The story of Noah can be found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Written by Moses, the book contains the record of creation, the fall of man and the great flood. It also records the family history of the Jews. In chapter six we see that Noah is a righteous man and finds favor in the eyes of the Lord. The society around him however, is evil, violent and corrupt.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” Genesis 6:5-7, NIV
(Important side note: There are many good Bible scholars who feel that this was more than just wickedness on the part of mankind, and that the gene pool (human DNA) had actually been corrupted by demonic angels producing offspring with human women, but I’ll leave you to track that down for yourself. —BlueLetterBible.org will give you the King James text with links to the original Greek and Hebrew words: Gen 6:1-2, Gen 6:4, Gen 6:9; Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 38:7, Luke 20:36, Jude 1:6-7, 2 Pet 2:4, Num 13:33, Deut 3:11, Josh 12, Daniel 2:43)
Noah is deemed by God to be the only man worth saving from the devastation that he will bring upon the earth. God works out a plan to save both Noah and his family.
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. Genesis 6:13-16, NIV
God then tells Noah who the passengers will be aboard this vessel, and what they’ll need to pack.
I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” Genesis 6:17-21, NIV
Noah and his three sons get started. This was a huge building project so it takes quite a few years to complete. Year after year, Noah diligently works on the ark, and year after year, his neighbors continue to have a good laugh at his expense.
Finally, the day arrives. God brings the animals to Noah as his family load supplies onto the ark. With the animals settled in, Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives board the ark for the last time, and God himself shuts the door.
On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:13-16, NIV
Seven days after Noah’s family enters the ark, God unleashes a deluge of water from both above the earth and from below. For 40 days and nights, the waters rise until even the highest mountain top is covered. Every air-breathing creature on the earth perishes.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. Genesis 7:11, NIV
The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. Genesis 7:18-19, NIV
Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7:23-24, NIV
After many months, the waters recede enough for the ark to come to rest on the mountains of Ararat. A few months after that, there is sufficient dry land exposed that vegetation has begun to grow again. Eventually, the earth is completely dry and God tells Noah that it is safe for him to leave the ark.
Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” Genesis 8:15-17, NIV
God then makes a promise to Noah and to all air-breathing creatures on the earth, that never again will he send a flood to destroy the earth. As a sign of his promise, God establishes the physical properties of light, so that when it comes into contact which water in the atmosphere, we see that light as a rainbow.
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-16, NIV
Noah’s story was one of disaster, but God’s provision was one of safety.
Join me tomorrow for a story involving a medical emergency, a delayed visit, and a provision of life!
If you’ve missed any part of this series, you can find all of the posts in the side bar category 31 Days of God’s Provision.
On the journey toward Home,
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