What do you picture in your mind when you think of Noah and the Ark? Do you see that cute tug boat with all the precious animals sticking their heads out of the holes in the side, and happy Noah and his wife waving from the top of that boat? You know, the picture that is on nursery walls, and murals for kids? (we too have the "little people" version of the boat and animals : ). However, I fear that we are doing our children a great disservice by teaching them about the ark this way. I know we need to help them understand scripture in an age appropriate way, but we ourselves begin to think about scripture in that fanciful, fairy tail way. No wonder the unbelieving world thinks the Bible is just a storybook.
Noah's Ark, was the single most devastating event that has happened worldwide!!! Remember the tsunami that happened in Thailand back in '05? We were glued to the news and couldn't imagine a tidal wave of water rushing at those people and the aftermath that followed the power of that wall of water. Well, during the flood, the entire earth was completely covered in water! The Bible said that the tops of the mountains were covered! Imagine how God must have felt. It says in chapter 6, verse 6: that he was "grieved in His heart." Why? Because ch. 7:22, "all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died!" Remember how amazing it was in chapters 1 and 2 when He created every living thing--He had to completely destroy His greatest masterpiece! Think about something that you dream about making; you take the greatest care in designing this perfect creation, and then have to "blot it out!" wow....We don't think about it that way. God had to destroy what He absolutely loved most!
Also, how long was Noah and his family on that boat?--about one year and a week!!!! It rained for 40 days and nights, but then the water prevailed on the earth for 150 days...then, it took the rest of that year just for it to recede!!! I cannot imagine being couped up in my own house for a year, let alone an ark, with animals, on the water!!! The story of the ark captures one of God's saddest moments on earth, destroying His beloved creation because of sin,--but also His loving heart of redemption for preserving a Godly family, by which His own Son could come to redeem us! Now, I'm not saying that we need to repaint all our nurseries, but let's not be guilty of teaching fairy tail stories to our families; instead let's teach the AWESOME powerful truth that a world wide, global flood DID happen, and that rainbow is a promise to us that God remembered Noah--and because He remembered Noah, He remembered us as well!!
Kim Mitchell
Just wanted to point out if there is anyone like me who believes Noah's story with his/her heart, but still has questions with it in the mind, this site is a really useful reference:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark
Keep up the good work Mitchell's!
to me this tells me a lot about God, more than a few highlights, but really rams a few things home! First that He is a Holy God. We know that but do we really understand that He hates sin so much that He would destroy most of His creation to be rid of it! But it also brings out His trustworthiness; when Adam and Eve Sinned God made a promise, that while they and all of creation would be separated from God, a redeemer would in fact come! And reconcile all things back to God. If God had chosen to just wipe out the whole world, He would have broken His promise but He didn't, He kept His promise!
ReplyDeleteSo, two big things that stuck out to me? Gods righeousness, and His trustworthiness.