Monday, December 2

SOMEONE CARING: THE ARK OF NOAH

Genesis 6:18-7:1

     In yesterday’s devotional, we learned of God’s love for us in promising a Messiah.  God, in His love, shows us a picture of the Messiah in the story of Noah.  Everything God shows us is about one thing—Life. The world at the time of Noah was full of sin.  The reason it was full of sin was because “men began to increase in number.” (Genesis 6:1)  Sin did not increase because of man’s intellect or Satan’s power.  Simply more men, more sin.  Every man had a heart and vs. 5 says, “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was evil all the time.”

     Out of the whole earth one man stood out, Noah, a righteous man who was called by a Caring God to build an ark because God decided to wipe out mankind in one swift move—a flood.  In the midst of this flood, God will provide a place of safety so that we can see the end result of all He is about—Life. Noah became a symbol of Christ.   He was a preacher to that generation.  Every blow of his axe was a call to repentance.  He is a savior to us helpless creatures.  The ark is a picture of Christ as we are called to enter in at the door.  The pitch applied to the outside and inside is a picture of the blood applied to us.  Now, at this point, some will say, if God is wanting nothing but life why did he kill so many in the flood?  Well did He kill them?  No, sin did.  Genesis 2:17 “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”  So, it is sin that kills—the men on earth were as good as dead because of sin.  I think some people have the idea that before the flood the earth was party central—wine, women, and song.  But if there was any partying, it was only to forget the misery.  I believe we don’t understand what it would be like without God.  Maybe that is one reason why God allowed September 11 or even more recently, a sniper.  Imagine all the earth’s population with nothing but, how was it, “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”  vs. 5.  Would there be a minute’s peace?

     All goodness, all mercy, all compassion comes from God.  He cares—He cares so much, He gives free will.  But He doesn’t just bring us to a crossroads in life and tell us to choose right or left without telling us what lies at the end of each choice.  Moses sum’s up his ministry in Deuteronomy 30:19—“I set before you life and death, choose Life.   God has shown that the end of sin is death, and, like at the flood, He will judge it.  Choose Life.   Amen.

~ Jim Frantz