If you ask a child how he/she would fix the problems of the world, he/she might suggest, “God should get rid of all the really bad people.” Genesis plays out this solution in the story of Noah (Genesis 6-9).
Genesis 6:9 notes that Noah “walked with God” – meaning, he was a good man despite how many around him were not. In other words, he was definitely worth saving!
The story of the flood is really a run-through of what a “do-over” of making the world looks like. It doesn’t work. Despite their descent from the good man Noah, humans quickly return to thinking they can compete with God as the story of the Tower of Babel shows (Genesis 11:1-9).
Even if we scoff at the naiveté of children classifying the world into good and bad, don’t we often think of making the world better with grandiose schemes? Certainly we humans are smart enough to figure out how to feed the hungry, cure the world’s diseases, curb climate change, and quell violence. We only have to dedicate ourselves to just and responsible behavior.
While this determination is laudable, it isn’t God’s strategy. In the middle of the mess that the world had quickly become, Genesis turns to Abraham – by all appearances when he is introduced – an ordinary man. Yet in Abraham, we get us our first in depth look at how the Lord plans to set the world right again.
The plan is simply to build a relationship with Abraham. God approaches the future patriarch with a deal: Abraham moves to where God directs him and the Lord promises to give him land and descendents. Then God adds the ultimate payoff: “All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).
Starting with one man – one family – a one-to-one relationship – God begins the rescue of the human race. It may sound small, but God’s ways aren’t ours.
For updates on my book, or more information about me, continue to check back to this blog! I will also be frequently updating my Facebook Author page found here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Katie-Hoyt-McNabb/1473116102939321, as well as my twitter account, @AuthorMcNabb.
2 Responses to It Seems Too Small