Yesterday we looked at the least-considered aspect of the Flood account. Now let’s consider the most-often discussed part of it.

Most people when they look at the Flood of Noah’s day they think “God punished the wicked world.” That’s exactly right, but consider just what exactly God did.

The flood was not a blanket punishment. It may seem like considering how many people died in it, but the fact is, just because only eight people were spared doesn’t mean God was “rounding up” or generalizing who should live and who should die. The flood specifically target a particular kind of person. Who?

Sinners?

No: Noah was not sinless. Neither Noah nor his children could say they had never sinned. No, what separated Noah from the rest of the world was Noah’s penitence. Noah wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful. The same could not be said for the rest of the world, who refused to heed the word of God. Had the world shown remorse for their sin they would have gotten into the boat and been saved with Noah.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that the “only” people punished in Noah’s day were the people who didn’t trust God enough to get in the boat? Is it a coincidence that the only people spared from punishment were the ones who trusted God enough to obey him?

The flood is a picture of punishment, but it’s more than that: It’s a warning of what happens, not just when we sin, but when we sin and refuse to turn back to the God we’ve sinned against.