by Kevin Burton
Our home Bible study has left Genesis for now and gone to Esther. But before we get too far from Noah and the ark, a few more stray thoughts.
Or should I say “astray thoughts?” Thoughts that show I have gone astray, at least in the moment.
I wrote previously, about how Bible scholars believe the world’s aquatic population survived the great flood (“The Great Flood Was No Problem For fish” Feb. 5).
Reading Genesis 6 and 7 these astray thoughts hit me. Chapter six is the build-the-ark chapter. The actual flood comes in chapter seven.
This thought crossed my mind:
“Wouldn’t it be nice if a big flood came and took away the troubling and disagreeable parts of life?
A little excessive you say?
Well, there is a corner of my mind, with laugh tracks installed, where wishes turn to plans, or to ashes, or to both sometimes. In that corner I am dreaming of a flood, a Kev-and-Jeannette-centric flood.
Building an ark sounds like a lot of work. It’s been a minute since I last took a shop class. I mean Noah’s boat had to be 100 percent functional, or else. It wasn’t some model to be hung up on a wall.
But once that monumental work was done, all Noah had to do was enter the ark and wait as the rest of his world was washed away, for good.
Some days, that sounds really good to me. Like, sign me up for ark-building lessons.
And I love a good thunderstorm.
Ever get a thought like that?
Well, there won’t be any worldwide floods for my benefit, because for one, I am not the most righteous man on earth as Noah was in his time. Also, in Genesis 9:11 God promised that there will be no more global floods.
Of course I wouldn’t want a flood exactly like Noah’s flood. The primary reason just sprang to your mind, right? I would of course need a provision and Heavenly flood insurance for all my readers, all four of them.
Noah and his wife were allowed to take six relatives with them. We would hope to have space for more than six.
The only animals I would want around on Kevin’s Ark are our two cats. They are both very female and both very fixed. So, the be fruitful and multiply thing goes out the window too.
With a flood out of the question, I set my sights lower and realize my mancave is kind of an ark. There are not too many hostile beings or concepts that enter therein. It’s an oasis of sorts, definitely a poor man’s ark, but without much staying power.
I could also use a few more cubits of space in it.
Maybe I’m just in need of a vacation, not a full-fledged flood? Do you think the eight people – Noah, his three sons and their wives – regarded the flood period as a vacation? Was there any such thing as a vacation in those days?
This flood or near-flood getaway idea of mine doesn’t float of course. The main problem is, it’s unbiblical. That’s a pretty big problem, don’t you think?
God has other plans for me and for you. Something about a Great Commission.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you [c]always, to the end of the age,” (Matt 28:19-20-NASB).
“Jesus gave this command to the apostles shortly before He ascended into heaven, and it essentially outlines what Jesus expected the apostles and those who followed them to do in His absence,” reds a passage from our friends at gotquestions.org.
There is this also from Matthew:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16 NASB). \
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” Matt 24:14 NASB).
We all have our ark days. That’s just life as a human being. Here’s hoping you and I both have many more Great Commission days than flood-wishing days.
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