March 13, 2023
Reading: Genesis 7: 1-24
Focus: Genesis 7:7 – And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son’s wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
Father God, Thank You for Your blessings today. Thank you for guiding me as I write. Help me to tell others what You want me to say. Open eyes and hearts to Your Word. Help us all to be ready for Your Son’s return. In Jesus Name, Amen.
NOTE: Please click below for more information on the return of Jesus. Please comment. Thank you. https://bringingjesusn2focus.com/2023/03/13/as-jesus-returns-christians-will-vanish/
Noah and his family had tackled a huge project. The ark was built, it was covered in pitch, inside and out. The animals had been sent by God to the ark. Noah and his family herded each sets of pairs into their enclosures and made sure the gates were secure. I imagine that they counted out seven pairs each of clean animals and birds and one pair each of unclean animals. I think counting ants might have been difficult, but God said ALL animals, right? But they had to have had some kind of system to determine which animals went into which enclosures. It must have taken a long time. The ark was built, the food supplies were stored, and the animals loaded but there was no water for it to float upon and as yet, no rain.
After all that work, Noah was told by God to go into the ark along with his family and all the animals that God had sent to him to be saved from the flood. God said that in seven days He would send the rain. Then, God shut the door. Day One – in the ark, no rain yet. The neighbors are yelling and making fun of him. Day Two – still no rain. Jeers and catcalls are still heard. Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six – more insults from outside but still no rain. By this time people are pelting the ark with rock and sticks. Yelling how crazy Noah is. Day Seven – no rain.
Then suddenly after the seventh day, thunder began to roll. At first the rain was soft, then harder, until the ark was being pelted with raindrops so hard that it sounded like rocks hitting the wood. Water gushed up from the ground like huge fountains. The water began to rise. The jeers and catcalls became screams for help. Screams of neighbors and family begging Noah to open the door and let them in. But no. When God shuts the door, it is shut tight. More water came up from below and down from above. Gradually the ark began to rock and sway. They could hear the winds begin to scream around the ark. They felt the supports falling away. The ark was afloat.
The sound of the rain on the ark had to be deafening. The sounds inside the ark had to be just as deafening as the animals were jostled as the ark was tossed on the waters. Bleats, howls, moos, screeches from all the animals. There was probably some noise from the eight passengers as well. This was a whole new experience for them. I imagine there may have been a little bit of fear too. On second thought, probably a lot of fear. They were shut up in a box that was supposed to float on water. Would it float? Would it leak? Would they ever get out of this ark? Hopefully, no one was claustrophobic.
Day after day the waters rose. The wind blew. The ark floated. It bumped into trees and mountains. Occasionally the bottom scrapped across something beneath it. The rain fell continuously and hard with no end in sight. Waves smashed against the sides of the massive ship. Wind whipped around the ark, splashing water up over the roof. It tossed the ark around like it weighed nothing. Water rose to the tops of the trees and hills, then to the tops of the mountains. Every bird, animal, bug, lizard, every man, woman and child outside of the ark died. Swept away by the waters that fell for forty days and forty nights and had fountained up from the ground. The Bible states that the water was 15 cubits, which is about 155 feet, above the tops of the mountains. Science says that that is impossible, that there is not enough water on this planet to do that. But with God, nothing is impossible.
Inside the ark, eight people and thousands of animals were safe. Sheltered in the ark that God told Noah to build. After a few days, the days settled into a routine. Get up, eat breakfast, feed the animals, clean out stalls, eat lunch and finish tending the animals. The next day, same old thing. Each person had their assigned duties. There was enough food for them all. They weren’t going to starve and neither were the animals. These eight people cared for all the creatures that remained alive on the earth. These eight people were all the humans that remained alive on the earth.
That huge ark was just a speck in the waters that covered the earth. Imagine being in a small rowboat out in the middle of the Pacific ocean, in the middle of a hurricane. Water everywhere and no land in sight. No shelter anywhere. Eight people and thousands of species of animals were safe in that ark and remained safe for well over a year. Outside there was nowhere to stand. Outside the ark was death. No place to hide from or get above the waters.
After forty days and forty nights, the rain stopped. Silence. Eight people listening to the quiet after the storm. The soft sounds of all the creatures in the ark with them. The sloshing of the water against the ark. Nothing else was heard. Eight people wondering what was next. Outside, just water. Every animal, every human, cities, everything, gone. Only those in that ark survived.
There will be a day when God has had enough of the wickedness of our world and He will send Jesus to call His followers to Him and take them to heaven. Matthew 24:37 Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” In Noah’s day, mankind had left following God behind and went their own way. They followed other gods or followed no god at all. They chose immorality to morality, sin for obedience to God. They turned their back on God and chose to live as if they were their own god. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? And God wiped them all away.
As the ark of Noah was salvation for the human race and all animals at that time. Jesus is our salvation from the wrath of God. The ark was covered in pitch to protect those within it from harm. Jesus’ blood covers us and blots out our sin to protect us from eternal separation from God, from hell itself. To me, it seems that end-time prophecies are being fulfilled every day. I believe that time for this earth is ticking away. Time to repent and accept Jesus is ticking away.
Jesus will split the eastern sky and everyone will see Him (Rev. 1:7). He will call us out of this world. The dead in Christ will rise. And the believers who are still living will be caught up with them to meet Him in the clouds. (1Thessalonians 4:16-17). Some think we, as Christians, will not suffer these tribulations; that Christ will take us out of the world before this occurs, sheltered from the tribulations that will come. Others believe that we will see some of it and be taken before the worst is visited upon earth. Regardless of when Jesus takes His own from this earth, only those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and accept Him as Lord and Savior will be safe from the coming wrath of God. Protected from the suffering that will be visited on this corrupt world.
For seven years, the earth will suffer tribulations. We have been warned in the Bible. The book of Revelations details the course that the end of time will take. Times will be hard for who remain on the earth. Revelations says that a man will have to work all day just to buy a loaf of bread. The Antichrist will rule and people will have to have a mark on the hand or forehead just to be able to buy food. After the Christians are taken from the earth by Christ, the people who remain and choose to follow the one true God and refuse to take the mark of the Beast will be persecuted and martyred for their faith. I would rather be ready to go with Christ when He calls us than get left behind and choose to believe in Jesus after He takes the Christians out of this world.
There will be pestilence, famine, war and death everywhere. There will Earthquake, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in places that have never seen such before. There will be no place to take shelter and be safe. Nations will fall and be absorbed by other nations. Eventually, one man will rule the world, deceiving all who listen to him and will require that we have a mark placed on our forehead or hand just to be able to buy food. He will be called “The Beast.” We don’t know what the mark will be but I believe that it is in the process of being created now. There will be a church that will fall into step with this world ruler and it will become the only religion allowed. There will be a prophet of this new religion who will deceive many into following the Antichrist. If you don’t follow this one world religion you will be persecuted and even beheaded; or coerced into following. Believers who come to Christ after the rapture will be persecuted and martyred. It will be a very unsafe world to be in. Then, Jesus will return to the earth as Judge and King.
I am not trying to scare you . . . well, I am. Because I want you to be afraid of being left behind to suffer the tribulations that will come. I want you to be safe and secure in the ‘ark’ of Jesus Christ, covered inside and out with His blood. I want you to be a believer. God wants you to believe in Him and His Son. God does not want any of His creation to perish in hell. That’s why Jesus came. He was Man with the blood of the living God in His veins. That blood was shed on the cross to make a permanent atonement for sin. Jesus redeemed our souls from the penalty of sin, death and eternal separation from God. You only have to admit you are a sinful being and believe and accept Jesus as your Savior. My dad used to say it’s so easy that it’s hard.
Are you safe?
I praise Your Name, oh Lord. I have been redeemed. One day I will meet You in the clouds. I cannot imagine how that will be. Please reach hearts through this blog today. Thank You for saving me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- What would you think if a man began to build a huge boat and told everyone that the earth was to be flooded by rain? Something that had never happened before?
- Do you believe that God caused pairs of every animal to make their way to the ark? Do you think this included the dinosaurs? Why or why not?
- Have there been times in your life that you needed a safety net? Personally, and spiritually?
- Have you ever cried out to God to help you in a desperate situation?
- Do you believe that this earth will one day come to an end? Are you ready?
