God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Today I’m going to talk to you about the true story of Noah’s Ark.

The story of Noah and the Ark is very controversial. In fact, I thought the story was a parable until I became a student of the Bible. The archeological remains of a wooden structure with several levels/floors- was found on Mount Ararat and this was simply icing on the cake for me. The Ark landed exactly where God tells us it landed: “…and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.(Gen 8:4)

This is when we make the choice, do we open the Bible and let our spirit communicate with God’s Spirit to understand how powerful the Lord Almighty is- or do we dismiss even the archeological evidence?

The story of Noah is the first promise or covenant that God made with a human being.

“I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark- you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives.” (Gen 6:18)

The Lord told Noah that He would flood the earth yet save Noah’s family. God gave Noah very clear and specific instructions to build a boat that would save their lives. The instructions were so specific that in the state of Kentucky, a replica of the Ark was built using the measurements in the Bible. There are many skeptics out there that state the Bible couldn’t possibly be translated correctly. Well, this Ark exhibit, buiIt using the measurements in the 2700 year old Word of God is living proof! This incredible feat combined with the remains of the actual Ark found on Mount Ararat in Turkey, gives us tangable evidence of the validity of the Bible.

Sometimes God asks us to do things that the world thinks is a bit odd -just like He instructed Noah to build a boat when rain had never fallen on the earth yet. These are times of testing. Who do you think God is? Is He omniscient? Does He know the future?

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3).

Scripture illustrates that being obedient is for our future benefit. If Noah chose to ignore God’s request because it was rather crazy, he would have died. We need to listen to God as Noah did. We need to believe God’s instructions keep us from death as well. Let’s take a few simplistic examples.

If you have an affair, you could get a sexually transmitted disease- many of which turn to cancer- a deadly disease. Commiting adultery goes against God’s Ten Commandments.

A second example that many of us commit is not resting on the Sabbath as the fourth Commandment instructs. If you deny resting on the Sabbath and you work 365 days a year to build your business or reach your financial goals, the stress could lower your immune system and cause death from stress, heart attack or cancer. God promises to keep us from poverty, sickness and spiritual death by following Him.

Noah followed God by building the Ark without the knowledge of what rain was – the earth was watered from underground springs at that time. His obedience saved he and his family from physical death. We too can be saved from a variety of terrible outcomes/death, by being obedient to God. We are all saved from eternal damnation simply by our faith in God. But our life here on earth will be much easier, peaceful and full of wonderful blessings by being obedient to the teachings in the Bible. The covenant promise that God made with Noah said that even though He will cover the earth with a flood, all of the future generations coming through Noah, will be spared another earthly flood. The rainbow is a sign of this promise.

“I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things…As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.” (Gen 8:21-22). When I see a rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth. (Gen 9:16).

The Bible is filled with conditional and unconditional promises from God. We need to seek them out, and then align our life with the Lord’s teachings- enduring the testing He will surely put us through. This testing is to see if our faith in Him is pure and when He determines it is, He will bless us abundantly.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.…(1 Peter 4:12-13)

This verse is telling us that God will show His glory- in other words His power- to help us overcome our problems, health issues and all that concerns us if we stay faithful and obedient in our trials.

Proverbs 8:32
“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.”

All my best!

Lisa