LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Pain of God's Heart (2)
The Bible says in Genesis 6 that when God saw the irremediable wickedness of man, and the extreme to which corruption and violence had reached, he said: "I will destroy man whom I have created from off the face of the earth" (Gen. 6:7). It was, no doubt, a very strong decision. However, because God is holy and just, there comes a time when his holiness can no longer suffer sin, and his justice can no longer suffer injustice. Then he decides to put an end to that lost generation.
But then he finds a man who, in the midst of the prevailing depravity, has set his heart apart for God; one who feels like God, who thinks like God, and who lives in the righteousness of God. Such a man is drawn by God, to lay upon him the burden of a lost humanity. Noah becomes a kind of 'alter ego' of God, a man to whom he can tell his sorrow, and with whom he can share his plans. Noah becomes God's spokesman for humanity. For dozens of years, he was a herald of justice; however, his message went unheeded.
Yes; the pain of God's heart was transformed into judgment. And then came the debacle and the horror. God cleansed his land, removing that which had defiled it. The Creator has all rights over his creation, and he proceeds without consulting anyone. If man is willing to make amends, he will escape death; if he persists in his sin, he will die.
Today, when human rights fill the minutes of all social agreements, of all international organizations, when monuments are erected to the martyrs of human suffering, the rights of God are ignored. Even more, God is branded as cruel and intolerant. The man who wanders far from God is not kind to him; on the contrary, he says harsh things about him. But God's patience has a limit, and when corruption exceeds the limits of tolerance, then nothing can stop His judgment.
In the days of Joshua, God decided to ravage the Canaanite nations, because those thresholds had been exceeded. When "the wickedness of the Amorites reached its height," God used Israel as His avenging arm. In the book of Joshua we do not find traces of that wickedness, but in some passages of the Pentateuch we find a detailed description.
The wickedness of Canaan can be gathered in three great aspects: idolatry, occult practices and immorality. As for idolatry, in addition to the infinity of gods they had, they had adopted the practice of immolation of their own children in offering to their pagan deities; as for occultism, they practiced divination, sorcery, enchantment, magic, necromancy, among others. And as for the third, all sexual deviation, all excess, was the usual practice.
This brought with it the just judgment of God. However, we must not forget: before the judgment, there was pain in the heart of God. Can we make these two concepts compatible in our mind, so ideologized by the culture in vogue: the pain of the heart and the just judgment? In God they do not contradict each other, but are two aspects of one and the same reality.