This is the story of Noah. In his days human society was continuing to develop. People in general were living without any thought about God. They were simply taking care of the ordinary things of human life such as eating, drinking and getting married. The moral trend of society was not going up. Rather it was getting worse and worse to the extent that people were living mainly according to the lusts of their flesh. Every imagination of men's hearts was evil and the earth was filled with violence. It was so horrible that God was sorry that he ever made man; in fact He was so upset that He decided to wipe out man and all living creatures.
Noah was born into this kind of society but his own family was godly. Praise the Lord that he didn't take the way of the world. He followed in the footsteps of his forefathers. He offered sacrifices like Abel, he called on the name of the Lord like Enosh, and he walked with God like Enoch. He was a righteous man. Thus when God could no longer tolerate his whole generation Noah still found favor in His eyes.
When Noah was 500 years old he became the father of 3 sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. That was also the time God told him that He was going to destroy everything that breathed on the face of the earth with a flood. God told him to make a large boat, called an ark, and gave him the fully detailed design. It was to be 300 cubits* in length, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. It had 3 storeys with many rooms for all the animals to be kept in. On one side was the door and on top was a window facing the heavens, a skylight. The ark was for Noah, his family and two of each kind of animal. Noah was to take all kinds of food onto the ark for his family and for all the animals.
Noah believed God word and heeded His warning. He began to build the ark just as God had instructed him. When Noah began to work on the ark it was no secret. No doubt people asked him what he was doing. He told them what God had said about the sinfulness of that world and of the coming flood. By his building and speaking he became a herald of righteousness in his generation. His speaking must have seemed far fetched to the people at Noah's time, especially as the years went by. It took Noah a whole century, 100 years to build the ark. During that time people went on living just as they always had.
When the ark was finished and loaded with supplies God sent two of each kind of animal, bird and creeping thing to Noah. Noah took his wife, his three sons, their wives and the animals into the ark. God Himself shut the door. It rained and rained for 40 days without stopping. The water came up so high that it covered the hills and mountains. The ark was floating on the water. The people and creatures in it were safe but everything that breathed outside the ark was killed by the flood.
It took a lot longer for the flood water to recede. After five months the ark came to rest on a mountain but Noah and everyone with him stayed inside. After a while the ark must have seemed like a prison. On the one hand the people inside were longing to get out. On the other hand they didn't know if it was safe. They were afraid of more rain and flooding. They couldn't look around because there were no windows in the sides of the ark.
Eventually Noah let a raven loose through the skylight. It never came back to him. So the next time he released a dove. It didn't find any place it wanted to land so it came back to Noah in the ark. After seven days Noah let it loose again. This time it stayed out until evening. When it came back it had a fresh olive leaf in its beak. After seven more days Noah let it loose again. This time it never returned so Noah knew that the flood water was gone. So Noah removed the cover off the ark so he could look around. The ground looked dry. Even so, Noah did not venture out of the ark until the Lord told him to go out almost two months later.
The first thing Noah did when he got out of the ark was to make a burnt offering to the Lord of the clean birds and animals. He was so happy and thankful to the Lord for being saved from the flood. The Lord was satisfied with that offering and said in His heart that He would never again smite every living thing because of man's sin.
The Lord also knew that Noah and his family would never forget what they had been through. Every time it started to rain they would have been wondering if it was going to stop or continue until there was another great flood. So the Lord made a covenant with Noah and all his descendants. He said that He would never again send a great flood to destroy every living man and animal on earth. So God put His bow in the clouds as a sign of His covenant. Whenever we see a rainbow we should be reminded that God keeps all His promises.
(* a cubit = 18 inches, so the ark was 450 feet (137 m.) long, 75 feet (23 m.) wide and 45 feet (14 m.) tall - about the size of a present day ocean liner)
What saved Noah from God's judgement?
What saved Noah from the sinful society he was born into?
Verses in the Bible that refer to this story:
Gen. 5:28 - 9:29;
Isa. 54:9;
Matt. 24:37-39;
Luke 17:26-27;
Heb. 11:7;
1 Pet. 3:20-21;
2 Pet. 2:5;
3:3-7