Last 5 Days
Grace in the Midst of Judgement
1 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
11 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. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 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. 14 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. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 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.
24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis chapter 6 recorded the corruption of the earth, and God’s determination to destroy the earth. However, Noah was a righteous man and was blameless in his generation, and God therefore established a covenant with him to save him and his family.
Here in Chapter 7, we see the expense of God’s judgement upon the wickedness of the world. This narrative is more interested in the moral aspects of the flood than in the physical details. It is basically answering the question of, “What is the end of humanity?”. Can humanity continue to pursue the reckless abandonment in the enjoyment of the pleasures of the world? In this chapter, the answer is loud and clear – everything that has breath died, no part of the sinful world remained. The narrative of the flood testifies to God’s power and freedom over His creation. It showed Him to be a God who judges sin in deadly anger.
However, in the midst of judgement, God’s gracious redemption was found.
While the Lord destroyed the wicked and the corrupted world, He saved a remnant through the obedience of one man. The wicked was swept away but the righteous man remained. God destroyed man’s wickedness through a flood, but used an ark to protect Noah and his family. Those outside of the ark died, those who entered the ark were safely shut in by the Lord.
God is righteous and judges sin, however, He is also merciful and allows a way out. Noah and his family were spared because of God’s mercy and grace. God was merciful and gracious towards Noah, who was righteous and obedient, and who walked with Him. Regardless of whether Noah understood God’s instructions, he obeyed (verse 5 and 9). In a time when he had yet to see rain, he built the ark as he was instructed.
Dear brothers and sisters, are we able to be like Noah? To walk with God and to be obedient even during times when we find it hard to understand His leading? Are we able to respond with, “What would you like me to do?”, instead of, “Why are you asking me to do this?”.
Dear brothers and sisters, how are we living our lives today? Sin, corrupted practices, and wicked ways continue to be abound in the world we live in today. Man continue to live their lives apart from God. How are we living our lives today in this sinful world? Are we willing to be set apart, to live a righteous life, to be blameless in His sight, to be obedient to our Lord’s leading, and to be walking with God till the day He comes again? May we be found faithful, righteous and obedient!