Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.“
(Genesis 6:17-18)

It was God who enacted this judgment. It was not a natural occurrence. It was not a stray meteor that struck the Earth. It was not the end of an ice age. This was a righteous judgment by God on people who had had HUNDREDS of years to change their minds and choose to walk with Him again. People who had the example of Noah who was building an ark (Genesis 6:14-15). People who had the truth spoken to them multiple times over decades (2 Peter 2:5). But people who had chosen their own selves, their own desires, and who had embraced rebellion against God as a lifestyle (Genesis 6:5).

God ALSO enacted a saving of a remnant. Noah was found to be righteous, whole-hearted in his desire to please God, and one who walked with God (Genesis 6:9). NOAH found grace (Genesis 6:8). Not his wife. Not his family. Noah. But God is GRACIOUS and MERCIFUL and extended His grace to cover Noah’s whole family. Wife, sons, and the wives of his sons. God extends His mercy and grace to the children of the righteous, those who follow Him with their whole hearts (Psalm 37:25). This blessing can be rejected by us, but God in His mercy and grace GIVES it. As we see later, one of Noah’s sons rejects the Lord and His blessing. But we clearly see that the children of the righteous are afforded opportunity by God that others are not (Isaiah 54:13).

Only the breathing creatures and people were at risk. Those beings living UNDER the water were not destroyed. Those beings who do not breathe were not destroyed. This was not a spiritual attack, but a physical judgment.

Noah’s part was to build the ark. God’s part was bringing the Flood. God was NOT going to hold back, so unless Noah was obedient and faithful, he would be destroyed along with everyone else. We are often given warnings by God (we see this throughout scripture), but there is ALWAYS a component that WE are responsible for. We need to listen to God, but without OBEDIENCE to what we hear, we can still be at risk. There is always a DOING that accompanies a HEARING.

The sage Steinsaltz writes: ‘And behold, I am bringing the flood [mabbul]. The term mabbul is commonly translated as flood, based on the context. However, it is likely that the word actually means “judgment” or “sentence.” In other words, God is bringing a sentence of judgment in the form of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under the heavens. In those waters, everything that is on the earth, everything that is generally found on dry land, shall perish. But at this juncture I will keep My covenant with you, which will be confirmed and fulfilled at a later point (see 9:9–11). You shall come to the ark: you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.‘

The sage Siftei Chakhamim writes: ‘A covenant was necessary. It is as if it said, “I have established My covenant with you, and then you shall go into the ark.” But otherwise you could not go in.’ About covenant, in this instance, the sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘והקימותי את בריתי. I shall fulfil My covenant. Why did G’d not first tell Noach to enter the ark seeing that his survival depended on that? Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 31,12) say that the covenant in question was merely that Noach’s peers would not kill him when he would enter the ark. In that event it is quite appropriate that the Torah first mentioned G’d as maintaining His covenant with Noach. An additional meaning maybe that G’d was afraid that Noach would not consider his salvation as a permanent one. He might feel that what was about to occur now might occur again some generations later if mankind did not improve. G’d therefore already hinted to him what He would spell out in more detail after Noach’s thanks-giving offering in 8,21. In the meantime Noach had to enter the ark to escape the destruction that would kill all flesh. G’d may also have wanted to reassure Noach prior to his entering the ark that He would not abandon him during the time it took to sit out the deluge in the ark. Noach should not worry that the ark itself would prove a death trap. This assurance helped Noach as we know from 8,1 where the Torah mentions that G’d remembered Noach during all that time. After this G’d commanded Noach to enter the ark under the protection of this covenant. Although the covenant is not mentioned again in connection with 7,1, G’d relied on His previous assurance to Noach in this regard. The covenant is alluded to again in 8,1 where G’d is reported as “remembering” all those in the ark. Even though Rashi understands G’d as “remembering” Noach’s good deeds and the animals refraining from mating while in the ark, this is homiletics and not the plain meaning of the verse.’