Genesis 6:5-17

⁵ The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the land, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶ And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the land, and it grieved him to his heart.

⁷ So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

¹⁰ And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the land was corrupt in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence.

¹² And God saw the land, and see, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way in the land.

¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the land is filled with violence through them. See, I will destroy them with the land.

¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

¹⁶ Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

¹⁷ For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the land to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under the sky. Everything that is on the land shall die. _________________________________________

God’s Judgment

The flood was a real event, but it also prefigured God’s eternal judgment. It was the sin of humanity that forced a holy God to bring judgment upon the whole land. Those he chose to save by his grace were rescued by the love of that same God. Those who were not rescued were destroyed. They were not kept alive somewhere for God to torment for eternity. The purpose of their destruction was not the judgment itself. The purpose was to make way for those saved by grace to experience a new earth.

LORD, thank you for your grace, giving us hope for new life, and your rescue from eternal destruction.