Judgment and Mercy Were Planned
Now God seemed to have a real problem, didn’t He? He must send judgment upon the sinful earth. But also, He has a great heart of unlimited compassion and mercy. More than anything He desired that His people would accomplish the purpose for which they were created. He wanted them to bring glory to His name. What could He do?
Although He looked upon the earth in displeasure He knew from the beginning how He would solve the problem. He had a plan. He could destroy all the sinful earth, and yet rescue mankind, because there was one righteous man, blameless among the people of that day, a man who walked with God. His name was Noah (peace be upon him).
It was at this point that Noah heard the voice telling of a great storm to come. He heard the voice which came not from a radio broadcast; the voice which came directly from God.
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth and everything on earth will perish.”
You see, even though Noah was a person subject to the condition of sin, he found favor with God because he remained close to the Creator and desired His presence. Noah walked in the path of God and was willing always to submit to Him. God planned to use Noah as His messenger. Through Noah He could send a warning message to mankind. Through Noah He could demonstrate mercy and compassion to the world. God would show that even when judgment comes, a way will be provided to save those who will listen to His voice and be obedient to Him.
So God told Noah that the terrible flood was coming because the sinful condition of mankind made it necessary. Sin could not be allowed to continue unpunished. The flood was the judgment of God. But for Noah, God would make a way of escape, because He cared for His people still and wanted them to understand His mercy and His purpose for their lives. He told Noah to listen carefully and obey all His instructions.
Noah was to build a large ship, called an ark, which would float on the waters and keep him safe during the storm. God gave exact directions and measurements for the construction of the ark. It is an indication of God’s personal interest and concern for His people that He explained every detail of the preparations. When we read the account in the Torah, we get the impression that God was with Noah, watching every detail as the ark was built. He seemed to hover over His chosen builder, guiding him and making sure that the vessel to which He would trust His beloved creation was worthy to withstand the wrath of any storm. No power of evil could ever destroy those who would accept the protection of God’s wonderful ark!
God told Noah that when the ark was finished, at the appointed time rain would begin to fall. Waters would come up from the earth, and everything that breathed would be drowned, except for those in the ark. Noah was to take with him into the ark the members of his family, and pairs of all living creatures, so that life could be restored after the flood was over.
Thus we see that even before judgment came, God had already made provision for His special creation, mankind, to escape judgment and accept new life. God chose a man, Noah, and a method, the ark, by which people could be made aware of the certainty of judgment and the way of salvation.
For You To Do
Choose from the list of words one which fits best and write it in the blank to complete each sentence. judgment messenger sin flood ark drowned salvation
- The sinful condition of man required
a. Judgement
b. Messenger
c. Sin
d. Flood
e. Flood
f. Drowned
g. Salvation - In spite of his sin, God offered man
a. Judgement
b. Messenger
c. Sin
d. Flood
e. Flood
f. Drowned
g. Salvation - Because of God’s concern for man He told Noah to build the
a. Judgement
b. Messenger
c. Sin
d. Flood
e. Flood
f. Drowned
g. Salvation - God chose to work through a human
a. Judgement
b. Messenger
c. Sin
d. Flood
e. Flood
f. Drowned
g. Salvation