In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open, the flood gates of the sky were opened, and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights.   Genesis 7:11-12 HCSB

In Genesis 2:5-6, it says God had not made it rain on the land…But water would come out of the ground to water the entire surface of the land. God had made the Garden of Eden with its own wonderfully designed irrigation system. Adam and Eve didn’t have to find a stream and bring a little watering jug to water everything, God took care of that for them.

When Noah warned people of a flood, they thought he was a few bricks shy of a load. How could it flood if it never rained? We are told in Genesis 6:5 that God was fed up with the people on the earth because he saw they were wicked, and all their thoughts were evil all the time.

Genesis 6:5 also says God regretted having made man and God was grieved in His heart. It had gotten that bad. God was regretting ever making mankind. Men were so evil; they were causing God grief. God declared judgment on this evil behavior and instructed Noah to build the ark. It had gotten so bad; God was going to wipe man and every living creature off the earth. Noah, however, was a righteous man and God decided to save Noah and His family because of Noah’s righteousness.

It sounds so cruel, doesn’t it? Just wipe everybody off the face of the earth. We have to understand, however, how evil man had become and how upset God was over this. We also have to understand that we all have a choice just as the men and women of Noah’s day had a choice. They had the choice to serve God, but they chose to defy God instead. We must also understand that it took Noah somewhere between 70-100 years to build the ark. They had plenty of time to repent and get right with God. They didn’t choose to do that either.

Matthew 24:37-44 compares the coming of Christ with the days of Noah. Verses 37-39 say, “As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.

All the while Noah was building the ark, he was preaching and warning people of the coming flood. They ignored his pleas to get right with God. They didn’t see a need to board the ark. After Noah and his family and the animals boarded the ark, God shut the door. Then the rains came.

Before the rain, they were partying and having a good time. Sound familiar? They didn’t see a need to listen to God’s word. They didn’t see a need to take God seriously, but then the rains came.

My friend, just as the rains came, one day Jesus is coming back. And just like those who had never seen rain, we haven’t seen anything like what’s going to happen on earth during the tribulation. We are going to see God’s wrath poured out on the world.

Right now, we have a choice. Right now, we can choose to surrender our lives to Christ and live for Him. We can choose to live in the shelter he provides. There will, however, come a time when it is too late.

I encourage you to trust in God before it’s too late. When the rain began to flood the earth, I’m sure many people were regretting their decision to not get right with God. I’m sure they were wishing they’d listened to Noah and boarded that ark. But it was just too late.

Turn to God before it’s too late.

Have a great day!