20 Then Noah built an altar to honor the Lord. He took some of the “clean” animals and birds. He sacrificed them on the altar as burnt offerings. 21 The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself, “I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done. 22 “As long as the earth lasts, there will always be a time to plant and a time to gather the crops. As long as the earth lasts, there will always be cold and heat. There will always be summer and winter, day and night.”

Finally the ark is on dry ground, the ground is beginning to be fruitful again and so it is time for Noah, his family and the animals to reinhabit the earth.  Noah’s first action is one of worship, a fitting and proper response to all God has done and His deliverance for Noah and his family.  God had been gracious to Noah and his family.  He had protected them, provided for them and now we see the measure of the man.  He turns in worship, he turns in honour of God.

It is fitting and proper.  What is the nature of my response to God when He has been at work in my life?  When I see the Lord at work, is my first response worship?  In the little things and the large?  Is my heart truly inclined to the Lord or am I so distracted, so hurried, so self focussed that I move on quickly not stopping to worship the Lord?  It is proper to worship the Lord – He has made all things, He provides, protects, enables and empowers.  My response to Him needs to be from a full heart of love and honour to Him in each and every situation of life.

Father help me to have an altar of worship where I come frequently, regularly, daily, momentarily in worship and prose of You!

Written by Ps. Richard Botta

11 Noah was 600 years old. It was the 17th day of the second month of the year. On that day all of the springs at the bottom of the oceans burst open. God opened the windows of the sky. 12 Rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that same day Noah entered the ark together with his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah’s wife and the wives of his three sons also entered it. 14 They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock, creature that moves along the ground, and bird that flies. 15 Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing. Everything happened just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. 17 For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth. As the waters rose higher, they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water. 19 The waters rose on the earth until all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters continued to rise until they covered the mountains by more than 20 feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on land died. The birds, the livestock and the wild animals died. All of the creatures that fill the earth also died. And so did every human being. 22 Every breathing thing on dry land died. 23 Every living thing on earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds in the sky were wiped out. Everything on earth was destroyed. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left. 24 The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.

In this passage is a picture of both God’s justice, His abhorrence of evil and love of that which is good, and God’s mercy, providing an escape from judgment for those who acknowledge Him as Lord and worship Him. The world was a mess, many had no fear of God and did as they pleased, ignoring righteousness and embracing sin. God the Father watched as people rejected Him and treated what He had made – earth, creatures and other people – with total indifference, using and abusing for their own gain. God the just judge needed to put things to rights, for no one else could, but God’s mercy meant that He saw Noah and his righteousness, and provided an escape route for Noah such that he would survive this judgment. God provided the ark, God closed the door of the ark, and God saved Noah, his family and a host of creatures. In this dramatic story of God saving Noah the stage is set for the coming of Jesus.

Hundreds of years later the world is once again full of people rejecting God and His ways with destructive consequences. This time God pours out His judgment not on those that reject Him, but He pours out the entirety of His holy anger on Jesus, putting things to rights whilst at the same time providing an escape for all those who will put their faith in Jesus and acknowledge their need for a Saviour. How amazing that God is true to Himself, both His justice and His mercy, and is able to straddle both of those aspects of His nature, ensuring that in this universe we can trust that in the end justice shall prevail, and yet because of Jesus we don’t need to fear it because we have already been judged innocent.

Wow! God I am so thankful that you assure me that justice shall prevail and that every wrong I observe in the world and that I suffer will be dealt with fairly. I am so thankful that when you deal with me you do not sentence me to death as my wrongs deserve, but you grant me eternal life through Jesus. What a mind blowing reality, God help me to grasp that truth and to live each day in the freedom and hope of that truth. Amen!

Written by Beth Waugh

11 The earth was very sinful in God’s eyes. It was full of people who did mean and harmful things. 12 God saw how sinful the earth had become. All its people were living very sinful lives. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to everyone. They have filled the earth with their harmful acts. I am certainly going to destroy them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it. Leave below the roof an opening all the way around that is a foot and a half high. Put a door in one side of the ark. Make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring a flood on the earth. It will destroy all life under the sky. It will destroy every living creature that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will make my covenant with you. You will go into the ark. Your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will enter it with you. 19 Bring a male and a female of every living thing into the ark. They will be kept alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will also come to you. And so will two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground. All of them will be kept alive with you. 21 Take every kind of food that you will need. Store it away as food for you and them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

As I read this very familiar story, the question came to mind, why didn’t God just destroy everything and start again? The God who spoke the world into existence had the power to create all of the animals and mankind once again and establish a complete fresh start. But He didn’t do it that way.

It seems to me that in this act of saving Noah, his family and the animals, God is revealing to us a part of His character as a redeemer of things that are broken. I’m so glad that God doesn’t just give up on us when we are broken and in need of His help.

I’m grateful and I’m humbled by this. It’s also a good reminder to me that if I want to reflect God’s character in my life, then I need to be one who doesn’t give up on others who are broken and imperfect (like me).

Written by Shelley Witt

6 There began to be many human beings on the earth. And daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of human beings were beautiful. So they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not struggle with human beings forever. They will have only 120 years to live.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. That was when the sons of God went to the daughters of human beings. Children were born to them. The Nephilim were famous heroes who lived long ago. Nephilim were also on the earth later on.

There is some discussion about exactly what the 120 years refers to, but we will emphasize that whether verse 3 refers to life-span or to the period leading up to the great flood, it clearly refers to God’s relationship with man. The Message Bible reads: “Then God said, ”I am not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they are going to die; from now on they can expect a life-span of 120 years.”

These verses reveal three characteristics about God. [1] He is a patient God, [2] He is merciful and [3] He is compassionate. Man’s separation from God and His fellowship began when Adam and Eve disobeyed His command not to eat the fruit of the tree in the garden of Eden. In our passage, after 10 generations since Adam, the Lord placed a further restriction on mankind by reducing their life-span to 120 years. The key point here is that sin, corruption, and violence caused a greater separation between God and man. [see v.5]

The thing that impresses so much is the absolute patience of a loving Creator God. For mankind’s sake He moved in compassion to prevent mankind’s sin from destroying him. Deep in His heart the Lord knew that eventually through His Son Jesus His relationship with man would be restored completely.

Lord, I am inspired by your patience and faithfulness to offer my worship to you and to glorify your Name for your remarkable plan of salvation.

Written by Keith Bennett

5 Here is the written story of Adam’s family line. When God created human beings, he made them to be like him. 2 He created them as male and female, and he blessed them. He called them “human beings” when they were created. 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him. He named him Seth. 4 Adam lived 800 years after Seth was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam lived a total of 930 years. And then he died. 6 Seth lived 105 years. Then he became the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived 807 years after Enosh was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth lived a total of 912 years. And then he died. 9 Enosh lived 90 years. Then he became the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived 815 years after Kenan was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh lived a total of 905 years. And then he died. 12 Kenan lived 70 years. Then he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived 840 years after Mahalalel was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived a total of 910 years. And then he died. 15 Mahalalel lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after Jared was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. And then he died. 18 Jared lived 162 years. Then he became the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived 800 years after Enoch was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared lived a total of 962 years. And then he died. 21 Enoch lived 65 years. Then he became the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years after Methuselah was born. He also had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God. And then he couldn’t be found, because God took him from this life.

I like genealogies, we often skip over them when we read the O.T. but they can be really interesting & the Holy Spirit has them here for a purpose. Verse 24 says that “Enoch walked with God”. Gen 3:8 tells us that God used to walk in the garden in the evening, it’s presumed Adam & Eve walked with Him since they hid themselves after they sinned.

As it’s recorded here, it seems that Adam and Enoch lived for over 300years at the same time & they both “walked with God.” It leaves me wondering how much of that experience with God Adam passed onto his great, great, great, great grandson?   We’re not told how Enoch walked with God – what that looked like or entailed but death did not come to him, as it did Adam, but God took him.

Thinking about this spiritual inheritance I realise that my spiritual inheritance comes through belief in Jesus, and so I can also “walk with God”. The best thing is that Jesus, through His Word & the Holy Spirit, actually tells me how I can do this. What an amazing thing … to be able to “walk with God”!

Father I am so grateful that I can also walk with you and never see death.

Written by Suzie Hodgson