Jesus said that in the end times, the world would be similar to the events of the days of Noah. What were the days of Noah like?
In the days of Noah, wickedness was widespread. God was brokenhearted because of the sinfulness of mankind. People were scheming all sorts of wickedness. It’s kind of like our world today.
Genesis 6:5-7
5 When the LORD saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 Then the LORD said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”
Genesis 6:11-12
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.
The Lord revealed His plan. The Lord found one person who had faith in Him: Noah. The Lord revealed to Noah that He was going to destroy the earth by a flood, which was terrible news to hear. But God had a plan to preserve the human race and the animals of the world: Noah was assigned the God-sized task of building a huge boat, large enough to contain Noah, his family, and one pair of every kind of animal on the earth.
Genesis 6:8
8 Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the LORD.
Genesis 6:13-21
13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth. 14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.
17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21 Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.”
Noah responded with faith and obedience. Noah got to work. He began building the ark. It took him more than 100 years to build. The entire time he was working on it, he told everyone who asked why he was doing what he was doing (2 Peter 2:5). The boat was huge. It was the length of a football field plus fifty yards and was wider than a football field. It was four and a half stories high. It was huge. He faithfully and obediently built the boat exactly according to the instructions that the Lord gave to him. He followed God’s plan.
Genesis 6:22
22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.
God brought salvation. When the boat was completed, God brought the animals, two by two of each kind, and they entered the ark along with Noah and his family. Then God shut the door (Gen 7:13-16). The rain began to fall and waters from under the earth burst forth, bringing a massive flood that covered the entire world. Forty days and nights it rained. The enormous waves could not sink the ark. God kept them safe.
After more than 150 days, the water began to subside. When it finally receded far enough, the ark landed safely on a mountain, and eventually Noah, his family and all of animals exited the ark. The world was completed different. The only ones that were saved were the ones who had been on the ark. God brought them out.
Genesis 7:1-2
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals, and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female….
Genesis 8:1
1 God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside.
Genesis 8:15-19
15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.
God made a covenant with Noah. When Noah and his family walked back onto the earth, God was with them. He reminded them of his original plan for people, that they would be fruitful, multiply and inhabit the entire earth. God’s plan was for there to be people throughout the world serving and worshiping Him. What a simple, amazing plan. God’s plan is good for us and it glorifies Him.
To remind Noah and his family — and all of us! — of God’s promise to never destroy the world by a flood again, God pointed to the rainbow in the sky as the sign of that covenant. Of course there are scientific reasons (refraction) to explain why rainbows appear in the sky, but there are also spiritual reasons (God’s promise) to explain why they are there. God is a covenant-keeping God.
Genesis 9:1
1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:8-11
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Noah points us to Jesus. From the line of Noah, the Savior was born. The ark physically saved people. Jesus eternally saves people. Noah is a picture of faith and obedience in the way that he followed God’s instructions, but he was not perfect — only Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus is our Savior. Trust in Him. Follow Him, even in the midst of the wicked generation in which we live. He will save you.