Ark


Genesis 6:9-22
9These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

10And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

13And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.

20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.

21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”

22Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.





While this story takes place a long time after the creation of all things, it is shocking that God should choose to destroy it all with the exception of 8 people and the animals. We are witnessing the broken heart of God. He is going to take drastic measures. The earth and all of its inhabitants are about to be destroyed by a flood. We tend to focus upon the wrath of God being poured out upon the creation when reading this story. It must be noted though that as always God’s mercy if first displayed. He is grieved and will act out of His righteousness. But instead of a lightning strike of anger, God first sets up Noah to build the ark. This boat will spare the lives of anyone or anything that enters. It takes Noah 120 years to build the ark and during that time, anyone who sees him at work and hears his story has time to turn back to God. There is given to man the opportunity for repentance. Anyone who heeds Noah’s cautionary words can be saved.



This story again points to the fact that God gives us so many chances. His bottom line goal is that we are saved. We must keep this in mind as we plod through the days. When God is seen as He truly is – merciful and willing to extend grace to us, we know Him well. But He does not turn a blind eye to sin. His wrath did finally fall down upon the earth and He dealt with the fact that it was “filled with violence.” There will come a point where mercy will end and His righteous anger must be meted out. For us, that anger has already been expressed in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. We need no longer fear God’s punishment. For those who are unaccepting of His grace through the blood of Jesus, His second coming will be like it was for those in the days of Noah. The wrath is coming, we just don’t know when.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more