Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3. In the commentary below it said God was allowing the people of Noah’s day 120 years to change their sinful ways. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. v.9.

Whenever I read the Bible, it’s easy to compartmentalize people then and what they experienced and separate them from now and this modern age we experience; that was so long ago. At the very beginning pages of my Bible, it shows a timeline of events and two events at the very beginning don’t correspond with a date – Creation undated – and Noah builds the ark undated. The 3rd event is 2500 B.C. and the things Egypt discovered at that time.

Noah walked faithfully with God and taught his sons and their wives because they, too, helped in obedience to God when he told Noah to build an ark to save him, his family, and the animals God would bring to the ark. Can you imagine what that must have been like? In the commentary it says the ark was the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four-story building. It was exactly six times longer than it was wide – the same ratio used by modern shipbuilders. It had to be stocked with food for the animals and Noah and his family because a flood of the whole earth doesn’t recede in a week.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. v. 11-12. So God established a covenant with Noah v. 18. I can’t help but contrast what the world at that time was doing and what Noah was doing. Noah did everything just as God commanded him. v. 22. Can you imagine if he hadn’t obeyed God? We wouldn’t be here. Only Noah, his family, and the animals on that ark survived the flood of the whole earth.

Noah walked faithfully with God. As I close the Bible after reading that chapter, I’m back in my time and wondering what my part is in all of this. God gave the inspiration for His Bible for His truth to be recorded. Noah didn’t have scripture to read, Devotionals to guide him, Church services to attend. He had God and he walked faithfully with Him. It must have been pretty “dark” for the whole world to be corrupt and filled with violence. How does our time compare?

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5. I think walking with God gave Noah a great light. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5.

That was God’s promise to Noah and to each of us. There was great darkness then and there is great darkness now but God’s light, His truth, His love cannot be overcome but will overcome the darkness. Noah wasn’t perfect. We are not perfect. That’s why we need God to guide us by His light and His love which is perfect. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9. God will faithfully lead you with the light of His love for you. Have you ever been in total darkness and groped around until you found a flashlight – so thankful when the light came on? Can you imagine how dark it was in that ark after God closed the door (Genesis 7:16) and the storm clouds gathered and poured out enough rain to flood the earth? Light shines brightest in darkness. God was faithful. They were spared and kept safe from the raging waters. God will keep us safe in His love and light our way to walk with Him. Trust Him. He’s here.