God’s Heart is Flooded With Sorrow

God’s Heart is Flooded With Sorrow

>>>>> Read Genesis 5 - 7 <<<<<

The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. He said, “I will wipe out mankind . . . from the face of the earth. Gen. 6:6, 7

Enoch walked with God and warned people about their sin, yet his life and words had no effect on the people of his day. They weren’t even moved by his mysterious disappearance; they just went on with their lives as if God didn’t exist. More than that, they took every opportunity to distance themselves from Him.

During this period of history, before the great flood, men were left to their own consciences. The redeemer had been promised and man was able to seek God, but there were no special arrangements between God and men. He had not given instructions as to how man ought to govern himself, and the result was clear “. . . every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Violence and corruption filled the earth.

We don’t want to miss this bit of evidence regarding the nature of man and the message God is giving us in His carefully written Book. Conscience alone will NOT convict us of sin and bring us to a knowledge of God. It appears that conscience has very little influence over a person until the Spirit of God quickens the heart and mind. This period in man’s history gives a true picture of the nature of mankind – left to themselves, men have gone the way of Cain (inventing a religion that suits themselves) and have become subject to God’s judgment. God looked down at the world He created for His own personal enjoyment – at the creature He created for fellowship with Himself – and He was grieved. They had their own plans; they lived as if the earth belonged to them; and they broke God’s heart.

Genesis 6 tells us that He was sorry He had made man. I find it interesting that God’s holy wrath isn’t mentioned – His holiness or justice isn’t brought into view here – it was His broken heart that moved Him to judge the earth. Before He covered the earth with water, however, He found one righteous man. The man was Noah, and God commissioned him to do two things: to preach righteousness to the world (2 Pet. 2:5), and to construct an ark. Everything was to be destroyed; however, God provided a way of salvation because the desire of His heart was for men to come to Him. Noah preached for 120 years while he built the ark, but people were not convinced – and they were shut out of the ark.

God invited Noah (and his family) into the ark and “the Lord shut him in” (Gen. 7:11). The door that shut Noah safely away from judgment is the same door that shut the sinful world out. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open (Rev. 3:7). The ‘door’ is prevalent in Scripture. There is a shut door in Matthew 25, when the unprepared virgins were seeking access to the wedding banquet saying, “Open the door for us!” The response they received was, “I don't know you.” Even more to the point, Jesus tells us in Luke 13 that the door is narrow and only a few will enter in. God’s heart is large for people to come to Him, but the way is restricted – His expressed grief, combined with such drastic judgment, offers dramatic insight into His nature. We may not be able to explain it, but we can see it!

The ark, with its one door, is a type of Christ – He is the narrow door and He is the vessel that protects His own from judgment. Although He is not named, Christ has been the subject of every chapter we have studied so far. Adam and Eve knew Him as the promised Redeemer; Abel knew Him as the blood sacrifice that allowed men to approach God; Enoch knew Him as the One who spares man from corruption and death; and Noah knew Him as the only One in whom he could rest while waiting on God to restore the earth. God gave Noah a preview to this insight: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved . . . John 10:9

We not only see Christ on every page of Scripture, but God gives continual insight into the nature of fallen man as well. We can believe it when we read, “Man is only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Throughout the whole of Scripture, the heart and nature of God is revealed against the backdrop of a corrupt world and the rebellious nature of man. In the background, in the unseen world of principalities and powers, Satan and his cohorts are constantly working to unseat God, disrupt His relationship with man and steal His glory. However, what I find so sweet about the Word of God is this: God confides in us about Himself, warns us of unseen dangers and advises us about what is to come. He tells us stories, so that we not only see Him, but we sense Him – and the story makes the process of learning enjoyable.

We have already begun to see ‘His ways.’ What I mean is this – we have learned something about His heart for mankind, and we have seen the way He continually intervenes so that He does not lose man completely. It is evident that He is a God of love and is loath to express wrath. As we go on, we will understand His purposes and internalize His principles; as a result, we can become people who know His ways – and not people who break His heart.
LJ 6/09