Genesis chapter 7

Genesis 7:1 Next God said to Noah, "Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you're the righteous one. (The Message)

Only Noah was found to be righteous. Not Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives and children, not Noah's wife. Just Noah. But because of Noah, they were all saved.

Have you ever read the Brother Chronicles by Wendy Alec? I have, although I must admit I did skim read chunks of the books. But in those, the whole thing about God and creation, and the devil is the legality of the situation. In these books, satan was given a legal right to the earth at the Fall, and at the time of the flood, everyone was legally going to be destroyed unless they found a righteous man. The angels scoured the earth and eventually found Noah. They were therefore able to use a loophole in the contract and save Noah and his family. Then before Jesus, there was no righteous man anywhere at all., even though they went to every corner of the earth, so God came up with the plan of Jesus, who had to be born as a human in order to fulfil the terms of the contract. Satan thought he had won when Jesus died on the cross, but he missed some of the small print in the contract and Jesus legally claimed the earth and men back. I know this is fiction, but it does make you see how this whole thing could maybe have worked out, and why the death of Jesus on the cross was so important (not that I didn't already know that). And I know that mentioning these books is kind of going off topic, but it just shows what one man can do, doesn't it? I mean, here we have one man, Noah, who because of his righteousness, saved his wife, his sons, their wives, their families, and effectively the whole human race, and then we have Jesus. The man ()and god) who died for each one of us, saving each one of us from the lake of burning fire if we only reach out and take His hand.

I often wonder what will happen to my family, because they do not believe, and yet reading this, maybe the way I live my life, as badly as I do at times, maybe my example (the good, the bad and the ugly) will help to save them, just as Noah's lifestyle saved the lives of his wife and children. Does the way I live my life reflect my faith, let the glory of God shine through? Or does it show people how I can say one thing and yet do another?

We need to make sure as Christians that our walk and out talk line up. It is no good saying one thing, and doing another. Like those pastors who preach against adultery and are then found to have had numerous affairs. I know my husband is so quick to pick up on anything I do wrong. Only the other day I was driving towards our house and turned off the main road but was doing 32 miles an hour (the speed limit is 30) and he pointed this out in no uncertain terms. Yet barely 4 hours earlier, he had been doing 40 on that same stretch…… It's always one rule for him and another for me. And yes, I know two wrongs don't make a right and I was exceeding the speed limit (I did slow down though), but it does get wearing when every little thing you do is picked on.

After all, Noah messed up as we'll find out in the next chapter when he gets drunk. It’s not a case of always doing right, because after all, what person can say they ever did that? The only one who can is Jesus. But it is a case of trying to do God's will at all times, of setting our sights above the things of this earth, not behaving like everyone else, drinking, taking drugs, sleeping around, being filled with gossip, pride, selfishness, anxiety, but instead being filled with the Holy Spirit, letting His peace fill our whole bodies and minds and hearts.

Noah was told to take aboard the ship:

• Seven pairs of every clean animal;

• One pair of every unclean animal; and

• Seven pairs of every bird.

This was to ensure the survival of very bird and animal. The fact that seven animals were taken symbolises God's completeness, holiness, perfection. There were seven days of creation, seven churches, seven candlesticks, seven angels in Revelation, and here there are seven days of waiting in the ark before the flood comes. Then there are forty days and nights of rain like never before and everyone and everything on earth is killed except for Noah and his family, and all the animals and birds in the ark.

The floods lasted 150 days, nearly five months.