The Explanation

Long ago, many people lived on the earth. But something was wrong, terribly wrong. People had grown so mean and wild in their hearts that God looked down and saw only bad thoughts, bad plans, bad deeds. Not once in a while. All the time.

God's heart hurt. Imagine that: the God who made everything, felt sorrow like you feel when something you built gets smashed. He said, "I am sorry that I have made them." The earth was full of violence, like a playground where everyone hits everyone, and no one stops.

God decided he had to do something big. He would send a flood, water covering everything, to wash the wickedness away.

But wait. One name shines in the middle of this dark story. Noah. "Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes." That means God looked at Noah and smiled. Noah was righteous, he did what was right, even when everyone around him did wrong. The Bible says Noah "walked with God," like a boy holding his father's hand on a dangerous road.

God spoke to Noah with a plan. "Make a ship of gopher wood." Not a rowboat, not a raft. A giant ship, three hundred cubits long, that's longer than a football field. With rooms inside, a roof, three levels stacked like a tall building floating on water.

Why build a ship on dry land, with no ocean in sight? Because God said the flood was coming, and Noah believed him.

God also gave a promise, a covenant: "I will establish my covenant with you." Noah and his family would be safe inside. His wife, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives too. And animals, two of every kind, birds, livestock, creeping things, would come to Noah to be kept alive.

Noah had to gather food too, enough for his family and all those animals.

What did Noah do with this wild, impossible instruction? "Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him."

What Does This Mean?

This story shows two things at once: how sad it is when people choose evil, and how much it matters when just one person chooses to obey God instead. Noah did not follow the crowd. Everyone else went one way, and Noah walked the other way, toward God.

Would you have believed God if he told you to build a giant ship with no rain in sight? Would you have kept hammering, plank after plank, while your neighbors laughed?

The Common Thread

God did not give up on people, even when he was grieved. He made a way to save Noah's family, a door into safety. Later, God would make another way to save people, through Jesus. Jesus is like a door too, the one who rescues us from something worse than a flood. God always keeps building doors of rescue for those who trust him.

For You

You will not build an ark. But you can be like Noah this week. When friends choose something wrong, you can choose what is right, even if you feel alone. That takes courage, just like Noah's courage with his hammer and nails.

Talk About It

Why do you think Noah kept obeying God even though it took so long to build the ship?

Has there ever been a time you had to do the right thing even though nobody else was doing it?

Praying Together

Dear God, thank you that you saw Noah and were pleased with him. Help me walk with you like Noah did, even when it is hard. Thank you that you always make a way to keep your people safe. Amen.