God uses a pattern of “new beginnings” throughout the Bible. These patterns reveal God’s persistent love for mankind even when man is rejecting His way of life. In the beginning, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good . . .” (Genesis 1:31 NIV).
Gensis 1:27 says this included the creation of the first man and woman. From scripture we understand God’s purpose is to create a family, the God family beginning with Adam and Eve. Every physical thing that God created, organic and inorganic, including the creation of His future progeny, was perfect. God was obviously very pleased with His creation.
Adam and Eve began totally innocent in a perfect world with an intimate relationship with the Creator and with an opportunity to build their lives and family’s life on a solid foundation. But, of course, they made some wrong choices and sin entered the picture. They chose to make decisions based on their own human reasoning and that brand new beginning went sour on them.
In Genesis 5 is the genealogy of Adam all the way to Noah. “After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth” (Genesis 5:32 NIV). The society that had developed on the earth from Adam and Eve’s perfect beginning was now totally corrupted by sin.
” Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, . . . Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:1,5-6).
“So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them’. . . . The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth’ ” (Genesis 6:11-13).
What started in the beginning with Adam and Eve as very good had become so corrupt that God chose to destroy all mankind, except for Noah and his family. This account it says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. God saved Noah and his family so that mankind could have a new beginning. God chose Noah so that He could set mankind back on the right foundation. Everything he needed for life came out of the ark in perfect condition. He had his family with him, and he had a relationship with God.
The Apostle Paul said in the book of Hebrews that by faith Noah condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. However, not everything went well in Noah’s family. Noah’s son Ham had a grandson named Nimrod who grew to become a mighty warrior. Nimrod became a mighty hunter against the Lord.
From Noah’s sons, the nations spread out over the earth after the flood. “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. . .Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’” (Genesis 11:1-2,4).
Notice here that there is no mention of God in their plans. No mention of making His name known or attributing anything to God. Instead, their desire was to establish man’s greatness and supremacy and rulership over all the earth. It’s the classic example of man building on the wrong foundation. God knew that their advancement would be very quick because they all spoke the same language. Together they could advance man’s society in terms of organizing and developing knowledge apart from God, and the subsequent use or the misuse of that knowledge.
“So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:8-9).
What had begun with righteous Noah and his family as a new beginning for man, eventually turned into a repopulation of the earth with a people who were totally unrighteous. However, we see another new beginning taking place. This new beginning is taking shape in a man named Abraham: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing’ ” (Genesis 12:1-2).
Again, we see a new beginning with a man who was willing to obey God and trust in the outcome. God was able to use him and his children and his grandchildren. Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all made aware of the one true God and were given an opportunity to build on that right foundation. Of course, what started out as a new beginning with Abraham changed completely after Joseph’s death.
Eventually, the descendants of Abraham fell into slavery and lost the knowledge of God. This was prophesied long before Abraham even had children. God told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a country not their own. That they would be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years, but afterwards they would come out with great possessions. Israel’s release from Egypt under God’s leadership of Moses is another “new beginnings”. God worked with Israel through Moses to reveal His laws and His statutes and His judgments and, of course, His entire plan of salvation. God chose an entire nation this time. This was a totally new beginning for the children of Israel.
We see a new beginning for ourselves through Christ’s sacrifice for the remission of our sins. As we confirm our covenant yearly with God at Passover, it’s a new beginning for us.
When we look around at the shape this world is in today, it’s obvious that mankind needs a new beginning. God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is the Creator of new beginnings and it speaks to His love, His mercy and His compassion for His creation. Why else would He do this over and over again? Why would He set this pattern? It shows His total commitment to His plan of salvation, to His family and to everyone that has ever lived and died. .
John Hinds