Go be scattered

Hey guys, I had a pretty rough day at school today so I was extremely looking forward to hear what God had to say to me today.

Today's passage is from Genesis 11:1-9

As you may know already, this passage is about the Tower of Babel.

This is another one of those passages I've read many times, especially in my childhood. I'm actually really surprised with what God spoke to me through this passage today though.

I'm going to get straight to the point today.

The verse that made me question the most was verse 6.
"then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them"
Was God a tad bit scared here that man was starting to have power in great numbers?
So did He have to separate them out of fear of them becoming greater than him?
Haha, of course not!

Man was thinking they could be God.
They thought they could reach God's standard.
But God knew, even if they managed to obtain all that power, they couldn't handle it. They would probably become corrupted with all that power.

Power isn't everything~

Only God can handle true power.

So here was a problem, man had decided they could possibly become God.
So as God always does, He had to find a solution to the problem.

He could have done many things.
He could have killed off those particular people.
He could have just destroyed the tower to show who's god.
He could have even wipe out their memories or intentions.
But He didn't.

He did something that had so much more purpose.
He created what we know as different cultures nowadays. He increased the diversity of us humans. He took another step to make us all more unique.
He 'guided' them to explore & inhabit more of this beautiful place He created.

They were completely in the wrong path.
They were sinning against God.
But God used that situation to fulfill an amazing plan of His.

The main point I would like to bring out is this.

"No matter how far we may have fallen, God can still use us to help fulfill His purpose."

Godbless~

The Floodgates of Heaven Open

So today.. it happens..
In Genesis 7.

I found the first verse quite important.
"Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation." It didn't say most righteous or anything, it just said righteous. I think if there were anymore righteous people in that generation, God would've saved them just the same. In the same way, if we remain righteous even when the whole world is wicked, we can be assured we will be safe. We don't have to be the most righteous or anything, we just have to be right with God~

Then it goes on to record the instructions God gave Noah regarding the animals. Questions that left me wondering were, why seven of every clean animal and also birds as well? Seven seems to be coming up quite alot in the Bible at this point.

As I read verses 6-16, I noticed the latter part kind of repeats the part before, but with a bit more detail.
Maybe it was written like this for emphasis? To emphasize the importance of Noah, his family & all the animals, which would be the only living things on earth after the flood.

In verse 16, I was quite shocked at first at the words. "The the LORD shut him in." It sounds pretty harsh all of a sudden, after all the goodness God has done for Noah. But knowing what's to come, all the devastation, it's really actually once again God's love that shines through. Even if Noah, for some reason wanted one last look at earth, the flood was coming, & God wanted Him safe. He dragged him completely out of harm's way.

Now to the climax.. the flood...

It's actually quite a detailed description of the whole event if you ask me. Even includes some digits to show how much the oceans exceeded the mountains by. The repetition of 'rose greatly' also stands out to me. I think here God is really throwing out at us in huge emphasis of what actually happened. How devastating it really was and all the deaths that occurred due to it.
In a way, He wants us to KNOW and FEAR His wrath when sin corrupts. Though He isn't showing us this so that we may bring out His wrath, but so that we may walk in the completely opposite direction & bring out His love for us. Again, it's a warning, a huge one this time, at what has to happen if we turn away from Him - it's an act of love for us~

Verse 23 is a really nice little summary.
"Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that moved along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark." After what seems to have been God losing control previously, here God shows that He was always in complete control. He was able to kill off every single human except for the specific few He said He wouldn't kill. I'm sure the ark could have easily started leaking, or hit a mountain & broke, but God was most definitely in control. It once again reminds us that our life is truly in the goodness of God's hands & all we need to do is trust Him.

So some important things I picked up from this passage.

In verse 15, the animals "came to Noah and entered the ark". It's a clear example of God being with Noah throughout the whole of this difficult task. There was probably no way Noah could have, by himself, went to find animals like lions & bring them back to the ark without being eaten. It should remind us that if God tells us or gives us a very difficult task, we can be assured we won't be doing it by ourselves. As a matter of fact, this applies to any task He gives us.

Throughout the whole passage, though it gives quite a detailed description of the flood, it doesn't give us much about the destruction, about the deaths itself of humankind. It doesn't show us how the wicked men panicked, or even maybe turned their face to God once more. This shows that the flood with all the destruction & deaths it caused, WAS NOT the main point to this. What is important, is the fact that people who fear God are saved. God wants us to know that the most important thing about Him is His love for us, not His wrath~

Hope this helped.

Godbless~