Justice, Redemption, and Obedience

The Story of Noah

It would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t heard about the rainbow, a big boat and a man named Noah. As with any story that becomes so familiar, elements are forgotten and the story becomes generic. These are the elements that make the Story of Noah a story of justice, redemption, obedience, and the possibilities for a man who walks with God.

Man’s actions cause God to grieve.

 And the Lord saw that the evil of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, “I will blot out man, whom I created, from upon the face of the earth, from man to cattle to creeping thing, to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I made them.”

Noah was different!

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah walked with God.

God’s Plan

And I am bringing the flood to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life, from beneath the heavens; all that is upon the earth will perish.

Obedience

And Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

God brings the animal to Noah, Noah didn’t have to go out looking for them.

And they came to Noah to the ark, two by two of all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. And those who came male and female of all flesh came, as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.

This was no short task!

And the water prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

God’s Promise

And the Lord said, “I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.  So long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant, which I am placing between Me and between you, and between every living soul that is with you, for everlasting generations.  My rainbow I have placed in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Myself and the earth. And I will remember My covenant, and the water will no longer become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Justice, redemption and the obedience of one man.

Excerpts taken from: The Tanach, The Complete Jewish Bible, : www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo

Genesis Chapter 6-9

…and was no more.

The Story of Enoch

I have always loved the story of Enoch. I always chuckle when I go to read it and am reminded that it is not a story at all, but simply a verse:

Genesis 5:24  And Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him.

Enoch was about six generations away from Seth. Seth was the son that Adam and Eve had after their first-born killed his younger brother. So Enoch was seven generations way from Adam.  Enoch was also the father of Methuselah; the oldest living man recorded. Methuselah lived 969 years. This was prior to the day God decided 125 years was enough to put up with us…that’s another story.

Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him. In other words, Enoch didn’t experience death. What kind of man is it that God enjoys being with so much, He just takes him away? For me, that is the story.

Enoch walked with God, which alone is a huge accomplishment. Walking with God is no easy task. It’s easy to be not walk with God; choosing to live a Godly life takes courage, guts and a ton of self-discipline. But what does it take to be the one person that the Creator of the Universe, the I Am that I Am, the Ruler over Heaven and Earth – decides to take away? What does it mean to be someone who delights God so much, that He decides to go against the law of life and death which He put into place?

I’m not sure why, but I envision Enoch as a fun, happy, joyous, delightful, honoring, disciplined man who never, not even for a moment forgot who his creator was. A man who daily walked with God in a manner that brought joy to all he touched; a man who defines integrity; a man who is not affected by the world around him; a man who knows that he knows the God he serves.

It’s a short verse and even a shorter story. For me it’s one of the biggest stories in the Bible.  I want to walk with God, not to avoid death, but to delight God so much, He wants to walk with me.

Genesis 5