Volume 1

---

Noah and the Ark

Genesis 6-9

Did you know that God actually regretted creating man? Many years had passed since Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden. As the earth became filled with people, they began doing more and more evil; God was sorry he had made man. God decided that he must punish them for these evil ways. But there was one man named Noah who found favor in God’s eyes. So God spoke to Noah and told him of his plan to destroy the earth by a flood. God gave instructions to Noah on how to build a large ship that the Bible calls an ark so that Noah and his family could be saved.   

Preparing for the Flood

God gave Noah specific instructions. God told him how high, how long, and how wide to make the ark. This ark was as big as some of our ships today. Many shipbuilders say the height, length, and width of the ark were an ideal size, each in perfect proportion to one another. How could Moses, who wrote this story, and Noah, who built the ark, know the right dimensions of such a large ship? Only God could give this perfect size. The ark was completely enclosed with no deck. Even though all the instructions were very specific, it is interesting to note that God did not tell Noah to build any kind of steering wheel and to make only one small window looking upward. Why did God do this? God wanted Noah to depend only on him. It was God who was going to steer the ship for Noah—around the trees and mountains—and bring the ship safely through the flood. God wants us to let him steer our lives in the same way. The one small window was to allow them to look up. They would not see the destruction of the people but only keep their eyes upward toward God. 

Now, you know that all the people who lived around Noah had to think he was crazy. There was no ocean or river nearby that was big enough for the ark; we are told in the Bible that it had never rained before. The crops and plants were watered from the mist rising from underground similar to the way we have dew on the ground today.

Imagine how unbelievable it sounded when Noah told everyone he was building this great big ship in the middle of the dry land with nowhere to put it, no way to carry it, and no obvious use for it. But Noah believed God. God told him that he was going to bring such a big rain that it would cover the entire earth, and every living creature would be destroyed except those that were safely inside the ark. Like Noah, we need to believe what God says even when it doesn’t make sense to us. For example, why should we be nice to someone who is mean to us? The answer is that God tells us to, and one day, maybe a long time later, he will explain why. Until then we need to believe God’s Word that says if we will do it his way, we will be rewarded.