The Lost Lesson Of Noah And The Ark

Whether or not you are Christian, whether or not you believe in the Christian Bible and its stories, you’ve nevertheless heard ad nauseum the story of Noah and the ark.

It seems shocking, then, that so many of us fail to recall – or fail to grasp – one of the most valuable lessons of the story.

Sure, we remember the strange old coot who built a boat in what we presume was the middle of nowhere. We remember the wickedness of men, which predicated the need for the ark in the first place. We remember two of every creature (all creatures on the ark came in pairs, except for worms – they came in apples). We remember “forty days and forty nights” of rain (though most are unlikely aware that this was just the beginning; it is estimated that the ark itself floated atop the floodwaters for around a year). Some of us remember Methuselah, the oldest person in human history, though we may not recall that he was Noah’s grandfather (and may have helped to build the ark).

These are all interesting facts of the story, and while some hint at the lesson of which I speak, none quite addresses it in depth.

The lesson is this – God gave the inhabitants of the Earth chance after chance after chance, willing and pleading and warning them to change their wicked ways. Then he sent a 600-year-old man on a wacky mission to build a boat and fill it with animals, serving at least in part as a final, last-ditch reminder of His will and the consequences of continuing to test His patience. But in the end (and here’s the important part), when all of his rumbling and grumbling and pleading had been ignored…

God kicked ass.

There was no mercy. There was, by that point, no salvation. There were no “innocents”. There was no “nice”. God kicked ass, and when he was finished there was nothing left except what housed itself on that comparatively tiny wooden vessel.

Whether or not you believe the story, or believe anything else from the faith that produced it, the lesson remains. That’s important to understand, whichever side of today’s “wickedness” you fall down on. When the bitching and rumbling and warning is finished, ass must be kicked.

If you ask persons from either side of the “wickedness spectrum” whether their side represents good or evil, you’ll no doubt hear from everyone that theirs is the side of righteousness. Based on the twisted sense of right and wrong that pervades society today, these reactions are absolutely justified. Blue-haired transgender ANTIFA members think they’re doing the right thing when they “confront fascism” (or whatever it is they believe they’re doing).

Twenty years ago a few Muslims thought they were doing the right thing when they flew planes into buildings, too. In fact, they thought it so right that they sacrificed themselves in doing it.

If everyone thinks they’re right, who is?

Honestly, you can step away from religion entirely and still discern the answer to that question. I’m not going to make the case for or against any of the various “sides”, because that’s a subjective consideration you’re simply going to have to make on your own. You just have to be honest enough and courageous enough to do it faithfully and purely. Once you’ve done so, though, you must also be honest and courageous enough to consider the true consequences of continuing down the path those respective sides would have us all tread. If we keep heading in the direction they’re pushing us toward, where do we wind up as a nation, a civilization, a species?

If you look to the end of the assorted paths, and see (as I do) that only one offers any sort of salvation for mankind, then your next step – as frightening as it may be – is to accept that there is only so much whining, pleading, and warning that can be done before asses must be kicked. That’s the lost lesson of Noah’s Ark.

We are not God. We don’t necessarily have the power to wipe away the threat the way He might, and it’s not really our place to decide the righteousness of others or choose who does/doesn’t deserve some salvation. If you’re a full-faith Christian, you understand implicitly that this is a task reserved for God alone.

But if it is such faith that moves you, it is within your purview to kick ass when the time comes for it; when the righteous path has been made clear to you and the wicked enemies of goodness have repeatedly exposed their heinies for the boot, common sense and the greater good give you permission to slam your size twelves to where the sun doesn’t shine. Only you can decide at what point the restraint must be pushed aside and holy wrath thus be unleashed, but when that moment has arrived, by God unleash it.

For me, that moment is fast approaching.

I’m just waiting on a couple of apples.

Featured image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

Second image courtesy of Answers in Genesis