The Earth is Corrupt with Violence

My reading this morning comes form Genesis 4-7. Cain killed Abel because he was jealous. Cain’s line was followed for a while but then a third son from Adam and Eve by the name of Seth was born. This family lines descends to Noah and his sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The Lord God destroyed all life on the earth with a flood, except Noah and his wife, with their sons and their wives, and the animals that were taken aboard the ark. The Lord God destroyed the earth because the earth had become corrupt in his sight, for the earth was filled with violence because of man.

I do not think that I will ever understand men who claim the name of Christ, yet promote or sanction violence. Jesus taught peace, not only peace with God but peace among men. Men think that evil is the answer for evil. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Evil cannot be overcome with evil. The only way to overcome evil is with good.

My favorite television show is “The Andy Griffith Show.” It was a television show from the 1960’s. My favorite character is Andy’s deputy Barney Fife. Barney is not very smart and he is prideful. The things that he says and does are for the sake of comedy but they also expose the way that men really think. In a certain episode, Barney asks a group of young boys a rhetorical question: “How do you fight fire?” The boys answer, “With a hose!” Barney says, “No, no no! You fight fire with fire.” The intention was comical and the mess that Barney winds up in because of fighting fire with fire is comical but men really do this when attempting to fight evil with evil.

Fighting evil with evil only causes evil to abound. Evil will never defeat evil, you can only defeat evil with good. The earth was destroyed with a world wide flood because the earth had become corrupt in the sight of Lord because of the violence of man. After the flood and men spread out on the earth, violence returned to the earth. Jesus taught his disciples to not resit an evil person (Matthew 5: 39) and he demonstrated what he taught at the cross.

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.