In Genesis 7, we read about humanity’s big reboot––the flood. But a question arises: of all the ways in which God could go about restarting the world, why did God choose to use a flood of water?
The secret is revealed in Numbers 31. There we find a passage that is easy to pass over without a second glance, but frankly it’s the key that answers our question. Not only does it explain the water of the flood, it also explains why earth’s final cleansing will come by fire.
In Numbers 31:21-23, we read: Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And anything that cannot withstand the fire, you shall pass through the water.
The context of this passage is as follows: the Israelites have returned from battle, victorious. In their great victory, they have found vessels of precious metal, gold, silver, and all kinds of things that will now come into their possession. But, as they start to bring these vessels back into the camp, the priest Eleazar basically says, “Stop! God told Moses these items must be purified before they can enter the camp! If the item can withstand fire, purify the item with fire. If the item cannot withstand fire, then purify the item with water. This is the rule. Understand?”
The passage seems to have no connection with the flood, but then you start thinking about the fire and the water and the purification, and you begin to realize that what applies to a vessel taken from the battlefield must also apply to the planet. After all, the planet is a vessel taken from the battlefield.
Let’s consider these verses:
• Matthew 3:11 (NIV)––“I baptize [your body] with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
• Matthew 3:11 (NIV)––“I baptize [your body] with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
• Hebrews 10:22 (NIV)––Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
• 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV)––[Your foundation] will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
• 2 Peter 3:7 (NIV)––But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
• 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV)––These trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
It is the same principle at work. If the vessel is something that can endure fire (i.e., it’s something spiritual), then it is to be cleansed with fire. But if it is something that cannot endure fire (i.e., it’s something physical), then it is to be cleansed with water. We take this, in turn, and apply it to God’s first and second judgment.
The flood was meant to cleanse the world of sinful people.
The coming judgment is meant to cleanse God’s people of a sinful world.
So why a flood?
Because the first was a physical purification. Therefore, the cleansing came by water.
However, the second will be a spiritual purification, so the cleansing will come by fire.
The flood was meant to cleanse the world of sinful people.
The coming judgment is meant to cleanse God’s people of a sinful world.
So why a flood?
Because the first was a physical purification. Therefore, the cleansing came by water.
However, the second will be a spiritual purification, so the cleansing will come by fire.
