Take Two: Genesis 7, Proverbs 29

In Chapter 7, we find the narrative of the flood account itself. It is interesting to note that we have evidence of a flood recorded in the stories of other religions. Each religion had a story of a flood occurring. Some today question the details of the flood account as recorded in Scripture. Some even say that the flood could not have occurred. If you believe this, then you must believe that all religions are wrong...and all had the same "goofy" idea to make up a story about the flood; or, you have to believe that Moses "copied" the flood idea from another religion and that Noah was not real...or was not really the captain of the first zoo cruiseliner.

In Gen 7:1 Noah was told to enter the ark with his family. He alone was seen to be righteous before God. He was to take 7 pairs of the clean animals and the birds. He was to take two of every unclean animal (male and female). These would be the animals which would procreate and repopulate the earth (Gen 7:2-4).

In Gen 7:5 we see that Noah obeyed. He was 600 (ish) years old and had 3 sons who were 100 (ish) years old plus Mrs. Noah and his 3 daughters-in-law.

In Gen 7:11 we see the consumation of judgment. Water burst forth from the earth and the skies. It filled the earth to the point where it caused the ark (with all of its cargo and passengers) to float in only 40 days (Gen 7:17). The water level continued to rise until "all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered" (Gen 7:19). The water was 23 feet higher than even the highest mountains (Gen 7:20). This occurred so that all living things (man and animal) which breathed air would be blotted out and the earth would be re-created (Gen 7:22-23; Gen 7:3).

God had promised to bring judgment against wickedness and He did. He had promised to fulfill His covenant with Noah and He did. He had found a way to judge and to bring salvation in the same righteous act.

Proverbs 29:15 is the takeaway today. Parenting is an active participation event. In order to develop children into productive, God-fearing children who fulfill their purpose in life, we as parents must actively engage them to correct and shape. This provides the wisdom necessary to become self-developing in the future. To fail to actively develop them...is to trust that they will "get it" on their own. The "end" of this approach is shame.