Genesis 6:8-22

Noah is told to build the ark in this chapter and he is given specific instructions by the Lord. There are reasons why the Lord is destroying every "flesh" because the earth was filled with violence and "all flesh" was corrupt before Him. Those two reasons are given in verses 12 and 13. I think the Lord has plenty of reason to destroy it all again in our days but he made a covenant that He will not do that until the end comes and it will not be with water this time. Many people discredit the story of the ark but we believe in it and our church may end up standing alone on this one day. The Council of Christian Churches has decided I believe in 1941 in Chicago that this story is as much a fantasy to teach good principles as it is the stories o tell kids that start with "once upon a time." But there are many Christian researchers out there that work hard to show us how it was all possible.

I am not going to use the time here to prove that 16,000 varieties of animals could have been gathered, or even answer the question "How did the Kangaroo hopped his way from Australia to where Noah was?" - well, that is easy so I will: the earth was not divided in continents the way it is today. The Kangaroo may be eating outside of Noah's house all day as far as I am concerned. But there are many amazing questions that can be answered, even questions we don't think about like how fish and plant survived, and how they managed animal waste, how the fed them properly, and such, how they were gathered. It is amazing and if one believes in God one can easily see the possibilities here.

There is no question in my mind that the Lord can do anything He wants, even instruct animals to do this and that so Noah did not have to do all the work one does at the zoo today. The good thing about this story is that, such like the story of the sea parting so people could cross to the other side stepping on dry land, it shows the power of God and it sifts the unbeliever from the believer. This is a story not less mind boggling and prone to be questioned than the reality of the Book of Mormon or the fact that Jesus brought to life a man that was dead for four days already. We either believe in God and His miracles or we don't. If we don't we can pray and get answers from Him. Too many choose to just ignore Him and it is a sad day in the life of a person when that happens. Even those who are praying always, reading scriptures and serving God's children now and then forget that God is there and stupid things. The world calls for open minds and so does the Lord.

What is in this story of building an ark this long and this wide and putting animals inside? What is practical for me today in the fact that the Lord got tired of all creatures and not just men? I think the more important thing it not just the fact that the Lord does get fed up with us, that eventually he may get ticked off of our games, but that he loved his creation so much that He decided to clean the house. He chose this man because according to the scripture Noah "was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." There is always someone good in the midst of all the filth and the trash we see around us in this world. When Noah was born Adam was still alive. Adam probably knew what was going on and was very saddened by his posterity. He remembered the garden of Eden. He probably regretted the way he handled things and went back to God after his death, prior to the flood, wondering why this and why that. Eve who was so happy with the birth of this and that child probably cried bitter tears when she saw so many of his descendants who were giants, who were men of renown, to the things they were doing. She probably cried many times to see her daughters being promiscuous as they became that the Lord would decide to wipe out everyone, good and bad in one flood except Noah and his wife, and his three sons with their wives: 8 people in total.

What I learn is that even the Lord had to evaluate what was going on around and take some action. We must do the same. We can surely look at our life and see the mess that it is and start gathering only the good things in one place and cause a flood to get rid of all that is corrupt and violent that is in our heart, in our life. We get baptized and that is a flood but every week we can bring those waters back upon us through the Sacrament. Every week we can make an auto analysis and and inventory of all that is bad in our life and all that is good and keep what is good in a big place in our heart and let the Lord cleanse everything around us.

The idea of a weekly flood is not the only thing that comes to my mind. Noah did not do all that in one day and it was not easy. We can only imagine the people mocking him for building an vessel that big in the middle of nowhere. He had very good sons because they helped him in this endeavor. I don't think they invited others to help because there would be no reward for them. The craftsmanship necessary had to be in them or the Lord helped them learn fast. In any case they had to use their hands to make this all possible. We too expect the Lord to save us from a flood of filth and temptations but too often are not willing to build the ark and patch every single opening with pitch, inside and out. We must meditate on this, and think if we really do what it takes to have the peace and protection we expect in our lives.

It is easy to discredit some stories in the scriptures for our own convenience, so we can continue the same us from day to day. But we know better and we must give these scriptures a chance to teach and mold us. Let's try that today. It is very easy to see the evils in our life, but if we concentrate we will see the goodness within. Why not make a list like Noah made of the living creatures he was going to protect and work on keeping the good things in us alive and pray that the Lord bring forth a flood for us, a flood of forgiveness and love, a flood of the power of the atonement and peace like only He can give us peace. Then in the midst of the storms of life we too will be safe like Noah and his children were... and we too will make a covenant with the Lord to serve him with a new heart as we all should.