Jesse Tree – Day 4: Noah
And it’s time for another Jesse Tree devotional! This time, it’s going to be Noah’s story — which is one of the most popular Old Testament stories out there. In fact, it’s one of the first biblical stories that are introduced to children, partly because it makes such a great toy. Matching animals… a giant boat. It’s practically designed for a toy!
So, there are many people who have a child-like understanding of the story of Noah since they played with the toys. And so, the story of Noah’s Ark is kind of a cute story to many people who have left the faith.
Of course, if you stop to think about it — I mean, really stop to think about it — it is actually quite a morbid story. And the artwork definitely gets morbid. So, a huge warning to you before you start reading this story:
It’s not just cute animals marching into the Ark.
In fact, it gets pretty dark at parts.
And so, here is the ornament:
A rainbow, depicting the God’s promise to never destroy the entire world again!
Now, let’s read the scripture behind this symbol..
Noah
NABRE
Genesis 6
5 When the LORD saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, 6the LORD regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.7So the LORD said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created, and not only the human beings, but also the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them.
NABRE
Genesis 6
8But Noah found favor with the LORD.
NABRE
Genesis 6
13God said to Noah: I see that the end of all mortals has come, for the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I am going to destroy them with the earth.14Make yourself an ark of gopherwood, equip the ark with various compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
NABRE
Genesis 6
15This is how you shall build it: the length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16Make an opening for daylight and finish the ark a cubit above it. Put the ark’s entrance on its side; you will make it with bottom, second and third decks.
NABRE
Genesis 6
17I, on my part, am about to bring the flood waters on the earth, to destroy all creatures under the sky in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish. 18I will establish my covenant with you. You shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19Of all living creatures you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, one male and one female, to keep them alive along with you. 20Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of thing that crawls on the ground, two of each will come to you, that you may keep them alive. 21Moreover, you are to provide yourself with all the food that is to be eaten, and store it away, that it may serve as provisions for you and for them. 22Noah complied; he did just as God had commanded him.
NABRE
Genesis 7
5Noah complied, just as the LORD had commanded.6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth.
NABRE
Genesis 7
7Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on the ground, 9two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God had commanded him.
NABRE
Genesis 7
10When the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: on that dayAll the fountains of the great abyss burst forth,and the floodgates of the sky were opened.12For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.13On the very same day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of Noah’s sons had entered the ark, 14together with every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird. 15Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark.
NABRE
Genesis 7
16Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.17The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under the heavens were submerged.
NABRE
Genesis 7
20The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains. 21All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind. 22Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23The LORD wiped out every being on earth: human beings and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
NABRE
Genesis 7
24And when the waters had swelled on the earth for one hundred and fifty days,
NABRE
Genesis 8
1God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back. 3Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished 4that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
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Okay, okay! I admit it… I might have gone a little overboard in illustrating this particular scripture. Anyway, come back for tomorrow, in which I promise you a shorter reading. 🙂
