Did God send the Flood of Noah to kill most of humanity?
The Flood of Noah remains for many, the proof positive that God kills. The way Scripture is worded in our modern Bibles, we are led to believe that He killed the existing population of the entire world. Scripture states that God got upset with the wickedness of the world and that He decided to put an end to all forms of life, except that of Noah and His family – eight people survived the ordeal.
By and large Christianity has accepted this view, as did Judaism before them. While it is not my purpose to prove or disprove the Flood event, it is curious to note that so many ancient cultures around the Globe nurture similar traditions, most of which are strikingly similar. It is disturbing to think however that a loving God might be capable of such anger as to commit worldwide genocide. Most parents could not resort to such measures regardless of their children’s level of inhumanity, much less a planet full of such children. What a carnage! How could a loving God resort to such an action? If He did, He makes the likes of Stalin, Hitler and Mao look like choir boys. This author does not believe that He caused the Flood and killed the population of the time. We will discuss the wrath of God subsequently, but for now, let us consider the story as it is recorded in Scripture.
Part of the problem resides in a rather nebulous aspect of most translations. Are the words God and LORD different names for the same Person? For some reason, Elohim, a plural noun, is translated as, God; and Yahweh, a proper noun, as LORD, but also as God. I have exposed the problem in Chapters 8 and 9 of my book, Idolatry of blood.
Indeed, the word Elohim is sometimes translated angel, or angels, and in some cases this word is applied to humans. The Psalmist reports : “I said, ‘you are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High’” (Psalm 82:6). Here the word “gods” is Elohim, though it refers to humans. Indeed, Elohim is a word that applies to all beings created in the image of God. Yahweh is the proper name of the Almighty who also counts Himself as one of His Elohim (see verse 1).
When considered with this understanding the story of the Flood takes on a different slant. Let us review the details:
It is true that Yahweh sighed with pain when He considered the condition of humanity He had created; the words “regretted” or “repented” are too strong (see Genesis 6:6). It is also Yahweh who speaks when He says in the next verse (v.7) that He will “mâchâh” here translated, destroy in the KJV, and wipe in the NIV. It is generally believed that “wiping away” applies to humanity. In reality it could just as well apply to the mentality of humans. It is the worldliness of these humans God wanted to wipe away. To do so, God led Noah to preach for 120 years, but the people would not listen. There is a very slight difference between âdam, meaning “made red” applied to humans; and âdâm, meaning hypocrite, or, common/worldly person. It is even likely that the slight difference of meaning in ancient Hebrew was imperceptible. Thus the context has to provide the answer to our question.
We find in verse 8 that Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh. In verse 9 we are told that he was righteous in his generation as he walked with Elohim; these are the people of his time. The verb “walked” is Hebrew hâlak, which can also mean that “he led Elohim,” or that he ministered unto the people of his time. This suggests that Yahweh gave a message for the Antediluvians that they should have recognized and understood. However, since they did not listen to the message of truth that saves, a catastrophe was bound to happen. This was not a punishment, it was a consequence of their violent ways (v.11). Thus it is their violent ways that led to the disaster, just as humans today are concerned that human action could exterminate by fire all life on our planet.
In verses 11 and 12 Elohim recognized the earth to be corrupt and full of violence, not Yahweh. In verse 13 Elohim speaks to Noah saying that the end of all flesh is coming, and Elohim is stated as saying “I (we) will shâchath cause destruction that will put an end to life on earth. Clearly, Elohim also spoke to Noah, instructing him to make an Ark in verse 16. But it is never known which Elohim are speaking, those siding with Yahweh, or those siding with His enemies? Both groups appear intimately involved in the event.
Interestingly however, in Chapter 7:1 it is Jehovah, or Yahweh who said to Noah to enter the ark with his household, as well as with clean and unclean beasts. In verse 5 we are told that Noah did everything according to what Yahweh had told him. In verse 16 it is again Yahweh who closed the door of the ark. We see that Yahweh was personally involved in saving the life of Noah while the Elohim are consistently mentioned as agents of the destruction.
Jesus brought up the subject of the Flood and compared it to the last day events on earth, just before His return: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37). Interestingly, at the end of His discourse Jesus said about those who failed to recognize the end time message that they are “placed with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (verse 51). This terminology is the same that was applied to those who failed to listen to Noah. They were called âdâm, meaning hypocrites.
Jesus has not been proven wrong about anything He predicted. The same will be true of His prediction regarding the Day of the Son of Man. This time they will perish in a fire caused by their own wickedness, not caused by God to kill or punish them. It will happen because of the human failure to listen to God’s call to unconditional love, nothing else will cause the predicted everlasting ruin of our world. May we all listen to His call to “love one another” (John 13:34-35) as He loved us, showed us the true meaning of love, and the way to become loving as He is.