TOPIC: DIVINE PRESERVATION IN TIMES OF DESTRUCTION
Text: Genesis 7:1-23
7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
7:2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female;
7:3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.
7:4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”
7:5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.
7:7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.
7:8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,
7:9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
7:10 And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
7:12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—
7:14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
7:15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.
7:16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
7:17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
7:18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.
7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.
7:20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
7:21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.
7:23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
STUDY:
As the rain began to fall, Noah and his family entered the ark, just as God had commanded. The animals followed. The door of the ark was shut, sealing them in safety while the waters of judgment rose outside. For forty days and forty nights, the rain came, covering the earth and destroying all creatures that were not in the ark. In this moment of divine judgment, Noah’s faith and obedience yielded results. He trusted God’s word and acted upon it, even when the world around him was filled with disbelief and corruption. The ark became a vessel of salvation, preserving Noah, his family, and the animals from the floodwaters. God is a righteous one; He will never allow the righteous to perish with the wicked.
As God saved Noah and his family from the flood, so also He preserved Lot and his family (except his disobedient and worldly-minded wife) before He wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:25-29). Similarly, He separated the righteous before He ordered the total destruction of the wicked in Ezekiel 9:4-11. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations (or destruction), and to reserve the unjust to be punished (2 Pet. 2:9). The wages of sin is death, if the sinner refuses to repent (Ezek. 33:1-11).
However, God being the merciful one, does not desire that any man should die in sin and face His wrath in judgement. This He demonstrated when He gave His only Son as a substitute for mankind, after the fall in the Garden of Eden. After this, He has reserved a day of punishment for all who refuse the offer of salvation in Christ. Just as Noah trusted God and found refuge in the ark, we too can find safety and salvation in God’s promises. In times of trial and judgment, our faith can be our anchor, guiding us through the storms of life.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to trust in your promises and find refuge in your love and salvation. Amen.
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