative has a far more realistic and honest smell about it. Thus, for the simple truth that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) is why we believe the truth of the flood of Genesis.
[1] Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17 in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), Genesis 6:5-10.
[2] The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI, Accessed 25 May 2016, available from http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm; internet.
Pastor Travis Peterson 