“If He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (v5).
I love movies where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. The shining knight slays the dragon. I especially love the flicks where there’s absolutely no hope and suddenly, out of nowhere, our hero busts onto the scene to save the day and thwart evil just in the nick of time. That’s when the cavalry rides over the hill. That’s when Han Solo roars to the rescue in the Millennium Falcon. No matter how great things look for the bad guys, good wins. Evil is thwarted.
Peter continues his four part example from Genesis to reassure his readers that God will most certainly take care of a team of false teachers who have infiltrated local churches (2:1-3). He gives four case studies from the opening book of the Bible to calm everybody down. God took care of the fallen angels (Gen 6:1-6; 2Pet 2:4). He flushed worldwide wickedness with the Great Flood (Gen 6:8-13; 2Pet 2:5). He rained down His hot wrath on the terrible twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:23-28; 2Pet 2:6). He came to Lot’s rescue just before the mushroom cloud rose (Gen 19:1-22, 29; 2Pet 2:7). The apostle uses this OT Bible study to let us know God will win and evil will lose. Yeah, these spiritual hucksters may get away with their con for a while. But in the end, Yahweh will have His way.
The former fisherman flips back to the opening chapters of Genesis for his second case study. For the second time, he says “if.” That’s probably better read as “since.” There’s nothing “iffy” about the big flood. A lot of folks question the truth of the biblical deluge. Maybe you’re one of them. I used to be on that team too. One thing is for certain. Jesus believed it happened (Lk 17:27). And if the One who predicted His own crucifixion and resurrection said the flood is real, then I’m going with what He says. It’s not IF there was a flood. It’s SINCE there was a flood!
Pete makes it clear that God “did not spare the ancient world” (v5). The writer of Genesis lets us know that it took no time for humans to completely jack up God’s perfectly crafted creation. It’s almost the blink of biblical eye from the day Adam and Eve fell for the lies of a demonic snake until “the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth (Gen 6:6). God didn’t just need to eliminate a few bad apples. He had to wipe the slate clean. He had to hit restart. And He was going to do that with a flood.
In one of the spectacular examples of grace in the OT, God reaches out and “preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness” (v5). God didn’t save Noah because he was such hot stuff. He wasn’t some Lone Righteous Ranger in a wicked world. Just before He handpicks Noah, God’s heart breaks over the people He created that must all be wiped out (Gen 6:5-6). Notice the sequence of events in Genesis. God doesn’t make Noah his number one draft pick because he’s clearly the best player available. No, it’s the other way around. Because “Noah found favor in the eyes of God” (Gen 6:8), he then is described as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Gen 6:9). God’s grace radically transforms Noah. He becomes a “preacher of righteousness (v4).” And let’s be VERY clear about just who’s righteousness he’s telling everyone about. Noah is NOT saying, “Hey, look at me! Check out MY incredible goodness!” No, he’s announcing to the world the goodness, perfection and holiness of the One who showered him with descending one-way love.
God places Noah and his family under the waterfall of His grace. In the meantime, God punishes evil. “He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (v5). Pete uses the Greek word kataklusmos. It’s the source for our term “cataclysm.” It describes complete and total inundation. There wasn’t just some localized flash flooding. God totally soaked the entire planet. Global catastrophe. Utter devastation. He flushed the toilet of evil. The apostle makes the point that if God can handle an entire world full of sinners, a few spiritual snake oil salesmen will be a piece of cake. The Good Guy wins. Evil is thwarted.
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