Good old Noah built an ark
Like God told him to.
And on that ark he put a dog,
Like God told him to.
The old children’s song is true – as far as it goes. What it doesn’t say is that the whole reason for the ark in the first place was the extermination of mankind – not a very pleasant thought. In fact, it is a thought so unpleasant that more than one author has accused God of over-reacting in a fit of pique, an over-reaction God himself repents of later after the flood.
A kind and holy sister in Christ remarked to me recently: “When an unbeliever reads this about our God, no wonder he turns from Him.”
But there is a matter that should not be overlooked: Mankind was created in the image of God, and God cares very much how that image is treated. He’s serious about behavior, and He wants us to treat it with equal seriousness. When every “inclination of the thoughts of [mankind’s] heart [is] only evil all the time,” it’s a big deal to God.
Contrast that with our own time: we feel that punishments are often too harsh for the crimes, so fewer and lighter punishments are meted out, and crime increases. In many countries (and increasingly in our own), there are no crimes that are thought so heinous as to cost a man his life. Thus life itself is cheapened, and values go in the ditch.
God does not act in a “fit of pique,” but he does act. Justice is eventually done, and it is often harsh and unyielding. But mankind doesn’t have to act poorly. He can submit to the direction of the one who made him. Our choice. God’s justice.