The Primacy of Story: Flood

I can’t imagine a more horrible story than this. It is very easy to get caught up in all of the theological theorizing concerning the ethics of God wiping out 99.9% of life on earth. It is every easy to get stuck in a flannel graph world of rainbows, and duos of animals smiling at the big boat and being waved at by the old guy with the white beard. It’s also easy to get stuck in the mode of comparing the Flood with the End Times destruction. This story seems to be saying something revolutionary about God:

God gets sad.

In ancient Middle Eastern cultures gods were part of everyday goings-on. If it rained it was because of the rain god being pleased with you. If it flooded then you had hacked off the rain god and it was time for a sheep to die so as to assuage the angry rain god. People lived in constant fear of their gods, never knowing if they were happy or angry. 

The Bible records this God, Elohim/Yahweh, who is intimately linked with his creation, showing them favor in their disobedience (note that after the Fall God makes Adam and Eve coverings, which by all accounts is an act of grace). He is so linked to them that their corruption tears at his heart. This is a god who is emotionally attached to what he creates. He doesn’t stand aloof, winding up the clock and letting it run, then running off to Tahiti to sip Margaritas on the beach. He is in complete and loving control of his creation, pushing it towards His intended purpose and plan for it. 

A God who is emotionally involved with His creation is a god that can be trusted, because his attachment means that at no point will he “drop the ball” and leave us hanging. Even in his decision to destroy the earth we find intentionality. He takes a right-living man named Noah, tells him to build a huge-freaking boat in the middle of the desert and then to gather two of every animal to put into a boat. Only a God in control, with a distinct plan could make this work. He then uses Noah and family to rebuild and repopulate the world. 

A God who is emotionally attached to his creation will also enter into that creation, take on flesh, subject himself to its laws and forces, and die so that he need never destroy the world again. 

shalom, matt