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Why the Flood?
| One of the first bible
stories children learn is about the Ark with the animals. One can
understand the animal emphasis for children as the extermination of all
human life on the planet except for eight people seems particularly
grim. We can learn a little more about God if we take a closer look at
the circumstance that resulted in such a significant act.
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. - Genesis 6:5
After Adam and Eve were tempted into sin and became disconnected from
God, God cursed the earth. This meant that getting food would be
difficult. One might take it as proven by history that the natural
state of man disconnected from God is selfishness sometimes so profound
that it can range from self-harm to the death of millions. One might
see in the difficulty God gave to man in getting food not so much a
punishment, but an obstacle so that people would be forced to help each
other. One might think of it as a curb to our natural selfishness.
Apparently God’s first attempt to limit our natural selfishness proved
insufficient. If one considers the changes after the flood, one might
gauge the degree of difficulty increase. A shorter lifespan,
susceptibility to disease, winter, drought, and other vicissitudes of
weather. One might consider that the permission to eat meat was a
concession to how much more difficult it would be to find food,
particularly in winter. As a result, with survival on the line, people
would be occasionally motivated to subordinate enough of our natural
selfishness to help each other and even occasionally to have an
interest in God.
God is often portrayed in familial terms as a father. It can help to
understand that the biological and environmental pain we feel is a
necessary curb on our natural selfishness. Our ancestors without this
curb failed completely to resist our tendency towards self-destruction.
The Roman book Satryicon is a story of the lives of people with too
much time and money. It is a picture not only of decedent Rome but of
all periods in history where people who have prosperity devolve into a
state like those of people before the flood.
The idea of evolution is perhaps most important to Satan to promote as
it cripples belief in God. However, that collectivized mankind can
produce a utopia is perhaps second in importance to him. The appeal of
Marxism (everyone can have everything all the time) resonates so
strongly with our selfish nature that we are willing to accept almost
anything. God created families while Satan created collectives. Satan
has used collectives since the Industrial revolution to mitigate many
of the difficulties God introduced after the flood. As a result, today
many are returning to the state of humanity before the flood where
every imagination of their heart is only evil continuously.
The book of Revelation describes a time on earth called the
tribulation. During this time at least half of the people on earth will
be killed. While not as lethal as the flood on a percentage basis, it
will still be epic. An important lesson to learn from the flood is;
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
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