"And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.  But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.  And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female."  Genesis 6:17-19

A little background...

The account of the worldwide flood in the time of Noah is told in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament.  It is a well known fact that God commanded Noah to build an ark.  This was specially designed by God for the purpose of preserving life.  Noah obeyed God.  When the time came, God commanded Noah and his family and the animals to go into the ark and God shut the door.  After seven days, it began to rain.  The waters under the earth broke through as well.  Water covered the earth, destroying every living creature upon the earth that lived on the dry ground and flew in the air. 

This was an unimaginable storm.  Water poured from the sky and poured from the ground.  Massive flooding took place, and the water kept rising.  People and animals were swept away as the waters poured across the land.  The waters continued to rise until there was no dry ground.  Even those who lived on the highest peaks were swept away.  Water covered all the dry land. 

It took forty days and nights for the water to cover the earth, but Noah and all that were with Noah were safe in the ark.  How frightening the sound of the waters and the rocking of the ark as the waves carried them wherever they wished.  When the forty days and nights were accomplished, the waters began to recede.  It took one hundred and fifty days for the water to recede completely.  After the water receded, the earth began to dry.  When the land was ready again for habitation, God told Noah to leave the ark.

Can you imagine how Noah and his family must have felt at this wonderful news? 

When the door opened, Noah and his family got their first look at a new world.  Everything had changed.  The water had wiped the earth clean of all that defiled it.  Nothing was left of the civilization they knew so well.  When they came off the ark, life had new meaning.  Nothing would ever be the same again.  Genesis gives some hints about how wicked the world before the flood had become...

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.  And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."  Genesis 6:4-6

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."  Genesis 6:11-12

Violence filled the earth.  Angels had intermarried with the human women.  The thoughts of mankind was continuously evil.  The earth itself was corrupt.  Is it any wonder that God had to execute His justice?  If He had not, then how could He be just.  Sin must be punished.  The Bible says in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  We know from the account of the flood that God is just; He keeps His Law, and He carried out the execution. 

Only Noah worshipped the Lord God Jehovah. 

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."  Genesis 6:8

Notice the Bible doesn't say that Noah's wife, his sons, or his sons' wives found grace.  It only mentions Noah. 

The first thing Noah did was build an altar.  He made a burnt offering to the Lord God Jehovah using some of the animals that came off the ark.  This is very interesting.  Noah's action of offering a burnt sacrifice provides evidence the people before the flood knew the Lord God Jehovah.  They knew to worship Him.  It also demonstrates that they were without excuse.  They willfully sinned against the Lord God Jehovah.

God made an important promise to Noah and his family that impacts our world today:

"And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."  Genesis 8:21-22

I love this!  Verse 22 is a good one to use when refuting the global warming or climate change theories.  God promises there will always be seasons!  God is telling us that our ecosystem will be preserved by Him!  We do not have to fear a coming uninhabitable world.  God is able to preserve what He has created, until the new Heaven and new Earth, i.e. the new Jerusalem, as mentioned in Revelation 21. 

"And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, and I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."  Genesis 9:8-11

God even gave a token of his faithfulness to keep His covenant that no one can miss; a rainbow!

"And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.  And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:  and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."  Genesis 9:12-15

Noah was head of his household, in accordance with God's order for the family.  He was responsible for his family, for God spared them for Noah's sake.  Now Noah's family consisted of his wife and his three adult sons.  Each son had a wife.  This speaks to the institution of marriage.  Noah had one wife.  Together they had children.  They formed a family.  Noah was monogamous.  We can assume that this was possibly unusual.  Maybe it was even limited to Noah, for he was the only righteous man upon the earth.  Remember Noah and his family were the only ones saved in the flood.

What happened next is absolutely astounding.  After all they have witnessed, you would think that God would be more real to them.  I mean if you know that God exists for sure, and you have witnessed His judgment, then surely there would be a holy fear of God and His power over all things.  I would have expected a measure of caution about sinning. 

Ham, the youngest son, did something so wicked, it was shocking to the family.  Worse, afterward, Ham bragged to his brothers of his deed.  He obviously had no shame over what he had done. 

"And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:  and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.  And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.  And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.  And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him." Genesis 9:20-24

There is some controversy over the account of Ham going into Noah's tent while Noah was in a drunken stupor.  The Bible isn't clear about what happened exactly.  Bible scholars believe that something of a sexual nature must have occurred to Noah or even possibly to his wife.  Whatever it was, it was certainly a perversion worthy of extreme punishment. 

Noah's oldest sons were horrified at what had happened, the two older brothers sought to protect their father.  By walking backwards toward their father carrying a robe to cover him, they demonstrated their love for their father and their respect.  Upon awakening Noah realized what had happened.  He was so angry.  Ham had betrayed him and the family by his wickedness.  Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan and successive generations. 

"And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."  Genesis 9:25

He removed all honor from his son and his descendents, all the future generations, casting them into the role of the lowly and despised servant forever. 

We could ask why did Ham act as he did, but the answer lies in the heart.  Ham's sin nature was powerful.  He yielded to temptation, preferring to indulge his fleshly desires rather than obey God.  His behavior indicates he did not believe he would be punished.  He made sure to make it known.  He was proud of what he had done.  He had shamed his father and his mother.  Ham had witnessed God's justice and deliverance, but it did not matter to him.  Clearly, there was no sign of repentance, no sorrow, no shame. 

Sin had reared its ugly head once again.  The cleansed earth was defiled again.  Mankind still needed a Savior.

In our time, we often are amazed how easy it is to sin.  We disobey God without much thought.  Sin comes easy to us because we have a sin nature.  The sin nature found in every human being was not wiped out by the flood.  It still resided in the hearts of Noah and his family. Mankind still possessed the ability to sin, and the right to choose to sin. 

Sin does not have to be the guiding factor in our lives.  We have God's Word to teach us.  The difference between right and wrong is engraved on our hearts.  We have a Savior, Jesus.  A true Believer loves the Lord God Jehovah enough to obey Him, and to grieve over sin. 

The Lord God Jehovah is just and full of grace.  Sin must be punished.  We understand that Jesus took the punishment we deserve, so that we might be reconciled to God the Father.  Without Jesus, there is no remission of sin.  Without a cleansing of sin, there can be no place in God's Kingdom.  God gave His Son Jesus to demonstrate mercy and grace to fallen man.  How blessed we are to be reconciled to the Lord God Jehovah!  Let us  not take Jesus' sacrifice and rising again lightly.  Let us be grateful for the chance to be redeemed and reconciled to God.

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* Mold leaves a stain.  Sin stains our heart, marking is as unrighteous, leading to a hardening that blocks out the truth.