EARTH

Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

Have you ever had a dream, a vision for the future, a hope beyond the present? Have you ever made big plans and had them spoiled, ruined by someone or something... poured yourself into a project and then watched someone else mishandle it and had the whole thing fall apart? 

Genesis six tells us that the wickedness of man had corrupted the earth. God had a dream, a vision for something but man mishandled it. This word "corrupt" in the Hebrew literally means to ruin or bring to ruin. The root of “to ruin” is used to describe the spoiling of a garment, or a pot as in with the stale smell and splotchy stain of mold. In other places it is used to describe the sudden destruction of peoples and cities in war, or through divine judgment. So in this word we have a picture of something being spoiled in a smelly splotchy kind of way to the point of being destroyed.

At the end of each day of creation we read “and God saw…” because God looked at creation and was pleased. By the time we get to chapter six God is heart broken at what he sees; heart broken over the ruin, the spoiling, the corruption of his creation. No wonder he wanted to wipe humanity from the Earth.

So at this point in the narrative God sees a spoiled dream, plans brought to ruin, a mishandled, uncared for, abused and unprotected hope that is falling apart. Does this sound like anything you have ever experienced? God knows the pain of loss, the angst that comes with the smelly splotchy spoiling of a dream? Good thing this is not the end of the story.

Just a meandering thought...