IT’S GONNA RAIN…
Opening Prayer
Thank You, Christ, for those who are faithful to You. May I follow their example.
Read Genesis 6
Wickedness in the World
6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah and the Flood
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Footnotes:
a Genesis 6:3 Or My spirit will not remain in
b Genesis 6:3 Or corrupt
c Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
d Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
e Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
f Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Think of someone you know who has stood up for God despite the pressure from those around them.First there is some strange business between the sons of God and daughters of men, maybe semi-angelic offspring not exactly reproducing according to their kinds. Whatever Genesis 6:1–4 is about precisely (and it has always been an obscure passage, even in ancient times), it seems to trigger God’s recognition of the wickedness of the whole world (5).
The situation is so serious that God wishes He had not made humankind, all except for the righteous Noah, apparently (6–8). He decides to send a food. The extent of God’s decision to undo His creative work is extraordinary, and is based on God seeing that the human heart was continually evil and wicked (5). It is as if the food is God’s decision to repay destruction for destructiveness, although we will see soon that it does not end that way.
Meanwhile Noah faithfully builds an ark, for reasons he could not really understand. The idea that faithfulness sometimes means obedience to commands that do not always make sense is one important strand of the biblical story. The commands make sense to God; sometimes our job is simply to follow them.
Apply
Are there situations in your life where you wonder if God is asking you to say “no” to sin or the evil in the world? Ask God today to help you love Him more than your own desires.
Closing prayer
God, I fail so often – forgive me. May Your Spirit work in me so that I will desire to follow You and have the strength to do so.
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