Once sin invaded the world in the book of Genesis, things became worse and worse. Humanity began committing sin after sin, and the world became increasingly wicked. This increase of wickedness and sin broke God’s heart. There was one man, however, who honored God: Noah. Genesis 6:8 reveals that Noah “found favor with the Lord” (verse 8).
Genesis 6 reveals the wickedness of humanity. According to this passage of Scripture, "The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil" (verse 5). As a result, "The Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on earth. It broke His heart" (verse 6). If you ever wondered how God feels about sin, look no further than this passage in Genesis: sin breaks God's heart. Amidst all of the sin and wickedness in the world, God saw something different in Noah. In a crowd of sinful, wicked people, "Noah found favor with the Lord" (verse 8). Noah was "a righteous man" in a sea of wickedness. God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the world with violence" (verse 13). He then told Noah to build a "large boat" that would protect him and his family from a flood that God was going to send (verses 13-22). Everything that God foretold came to be. A flood came, and every person and living creature not in Noah's "large boat" was destroyed. God preserved Noah and his family because of his reputation for being righteous.
Even today, amidst the wickedness and evil in the world today, those who live righteously and honor God with their lives “find favor with Him.” Even though we may not realize it, God sees those who are seeking to live for Him. He is pleased when we make decisions and take steps to obey and follow Him. May we all “find favor” with God by the way we obey and live for Him.
One of the ways we can honor God and "find favor" with Him is by obeying Him. Take a moment to examine your life. Is there anything God has been calling you to do that you have been ignoring? It's time to obey now. Turn to God, repent from the disobedience you have shown, and ask Him for the courage to obey Him beginning today.
9 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. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!
14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”
22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
1 When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. 2 Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”
5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. 7 He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 8 With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 9 They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.
13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.
