Lessons from Noah's times.
In the ancient time God was wroth with mankind, when he "looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Then in Divine judgment he swept the earth clean with a flood of great waters. But in wrath he remembered mercy: a restoring-day came, and in that day God was pleased to enter into covenant with the race, and make solemn pledge and promise that never again should "all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor should there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." Isaiah saw a parallel to this in the Divine dealings with the idolatrous kingdom of Israel. It had become so utterly corrupt that ordinary forms of chastisement would not suffice; overwhelming judgments were demanded. The Divine wrath found expression in the destruction of the nation, and the bitterness of the Babylonish captivity. But mercy limited judgment; a restoring-time came, and brought with it new covenant assurances and promises: "My loving-kindness from thee shall not remove, neither shall the covenant of my peace totter, saith he that hath compassion on thee, Jehovah." In this we are to see exhibited in history—earlier and later—the methods of Divine dealing which may apply also to us.
I. OUR SINS MAY AROUSE THE DIVINE INDIGNATION. Scripture impresses on us that in God is always responsive feeling towards sin. In this we may find foreshadowings of the fatherly relations of God toward us. He must never be thought of as merely concerned with wrong-doing because of its disturbing Divine order, as a king or a judge would be. Sin always bears a personal relation to God. It is disobedience, it is insult, it is unfaithfulness. He feels it as fathers feel the wrong-doing of their children.
II. DIVINE WRATH MAY STILL FIND EXTREME JUDGMENTS. Such as are represented in the Flood or in the Captivity. Such as are suggested by the stern necessity fathers sometimes know; they must shut the home-door against hardened prodigal sons. In the spiritual life there are times when God must "cover himself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through."
III. DIVINE MERCY ALWAYS WAITS TO PUT LIMIT ON THE JUDGMENT. That "mercy" makes the worst judgments to be but corrections. And that "mercy" watches for the moment when the correcting work is done, and restorings can be granted.
IV. WHEN GOD RESTORES HE DOES IT WITH SUCH ABUNDANT COMFORTING AND ASSURANCE AS DISPELS ALL THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE JUDGMENT-TIME. illustrate from the tender language of the context. See also the warmth of parental feeling when the prodigal son came back home.—R.T.