Part 1 – Flexibility Training – Reading
We tend to think of Noah and the Ark as a tale for children. “Noah, he built him an arky arky.” “The animals they came two by two.” “The rain came down and the flood came up.” But the reality is more like those videos on Facebook when there is severe flooding somewhere, seeing helpful neighbors working to save someone from drowning in a sinking car. In that moment everyone is frantic. Lives are at stake. The water is moving in so much quicker than one would think. This is the reality of the flood, like a news report: 56 deaths from the floods that resulted in numerous homes and businesses being swept away. Except in this flood, only eight people were saved from drowning. The waters came down and drenched everything. Then in a matter of moments, flash floods started sweeping people and things away. Frantic parents pushed their children up on the rooftops but the water kept rising. Perhaps some were able to cling to floating objects for a day or two; but without provisions, they had no hope of surviving. Could Noah and his family hear the screams of their neighbors? Or did the frightened brays and barks and growls of the animals mercifully mask the sounds of those outside the ark.
No. This is no story for children. It is frightening. It reminds us that God is in control and can bring a well-deserved judgement on us at any time.
As you read Genesis 7:1 – 8:19, don’t hear it as a children’s story, but hear it in all its horror as the whole world dies, save those few lives in the ark.
The thought of all those terrified people freezes my heart. But how much worse for those who had heard Noah’s message about the coming judgement and realized before they died just how wrong they had been.
Now let the dove come to mind. That dove with the olive branch in it’s mouth has become the symbol of peace in our time. But originally, it was a sign of God’s abating judgement, hope that life will continue. The only way that life may truly continue is through the hope Christians have in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way we will escape the coming judgement upon His return. That is what Jesus is talking about in the quote from Matthew 24 below. How important it is that we, like Noah, get the word out that judgement is coming, that God requires obedience; but the good news is in return for that obedience we get Him Who is our greatest joy.
PART 2 – Strength Training – Memory & Thinking
Don’t give up! Memorize the verse below and keep reviewing the verses from the previous days.
Genesis 7:5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
2 Peter 2:9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.
Genesis 4:7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
As you read the verses below, take some time to reflect on the judgement that came against those outside the ark. The second and third we read yesterday. But this time, read them from the perspective of the tragic deaths of those who refused to give up their sinful lives.
Matthew 24:36-38 (ESV)
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
1 Peter 3:20-21 (NLT)
… God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 2:5, & vs 9-10 (ESV)
if [God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly… then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Part 3 – Cardio Training – Prayer
Think of those you know who still need to hear the message of Jesus and how He saves us from the penalty of our sins. Use the story of Noah and the verses above to help you pray for them, and to pray for yourself that you will have courage like Noah to let people know that God knows how to rescue them. You might pray something like this:
Dear Father, you are a Righteous God who cannot stand to see the sin that is so rampant in our world. But You don’t leave us without a warning. You’ve told us exactly what will happen and exactly what it is we need to do. That, as in the life of Adam, sin brought death. As in the lives of those in the days of Noah, sin put them under punishment. But if we head the warning, You have provided the way of escape. Help me be courageous to tell those who are heading toward death just how they may be saved – that it is only in Jesus, Your Son, that they may be rescued.
Part 4 – Endurance Training
Sometimes endurance is simply the act of hanging on through maddening repetition day after day. If you count up the days Noah was on the boat, it was somewhere around 375 and 380 days. Can you imagine being stuck in a confined space for more than a year? Constantly feeding animals, tending to them, trying to keep your sanity. It is essential to endure even in these days of monotony. Like Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. “ In Noah’s due season, he was released from the ark to rebuild the world. So don’t give up but keep going, and then come back tomorrow to continue to study God’s Word.
Faith Gym 