On the Wednesday after our Operation Noah service we used their study guide at Oasis. It is entitled 'Between the Flood and the Rainbow' and has a great deal of thought-provoking material in it which does need working through before leading a session. We just looked at the first reflection and action sheet. We found ourselves uncomfortable with attempts to apply the Old Testament passages to today's climate crisis. In part this is because Christ showed us a God who would die for us rather than kill us for our sins. In part it is inappropriate to see natural disasters as God's punishment when it is clearly the poorest, those least responsible for the greed precipitating the crisis, who are suffering for it. Nonetheless there was much food for thought in the texts.
The reflection highlights the 'everlasting covenant' that Isaiah declares to have been broken in 24:5 and which is usually deemed to refer to the covenant made after the flood (Genesis 9:8-11). We found ourselves wanting to picture a rather broader concept of such a covenant embracing especially the Jubilee laws. In a world in which possessions could only be held on a short term basis and the land itself was given rest, things would be very different.
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