And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
In the past, when I read this verse, I only knew that the people of Noah’s time were too evil and corrupt so they were destroyed by God. Not until I read a passage of words in a gospel book did I understand that the destruction of the world by the flood contains God’s disposition.
It says, “There is another revelation of God’s disposition here: In God’s eyes, there is a limit to His patience toward man’s corruption, toward the filthiness, violence, and disobedience of all flesh. What is His limit? It’s as God said: ‘God looked on the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth.’ What does the phrase ‘for all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth’ mean? It means any living thing, including those who followed God, those who called on the name of God, those who once sacrificed burnt offerings to God, those who verbally acknowledged God and even praised God—once their behavior was full of corruption and reached God’s eyes, He would have to destroy them. That was God’s limit. So to what extent did God remain patient to man and the corruption of all flesh? To the extent that all people, whether followers of God or unbelievers, were not walking the right path. To the extent that man was not just morally corrupt and full of evil, but where there was no one who believed in God’s existence, let alone anyone who believed that the world is ruled by God and that God can bring people light and the right path. To the extent that man despised God’s existence and did not permit God to exist. Once man’s corruption reached this point, God would no longer have patience. What would replace it instead? The coming of God’s wrath and God’s punishment.”
From these words, I understand God destroying the people of that time contains God’s righteous disposition. At that time, the unbelievers were immoral, evil and adulterous. Even believers in God, who made offerings to God and praised God, didn’t fear God or have God in their hearts; instead, they followed the evil trends of the world, and all they did ran counter to God’s requirements. The whole of mankind was evil and decadent to the extent that God could no longer bear to see, but they had no heart of repentance. When Noah built the ark according to God’s commands and conveyed the news that God would flood the world, nobody believed his words, nor did they seek or investigate, much less did they admit that their wicked deeds had angered God; instead, they took it lightly. Therefore, God could no longer bear them, so He shut the door of the ark. When the flood came, the people no longer had the chance to repent and finally were swallowed by the flood. From this, we can see God’s righteous, majestic, and wrathful disposition. When man is corrupt and evil to the extent that they hate God and deny the existence of God, God’s anger will come upon them. Thinking of this, I can’t help but reflect: Is there any differences between today’s people’s resistance and rejection of God and that of the people of Noah’s time? Is now the time when God unleashes His wrath?
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