Noah & The Flood
Genesis 6:11-14, 7:17-18, 8:1-3, 9:8-13
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 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.
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
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.
What started as one choice to turn from God in Genesis 3 quickly became entire communities of people doing whatever seemed best to each one, leading to violence and destruction on a global scale. In response, God floods the earth and starts over with one faithful family. We may struggle with what this says about the character of God or whether such a global flood really happened. But regardless of our answers to these questions, the story of Noah sheds light on the importance of our faith and the faithfulness of God.
Hebrews 11:7 tells us that Noah’s actions were borne of faith. His faith caused him to be obedient to God’s call and resulted in being saved from the flood and being called “righteous” before God. God showed faithfulness to Noah by causing the waters to recede and providing a safe place for the boat to land. Then, God provides a sign to remind us of God’s continual faithfulness. It’s this interplay between God’s faithful character and our responsive faithful actions that create space on earth for God’s kingdom to come. And that kingdom is itself grounded in the promises of God - promises that we are reminded of every time we see a rainbow in the sky. What promises of God do you need to cling to today? What promises of God might prompt a faith-filled action from you?
Prayer:
Thank God for his faithfulness and the many promises he makes throughout the Bible. Ask God to show you which promises you most need to remember in your life today and which promises God might want you to share with someone else.