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Destruction/Creation
Genesis 9:8-17
We like to think of the story of Noah's Ark as a cutesy tale of animals, parading onto a boat two-by-two. It's often the second story that appears in our children's Bibles, after Adam and Even in the garden. Unfortunately, these cutesy images of this story often stay with us into adulthood, overshadowing the reality of what this story in Genesis is really about.
There's not really anything cutesy about mass genocide.
That's right. God sees that the whole world is evil and wipes out everybody except for Noah. And this isn't the only time God kills a lot of people or destroys things. It happens a lot in the Old Testament. It happens on the cross when God kills God's own son.
I had a lot of trouble with God's destruction.
How could a God who was all loving, all knowing, all powerful and defined by grace be killing all these people and destroying creation? It just made God seem like a real jerk. And I could understand, after reading a lot of the violent passages of the Bible, why many people aren't interested in getting to know that God.
God the Destroyer
Hinduism is often misunderstood as a polytheistic religion. It's actually monotheistic religion, with the different avatars understood as the different manifestations of God. Similar to the Christian trinity; One God, Three Persons.
Hinduism has its own trinity, called the Trimurti, made up of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the redeemer and Shiva the destroyer. That's right. In Hinduism, there is a very clear description of God as destroyer. One blog describes Shiva's character in this way:
I began to see destruction as a part of God's action of creation. When things have devolved so completely that the most merciful thing to do is destroy them, so that there can be hope for new creation after death. Life. Death. Resurrection. We can't get to the resurrection without the death. So sometimes God has to make the hard choice to put an end to something that has been corrupted to make way for something new and grace filled.
But the flood was a little different. When the flood comes upon the earth, it is God letting the primordial chaos break back in, attempting a "re-do" of the created order. Things had gotten so bad, God's best option was to start over.
Except for Noah. God saw righteousness in Noah. God saw hope that creation was not completely in vain. And so after the flood subsided, God creates a new covenant with Noah as the remnant of Creation's original good. A covenant never to flood the earth again. Which doesn't seem like it's a very good promise, especially if you're living in Louisiana right now.
But I don't think the covenant is actually about the water, it's about what the water represents.
In promising not to destroy the earth by flood, God is actually promising not to go backwards again, to try to "undo" creation, but instead to move forward with us, even as we continue to fail and rebel. The Rainbow Covenant is not about never again seeing God the destroyer, but a promise that the destruction will never be an act intended to restart us. The Rainbow is a sign that God will respond in the future with NEW creation, even in the midst of destruction.
As people of the Rainbow Covenant, we are called to be Noah in the face of destruction. To hold onto the promise of newness. To not stand in the midst of the flood trying to figure out "Why?", but rather to look forward to God's next steps and as "What next?" We are not to be bogged down in the grief and inexplicable pain of destruction, but to look for God's work within and through it, moving us towards the redemption that is to come.
It only works this way when the destruction comes purely from God. We're pretty good at destroying one another, but this destruction is done with malice and sin. God doesn't call Noah to be a mercenary and take care of all the evil. God calls Noah to preserve and protect the remnant of goodness. God isn't calling us to help in the destruction. God is calling us to work towards the new creation. This is our place in the Rainbow Covenant.
How do you understand God's violence in the scriptures? How have you been able to respond in faith to seemingly senseless destruction?
How could a God who was all loving, all knowing, all powerful and defined by grace be killing all these people and destroying creation? It just made God seem like a real jerk. And I could understand, after reading a lot of the violent passages of the Bible, why many people aren't interested in getting to know that God.
God the Destroyer
Hinduism is often misunderstood as a polytheistic religion. It's actually monotheistic religion, with the different avatars understood as the different manifestations of God. Similar to the Christian trinity; One God, Three Persons.
Hinduism has its own trinity, called the Trimurti, made up of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the redeemer and Shiva the destroyer. That's right. In Hinduism, there is a very clear description of God as destroyer. One blog describes Shiva's character in this way:
Shiva’s powers of destruction are used to destroy the imperfections of the world, paving the way for beneficial change. The destruction is not arbitrary but constructive.We tend to think of the trinity as God the creator, Christ the redeemer and Spirit the sustainer, but why, with all of this destruction we see in scripture, couldn't God have a character as destroyer?
I began to see destruction as a part of God's action of creation. When things have devolved so completely that the most merciful thing to do is destroy them, so that there can be hope for new creation after death. Life. Death. Resurrection. We can't get to the resurrection without the death. So sometimes God has to make the hard choice to put an end to something that has been corrupted to make way for something new and grace filled.
But the flood was a little different. When the flood comes upon the earth, it is God letting the primordial chaos break back in, attempting a "re-do" of the created order. Things had gotten so bad, God's best option was to start over.
Except for Noah. God saw righteousness in Noah. God saw hope that creation was not completely in vain. And so after the flood subsided, God creates a new covenant with Noah as the remnant of Creation's original good. A covenant never to flood the earth again. Which doesn't seem like it's a very good promise, especially if you're living in Louisiana right now.
But I don't think the covenant is actually about the water, it's about what the water represents.
In promising not to destroy the earth by flood, God is actually promising not to go backwards again, to try to "undo" creation, but instead to move forward with us, even as we continue to fail and rebel. The Rainbow Covenant is not about never again seeing God the destroyer, but a promise that the destruction will never be an act intended to restart us. The Rainbow is a sign that God will respond in the future with NEW creation, even in the midst of destruction.
As people of the Rainbow Covenant, we are called to be Noah in the face of destruction. To hold onto the promise of newness. To not stand in the midst of the flood trying to figure out "Why?", but rather to look forward to God's next steps and as "What next?" We are not to be bogged down in the grief and inexplicable pain of destruction, but to look for God's work within and through it, moving us towards the redemption that is to come.
It only works this way when the destruction comes purely from God. We're pretty good at destroying one another, but this destruction is done with malice and sin. God doesn't call Noah to be a mercenary and take care of all the evil. God calls Noah to preserve and protect the remnant of goodness. God isn't calling us to help in the destruction. God is calling us to work towards the new creation. This is our place in the Rainbow Covenant.
How do you understand God's violence in the scriptures? How have you been able to respond in faith to seemingly senseless destruction?
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