NOAH AND THE ARK: A WORLDWIDE BAPTISM

THE GREAT FLOOD -

A WORLDWIDE BAPTISM

(Genesis 6-8)

God was mad at what man had become;

He wanted to cleanse the earth,

So he planned a worldwide flood,

In a sense it would be a new birth.

In the days before the flood,

People did their usual things.

They ate and drank and married,

And enjoyed the good that life brings.

But they had turned away from God;

They were sinful in every way.

And though they were unrepentant,

Their sins would be washed away.

Only Noah and his family were faithful,

So God spoke to Noah one day.

He said He had a project for him;

The instructions He began to convey.

God’s request may have seemed foolish;

Noah was to build an ark.

God told him the specifications,

And to build it from cypress bark.

Noah had never seen an ark.

And couldn't fathom that much rain.

His neighbors surely made fun of him;

Thinking he was insane.

At 500 years, Noah had three sons,

Japeth, Ham and Shem.

They obeyed their dad and God;

For they were devoted to them.

Their tools were very crude,

Not many had been invented.

By the standards of today,

These men would be seen as demented.

But they were unscathed by their critics.

They continued to work on the frame.

Observers were offered a ride,

In the end, no one came.

Though 120 years had gone by,

No one had lent a hand.

Instead they chose to laugh and jeer,

For the ark was built on dry land. 

Finally the work was done,

On the enormous floating zoo.

Seven pairs of clean creatures entered.

But the unclean numbered just two.

Before the only door was shut,

Noah made one more plea.

He warned people to get in the ark,

Or become a part of the sea.

Noah's words went unheeded,

Only his family entered the boat.

Water came from above and below,

And the ark began to float.

Noah, his sons, the wives and animals,

Were all kept safely in storage.

Their work and faithfulness,

Allowed them to make this voyage.

Forty days and nights it rained,

While the family tended the critters.

The day would eventually come,

When there would be many litters.

The ark finally parked itself,

On a mount called Ararat.

One hundred fifty days it had flooded,

Then a wind dried the ground after that.

The rain stopped, the clouds parted,

And the sun could be seen again.

Noah sent out a dove, then another.

A new life could now begin.

He immediately built an altar,

And made a sacrifice.

A "clean" animal was used;

The unclean would not suffice.

The earth had been through a baptism;

It was cleansed of sinful men.

They had been buried in water,

Never to rise again.

The Lord made a promise to Noah;

He would never again flood the earth.

A colorful bow in the sky is His sign,

And we each are offered new birth.

Becky Overturf Wall

Matthew 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."