The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).<\/p>\n
From Adam to Noah, God related to humanity as a single community unified by a common language. They were governed, not externally by God\u2019s law but by their conscience. Paul speaks of this internal governance in Romans 2:14, 15. Even without a written law, the people knew right from wrong. Adam and Eve knew it was wrong to disobey God. Cain knew it was wrong to murder his brother.<\/p>\n
As the years passed, this community lost their fear of God, perhaps by mischaracterizing God\u2019s longsuffering as moral ambivalence. Instead of living obedient lives in gratitude for God\u2019s grace, they succumbed to all sorts of evil desires. When we arrive at Noah\u2019s day, we read:<\/p>\n
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart (Genesis 6:5, 6).<\/p>\n
How sad! God created humans in His own image as the pinnacle of His earthly creation. He gave them the unique privilege of returning His love by freely choosing to obey Him. Instead, humans used that freedom to reject God\u2019s love by losing their fear of Him and disobeying Him. They corrupted each other until all in the community but one had decayed into a universal rejection of God\u2019s love and goodness.<\/p>\n
God grieved over their choice, knowing the fate they had chosen for themselves. As Noah labored for decades building the ark, his work became God\u2019s daily warning to turn from sin before it was too late. Instead, the people mocked Noah, defying God\u2019s warning until the day His holy judgment came with the Flood. At that time, the breath of life God had given them was taken from them as they sank into the deep.<\/p>\n
The troubling question is, \u201cHow could the entire world become so depraved?\u201d Scripture doesn\u2019t say, but it\u2019s reasonable to infer that humanity had adopted a \u201cherd morality,\u201d a mindset that believes \u201cAs long as I follow the crowd, I\u2019ll be OK.\u201d We all get a safety-in-numbers feeling from being in a group. If everyone is doing it, how can I be held individually responsible?<\/p>\n
The Flood is our warning that \u201csafety in numbers\u201d provides no escape from God\u2019s judgment. Though God is longsuffering and loving, God is also holy. He will not tolerate sin forever.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you\u2019re walking in a city park with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and squirrels playing in the thick grass.\u00a0As you head for the pond to feed the ducks, you\u2019re tempted to take a shortcut across the grass instead of following the meandering paved trail. You\u2019re about to step onto the grass when you notice a sign that says, \u201cPlease stay on the trail. City Ordinance #1215.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the scenario. Now ask yourself three questions:<\/p>\n
If I\u2019m the only one in the park, would I ignore the sign and walk across the grass?<\/p>\n
If I\u2019m in a crowded park and no one else is walking on the grass, would I do it then?<\/p>\n
If I\u2019m in a crowded park and everyone else is walking on the grass, would I walk across the grass?<\/p>\n
Perhaps you\u2019d resist the temptation to walk across the grass in the first two scenarios, but what about the third one? This is the power of influence. Whatever others do influences what I do, even when I know better. Likewise, what I do influences what others do, for better or for worse. Most of us tend to follow the crowd, without realizing the crowd is also following us. My choices affect those around me.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s say that everyone else is walking on the grass, and a park policeman arrives just as you step out onto the grass. He asks if you saw the sign, then gives you a ticket. Do you feel a sense of injustice that you got a ticket when everyone else was doing it too?<\/p>\n
This feeling that \u201cI\u2019m only doing what everyone else is doing\u201d is the herd morality. It\u2019s the feeling that I can\u2019t be held individually responsible for my actions if I\u2019m just one of the herd.<\/p>\n
But are you right to feel unjustly treated? The fact that others also did wrong only adds to your guilt because your example encouraged them to do wrong. It\u2019s true that they are just as guilty as you, but not all wrongdoers get caught right away.<\/p>\n
The people of Noah\u2019s day probably felt the same way. They were safe to disobey God because everyone else was doing it too. They no longer felt personally accountable to their Creator.<\/p>\n
Our human nature is intriguing. We don\u2019t want to be held individually accountable for following the crowd, yet we still want to be treated as individuals. We can\u2019t have it both ways. Either God sees us as individuals, or He doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Do you remember when Abraham negotiated with God? God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because no hope remained for the people to ever turn to God. Their continued existence would only corrupt others who still had hope.<\/p>\n
Abraham was concerned about his nephew, Lot, and negotiated with God: \u201cWhat if there were fifty righteous people there? Would You destroy the righteous with the wicked?\u00a0What about forty? What about thirty? Twenty? Ten?\u201d It appears that Abraham was asking God, \u201cDo You just see masses of people, or do You see individuals?\u201d<\/p>\n
God replied that if ten righteous remained in the city, He would spare not only the righteous but also the entire city for their sake. God\u2019s answer indicates that He sees each individual \u2014 and more. He also sees their potential influence. As long as a righteous influence exists, there is still hope. But by silencing all such influence, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah had extinguished all hope of their redemption.<\/p>\n
God is a God who cares for individuals, who creates a moral law to protect the rights of individuals. What you do matters. When you alone remain faithful while all those around you are doing wrong, God sees.<\/p>\n
We each make our own choices. Your choice has meaning, especially when the crowd is going the other way. There are eight billion people on earth, yet God knows every hair on your head (Matthew 10:29-31). The fact that most others are making the wrong choice changes nothing.\u00a0Because He wants the best for you, He cares about the choices you make. That\u2019s who God is.<\/p>\n
If we hate injustice, stealing, lying, cheating, rape, murder, sex trafficking, child abuse, political corruption, and immorality, how much more does God, who sees the hearts of everyone, hate evil? Psalm 7:11 tells us that \u201cGod is angry with the wicked every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praise God that He will not tolerate evil forever. He has appointed a day when He will judge the world (Acts 17:31), on the day of the Lord\u2019s wrath (e.g., Zephaniah 1:14-18). Jesus will be revealed and, in flaming fire, take vengeance on those who neither\u00a0 know God nor obey the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). God is holy, and God will judge.<\/p>\n
In 2 Peter 3:3-14, Peter describes the world in the last days. He says scoffers will come, walking after their own lusts, openly doubting God\u2019s past judgment in the Flood and God\u2019s future judgment at Christ\u2019s second coming. It\u2019s a repeat of the world that mocked Noah before the Flood.<\/p>\n
Peter goes on to say that even if a thousand years or more pass before Jesus comes, don\u2019t interpret this delay as moral ambivalence. God will bring the judgment He\u2019s promised. His delay is His longsuffering because He wants everyone to repent and turn to Him. But for those who persist in evil, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Knowing God\u2019s promise that He will destroy the world by a consuming fire of holy judgment, what manner of persons should we be in all holy conversation and godliness?<\/p>\n
Scripture categorizes people into those who fear God (His children) and those who don\u2019t (the world). \u201cThe fear of the Lord is to hate evil\u201d (Proverbs 8:13) because sin brings God\u2019s holy judgment. It is right for us to fear God\u2019s coming judgment on those who embrace sin and be moved by compassion to warn them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10). From Adam to Noah, God related to humanity as a single community unified by a common language. They were governed, not externally by God\u2019s law but by their conscience. Paul speaks of this internal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":333,"featured_media":29402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2390],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n