Flood Insurance

Psalm 124

If it had not been the LORD who
was on our side—
let Israel now say—
if it had not been the LORD who was on
our side
when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up
alive,
when their anger was kindled
against us;
then the flood would have swept us
away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters.

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Last night we rented 2012, a Hollywood look ahead at the not quite end of the world supposedly predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar, which has no more days to tear off after December 21—2012. The film, and I apologize if I am playing the role of spoiler for anyone who still plans to see it, takes about ten to fifteen minutes to set up its flimsy plot before all screenwriting and acting are, well, swept away by the computer generated cataclysm that begins, where else, in California.

As LA and the rest of the west coast becomes ocean bottom property, characters hop in planes to rise about the flood that is coming, and which will not relent until all but the tip of Mount Everest is awash in waters that come from who knows where because there were no forty days of rain, just a lot of solar pulses, and a neutrino driven rise in the temperature of the earth’s core, and subsequent destabilization of the earth’s crust, and more and more earth quakes, and “dogs and cats living together; mass hysteria!” (Actually, that line isn’t in the movie, it’s from Ghostbusters, I just had to throw it in because 2012 is just about as silly as that classic film from the 80s. Only Ghostbusters had better acting and was more believable.).

With no disrespect to the Mayans, may they rest in peace, if they were so good at telling the future how come they didn’t know that their world would come to an end long before 2012? Anyone seen a Mayan lately? No? That’s because they and their culture swept away long ago. Again, I mean no disrespect to the Mayans, I have reserved my contempt for Hollywood, which insists on playing upon the ignorance and fear of many people to reap small fortunes from the ever popular apocalyptic movie genre.

Well, here’s a word for anyone who might be losing sleep after watching 2012: it will never happen. So have a good night’s rest, and if you are making plans to attend the next Olympic Winter Games in 2014, go on ahead.

Now, I am not saying that the world couldn’t pass away before the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. All I am telling you is that there is zero chance that, if the end should come, that it will at all resemble the events depicted in 2012. For one thing, forget the deluge; God promised Noah, long before the Mayans were on the scene, that the world would never again pass away from a cataclysmic flood. (Genesis 9.11) So don’t worry about how to book passage on an ark like in 2012, it simply won’t be necessary. Not that it would do any good anyway. When the end does come, it will be God who orchestrates all that will happen. And it is God who will shield and deliver all who will be saved, lifting them above, as it were, “raging waters.”

The people of ancient Israel, who were well familiar with the story of the flood, knew well God’s covenant with Noah. They also were covenant partners with the LORD through pacts made with Abraham, Moses, and David. All of the covenant promises of God added up to, among other things, flood insurance. And, on the occasions each year when all Israel would head to Jerusalem to observe one of the appointed festivals of the LORD, one of the wonderful songs the people sang was a reminder that God himself would forever make sure that his people were never again swept away by flood. In particular, Psalm 124 celebrated God’s deliverance from the violent torrent of Israel’s enemies, who had time and again sought to swallow her up. God had delivered, Israel, as when a bird is freed from the snare of fowlers, more than once. And Israel had well placed confidence that it would always be so.

Each of the fifteen Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134) recall, celebrate, and commend to all generations of believers, the perfect assurance of God’s faithfulness to his promises, the greatest of which is his promise to save those he has covenanted with. And, for all who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the promises of God’s new and final covenant are binding. We need fear no 2012 cataclysm, or death in any other form, be it personal or global. For, rather than Israel’s or our being swallowed up and swept away, it has been death which has been “swallowed up in victory” (1Corinthians 16.34; see Isaiah 25.8).

So, if you have not yet seen 2012, don’t bother, unless you are looking for a laugh, filmmaking doesn’t get much sillier. Even more important, if you have not yet invited Jesus Christ to come into your life, and be the Ark that delivers you from all harm, may I suggest that today would be a great day to ask him into your heart? Then you will be insured against flood and fire, and all other damage, with eternal life through grace by faith in Jesus as your guarantee.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4