Last week I talked about the fog warning that came too late when I went to Presque Isle, as well as the aggressive redwing blackbird warning I discounted. I said sometimes the issue isn’t that the warning is too late─the issue is the way we respond to the warning.

The same is certainly true of the warnings we receive from God. While Noah heeded God’s warning of the coming flood and built an ark, there’s no record of anyone except Noah’s family making any effort to board the ark. Although the Bible doesn’t mention the details, I’m sure people must have asked Noah why he was building this gargantuan boat, and he must have warned them of the coming flood. However, no one else prepared for the disaster.

In the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, even Lot and his family, who received a personal warning, were not in any hurry to leave the city. When Lot warned his sons-in-law, they thought he was joking, and Lot himself and his family only left when the men (probably angels) grasped their hands and led them out.

The reactions of the people in these two accounts, as well as those I mentioned last week, lead me to believe warnings are not particularly effective in getting most people to change their behavior unless something bad has already happened to convince them the warnings are valid. Both the people in Noah’s day and those who were warned in Sodom and Gomorrah discounted the warnings because they didn’t believe the danger was real.

However, the response of Noah was different. Although Noah had never experienced a flood―it had never even rained before, he didn’t hesitate to heed God’s warning. Why was his reaction different? Verse 9 of Chapter six of Genesis says: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

Noah trusted God and was obedient even when the people in his culture very likely laughed at him for being so foolish as to build an ark. He didn’t allow anything to sway him from heeding God’s warning. The difference in Noah’s reaction is found in his relationship with God.

In the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, we find that the first personal warning from God was actually given to Abraham, Lot’s uncle, not to Lot. Verse seventeen of Genesis eighteen says, “The Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”  Because of Abraham’s close relationship with God, God would not destroy the city where Abraham’s nephew lived without telling him.

 Abraham believed the warning God gave and interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, begging God to spare the cities if even as few as ten righteous people could be found. When even ten were not found, God was still faithful to Abraham by sending urgent messengers remove his beloved nephew and his family.

What about us? Do we respond differently to God’s warnings because of the depth of our relationship with Him? If warnings were only given to those who are “righteous, blameless among the people of our time, and who walk with God,” would we qualify?  Do we heed God’s warnings regardless of the mocking of our culture? God help us to rise up and be the Noah’s and the Abraham’s of our day.

Father, may we be righteous people, blameless among the people of our time, whose relationship with you is our top priority. Give us ears to hear the voice of your Spirit and hearts to choose to walk with you, even if it means being out of step with our culture. Amen

This week we’ve looked at Old Testament warnings. Next week I’d like to look at warnings we find in the New Testament.

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