by Megan Toombs
Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Cornwall Alliance
January 15, 2014
Was Noah a violent, murderous environmentalist who experienced an anthropogenic apocalypse? Did God hate humans because they destroyed His earth?
Not according to the Bible.
Darren Aronofsky, director of the new movie Noah, starring Russell Crowe, clearly didn’t read his Bible very carefully—or didn’t like what he read.
The movie Noah changes a story of love and redemption into an environmentalist propaganda piece about humans destroying the earth, and a call for human extinction.
Brian Godawa, who read the original script, reports that in it the earth became a desert with no rain because of human actions like hunting animals for food and sport. Never mind that the Bible says there was no rain because a mist rose from the ground (Genesis 2:6)—i.e., humidity and water vapor in the pre-flood world made rain unnecessary.
The Noah of the Bible is “…a righteous man, blameless in his generation.” The Noah of the movie script, as Godawa reports, is a shaman who avoids other people and “maintains an animal hospital to take care of wounded animals or those who survive the evil ‘poachers,’… Noah is the Mother Teresa of animals.”
Godawa makes the movie’s message clear:
Noah has himself become a bit psychotic, like an environmentalist or animal rights activist who concludes that people do not deserve to survive because of what they’ve done to the environment and to animals. Noah deduces that God’s only reason for his family on the boat is to shepherd the animals to safety, ‘and then mankind disappears. It would be a better world.’ He concludes that there will be no more births in this family so that when they start over in the new world, they will eventually die out, leaving the animals in a humanless paradise of ecoharmony and peace. As Noah says, ‘The creatures of the earth, the world itself, shall be safe.’
Darren Aronofsky missed two key parts of the Biblical story when he decided to create this movie based on the worldview of radical environmentalists.
First, God put man over the earth to steward it. Genesis 1:26–28 states:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God gave man dominion, which means that, in order of importance among creatures, man comes first. Environmentalists, of course, don’t agree. Godawa pointed out that the ethic behind Noah’s belief that his family should not procreate was “The same as all environmentalist activists: The ends justify the means. ‘We must weigh those [human] lives against all creation.’” Environmentalists like Aronofsky believe that man only damages the earth, but we know better.
Humanity being made in the image of God has the ability to innovate and create. When God gave man dominion over the earth, it was because under the stewardship of man the earth is more productive.
Second, Noah the movie is a story of death and destruction rooted in evil. The Biblical story of Noah is one of both just judgment and gracious redemption.
Genesis 6:7–8 states, “So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
God the Creator was justly angry that the people, made in His image, were evil and no longer worshipped Him. But God had grace on Noah. This doesn’t mean Noah was without sin, but it does mean he had faith. As Genesis 6:9 states, “Noah walked with God.” God, through His mercy, saved Noah and his family, and thus the human race as well as the remainder of the animals.
This is one of the many amazing stories that show God’s awesome plan. God did not use the righteousness of Noah solely to save the human race and the animals from the flood. He used it in His plan for the ultimate redemption of creation through Jesus Christ.
In Far As The Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story Of Redemption, Michael D. Williams points out that the story of Noah is another example of God’s overarching redemptive story, and His covenant with man. God in His providence saved Noah to create the line that would lead to Christ. People, fallen and sinful, did not know, or care, that they needed redemption, but God cared, and He saved Noah and ultimately the rest of His creation. He covenanted with Noah and all of the earth never to destroy it again with water.
Williams contends, “the inclusion of the animals and the very earth within the covenant emphasizes that the scope of God’s redemptive program is as wide as his creational work.” God “also reaffirms man’s covenant place within creation, in phrases intentionally reminiscent of God’s commission of Adam as a covenant representative.”
Genesis 9:1–7 states:
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
The command God gave to Adam He repeated to Noah. The story of Noah is not the environmentalist story of destruction, it is a story of grace—God’s grace given to a fallen creation that will ultimately lead to redemption.
My comment:
I haven’t seen the movie. As I am writing this, the top story on the national news is a warning coming from the United Nations about the threat of global warming. I know that the Bible says that “the Earth is wearing out like a garment.” I attribute this to the sin of man. I know the movie will probably make a lot of money. I won’t be seeing it until my local library has it. Until then, I would like both sides to have their say. This side isn’t seen in many places these days.
cr
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
2015 AND SIGNS THAT JESUS IS ON HIS WAY
January 18, 2016I spent some of my time in 2015 looking at scripture and comparing it to the various views of how Jesus will return. I must admit that I am not much nearer to taking a strong position then I was before my study. I’ve come to the conclusion that if the “how” was very important the Bible would be more clear on the subject. At the same time, my look at the “Pre-wrath” view caused me to lean a bit more towards the “Pre-Trib” outlook on the “Rapture.”
Regardless of my views, God has the how and when of His return right on schedule.
So…what happened in 2015 that might make us think that His return is not that far away? In 2015, I added two more prophecy updates to the ones I already listen to. Each week I listened to JD Farag’s and John Haller’s prophecy updates. You can find them on YouTube. I do think it was a significant year when it comes to Biblical prophecy because of the speed and nature of certain events happening in our world. Needless to say (but it hasn’t stopped me before), things are becoming more like the description the Bible gives of the last days. I don’t know how many times I felt like reading Matthew 24 this year.
In 2015 I listened to many different financial analysts regarding the shape of the world’s economy. I believe there will eventually be a one world government (mark of the beast). That will not happen unless there is a radical change in the way money is tracked and spent. Just Google “cashless society.” This is only one of many areas where new technologies may have made certain Bible prophecies possible. Avi Lipkin has said that America’s god is now mammon; I think he’s correct and that’s it’s been that way for quite awhile.
In 2015 I saw the most important (and sad) event continue to worsen. The lack of simple solid Bible teaching has created more false prophets and false apostles spewing their venom to those who want to hear what they have to say. Many pulpits are silent when it comes to societal events that have changed things, things as important as the definition of marriage.
Back in the early 1970’s, Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth reminded us to “be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” For many who were unfamiliar with Bible prophecy, Hal’s book became an introduction of its importance.
Another book that influenced me regarding the subject of prophecy was Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. The church I was brought up in never touched the subject of Bible prophecy and I was fascinated with Josh’s book.
Over the years, I lost track of Hal Lindsey. I knew he had a show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. I had heard that he experienced family problems but never learned the specifics. I always knew there was some kind of problem with TBN and after it became obvious that many of its main supporters and spokesmen were Word of Faith believers and teachers, the only program I would watch there was Carl Baugh’s.
I have since learned that Hal Lindsey’s program was halted on TBN because there was some controversy over his support of Israel and his unfavorable statements about Islam.
If I were Hal I would have said goodbye and never gone back. But then, I could never allow anything of mine to be connected to TBN.
For some reason, Hal went back to TBN where he pays for his airtime.
I watched him on YouTube a few times this year and found his take interesting. In fact, I found his summary of the prophetic implications of 2015 to be the best I’ve seen. I almost put up a link to his program, but his association with TBN bothers me too much.
On the blogging front, I still check in on my favorite blogs every so often. I will miss “Appraising Ministries” and “The Sola Sisters.”
May God bless us and give each of us wisdom in 2016.
Jesus is our only hope.
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