Dear Fellow Travelers,

In Genesis 6 we find the story of Noah and the ark: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5-7).

To be honest, it is very difficult for me to understand how God could be sorry that He had made man on the earth when He knew BEFORE He created us how we would behave. I can understand why his heart would be grieved by our behavior but for the life of me, I cannot understand why He would be sorry that He had created us. Even so, the text tells us that He was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and I believe it to be true—period.

The truth is I am much more concerned about the end result of His being sorry that He created us than I am about understanding why He was sorry because the end result was rather horrific! Man, along with the animals, the creeping things, and even the birds of the sky, were blotted out! That’s right—BLOTTED OUT! It really is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God, when He is angry!

HOWEVER, there is more to this story. Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8; parenthesis mine). I have no idea how many people were alive at the time, but only one family found grace in the eyes of the Lord—Noah’s family. As the head of his family, the grace (favor) that God extended to Noah was also extended to his wife, his sons, and their wives. For whatever reason, God chose to be merciful to Noah and graciously set him apart as a righteous, blameless man, along with his family. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. And Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 6:9-10). But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you (Genesis 6:18).

Do you remember a time in your life when you really needed someone to be gracious to you? The reason for your need of grace could have been any one of a number of things, but wouldn’t it have been great if that someone had extended grace to you?

Maybe you are one of the fortunate ones, who did experience a lavish outpouring of grace. If you are, do you remember how it made you feel? You were guilty as charged, but the person you offended chose to lavish grace upon you. The truth is it had a profoundly positive influence on your life!

Interestngly, Noah was one, who found grace, not in the eyes of another person, but in the eyes of God. Wow! What an awesome thought! Noah was just as much a part of that sinful race as were each of the others, but God chose to be gracious to him and declare him to be righteous and blameless, even to spare his life. Noah deserved to be swallowed up in the deluge just as much as the rest of the people, but God chose to provide him an ark of safety. Incredible grace!

Obviously, Noah was a man of faith (he is included in the Hall of Faith—Hebrews 11). For some reason, He simply believed God. When God declared that he was a blameless and righteous man, he believed God, and he began to live as a blameless and righteous man. This was evidenced by his obedience to God. Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so did he (Genesis 6:22).

There is this obvious progression: (1) Because of his sinfulness, Noah deserved destruction—to be blotted out; (2) God, however, chose to be merciful and extend grace to Noah; (3) God gave Noah faith—saving faith; (4) God declared that Noah was blameless and righteous; (5) Noah walked in obedience to God—the fruit of faith. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26); and (6) Noah escaped the wrath of God in the safety of the ark.

MY PERSPECTIVE: Man escapes the wrath of God only as the result of God having chosen to place him into Jesus, who is his ark of safety. Furthermore, the end result of the grace of God having been extended to man is saving faith and the good works of obedience—the good works that God prepared beforehand. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Now you know why I love rainbows!!