Maybe you have heard the story of Noah and the boatload of animals. The whole story is so wonderful and so different from the picture-book tales that you see in bookstores.
You have probably heard that Noah built an ark. He built it exactly the shape and size that God had planned. It was not painted red and blue or yellow and green, but it was covered all over with black tar to make it waterproof. It was more important for this very special boat to be waterproof than to be pretty.
The ark had one door - a front door. There was no back door. And here’s a puzzle for you to think about as we tell you this story. Who shut the door?
It is not hard to picture the door wide open and large enough for a pair of elephants to go through. So it was certainly big enough for anybody who wanted to go in, not just to explore but to stay. There was no sign that said “No Trespassing,” and there was no cashier to take money. The open door was an invitation to “COME IN!”
Why would anyone want to go into the ark? Because God had Noah build it to save people from a big flood that He was going to send as punishment for their sinfulness. He has provided a different kind of ark for you and me. Our sinfulness deserves punishment too, but God sent His Son Jesus to bear the punishment for sin on the cross as the substitute for anyone who will accept Him as his or her very own Savior. Jesus said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
All the animals went inside the ark, and there was food for them inside too. Then Noah and all his family went in, eight of them, but the door wasn’t closed yet. It stayed open for seven more days, with the opportunity for all the people to come into the ark and be safe from the coming flood.
Wasn’t it kind of God to keep the door open for seven more days? Noah had warned the people that God said He was going to send a flood, and anyone outside of the ark would be drowned. God kept the door open for any who might accept the opportunity to go in and be safe from the coming judgment. But nobody else went in . . . they didn’t believe God.
God has given us a warning of coming judgment for our sins. Just as He had Noah build the ark as a place of safety from the flood, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to make a place of safety for sinners from the coming judgment for their sins. The door of salvation is open right now, waiting for you to come in. God does not tell us how long it will remain open - maybe just seven more days or maybe seven more minutes! When it’s God’s time, He will shut the door and leave you outside if you do not come in now while it is still open.
Who shut the door of the ark? God did. The Bible doesn’t tell us that the door was ever opened again until after the flood was over. When God shuts a door, it remains shut until He opens it.
Then it rained for forty days, and the water bubbled up from underground too. There never was such a flood before and never has been since. Even the mountains were covered with water. When God sends judgment, there is no way out!
The ark was not built like most boats, with a pointed prow at the front. It just floated safely - the higher the water, the higher it floated. No leaks and no drips. It was three floors high, and Noah and his family probably lived on the third floor, because there was a window for them up there, just as God had planned.
After a whole year, they felt the ark resting on a mountaintop. There were two ravens in the ark, and Noah sent one of them out, but it flew away and never came back. Then Noah sent out a dove, but it flew back again because the floodwaters were still too high -the ark was the only place it could rest. Noah took the dove inside the ark again.
Then a week later he sent the dove out again, and this time it came back with an olive leaf in its beak! That was a good sign that the trees were beginning to leaf out again. Maybe you’ve seen a picture of a dove with a leaf in its beak, and now you know the story.
A third time Noah sent the dove out, and this time it found a place to live in the fresh green trees and did not come back again. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and saw that the ground was dry. Very good news! It is always good news when you trust what God says. Now the eight people inside and all the animals were free to come out of the ark and live on the clean earth.
God is giving you an opportunity to be washed clean from all your sins through the death of Jesus. Have you accepted His loving offer to be saved from the punishment you deserve? Have you come through His open door? If not, He warns, “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:4646And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46)).
Think About God’s Word!
1. What did the dove bring back with it?
2. Who can close your bedroom door? Who is the door to God’s family? You’ll find an answer at the beginning of John 10.
Project: Can you give examples of more arks in the Bible? You’ll find one of them in Exodus 2.