Mercy of God (Genesis 7)

"Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things ... only Noah was left together with those that were with him in the ark." - Gen 7:23

God gave humans a second chance! After the fall of man things spiraled down and man became very wicked, so God gave man a second chance. You may be thinking that flooding the world and destroying all living creatures may be harsh, but the reality is that God could have started over. God could have decided to destroy the earth and start fresh and new, but He didn't. This shows the mercy that God had for man.

In all the wickedness of man he made a way to start things over. This reminds me of Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Noah is a picture of Jesus Christ. God showed His love and mercy to us by allowing Noah to start things over. Mercy is defined in one of two ways, 1) getting what we don't deserve, or 2) not getting what we do deserve.

The pre-flood population did not deserve a second chance, but God gave it to them. Just as we as sinners don't deserve a second chance at salvation, but God gave it to us. So the question is, have you taken the gift of salvation?

In this second chance humans were already sinful. The idea of giving us a second chance is wonderful, but it would not have been the same as the first chance, in that we would have a sinful nature and would not have been restored to perfect form. IN this God would have known and knows that He would have to save us again that is where Christ comes in. Nobody really knows how long it was from creation to the flood or from the flood to the cross, but in each case it was more than likely thousands of years.

The thing I'm taking from today's reading is that God is all knowing, merciful and powerful. He knows that despite a second chance, we would need a third chance (the cross), and finally a fourth chance (the end times). In this passage you get a lot of the detail of the flood, which is wonderful! Don't let anyone tell you the flood never took place.

Verse of the day: " 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.' " - Revelation 1:8

For your reading:
The Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 51-52 and Hebrews 9
Daily Bread: Matthew 7:15-27