The curse and the rainbow

When's the last time you read the story of Noah? I mean, actually sat down with a Bible and read the four chapters in Genesis that outline Noah's life? I'll be honest- up until two weeks ago, I don't think I had ever read the story, or at least as an adult anyways. I had allowed myself to believe it was a cute children's story God included in documenting early history, and as a bonus, it doubled as a suitable nursery theme. You can imagine (or maybe, like me, you can't) my surprise when there wasn't a single "cute" aspect of this man's story. I was blown away.

Let me back up. A friend and I were having a casual Sunday evening cup of java and discussing our current personal studies, and waaa-laaa, our good friend Noah entered the picture. She mentioned how her pastor was doing a sermon series on the book of Genesis and how intriguing it was. Her statements sent me on the search, and that prompted this writing.

To lay down some basics for you, God created the world and all that filled it in Genesis 1 and 2. Sin entered the world and Adam and Eve were unrepentant, therefore loosing their place in the Garden in chapter 3. Sin continues to flourish and the first murder occurs in Genesis 4, and then the bloodline of Adam is documented in great  detail in Genesis 5.

Now that you're caught up, you realize how far sin has evolved in chapter 6. The situation quickly turns tragic.

Genesis 6:5-6: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord 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 am sorry that I have made them."

Just five chapters earlier, "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." It only took the human race five chapters to cause God such a disturbing grief in His heart that He was filled with deep regret. God hates sin, period. The wages of sin was death for Noah's generation, and the story remains the same today. Without the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the acceptance of salvation, the wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23).

Then God introduces Noah...

Genesis 6:8-9: But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God.

I had to chew on these two verses for a few days. Talk about loneliness! Here's Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their three daughters in law amongst an entire generation of faithless people. I can only begin to imagine the ridicule they received before Noah ever started building the ark, much less afterwards. Noah's family was a family of integrity. I can guarantee they weren't doing the same things or hanging out at the same places as the rest of the block. They had no intentions of  keeping up with the Jones'. They were committed to a much higher calling.

It's so easy sometimes as a believer to look around and think of the things we're "missing," and the path can (and does) get lonely sometimes. "God everyone else is [insert complaint here] and they seem to be having the time of their lives!" Maybe I'm the only one who's ever had such a thought, but Genesis 6:8-9 provided a lovely reality check on my poor, pitiful me way of thinking. Discipleship isn't popular.

Matthew 16:24-26: Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

This is a New Testament description of the Old Testament story. I'm sure by the world's standards, the people of Noah's seemed to have the world at their fingertips. My guess is they were seemingly happy and totally indifferent to their sin. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Fast forward. Noah builds an ark, God brings the animals, everybody loads up in the boat, God shuts the door, the heavens open and pour rain, everything outside the ark that had breath died, and Noah and his shipmates floated for a year and a few days. Amidst all this trial and tribulation, God is silent. He thinks of Noah, but we don't have any record of God speaking to Noah until Genesis 8:15. Three hundred and sixty five days Noah is on that boat, surrounded by nothing but water and I'm sure an unimaginable stench, and God says nothing. This should give us great hope. Maybe you're waiting on an answer; maybe you're facing a storm. Take heart, friends. Noah waited over a year. Your answer will come, too. Your miracle will happen. God didn't forget about Noah, and He won't forget about you, either. (P.S.- This segment wasn't my original thought. It was part of that Sunday night java conversation I told you about, but I thought it was worth repeating).

Finally, after what probably seemed like the longest year of his 601, Noah, his family, and his zoo of animals exited the boat. Interestingly enough, immediately thereafter, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to the Lord. Again, this amazes me. The man had been held captive at sea with seven people and a whole bunch of wildlife. If I were casting the vote, I'd say that outdoes any other sacrifice imaginable, but Noah, being the man of integrity he was, took the time to give back to God.

Genesis 8:21- The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done."

I'm not a Bible scholar. In fact, I have a very limited amount of Bible knowledge, but it sounds to me like Noah's sacrifice changed the heart of God to such an extent that it may have potentially altered the course of history. If that thought process is way off base, then at the very least, Noah ministered to God. Think about that for a minute. Noah's sacrifice ministered to the God of the universe. Everybody thinks about and expects God to minister to people, but when is the last time we stopped to think about how we can minister to God? No, God doesn't need us in the same way we need Him (and thank God for that, because I would certainly fail Him), but any healthy relationship is a two-way street. As believers, maybe we need to focus a little more attention on giving and not be constantly caught up in a cycle of asking God for the next favor or bailout.

And finally, the grand finale. If you've made it this far, congratulations, you are a real trooper. Now let's get to the rainbow segment I promised in my title. The fast-track ending goes like this- God is pleased by Noah's sacrifice, tells Noah and the fam to fill the earth, gives a few commands, and then makes a covenant with Noah that has no expiration date or withdraw clauses.

Genesis 9:12-16: God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the could, and I will remember my covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

Ahhh, the rainbow. The covenant. The promise. You know, God does what God does, and it's cool. I've been studying these chapters now for two weeks, and Saturday evening, I saw a rainbow. That rainbow changed my entire perspective. It was glorious and beautiful, but it was also weighty in purpose. The rainbow covenant was birthed from sin and God's reaction to that sin. The heart of God broke and the earth was cursed and destroyed, minus a few faithful followers. God made a promise to man, then set a reminder (the rainbow) for Himself.

I wonder how God feels when He paints a rainbow? Does He think back to the pain and regret of seeing sin destroy His creation, or does He go back to the pleasing aroma of Noah's sacrifice? How about us? How about Lindsay Lee? How do we see rainbows? May we never forget the curse before the covenant, and may we too, have the faith, determination, leadership,and integrity of Noah.

Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.