Do not fear, only believe. Mark 6:36
Genesis 6
Since I am still on retreat and off the grid, this is another encore devotional.
In Genesis Chapter 6, God looked at the earth and regretted that He had made man. Man was evil. Verse 5 describes it this way,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Verses 11-12 read,
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
So the LORD came to a decision described in Verses 6-8.
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah was described as a righteous man, blameless in his generation, a man who walked with God. So God chose Noah and his family to spare. He then gave him a commandment, a titanic order that had to test this man’s faith.
The LORD directed Noah to build an ark. He had very detailed specifications for the vessel, conservative estimates for the size of this ship put it at about 500 feet long, 83 feet wide and 50 feet high (These are my estimates with a cubit being about 20 inches long which is less than later used to build the temple). The ark would have 3 floors, a roof, and a door in the side. Then God told Noah why he was building this immense craft. Verses 17-19 read,
For 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. 18 But 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.
God went on to tell Noah about the animals he would bring aboard to save, and the supplies he would bring.
Noah’s head must have been reeling. If you think back to Genesis Chapter 1, you will remember that the earth was watered by morning dew. As far as we know, this was still how God watered the earth. So a flood had to be completely foreign to Noah. So how did he react?
Verse 22 tells us,
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Man had become so evil, God couldn’t bear it any longer. They were so corrupt he was going to eradicate them from the face of the earth, except for one man and his family. The one man that walked with Him on the entire earth would be saved. The Lord gave him a job to build the ark. The job was colossal. The Bible doesn’t record Noah whining, complaining or questioning. The Bible records that Noah did it. That trust came not because Noah was righteous, but because Noah walked with God. Noah lived his life in a relationship with God. Because of that active faith, Noah could trust God and obey, even this very difficult, very unbelievable command. It was because Noah walked with God, that he was considered righteous.
Do you walk with God? Do you actively live your live with God by your side and at your helm? Is your “walk” more of a sit and watch? Do you observe passively and ignore the commands of Christ to love others and make disciples? Or maybe you do not have the righteousness of Christ. Whatever your answer, this is your opportunity to respond. You can trust God, obey His commands, become His friend, and walk with Him, or you can ignore the chance and choose death outside the ark of God’s covenant.
Since I am still on retreat and off the grid, this is another encore devotional.
In Genesis Chapter 6, God looked at the earth and regretted that He had made man. Man was evil. Verse 5 describes it this way,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Verses 11-12 read,
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
So the LORD came to a decision described in Verses 6-8.
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah was described as a righteous man, blameless in his generation, a man who walked with God. So God chose Noah and his family to spare. He then gave him a commandment, a titanic order that had to test this man’s faith.
The LORD directed Noah to build an ark. He had very detailed specifications for the vessel, conservative estimates for the size of this ship put it at about 500 feet long, 83 feet wide and 50 feet high (These are my estimates with a cubit being about 20 inches long which is less than later used to build the temple). The ark would have 3 floors, a roof, and a door in the side. Then God told Noah why he was building this immense craft. Verses 17-19 read,
For 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. 18 But 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.
God went on to tell Noah about the animals he would bring aboard to save, and the supplies he would bring.
Noah’s head must have been reeling. If you think back to Genesis Chapter 1, you will remember that the earth was watered by morning dew. As far as we know, this was still how God watered the earth. So a flood had to be completely foreign to Noah. So how did he react?
Verse 22 tells us,
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Man had become so evil, God couldn’t bear it any longer. They were so corrupt he was going to eradicate them from the face of the earth, except for one man and his family. The one man that walked with Him on the entire earth would be saved. The Lord gave him a job to build the ark. The job was colossal. The Bible doesn’t record Noah whining, complaining or questioning. The Bible records that Noah did it. That trust came not because Noah was righteous, but because Noah walked with God. Noah lived his life in a relationship with God. Because of that active faith, Noah could trust God and obey, even this very difficult, very unbelievable command. It was because Noah walked with God, that he was considered righteous.
Do you walk with God? Do you actively live your live with God by your side and at your helm? Is your “walk” more of a sit and watch? Do you observe passively and ignore the commands of Christ to love others and make disciples? Or maybe you do not have the righteousness of Christ. Whatever your answer, this is your opportunity to respond. You can trust God, obey His commands, become His friend, and walk with Him, or you can ignore the chance and choose death outside the ark of God’s covenant.
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