When Noah was 601 years old, 10.5 months after the flood began, Noah lifted back the cover of the boat to look. Two more months went by and at last the earth was dry! Noah and his family were in the boat for an entire year!
Ten generations into the life of the earth, God was so frustrated with the people that He flooded the entire planet, wiping out every living thing except Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons' wives. How frustrated, how angry, would God be with us, had He not sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty price for our sins? God promises in Genesis 8:21-22: "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood. As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." We can trust God's promises! He's kept this one for thousands of years!
In chapter 9:13-16, God makes this covenant with Noah (and all of Noah's descendants), "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."
From Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham & Japheth, come all humans on earth today. Shem's branch of the family tree includes Abram. Abram (later known as Abraham) is shown to have immense faith. I look forward to reading again the story of his life. David Guzik, in his commentary on Genesis 11 says this: "If you despair in knowing you do not have Abram’s faith, take comfort in knowing you have Abram’s God. He can build in you the faith of Abram, because He built it in Abram himself." What a blessed thought!
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