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+ + + NOAH + + +

Many years passed and from the family of Seth came a man called Noah. He was a good and just man and lived close to God.

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

By this time there were many people on the earth, and the more there were, the more wicked they became.

One day, God told Noah, "I am sorry that I created men; I will destroy them and all the animals. But I will save you, and make agreement with you, sealed by My Promise.

"Make yourself an ark, a covered boat, from planks of wood.

"Make the ark very large, with three decks, and build cabins in the ark, enough for your whole family."

So Noah built the ark, just as God commanded him.

When Noah had finished the ark, God said, "Take your whole family, your wife and your sons and their wives, into the ark, and also pairs of all kinds of living creatures, to preserve them."

Noah did all that God told him to do. When they were all safely in the ark, the doors were shut and it began to rain. It rained as it had never rained before, and has never rained since, for forty days and forty nights.

The water rose higher and higher until finally the ark was floating, and higher until it covered the tallest mountains, and still it rained.

Noah and his family and the animals in the ark were the only creatures left alive anywhere.

After 150 days, the flood waters began to go down. Finally, the ark came to rest on the top of a mountain.

After 40 days, Noah let a dove out of the ark, but it could find no place to perch so it came back.

Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again, and this time it returned at nightfall with a twig of olive in its mouth. And so Noah knew that the flood was over.

God spoke to Noah, "Come out of the ark, with your sons and their wives and all the animals. Let men and animals spread over the earth again. Let them be fruitful and multiply on the earth and fill it."

When they had all come out of the ark, Noah built an altar, and made burnt offerings to God.

God smelled the pleasing fragrance of the offerings, rising to Him like incense. He said to Noah and his family, "I give My Promise to you and your children, and to all living things with you, for all future generations: Never again will I send a flood to destroy the earth because of men's wickedness. I will set a rainbow in the clouds as a sign of My Promise."

Two Psalms we often sing remind us of God's goodness to us.

Ps 102

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Blessed art Thou, O Lord!

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Blessed art Thou, O Lord!

Ps 145

Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.

Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish.

The Lord will reign forever; Thy God, O Zion, to all generations.

+ + + The Tower of Babel + + +

The sons of Noah had children of their own and these married and had children too. All these people spoke the same language. They said, "Come, let us build a city, and a tower that will reach all the way to heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we will never be scattered over the face of the earth."

Now God was angry with men for all staying in one place, and for trying to build a tower that would reach all the way to heaven.

So God confused their one language, so that they all began speaking different languages, and could not understand each other. In this way God scattered them from there over all the earth, and they left off building the city and the tower that would reach all the way to heaven.

This was why their tower was called the tower of Babel, because Babel means confusion.

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