Noah, Free Will, Is God a Moral Monster? Etc. etc. etc

A friend made an interesting statement.

 "God gave humanity free will, and then destroyed humanity during the days of Noah for exercising his free will."

 What is interesting here is the importance of looking at the various texts about Noah and learning exactly what happened. 

Text. Genesis 6:5-7 "And the LORD saw that the wickedness of humanity was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD repented that He had made humanity on the earth, and He was angry to His heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy humanity whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both people, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. For I repent that I have made him." 

When approaching an apologetic defense, go to the text, and then ask questions about the people involved. This might help us understand the event. -. 

The LORD saw the wickedness of humanity… Question1. What might we learn about God that he was watching what people were doing? 

Question 2. What might we learn about humanity that the thoughts of humanity’s heart was only evil continually? 

Question 3. What might we learn about God that he has emotional expression of regret and anger? 

Exploring the answers to these questions will help us understand God’s thinking in destroying humanity. Let's not be content with just one answer to each question; the questions are phrased in such a way that there might be more than one answer.

Continuing our discussion on Noah, Is there anything else we might know about humanity?

 (Genesis 6:12-13) And God looked upon the earth. And, behold, it was corrupted! For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Was there an escape from the violence on the earth? 

What might we learn about humanity when it says, All people are corrupted, and all the earth is filled with violence? 

Had violence become so systemic there was no way to live a healthy safe life on the earth? And What did God do to try to bring about change to humanity? (I’ll answer this one, God sent Noah to preach to people 2 Peter 2: 5)

Third part of the Noah Story Did God change the way he intervened in human affairs after Noah? 

Well, God called Abraham apart to provide a way for the Messiah to come. He gave Abraham’s descendants a multitude of laws to follow to help them walk on a more righteous path, (Righteous in God’s eyes) Here is a question about that.  

What might we learn about God that he decided to choose a people, give them the rules he wanted them to follow, and through that avoid systemic evil running through all of humanity?

The final part of the Noah Story, Did God continue to deal with systemic evil when it threatened local areas? 

Well, Sodom is a great example. The evil was so great the men of Sodom felt they had a right to sexually abuse all visitors to their city. Here is a follow up question. (Ezekiel 16:49-50) “Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; pride. Fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Nor did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and did abominable things before Me, so I turned away as I saw fit.” 

Did sloth, waste, pride, and hard heartedness bring about sexual perversion, or did sexual perversion cause sloth, waste, pride and co.?

What have we learned about God's attitude toward evil? I think we have learned 

1. God can’t be blamed for stopping sinful behavior which has overwhelmed society's social systems.

 2. Sinful behavior can overwhelm society and destroy social systems and ultimatley destroy society

. 3. God is justified in destroying sinful behavior so it does not overwhelm his creation again. 

4. The Bible is replete with examples of God sending prophets, preachers, and others to warn against sin.

Cultural Peace, Avoid a Culture War

I have been a missionary for 30 years in a Latin American ountry. How one passes salt at the kitchen table... whou would think such a thing has a cultural base to it? If you spill salt in the West, you are encouraged to waste even more and throw a pinch over the left shoulder to ward off bad luck; but in Mexico, if you receive the salt shaker one hand from another, you receive all of the bad luck of the giver to the receiver. You can only hope someone else will take it out of your hand instead of placing it on the table to be picked up and passed on. Culture seems to be one of the most important parts of evangelism as we wrestle with the cultural problems of Post Modern and Millenial thought, emphasizing relationship, group decision making, discussion, heart over reason, practical benefits today... all of which are cultural thoughts those of us 40 and above crowd don't see as equal in value and importance as personal responsiblity and individual decsions, partisanship, reason and logic, eternal benefits, etc. (How many get angry when someone kneels in protest to the National Anthem, eh? Group think culture of the Millenials on dispay right there!!!) I was recently at an older gentleman's house, and heard an all day discussion on a major news network telling me how great President Trump is. Similiar to other networks at younger people's houses telling me all day how horrible President Trump is. Three different generations of culture, Builders, Boomers, and Millenials, unable to grasp each others thought process as related through Partisan news agencies, reninforced through social networks, all quite possibly lost, languishing, hopeless and in need of salvation. Are we guilty of polishing our form over substance? Do we argue about the form of baptism, the Lord's supper, icons and images in worship but ingore our hypocritical pride and lack of works, justiifying ourselves through similiar group think activities? Can we entertain a young socialist's thoughts on income inequality without becoming angry? Can we bring the Gospel message in while using the Supreme Court decision on Gay Rights/Bakers' Rights? Must THEY agree with us so they can be saved? James tells us to look into a mirror first, the Law of Freedom, not the Constitution, to determine our truth. A friend of mine came to the Lord last month, a determined Atheist, Socialist, Left of Liberal. She came to Christ after 7 years of relationship. Her dog was poisoned, and I prayed for her. Out of desperation, she cried out, "in Jesus' name!" Wow! God eventually got her. Who am I to question her cuture? Is that not the Holy Spirit's job??? Dr. Andrew Conrad.