Our grandchildren love to play with Noah’s Ark when they come to our house. They enjoy the story of Noah and they enjoy matching up pairs of animals and marching them into the ark.

It’s a good story for children, but when is the last time you heard a sermon for adults on the topic of Noah, the ark and the great flood? The Bible takes this episode in world history very seriously. You can tell how seriously by the amount of emphasis it gets.

1, 2, 3, 4  Times . . .for Emphasis

Whenever the Bible says something twice, as when Jesus says, “Truly, truly,” it’s asking readers to pay careful attention.

When a word or phrase is repeated three times, as in “Holy, holy, holy,” we need to check our hearts and see if we agree with God.

In the rare passages where something is repeated four times, it’s because something extraordinary is happening and in today’s reading that “something extraordinary” is a worldwide catastrophe.

Three Views of the Same Story

There are three accounts of the the coming flood in Genesis 7.

1. In verses 1-4 God tells Noah what is coming.
2. In verses 5-10, Noah believes God and does what God tells him to do.
3. In verses 11-16 disaster falls upon the earth. Torrents of rain come, Noah and his family enter the ark where the animals were already safely stowed, and God shuts the door.

God wants to make sure we really get this story so it’s told three times, in prophecy, obedient response, and fulfillment.

Quadruple Emphasis!

Then comes the quadruple emphasis upon what happened to the earth during the flood. From Genesis 7:21-23:

• Every living thing that moved on land perished.
• Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
• Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out.
• People, animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.

This account of death and destruction is stunning! God acted to stop sinners from corrupting the earth and everything died. We should pause for a moment of silence here.

Is God Able to Stop People From Doing Bad Things?

Yes he is able, and in this case he was willing.

Nevertheless, God mixed mercy with wrath when he sent the flood.

Drowning is a swift death and bodies decay rapidly in floodwaters; mass death and mass burials were accomplished in the same catastrophe. When the waters receded they left behind a rich new layer of earth, perfect for planting. By the grace of God, Noah and his family rode the waves safely above all this chaos, then stepped into a fresh new world when they left the ark. That was mercy.

What Became of All Those People Who Died?

God didn’t want to wipe out all of those people. One hundred years elapsed between the warning of the Flood and when it happened, and all that time God was reaching out through Noah. People broke his heart, but he wanted them with him for eternity and he was loath to end their lives before they put their faith in him. So God waited and watched while Noah built the ark.

Many centuries later the Apostle Peter had some information about those people (possibly obtained from Jesus himself after the Resurrection).

“[Jesus] was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” 1 Peter 3:18b-19

The people who died in the flood were gone from earth, but not forgotten by God and Jesus knew where they were. We don’t know what Jesus preached to them, maybe he preached judgment or maybe he preached grace, but we know that those people were still on God’s mind.

All of us will follow the people from the flood into eternity someday and their story helps us prepare now for that time when we appear before God.

Be like Noah, be a person who says yes to God.

The Fear of God is a Good Thing

Remember how God warned Cain that sin was crouching at the door and desired to have him? God didn’t want Cain to be lost to sin. Unfortunately, after the flood, Satan continued to tempt people and their sins brought curses upon them.

Noah’s son Ham disrespected his father and tried to tempt his brothers to join  his betrayal, but they refused. When Noah heard about Ham’s behavior he cursed him and his descendants, and those curses stuck. We will see how the curses play out as we read through the Bible.

The Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom

Reading the Bible should teach us to be serious about sin and God’s standard of righteousness. In fact, it should put the fear of God in us! There is no better way to understand the fear of God than by reading the Bible.

Here is what God’s Word says in Proverbs 8:33-36:

“Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.

Blessed is the person who listens to me,

watching daily at my doors, waiting in my doorway.

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.

But whoever fails to find me harms themselves;

all who hate me love death.”

There is wisdom, grace and safety in knowing the Word of God. Carry on, Readers!