In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened, and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. Genesis 7:11-12 HCSB
I was supposed to meet someone at the church. It had been raining all night and as I traveled the road to the church, I came upon an area that was flooded. The creek waters had overflowed its banks and covered the road. It was impassable. I tried another route and encountered the same thing. Finally, on another route I was able to get to the church. Naturally, I was late for my appointment. Flood waters can be devastating. There is a small church on that same road that has been flooded several times because it backs up to the creek. At times people try to cross swollen creeks in their cars only to be swept downstream and lose their lives.
Some Bible scholars believe it had not rained as we know it before the great flood of Noah’s time. It is believed that the plants of the earth were watered by a heavy dew each day. There were streams, rivers, and oceans, but again these were fed by the heavy dew each day or the waters below the earth’s surface. These verses describe how the water came from below the earth and that the sky opened and rained for 40 days and 40 nights. The whole earth was covered with water. There was no place for humans or animals to escape the flood waters.
Challenge: God hates sin and corruption. God desires to have fellowship with His creation, but when we sin we break that relationship and deserve death (physically and spiritually). Without Jesus Christ we are doomed for destruction just as those in Noah’s time. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that our sins and corruption can be forgiven and we can be restored to a relationship with a loving God who wants only the best for us.