“Flooded With Hope” – Genesis 9:8-17 – March 1, 2009
When you see a rainbow it is normally following a storm. It is when the clouds begin to break up and the sun begins to break through. A rainbow is almost magical. We can see the brilliance of its colors and we can follow it for hours but never catch up to it. The rainbow is a reminder that something greater is going on or that there is a higher power in charge of the universe.
Following the great flood in the days of Noah, God “set a bow in the clouds as a sign of the covenant God made with the earth…that never again would a flood destroy all the earth.” God made the covenant with Noah and all of his descendants. In other words, God made a covenant that was everlasting.
I am sure that the 5,000 folks in Iowa, who lost their homes to a flood last year, might want to take issue with God’s promise. God, however did not say there wouldn’t be any floods. What God said was there would never be another flood that would destroy all flesh and all living things.
Noah was directed to build the ark because society was corrupt. The Hebrew word in Genesis was shachat, which means "ruined" or "spoiled." You could say that during the time of Noah, the world was spoiled rotten. God had no choice but to rinse the world which had been polluted by humankind’s arrogance and neglect. Fortunately, God found one good man, Noah. He was chosen because he saw what others did not see and heard what others did not hear. He took a risk, planned and acted in spite of what others thought or believed.
Noah had extraordinary faith. He really went out on a limb to be faithful to God’s command. He built a boat, not a luxury liner or a cruise ship, but a boat. It was an ark specifically designed as a floating sanctuary for his family and the creatures of the earth. The ark protected them from the oncoming flood waters and eventually carried them to a new place where civilization had the opportunity to start afresh.
The flood story is a story of new beginnings. The old has been washed away and now civilization could begin anew. The rainbow then is a symbol of new beginnings. Not only is it symbolic of the calm that follows a storm, it is symbolic of a new day, a new time or a new life.
Today we are living in a time fear and uncertainty. Many folks have watched their retirement funds shrink. Some have lost jobs or know someone who has. The economic outlook is bleak and we are worried about saddling our children with great debt. You could say we are in the midst of a great flood. The waters are rising, the boat listing back and forth. We have no idea where we will end up.
Perhaps God is rinsing us of life as we know it. Old habits don’t die easily. We don’t like to change because we are comfortable with the way things are. Meanwhile the familiar seems to be eroding and we see nothing but endless days at sea, drifting on the ocean with an unknown destination. GPS might tell us where we are but our new location is not yet on the map.
We forget that Noah and his family drifted in the ark for over a period of a year. Although it rained only forty days, it took months for the waters to retreat. Noah must have been a man who had great patience, perhaps the very reason God selected him as the one to preserve the human race. No doubt it took great patience for him to build the ark before the flood began.
Patience is not something we are accustomed to. We live in a society where instant gratification is everywhere. We don’t like to wait. We want everything now. Many believe that our economic problems can be solved over night. If you have ever been aboard a large ship, like a cruise ship or Navy ship, you soon discover that it is impossible to make an immediate turn. The rudder is shifted but it takes time to bring the ship about in a new direction. The same will be true for us as our economic situation eventually begins its turn for the better.
Also, we just don’t see the big picture. Our view of the world is very small. I heard the other day the Honda, in Marysville, Ohio, is changing their production schedule. They will produce less cars but they are not going to lay off any of their permanent work force. Instead of building cars in three days they will build them in five. In other words, the process will be slowed down. This does two things: (1) it creates a greater sense of loyalty from their work force because they will continue to receive a full week’s wages and (2) it will improve the quality of the automobiles that they build. The Japanese look at auto making over a long period of time. Rather then make extreme changes they simply modify the current process by slowing it down for while.
The rainbow is a sign of hope. It means there will be a tomorrow. It means that God has not forgotten us and has made a commitment to our future. There will be a new day but it won’t be like yesterday. It will look different, feel different and be different.
The covenant made by God was initiated by God and the rainbow is an eternal symbol of that covenant. On the one hand it is beautiful but on the other hand it is transparent. We can see it but we can’t touch it. Ultimately we can only live in faith, a faith that believes God will live up to the covenant that was made on our behalf in the days of Noah.
That being said, a covenant works two ways. While God promises us that God will never again destroy the earth, we have a responsibility to take care of creation. God instructed Noah to be fruitful and multiply. God also said humankind would continue to have dominion over all other living things just as God instructed Adam. While God grieved at the sinfulness over man in the days prior to the flood, God continues to have confidence that man can manage the things of the earth.
For me there is a tremendous irony in the story of the great flood. The same flood waters that destroyed the earth were the same waters that carried Noah and his family to a new beginning. New life is impossible without total restoration. A cleansing is just that, a complete and total renewal of our very being. A partial flood wouldn’t work. Humankind had to be completely cleansed of her corrupt ways.
We want new life, but we aren’t always willing to go all the way. We make bargains with God or hold on to parts. Instead of taking a complete shower we simply wash off the dirty spots. God is not saying “Let’s make a deal.” God is saying the covenant God makes is God’s Deal and that covenant is total or all encompassing.
What God gave Noah was hope and God continues to give hope to us. Life has and will begin again. God has given us a sign with the rainbow to remind us of God’s promise. God’s covenant is permanent or infinite. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Dr. Keith Wagner