A God of Love and Wrath Keep Building the Boat
Matthew 24: 37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be
at the coming of the Son of
Can you imagine the scene? You live in near desert conditions. It may have never even rained before; ever. In the midst of this certainty you have quite an uncertain neighbor. And he is building a boat. A huge boat. A boat that is almost the length of a football field and as high as a three story house. Oh, and he is building this with his hands; no power tools or Home Depot. Being neighborly, and concerned for his mental health, you inquire. The answer is that God has warned him that He has had it with the level of iniquity on the earth and will be sending a flood to wipe everything out. The only way to survive the flood is to build the ark as God has instructed him to. I am sure a lot of us would walk away wondering what will happen to our property value and not really be concerned about the Noah of our neighborhood.
Today's key verses draw comparisons to the days of Noah and the days we find ourselves in now. First, let's see how Noah is introduced in Genesis:
The L ord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the L ord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the L ord said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing--all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." But Noah found favor with the L ord . Genesis 6: 5-8 (NLT)
It shouldn't take a Biblical scholar to draw the parallels to the world today. The extent of human wickedness grows with each passing day. Wars, plagues, sin glorified. The imagination of men is consistently evil. Look at the news. Look at world poverty. Look at what passes for entertainment. As in the days of Noah, the heart of God is breaking. But Noah found favor with God:
This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Genesis 6: 9 (NLT)
Walking in close fellowship with God. Righteous and blameless in a world that is so depraved. In those days it was Noah and in these, the last days, it is supposed to be the church:
