Read: Genesis 7
At the
beginning of chapter seven, God informs Noah that in seven days He will send
rain and flood the earth for 40 days and nights and He commands Noah to take
his family, with the different clean and unclean animals, and enter the ark (v.
1-4). Noah obeys the Lord and goes into
the ark with his family and the animals (v. 5-9). Then after the seven days, the rain begins
and the fountains of the great deep broke open.
The windows of heaven opened, raining forty days and forty nights (v.
10-12). It would have been physically
impossible for Noah to have collected all the animals to put them in the
ark. This was done by the power of
God. Just as God brought each animal to
Adam to name He now brings two of each animal to Noah for the ark. Verse 16 tells us that “the Lord shut him in”. God
took Noah, his family and the animals under His protection, shutting them into
the ark by closing the door and shutting the others out. God had given the rest of humanity years to
repent and then His wrath came upon those who chose to remain in their
sin. The waters increased as the rains
fell, but the ark was lifted up and floated on the waters (v. 17-18). Everything that had breath in its nostrils
died in the flood (v. 22). All living
creatures were destroyed and wiped from the earth except Noah and those with
him in the ark (v. 23). The waters
flooded the earth for 150 days (v. 24).
Prayer and Journaling
1. When
we read Genesis 7 we must remember that God gave the people years to
repent. We also must acknowledge that
sin did not come from God and that God cannot be blamed for sin. It was man who sinned, by voluntary
choice. Yet God protected the human
race, He saved Noah and his sons. The
ark shows God’s love and care for humanity.
Ask the Lord to show you a time when He protected you or one of your
family members. Thank Him for this. Thank Him for the love that He has for you!
2. God
keeps His Word. He warned the people, He
sent Noah to warn the people and when they didn’t repent He followed through on
what He had said and destroyed them.
There are consequences for sin!
This should cause us to tremble in holy and rightful fear of the
Lord. We must repent and leave our
sinful ways behind us; this includes even the smallest areas of selfishness and
pride as well as the “big” sins. If you
are struggling with an ongoing sin then commit to booking a personal prayer
ministry appointment. All Southlanders
should commit to going to an Encounter and an Empower Retreat (and go
repeatedly for tune-ups). As Christians,
we should be quick to forgive and not hold grudges or offense against people. Ask the Lord what step He is asking you to
take in order to grow in righteousness and holiness today.
