This is a place where we set everything down, read some scripture, and listen to what God might be trying to say to us through His word. Hopefully, it is a time marked on your calendars daily. If not, you have come to a great place to start making an appointment for visiting with Him each day.
I’ve never regretted a single moment I have spent being still in His presence, and I promise you, you won’t either. So, let’s start with a few moments of quiet. This will help you slow down; settle in, clear the clutter, and breathe.
Before we jump in to our next minute of quiet, I’ll lead you in a small prayer. Then, tell God what is keeping you up at night; what thoughts keep your mind swirling when you need to rest.
God of all Peace, we lift up this time to you. Thank you for being a God who meets with us. Who is always near and available to hear our prayers and our cries for help. Help us to lay down our troubles in this moment and meet with you now.
Yesterday, we learned about the extend of human wickedness, and we learned how violence and corruption grieved God. We also learned that God didn’t give up on us even when we failed him and broke his heart. His plan of redemption would survive through the salvation of one righteous man, Noah. We’ll continue his story today….As I read make notes of your observations.
Chapter 7
The Flood Covers the Earth
When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. 2 Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice,* and take one pair of each of the others. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”
5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. 7 He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 8 With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 9 They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.
13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet* above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ge 7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
May God bless the reading and hearing of his word.
Now, tell the story in your own words.
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Did anything jump out at you?
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How does this story point to a Savior? What characteristics did He possess? What were his actions?
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Noah was the only righteous man living on the earth and He did everything exactly as God commanded him. Is there anywhere in your life where you need to be obedient to God? Is there something He has asked you to do that still needs doing? Think about how you might take the first step towards obedience today.
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Before we ease back into our day with a few more moments of peace and quiet, I’ll leave you with this prayer:
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Almighty God – Creator and Sustainer of all things – help us this day to be obedient to what you have called us to do. Show us our next steps and give us the strength and resolve to see them through. May we find favor with you today. Amen.
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Have a great day and be sure to tune in tomorrow for our next episode.