IN AMERICA,

WE ARE FREE

TO CHOOSE

HOW WE BELIEVE

NOAH AND A HATEFUL GOD

There was a knock at the door. “Hi, Pastor Houston. How are you? Thanks for coming,” Zach greeted the Baptist pastor. “Come on in.”

Zach had asked Pastor John Houston to join them today. He was one of the few black religious leaders Zach had managed to schedule time with. They walked over to the table, where Peter was already waiting for them.

“Peter was just about to tell me about Noah and the Ark,” said Zach,

Peter began, “As the Bible says in Genesis, God was angry because all the people of the earth, except for Noah, were living ungodly lives. They were not following his pronouncements and commandments. Therefore, he decided to destroy the earth by making it rain for forty days and forty nights.”

Turning to his Bible, Peter read from Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“In Genesis 6:13 the Bible says, ‘And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.’”

“You mean,” said Zach, “out of the whole earth, no one was a good person except Noah? All the others were evil - no one was worthy of living?”

“Yes,” replied Pastor John. “The world was full of evil and wicked men.”

“So God decided to kill all of them by drowning them?” Zach asked.

“Yes. He also killed many by throwing fire down from the sky before he sent the rains pouring down from the heavens. God means business when you cross him,” the pastor said authoritatively.

“So let me get this straight,” said Zach. “This good, loving, fatherly God decided to kill all of his children except for Noah and his family because his children weren’t listening to him and they were living evil lives? Do I have this right?”

“Right,” responded Peter.

“Now," said Zach, "my understanding of the story is that God told Noah to build a huge boat - or ark - and to put his family and two of every living creature – or two of the unclean and seven of all the clean animals, depending on which verses in the Bible you are reading - on this ark so they would survive the floods.”

“Yes. Noah, being a godly man, did as God commanded him to do,” said Pastor John.

“And God was going to save his family because they were also good, godly people?” said Zach.

“Yes.”

“You mean,” questioned Zach, “no one else was good? Hmmm. Not a single good soul around. Only Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives. Okay. So, Noah was how old when he started this ark?”

“Let me read directly from God’s word,” Pastor John said as he opened his Bible:

“Genesis 5:32 - ‘And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.’”

“Genesis 7:6 - ‘And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.’”

“Then in Genesis 7:23 – ‘And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.’”

“Genesis 9:28 continues – ‘and Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.’”

“And then in Genesis 9:29 – ‘And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died,’” Pastor John concluded.

“So,” Zach added. “He was 600 when the flood started, and he was 950 when he died. Wow, I bet he had some kind of pension!!”

Neither Pastor John or Peter laughed at Zach’s weak attempt at humor.

“Okay,” said Zach, “let me make sure I have got this straight. First of all, Noah got at least two of every living animal on this ark? And all of these animals survived for forty days and forty nights on this ark, floating on the open seas – plus another 150 days before they found land.”

“Correct,” said Pastor John.

“How did he get all of the animals? I mean, if this ark, as many say, was somewhere in the Middle East or Tibet or somewhere in that area, where did he get the kangaroos from? Or the duckbilled platypus? Or the polar bears. Where did he get penguins and the llamas and bison and caribou and other animals that were not indigenous to the area?”

“Son, you ask too many questions,” Pastor John stated, ignoring Zach’s questions. “The point is that the Bible says it happened, and we know that the Bible is the word of God, so we know it happened. We just don’t know all the details. You just have to have faith.”

“Let me tell you what I have found from studying the story of Noah’s Ark, and some of the questions that I have,” said Zach.

Zach began. “Let me ask you - how many animals would Noah have on this ark if he had two of all the living beasts? There are thousands. That’s a lot of animals. And who did this? Just the family - eight people? Even if it was possible, can you imagine how long it would take to gather two of every beast? And what about varieties? Look at dogs, for example. Did he have just two beagles? Or did he have two beagles, two Labrador retrievers, two dachshunds, two greyhounds, two Irish terriers, two boxers, two Dalmatians, two Great Danes, two poodles, two ....... well, you get the point. Say he had only two poodles – where did the labs and Great Danes come from? Just two of every kind of dog would take an enormous space.”

“By any stretch of the imagination,” Zach continued, “this story is just ludicrous. Then, there are some animals that surely would not survive 40 days and 40 nights cooped up in a little cage. And its not just 40 days and 40 nights. You would have to add the days it took to gather all the animals, plus the 150 days after the rains before they found land. That’s 190 days – over six months! And what did they eat? Can you imagine all the varieties and amount of food they must have had on this ark? And the animal waste. Have you ever been in a barn with a dozen cows? That can be overwhelming, and yet we’re talking about thousands of animals here. Who’s feeding the animals and cleaning up this mess? Can you imagine eight people taking care of all these animals?”

“Think about it. After the 40 days and 40 nights of rain, there were 150 days when all the earth was underwater. Genesis 7:24 tells us, 'And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.' That’s at least 190 days – over 6 months on that ark, plus the time spent collecting all the animals and their food. That’s a long time.”

“Couldn’t this just be a neat story, a fable, an allegory, to demonstrate an idea?” Zach asked the two of them.

He got nothing but blank stares from Pastor John and Peter.

“I don’t see how it could have actually happened. There are many more ancient stories of great floods, but they are recognized for what they are - myths. I mean, no sane person would think this is true,” stated Zach. “The only way any sane person would believe this is if he had surrendered all of his abilities to think and use logic. Only a person with blind faith who believed the Bible no matter how ridiculous or impossible the story might be would believe the story of Noah and his ark.”

“But it is true, my son,” Pastor John finally said. “Just trust in the Lord. Ours is not to know. Ours is to listen and obey. The Lord does work in mysterious ways.”

“That’s right,” said Peter. “We don’t pretend to know all the answers. Sometimes, we just have to have faith.”

Zach wouldn’t let it drop. “And then there’s the question of what the Lord is trying to teach us,” he said. “Let me see if I can understand the message being sent by this story about Noah and the ark. If I have six children, and five of them don’t behave and don’t do as I tell them, I should kill those five. Maybe I should drown them in the bathtub since God seems to like killing people by drowning them. Or, I could set them on fire, and burn them to death like God did to the people of Sodom and Gomorra. What do you think?”

Again, there was only silence from Pastor John and Peter.

“And there is another lesson to be learned from the story of Noah,” said Zach. “There’s that part about one of Noah’s sons being black, who committed some wrong against Noah. Since this son was black, all of his black ancestors would be an inferior race, and the world would be justified in stealing the lives of these blacks and forcing them into slavery to serve the white man. As a black man, how do you feel about that part of the Bible story.”

“Not now, my son,” replied Pastor John. “It is obvious you are not a believer, and your soul is filled with hate. You have been deceived and confused by the devil. I will pray for you, and hope that you, too, will see the light, and know that the Bible is our spiritual guide to righteousness and all that is good. The Lord loves you and will forgive your sins when you are ready to receive him into your heart.”

HOME

To explore these issues and more, read the new mind-expanding, thought-provoking book, TrueTruths

We want to know what you think. Email us at truetruths@earthlink.net

Random- Previous- Next- List- Join