Why would God need a flood or tribulation to erase us out of existence?

Question

With Noah, why didn't he simply put those he wanted into suspended animation, clean the slate and replace them?

Or in the End Times simply teleport up the people he wants and put the damned in Hell? Why the need for the 4 Horsemen etc?

If your're all loving but feel a need to damn people anyways why cause them to suffer, just teleport them to Hell and get on with it.

To Machaira : Ithink the thrid paragraph of my question pretty much naswers your question. Try reading the whole thing sometime

Answer 1

well, that's the argument - it makes no sense but a religious nut doesn't care.

Answer 2

As you probably know, flood stories occur in other religions, and the Hebrews undoubtedly took it from the earlier Sumerian mythology.
Also valid to wonder why, seeing that so much of Hebrew mythology is borrowed and changed to reflect the needs of a god worshiping society instead of a goddess worshiping society, people continue to want to interpret it literally.
If it were just "God decided the people on earth were too sinful, so he put all of them in hell except for Noah's family" there wouldn't be much of a story, would there? These stories are myths, and most of their story elements are necessary to mythic interpretation- without those elements, no myth, and no point in telling the story.
Of course, the fact that you can't reconcile the modern christian concept of a loving and all-powerful god with many biblical stories is another topic altogether. That reconciliation is impossible, really. I'm sure that's why most liberal christian denominations take the position that they take the bible seriously, but not literally, and that they interpret it using the mind that god gave them.
I feel like rambling a little more here. The old testament god represents the oldest kind of religion, which frankly accepts that life is brutal. Thus the constant sacrifices, the battles in which enemy cities are destroyed and plundered, etc., all with god's approval. The emphasis really is on living, IF you're one of god's people, even though there's a lot of killing going on. In other words, in the OT, it's good to kill, because it improves one's own life.
The new testament represents a newer concept of religion which ultimately emphasizes the desirability of escaping life, escaping the cycle of taking other lives for one's own benefit. The emphasis now is that it's good to die, to get out of the struggle.

Answer 3

God has the ability to see around corners none of us are able to see. My best guess on why God eliminated entire nations out of existence is because their influence on those He wanted to protect would interfere with His plan for how He would save those whom He wanted.

What God also promised, which answers another part of your question, is that God set times. Those Feasts that He ordered to take place are like numbers on a clock. They tell of something else that will or has taken place as a fulfillment of those things. He gets the dates precise. He awesome like that.

So when did Jesus get laid in the tomb? Passover.

When was Jesus most likely born? The Feast of the Trumpets.

When did the so called "Last Supper" take place? The Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When did the Spirit of God come to the world of men in the context of dwelling in them? The Feast of Pentecost.

So look for God to use the time He set, not as we would set it, but in the way He decided to set it. Desiring a different way is futile.

Answer 4

He made the flood to make a statement. If he had just killed everyone (who was evil and therefore deserved death) it would not be as grand, would it?

Answer 5

To destroy the scientific evidence against him.

Answer 6

He doesn't NEED to do either or those. What's the problem with him choosing to do things as certain way?