The Great Flood
Genesis 5:1 - 9:17
from Egermeier's Bible Story Book by Elsie E. Egermeier
Adam
and Eve's children lived to be very old. They had children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and many great-great-grandchildren.
As the years passed there were more and more people in the world. Most of them were very wicked. Yet there was one man who tried to please God. This man was Enoch. He walked with God, talked to God, and listened when God spoke to him. Because Enoch loved God most of all, he did not die. Instead, when he became old, God took him to heaven.
Enoch's son Methuselah was the oldest man who ever lived. He lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years old. By this time there were many, many people in the world. Their hearts were full of sin. They did not try to please God, for they did not love him. They did not teach their children to love the good and do the right. Everywhere there was sin and wrongdoing. What a sad world!
How sorry God was that he had made man! The people were no longer fit to live. Finally God decided the only way to get rid of sin and wickedness in the world was to cover the earth with a great flood.
Then God remembered Noah. Even among these wicked people, Noah tried to do right. He taught his sons to do right also. This pleased God.
Sometimes God talked to Noah. Now he told Noah about his plan to destroy the world. He promised Noah and his family that they would not be destroyed with the wicked.
"Build an ark," God told Noah. "When it is finished you and your wife and your sons and their wives may go into the ark. You will live there until the flood is over."
God decided to save a pair of each kind of living thing. These would also stay in the ark during the flood.
Because Noah believed God, he began building the ark. God had told him how it should be built. While the people went their wicked way, Noah and his sons made the ark as God had said. It looked like a three-story houseboat perched up on dry land.
How the people must have laughed at Noah and his three sons. They must have thought Noah and his sons were crazy. Where was the water for their boat?
Again and again Noah warned the people to repent of their sins or they would be destroyed in the flood. None of them believed him.
When everything was ready, God told Noah to take into the ark his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Then God caused two of every kind of animal, bird, and creeping thing to go into the ark. Seven pairs of each kind of useful birds and animals came. When all were inside, God shut the door.
After a few days the rain began to fall. And such a rain! Great sheets of water poured down from the clouds. Soon the tiny streams were raging, and the rivers were overflowing their banks. People left their homes and rushed to the hills for safety. Animals ran pell-mell, trying to find refuge and shelter. Still it rained. Higher and higher the waters rose. Now the people knew Noah had told the truth.
For forth days and nights it rained. Only Noah and his family were safe. The waters lifted the ark off the ground, and the ark began to float. For more than six months it floated. Then one day it stood still on top of a mountain.
After waiting for some time, Noah opened a window and let out a raven. This bird had strong wings and could fly about until the waters had gone down. Several days later Noah sent out a dove. The dove returned because she could not find a place to build her nest. A week later Noah sent the dove out again. She stayed longer this time. When evening came, she flew back, bringing a green olive leaf in her mouth. Now Noah and his family knew the land was becoming green and beautiful. The next week when Noah sent out the dove, she flew away and never came back.
Now Noah believed it was time to uncover the ark and look out upon the earth. How glad he must have been to see dry land again! For more than a year they had been inside the ark.
God said to Noah, "Come out of the ark, with your wife and your sons and their wives, and every living thing that is in the ark."
Noah opened the great door. He and his family stepped out on dry ground. All the animals, the birds, and the creeping things came out.
Noah was thankful to be alive. As soon as he came out of the ark, he built an altar and made his offering to God. God accepted the offering and was pleased with Noah and his family.
God promised that he would never again send another flood to destroy every living creature. God said, "As long as the earth remains there will be summer and winter, springtime and autumn, and day and night." To remind men of his promise God made the rainbow in the sky.
