God’s Covenant with All Living Flesh

As I write this the Eastern portion of Australia is having the wettest season in 50 years and as I came out the back door of my daughter’s house recently, I was greeted with this spectacular rainbow, and it reminded me of God’s statement in Genesis 9: 9-17, where He was speaking to Noah after the great flood and said that the rainbow would be a reminder to Him and all living flesh, that He would never again allow a flood of that magnitude.

 There is of course still a lot of evidence of that flood; for example, the world has great coal deposits close to the surface which were colossal forests that had been flattened and washed into ravines and covered with silt. The “fossil graveyards,” like the trees, were freshly dead animals buried in large numbers before they deteriorated.  If they hadn’t been buried quickly under a quantity of silt we wouldn’t have those fossils, and it would take a terrific flood to do that. So we are very fortunate to have that historical record. People who don’t read the bible invent weird and impossible alternatives to the flood. From experience: During my life of grazing sheep and cattle I have seen hundreds of animals die, and I know that unless they are buried quickly there will soon be no evidence that they ever existed because blowflies, crows, eagles, foxes and wild pigs soon clean up their remains. Did I hear you ask “how come you saw so many animals die”? Well just to take one example: Audrey and I had a property where our boundary fence was about 200 meters from the Bogan River and ran parallel with it for many kilometres. When the river flooded

in 1990 I received a call on our U.H.F. radio, from the man in charge of travelling stock in our district, to say that a large mob of sheep travelling on the stock route, between our fence and the river, had been trapped by the flood water and washed against our fence, and would I mind if he cut the wires in many places so the sheep might be able to swim into our country and possibly save their lives by finding higher ground. Of course I said “do it”. However, they all drowned and now there is no evidence that they ever existed because the carnivores I mentioned cleaned them up (including the bones, to get the marrow). They drowned in amongst those trees in the distance and with the flood rising this was as close as I could get to them. After that we had years of drought and this beast of ours couldn’t even find enough water for a bath.

Now the river is flooding again and the farmers are battling. Life is not always easy, (as you might have found out), and the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve’s sin started these difficulties and our continuous sinning perpetuates them. However, God spoke to King Solomon, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and said: If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land” and in the New Testament James 5:16 says: The prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. The entire bible bears witness to this idea of asking God’s forgiveness for past sin, living in a manner in accordance with the scriptures and asking in faith for God’s help and guidance. Our Nation needs to do that, but the fact that it doesn’t should not stop you or me from doing it if we want to end up in Heaven and live above the average right now.  Best wishes as you consider that. Tom.