"God speaks to Noah, telling him that He is going to send a great flood and that Noah is to build an ark to take his family to safety." (Seamless, p 26)
God saw the wickedness of man, and "He was grieved in His heart." (Genesis 6:6)
He decided to destroy man and beast because He was sorry that He made them- wow, how sad is that? But . . . thank goodness for Noah, for he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
So, God commanded Noah to build an ark to save his family and every type of animal.
The flood did not come as a surprise, Enoch, the grandfather of Noah, was pretty close to God. We know this because he didn't see death- Genesis 5:24 says "he walked with God and then was not, for God took him."
Enoch named his son, Methuselah which means, "his death shall bring judgment"- wouldn't you just love having that name!
Methuselah lived for 969 years- he is the oldest person recorded in the Bible. His life was a symbol of God's mercy, for he lived almost 1000 years. The flood came in the year of his death.
It rained for 40 days and nights. "Every time the number 40 is used in the Bible, it indicates a time of testing." (Seamless, p 26)
They stayed in the ark for 150 days, waiting for the water to dissipate. Imagine that- a boat with one window and every animal on earth!
When they finally left the art, Noah built an altar and prayed. God blessed him for his faithfulness and sent a promise (a rainbow) to never flood the earth again.
"Even when we didn't deserve it, God gave us another chance. In the roar of your own sense of entitlement, you might miss what that actually means. God doesn't owe us a single thing." (Seamless p 28)
As we take this story to heart, we need to realize that as author Angie Smith states, we do not deserve a second chance, but God is merciful and loves us more than we can even imagine. We become a child of God because of his grace- unmerited favor.
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