June 25 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Genesis 6:9-22

⁹These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
¹⁰And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
¹¹The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
¹²And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
¹³And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
¹⁴Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
¹⁵And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
¹⁶A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
¹⁷And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
¹⁸But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
²⁰Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
²¹And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
²²Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Devotional

As God looked upon the increasing wickedness of men He saw Noah, who 'found grace' in his eyes.' 'Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God' (6:9). Noah was righteous not in that he was able of himself to obey God, but in that he believed God and was thus enabled to obey Him.

When God set out to wipe the ungodly from the earth and make a fresh start, He told Noah He would make a covenant with Him and with his wife and his sons and their wives. God would keep Noah and his family safe in the midst of the cataclysmic flood.

With all the searching that has been undertaken will the real ark ever be found? Hundreds of pages have been written on the search for this ship. A film has been produced about the search. Churches have been built according to the specifications given in Genesis. Toys are available that are models of the ark-"complete with animals and the family of Noah! The ark is a fascinating story to adults and children alike.

But this is not simply an interesting tale. It is also sober history. Christ refers to it as such. And it is, in a sense, prophecy. It foreshadows the salvation from just judgment for sin through a greater than Noah, the Lord Jesus. He is our ark of safety. In Him men and women today with their families may find refuge.