Observations as I follow God through the Chronological Bible.

Genesis 6:1- 7

Once God determined to start over, I see him doing what the prophet Amos later stated is a characteristic of God: “Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”[1] Is someone with the power to create and destroy planets obligated to give lesser beings an explanation for his actions? Yet God took the time to explain to Noah what he planned to do, why he is doing it, and how to survive his coming judgment.

God did not expect Noah to have blind faith. He told Noah why everyone would die. They had filled the earth with violence. For Noah that was an easily verifiable fact. Noah knew God’s actions were justified and may have welcomed God’s intervention to stop senseless violence.

Once God announced his decision, he remained actively involved. He gave Noah specific instructions for building the ark including the wood to use and how to make it watertight. He also gave Noah the dimensions and design: 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 45 feet high with three decks, a roof and a window 18 inches from the top with a door in the side.

God even prepared the ship’s roster before Noah built the ship: Noah and his immediate family, seven pairs (male and female) of clean animals, and one pair (male and female) of unclean animals. Noah did the possible, gathered his family on the ark. God did the impossible, gathered every kind of animal and sent them to Noah.

God never left Noah in the dark wondering what would happen next. Noah knew exactly when the rain would start. God told him, “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights…”[2] When the invited guests, human and animals, were safely on the ark “the Lord shut him in.”[3]

God remained actively involved until he sealed Noah in the ark’s safety. Five months later, God remembered Noah and the animals. He stopped the rain and sent a wind to dry the earth. Five months after the winds started, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.

Every morning Noah sent a dove to see if the waters had subsided. One day, the dove returned with an olive branch-A welcome symbol of peace after living in a world of violence. A week later the dove flew away and never returned. Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw the dry ground, yet he remained on the ark more than a month before God told him that everyone could leave the ark.

Once God made a decision, he remained actively involved in accomplishing his purpose. His plan was so detailed Noah knew exactly how many inches to place a window from the roof of the ark. If a plan designed to destroy had God’s full attention and participation, does his plan to save us have less attention and participation?

[1] Amos 3:7

[2] Genesis 7:4

[3] Genesis 7:16