 Pride Month
June is here. As I write this post I am reflecting on the homecoming festivities that we enjoyed this past weekend in our hometown. Every year on the first Saturday in June people with some familial or historical connection to Shirley, Arkansas descend on our little valley to mingle and get reacquainted. Many of the same stories will be told again and the young ones will be introduced to traditions and experiences that go back now, sometimes four or five generations. This is not unique to our small village. It is common to rural communities across our country, especially during the summer months. But now the purveyors of so much wickedness and sin in our culture have chosen to co-opt this month for the promotion of iniquity and perversity. They have also picked the banner of the rainbow to symbolize their movement and cause. In blatant disregard for the covenant intent of the rainbow or worse in blasphemous contempt of our great creator and covenant keeping King! Noahic In the days before the great flood of water deluged the planet on account of the wrath of God against sin, the Bible says that “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” This section of Scripture is often debated on many finer points, but everyone should be able to agree that life among the people of that time was marked by sin and rebellion. I think that we could easily conclude that today our world and most of the cultures of the world are infected with the same kind of disease of sin and rebellion. This post is not meant to dive into the distinctions in eschatological conclusions. But from a historical perspective, cultures seem to ebb and flow in direct proportion to the promotion and reception of the gospel in that culture. Genesis 4 ends with men beginning to call on the name of the Lord. But idolatry and all sorts of immorality also grow quickly after the fall of mankind into sin. Of course, we must remember that while it is only a few chapters, many centuries are covered in the period from the fall to the account of the flood. But even still the population is thoroughly corrupted by sin as it is shown that the fallen heart is totally depraved.(Genesis 6:5) However, the story of Noah is not only a recounting of man’s wickedness and God’s just punishment of sin, but also the record of God’s grace in saving humanity by rescuing Noah and his family. It is interesting that just as we are saved by trusting God’s word of revelation and believing in Jesus, they were also saved by believing what God had revealed to Noah and trusting in the vehicle of redemption provided by God’s own perfect design. But even after the waters subsided and the image bearers are again safe on dry soil, the story continues in God’s faithful covenant promises made to Noah. The Lord affirmed the early covenant made with Adam by giving the Noahic family the charge to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God gives them all the animals and plants as food, only restricting them from the consumption of a being's lifeblood. In this covenant, the Lord also instituted capital punishment for the sin of murder. Finally, God establishes His covenant with Noah and all life on the earth to never again destroy all flesh through the means of a great flood. All covenants also have signs of the covenant promises that have been made. God gives us the sign of the rainbow as a reminder of His amazing grace and mercy. Divine Patience The Apostle Peter refers back to the events of the deluged world at the end of his second epistle. Peter reminds his readers that the world that then existed was destroyed by a cataclysmic worldwide flood. But he goes on to tell us that this current world will likewise be destroyed by a cataclysmic global inferno (2 Peter 3:5-13). The reason that Peter informs us about this coming destruction is because the Lord is patient toward His people so that they all will reach repentance before that great and terrible day comes. Peter tells us that since this judgment is sure and that this salvation is real, we should wait for this by living lives of holiness and godliness in this present age, while resting in the Lord’s promise of a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
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