Understanding God: God of Accountability Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with…
Understanding God: God of Accountability
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” – Genesis 9:9-11
Another attribute we can learn from God is that, in addition to learning from His own processes and making amends using insights gained from His evaluation, He also holds Himself accountable to ensure that the process does not fail again. He is a God of accountability.
You may wonder why this is so since we are talking about an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-sufficient God here. Well, while God is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, and knows the end of all things from their beginning, He pretty much gives the power of agency to His creatures, particularly humans, to manage the proceedings or do things their own way by making choices and decisions or taking steps and actions, that will either ensure their predestination or have it turned out differently, by their own doing or undoing.
This statement will perhaps answer one of the questions that believers, non-believers, scholars, philosophers, scientists, and others have asked across the ages about God’s influence and role in terrestrial outcomes.
The LORD is the God of the beginnings and is the God of endings. But He does not meddle much in the proceedings and the dynamics that ensue between those two ends. Otherwise, we might as well all be puppets controlled by the whims of a puppeteer up there, not the free moral agents that He created us to be.
The truth is we are all creatures of will, with the ability to decide how our outcomes and ends would be through the choices, decisions, and actions we make ourselves.
It was because of this freedom that the human race turned into something else, contrary to the original design of God when He first created them, which thus necessitated the need for a wipeout. Now, having done that with the flood and seeing how the clear-out played out, God felt He could do better next time in His management of the human race:
And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” – Genesis 8:21
With this declaration, God resolved to correct two decisive actions He had taken before then. First, He was reversing the curse He placed on the earth’s surface after Adam and Eve’s mistake. Second, He was never going to destroy all lives on the earth again in a wholesale fashion as He did during Noah’s time—not with the flood, not at all.
Now, this passage was a product of God thinking to Himself. He made a new resolution about humans and what the new world order would be. But He had not communicated that to anyone yet. However, He needed to commit Himself to this. Therefore, He voiced out His thoughts to Noah and his family:
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” – Genesis 9:8-9
It gets more interesting because God did not just get Himself accountability partners in Noah and His sons, He also instituted a memento that would help both Him and them to remember His promises:
And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” – Genesis 9:12-17
This shows us that accountability, as a value, was first exhibited by God. He had to commit Himself to not destroying humanity again, as there was no guarantee that they would live in accordance with His standards since they are free moral agents. Also, this passage shows us that the practice of having accountability partners was first instituted by God when He made a promise He was bound to keep to Noah and his sons.
Lastly, God also created the very first reminder,accountability tool, visual cue,motivational trigger, or commitment device that would make it hard for Him to break His promise to the earthlings. This He did in the rainbow, which He made an everlasting ordinance that would remain even when His initial accountability partners are no more.
Now, isn’t this the classic way we ought to approach accountability?
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Understanding God: He Does Not Condone Nonsense And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a…
Understanding God: He Does Not Condone Nonsense
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. – Genesis 11:4-8
As we continue exploring God’s personality, another lesson we can learn from Him is that He does not condone nonsense, particularly to the extent that such conflicts with His will and plan.
God had just completed a total overhaul of Project Earth with the flood, which required that He wipe out the defective creatures He then had in hand after the fall in the garden and the cursed earth they had to operate in afterwards. Even though the former generations were gone, God did not lose sight of His mandate for humanity to subdue and fill the earth. This was part of His initial communication to Adam (Genesis 1:28). It was also one of the first things He told Noah when He started afresh (Genesis 9:1).
Meanwhile, here comes humankind again. After multiplying enough, they started having a different idea of their own. Rather than fulfilling the mandate of God, handed to their forbears, to proliferate across the earth, they wanted to stay in one place instead. Hear them: ‘And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth”’ (Genesis 11:4).
They did not want to leave their comfort zone. They wanted to stay in the same place. And rather than spread out, as God wanted, they were only thinking of building high-rise structures that would rise as high they could get to accommodate their increasing number of people. They were not contemplating branching out to other parts of the earth where they would have to break grounds and level the highs in order to build new structures. God was not happy about that.
‘So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city’ (Genesis 11:8). God came down and mobilized His hosts to confuse their communication, and that put an end to the project for sure. God is still very much in the business of scattering and scuttling structures today, particularly schemes and affairs that do not align with His will. He does not condone nonsense and does not suffer fools gladly.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” – Genesis 11:1-7
Another interesting lesson we can learn from God’s mode of operation, as seen in this passage and many others like it, is that He regularly consults His council before making a major move or undertaking an important endeavor.
It is instructive that God, who is all-sufficient and all-knowing as we know Him to be, is this way. But there are many traits and attributes of God that seem lost to humanity, even to the most ardent of His worshippers. Yes, we know Him to be the Almighty and all-powerful, but there is certainly more to Him than that, as we have been highlighting through this devotional. God is much more than what we imagine Him to be. He is more than what is preached to us at religious gatherings.
On His penchant for consulting, it is instructive that God, who has the most important decisions to make and the highest responsibility to shoulder, is also the One who arguably consults the most before making His moves. When He was about to make the most important of His creatures, He did not just declare them into being like He did His previous works. Rather, He started by first engaging His council, saying, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26).
From our main Bible reference today, when He came down to earth and saw the edifice that humanity was building at Babel, He also consulted His council to intimate them on what He would do. The passage reads: ‘And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language…’” (Genesis 11:6-7). This indicates that God first came down, saw what was going on and then went back to His hosts in heaven to consult them on what He wanted to do to solve the problem. Then He invited them to come down to earth with Him to execute His plan.
Of course, He could have gone ahead and done what He considered best. After all, He is the Ultimate God, and no one can question Him. But that He did not do so became an important lesson and another of His legacies for us lesser mortals: If God, who could have done without counsel, did not, why should anyone who does not have the benefit of omniscience do so?
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Understanding God: He Reassures And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere…like the garden of the Lord… Then Lot chose…
Understanding God: He Reassures
And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere…like the garden of the Lord… Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan… And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.” – Genesis 13: 10-11, 14-16
Our reference passage today provides us with another attribute of God. He assures and reassures His anointed about His good plans and intentions for them, so that they do not lose hope and give in to depression. He is a reassuring God.
Reading the passage in context, from Abraham’s position, it would have been easy for him to become despondent after his nephew chose the prime portion of the land for settlement and left the less attractive part for him to contend with. And we do not know if Abraham at any point entertained any regret or foreboding thoughts about the fact that his nephew took the good land.
However, whether Abraham did nurse such emotions or not, God was quick to visit him after Lot had departed, with assuring words that He was still with him and would bless, multiply, and make him great in the seemingly unfavorable land he found himself in.
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.” – Genesis 13:14-16
These gestures on the part of God would have been a welcome development for Abraham. It would have offered him hope and put his mind at rest, not to entertain any ill will towards his nephew or habor any feeling of ill luck concerning himself.
Aside from Abraham, the scenario itself is also a pointer to the character of God that He does not abandon His own or leave them in the lurch. He was the one who made Abraham leave his comfort zone in Haran, in the first place, with promises of what He would do for him if he relocated. When the saga between Abraham and Lot happened, which resulted in Abraham ceding the better portion of the settlement to Lot, God was very quick in coming to Abraham with professions of His support and goodwill.
This should offer hope to anyone faithfully walking in God’s will that no matter how hard done by they might appear to be, God will always come through for them. It should also restore the confidence of those who feel forgotten that they are ever in God’s mind because He cares.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
Understanding God: He Checks Up Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a…
Understanding God: He Checks Up
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” – Genesis 11:1-7
The attribute of God we shall consider today is His situation inspection or assessment nature. In other words, He is a God who checks up on His creatures and does not just leave them or things to chance.
This attribute of God is particularly revealing because after the disobedience of Adam and Eve and the squalor that defined humanity afterwards, which led Him to decide that He had had enough and then proceeded to wipe out the human race with the flood, and when the new generations set of human race also reverted to nature and started going out of line, a development which made God concluded that He would not need to wipe out humanity again, one would think that with such a resolution God, who cannot condone evil, would have decided to stay away from humans. However, our reference today shows that that was not the case with Him. He still kept in touch and was always visiting the hemisphere where He had placed humans to assess them and their activities.
It was during one of His assessment rounds that He saw the latest endeavor humans were engaged in, a la the tower at Babel. If He had not checked up, such a development might have escaped His attention, and He might not have dealt with it on time the way He did.
Today, God still checks up on humanity to inspect, assess, monitor, evaluate, appraise, and profile the thoughts, deeds, actions, attitudes, behaviors, and works of His children so as to know how He may reward or retribute deserving individuals or groups as commensurate with their ways. The question is, when He checks up on you, what is He going to find you doing?
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
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