God Is There When The Floods Come - (A Brief Study on Noah)

* all [bracketed] words in Scripture verses are mine *

God is a God of love and mercy. He is patient and kind with wicked and sinful mankind. His mercy is so bountiful that sometimes it seems as if He doesn't care, because he allows so much time for the wicked to repent. But eventually, because God's love and mercy is also balanced with justice and holiness, wickedness catches up to those who do not care about what God says. The historical event of the worldwide flood of Noah was such a tragedy. God, merciful and loving allowed mankind time to repent. 120 years God gave mankind to listen to Noah, His "Preacher of Righteousness," Every time the hammer came down was a pleading for any to come to the only way of escape off of a doomed planet. Soon the evil was so rampant, so destructive and so pervasive that God saw, in His omniscience, that no one would repent. Only Noah and his family would listen to all of God's patient pleading. Only 8 souls would be saved out of the population of the whole earth. That's an awesome statement in itself. There was not one person other than those eight souls that could be spared, not one other, not one.

How was I to know, what the old man said was true?

He was talking all those crazy things, things I never knew,

About a coming judgment day, and how we all would die

It had all seemed so ridiculous, I thought it all a lie.

One day when walking by a field, I heard the hammer pound,

Calling all attention, to the thudding rhythmic sound,

A crowd gathered by the field, to see what was being done

A family labored together there, from morn 'til setting sun,

The oldest of the family, preached unto the crowd

But the only response from them was when, they laughed at him out loud.

Someone then picked up a rock, and tossed it at the man

"Say no more", the assailant said, "or I'll kill you where you stand!"

Blood streamed, from a wound in the old man's head, but he simply stood his ground

And told the man of God's great love, and where salvation's found.

I suddenly pitied the man, and yelled at the unruly mob,

"Why don't you leave the old man alone, and let him do his job?

Can't you see he's a little daft, and talking out of his head?

Just leave him alone and go to your homes, don't listen to what he said!"

So the crowd began to move away, and leave the man alone

But I came back, day after day, to watch with heart of stone,

Then one day the hammer stopped, and silence filled the air

The silence seemed louder than the pound- and I had to stop and stare,

I didn't believe what the old man said, how that we all would die

How that water was trapped up above, and would fall down from the sky.

The structure the old man built, was huge to say the least

And then one day the strangest thing, I saw every sort of beast

Marching in a column straight, and heading for the door

Now wasn't that the strangest thing? Now what are they doing that for?

Elephants, giraffes, and even bugs, entered in that place

Every animal knew where to go, with no man giving chase.

The family seemed so happy, singing songs as one

And of their great salvation, now that their job was done,

I was curious to see, what next the old man would do

He seemed to sincerely care for us, but his work at last was through,

The old man, arms spread wide, called out with voice so kind

"This may be your final chance! Come in, while there's still time!"

I took a step, then stood my ground, there was no reason why

I watched the door close itself behind the man, as he quickly stepped inside,

Something was wrong, I could feel it now, a stillness in the air

So I ran up to the door, pounded hard, and tried to get in there,

"Noah please!" I yelled at him, but he answered me, not a word

I cried until I lost my voice, but no one ever heard,

And then the guy that threw the rock came up and sat with me

"Where is the crazy man?" he asked, as clueless as he can be,

I answered not a single word, but let his questions fly

And a great droplet fell and hit me then, and I realized I would die.

So I prayed a prayer to all of my gods, and prayed that they would hear

Then I sat there soberly, by myself, for I knew my end was near.

Imagine seeing this sight in your backyard: an old man with only a few family members are building a huge structure. It is a family project, you can tell that. There is no usual community people around or equipment buzzing and making noise. A person waves frantically at you and you stop to see if he needs help. The man says that you are in danger and that a new weather phenomenon is going to happen that no human has ever seen before and it is going to kill all the people in the world. Further this man warns, unless you come into the structure that the family is building right now, you will die.

Putting yourself into the story, you can see why someone would question the man and the story he told of coming doom. Would you be one of those people that would be curious enough to ask questions and check out the validity of the story, or would you be one of the people that stops by to laugh or perhaps to throw a rock? This scenario actually happened and as a result all life on earth was destroyed.

"So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping things and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive."(Genesis 7:23)

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, by whom He went and preached to spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water." (1 Peter 3:20)

Now a thinking person may consider the premise for a moment of conversation and say, "But if this story actually happened, how can it be a fair chance to be saved from the disaster to come? How did the story of the one craft reach around the world? Well, let me tell you that the story did reach around the world. There are legends of Noah's ark in every culture spanning the globe. God took 120 years to bring that flood down upon the earth. I believe that it was so long to come because God was giving all in the world enough time to make the journey should they wish. God, knowing the hearts of men saw that none were even trying and still gave them 120 years. God is merciful and kind, not willing that any should perish but all attain to repentance.

"And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, apreacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly."(2 Peter 2:5)

Now it is said that history often repeats itself. According to God's Word this world is due for a shock. All must get into the "ark" of God to survive and instead the vast majority of folks are laughing and throwing stones. God is showing even more mercy this time. He is allowing millennia to go by before He brings down His wrath. This time instead of getting into an ark made of wood, God is offering us a home to come to. We can stay where we are and then be swept away with Satan and his angels or we can come home to the body of Christ where we will forever be a part of God's family. The Bible says when we decide that we are sinners in need of a Savior that when we call to Him, He immerses us into the body of Christ. We are put inside and covered so we will not be swept away with this world that have no way to pay for the sin inside of them. Jesus will cleanse us from our sin and house us in His Spirit. He is the Ark into which we must flee.

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man [term Jesus used to refer to Himself] be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:37-39)

Each time you hear a person say, "Receive Christ" or "Come to Jesus" or "Repent," it is like the pounding of Noah's hammer. Each time someone mentions heaven or sin or God to you and you say in your heart, "What need have I for salvation?" or "What's wrong with me? I'm no worse than anyone else?" or "Stop selling your religion. I'm not buying!" you are getting one hammer pound (one heartbeat) closer to your own end.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Perhaps you have heard that sound, the pounding of the hammer and were curious just like the man in the story, don't let his end by yours. Stop, look, ask questions, listen to your heart pull you to believe.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

If you've heard the sound of the hammer and are convinced you need a Savior, it is so easy to come aboard the Ark of Salvation. With the belief solid in you that you are a sinner and that you need Jesus to save you, simply call out to God and He will save you. But belief is necessary. First belief in who Jesus is. He is God in human flesh that came to earth to die in your stead. But you also must believe that He was buried and rose again. With this belief just tell Jesus that you wish to be saved, that you will follow Him all the rest of your life, turning from your sin. It's that simple. Pray this:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I know I deserve to be swept away with the rest of the sinful world. Yet I know You died so I don't have to pay for my sin, if I but believe. Jesus, I do believe You are God in human flesh and that You came and died to take the punishment I deserve. I believe that You stayed in the grave three days but the grave could not hold You and up from the grave You arose. Please Jesus forgive me of my sin and save me. I turn from my sin and turn to You as the only way of salvation. Thank you Jesus for giving me this chance to live forever with You because You love me. I will follow after You all the days of my life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Don't Wait Until It's Too Late - Come Into The Ark Now