My big observation from today’s reading was actually made a while ago. When I first read through the Bible a few years back, I came across the story of Noah and realized that there really are no perfect men. If you read through the entire Bible you will see that everyone in it, with the exception of Jesus, had sin in their lives. Noah, the only man God chose to save from the flood, got drunk so drunk that he left himself exposed for the world to see (I assure you, even in my college days I never got THAT drunk!). But here he is; the man God chose to save, and he not only exposes himself, but he causes one of his sons to sin as well. The beauty of it all is that God knows we are Imperfect, yet His plan is perfect! The actions of Noah’s son Ham sets in motion the formation of the Canaanites. These are the same people who will develop the Promised Land the Israelites will later inherit. Don’t let the significance of the future impact of this story pass you by. No matter what happens in our lives, God is always in control and His perfect plan will be fulfilled.
2013 Day 3 – Genesis 6-9, Psalm 3
03 Thursday Jan 2013
Posted in Daily Reading
Daily Devotion 
Good stuff, Dino! Hadn’t thought of that.
Our pastor just got done going through the Old Testament. He brought up some very interesting things that I had never even considered. So don’t think I’m smart. I got this from someone else!:)
When you hear the story about God destroying the earth, many of our initial reactions are that he was full of vengeance and anger and, yes for some, even hate towards his creation. But here’s something we tend to miss.
In 6:5 The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil.
“Everything” they did was bad. We think the world is bad now, but we actually have hundreds of millions of people working for good in the world. Can you imagine how awful it must have been at this time? People abusing each other. People abusing animals (Side note: the animal thing is interesting. Apparently, before the flood, animals were not scared of humans. It’s only after the flood that God says the animals will be afraid of humans and that they will be available for food. Maybe Lewis wasn’t so far off with Narnia…maybe they weren’t talking, but they definitely weren’t afraid of us…and because of that, humans abused them. We can be really sick.)
So, if you contemplate just how evil the world had become, how it was worse than what we currently have, then it was much more an act of mercy and love for God to wipe everyone out. He says in the verse before that he didn’t want anyone living forever. He knew how awful and heartbreaking it was for people to live in such depravity, and he didn’t want people living that way. Put the story in a whole new light for me.
And then, if you want to go into what could be considered a bit out there, chapter 6 opens with “More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings[a] came down and married the ones they wanted. 3 Then the Lord said, “I won’t let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever.[b] No one will live for more than one hundred twenty years.”[c]
4 The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.”
I’d always wondered how the Greeks, some of the most intelligent and education people on earth, could believe in the crazy stories of mythology. Well, perhaps there was some truth to it? Just some food for thought….
Sarah, yes, I have read and studied some of this and it sounds a bit out there, but there it is…