Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Then God told Noah and his
sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your
descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the
birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes,
I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all
living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my
covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I
have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It
is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. Genesis 9:8-13(NLT)
I watched a movie last night
about the USS Indianapolis. In 1945 the
ship carried the atomic bomb to its staging area in the Philippines, later to be
dropped on Hiroshima. On its return
voyage to the states it was torpedoed and sunk.
The crew numbered nearly twelve hundred, 300 of which immediately went
down with the ship. Another nearly 500
either drowned or were eaten by sharks in the 5 days it took before rescue
ships arrived. The movie was graphic,
and the violence portrayals were more than disturbing.
Rewind to Noah on the
ark. Having just seen the worst
destruction ever in the history of mankind I think it is safe to say Noah was
probably a little hesitant about leaving the ark.
That floating warehouse and
zoo had been the place of safety for over a year. Inside was dark, smelly and safe; outside had
been the scary, violent unknown. If I
had been Noah, when God said: OK, it’s time to leave your little boat,
I believe I would have tried to pull the covers back over my head, and meekly
whine: That’s OK, I’m good here; I’ll just stay inside a little longer, if you
don’t mind.
It’s scary to venture where
you’ve never been, or where you’ve been hurt before. Noah and family had probably been scared half
to death by what they’d seen and experienced in the storm that howled and
pitched their boat like a twig in a tornado.
The men of the USS
Indianapolis were adrift for 5 days, and more than a few of them became
delusional in the face of little hope being rescued. Noah and family had little hope that there
was going to be anything in their future but water and this rocking barge that
stank from a year’s worth of life with animals in a small place. I can imagine Noah’s sons asking: Dad,
are we there yet?
But eventually the waters
receded, the land dried-up, and the Lord made a covenant with Noah’s family,
which even included the animals: Never Again! To seal the deal, God signed this
covenant with His multi-colored signature across the entire sky – the rainbow
of God’s promise.
God said this would be a
forever reality, and even though we see floods sporadically, with loss of life
and property, God’s promise has been true that there has never been another
flood to wipe all humans off the face of this earth.
The storms come and go;
God’s promise stands.
For You Today
Listen once again:
Then God told Noah and his
sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and
your descendants…. Genesis 9:8
Are you one of Noah’s
descendants? Well, unless you’re a
chimpanzee or a platypus, the answer is “yes”.
So you’re included as a beneficiary of God’s promise to never again destroy
the earth.
What
other of God’s promises can you think of that have your name written on them?
NOTES
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