Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
With the memory of the flooding and devastation from Hurricane Helene so fresh in my mind, the story of Noah and the flood carries a different weight for me today. I cannot imagine the fear and anguish of those watching the rain for forty days from outside the ark, but I’ve seen pictures and footage of destruction that must have been similar. Heartbreaking and terrifying.
Genesis 7:12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
This scene also brings to mind Abraham and God in conversation about the righteous and the wicked in Sodom. God had plans to destroy the city, but Abraham asked if God would destroy it if there were even ten righteous people there–only ten. With the rainbow, God promised not to destroy the world by flood again. For Abraham, He is willing not to destroy Sodom if there are even ten righteous people there. Both acts, to me, speak of hope.
Genesis 7:13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.
Precious Savior, Thank You for Your hope, for the ability to live with the consequences of our actions (often its own form of punishment), for the ability to turn back to You when we realize we have lost our way. Thank You for being a God of repentance and redemption instead of a God who destroys. I’ve got a lot of complicated emotions swirling this morning. Thank You for sitting with me as I process. Thank You for drawing me closer. Thank You for giving me hope. Amen.
Genesis 7:14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings.
Have a blessed day.