NOAH’S FLOOD
For seven days after Noah and his family
entered the ark, there appeared no sign of the coming storm.
. . . It was a time of triumph to the world without. The apparent
delay confirmed them in the belief that Noah’s message was
a delusion, and that the Flood would never come. Notwithstanding
the solemn scenes which they had witnessed -- the beasts and
birds entering the ark, and the angel of God closing the door
-- they still continued their sport and revelry, even making
a jest of these signal manifestations of God’s power. They
gathered in crowds about the ark, deriding its inmates with a
daring violence which they had never ventured upon before.
But upon the eighth day dark clouds overspread
the heavens. There followed the muttering of thunder and the
flash of lightning. Soon large drops of rain began to fall. The
world had never witnessed anything like this, and the hearts
of men were struck with fear. All were secretly inquiring, “Can
it be that Noah was in the right, and that the world is doomed
to destruction?” Darker and darker grew the heavens, and
faster came the falling rain. The beasts were roaming about in
the wildest terror, and their discordant cries seemed to moan
out their own destiny and the fate of man. Then “the fountains
of the great deep” were “broken up, and the windows
of heaven were opened.” Water appeared to come from the
clouds in mighty cataracts. Rivers broke away from their boundaries,
and overflowed the valleys. Jets of water burst from the earth
with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of
feet into the air, and these, in falling, buried themselves deep
in the ground.
The people first beheld the destruction of
the works of their own hands. Their splendid buildings, and the
beautiful gardens and groves where they had placed their idols,
were destroyed by lightning from heaven, and the ruins were scattered
far and wide. The altars on which human sacrifices had been offered
were torn down, and the worshipers were made to tremble at the
power of the living God, and to know that it was their corruption
and idolatry which had called down their destruction.
As the violence of the storm increased, trees,
buildings, rocks, and earth were hurled in every direction. The
terror of man and beast was beyond description. Above the roar
of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people that had despised
the authority of God. Satan himself, who was compelled to remain
in the midst of the warring elements, feared for his own existence.
He had delighted to control so powerful a race, and desired them
to live to practice their abominations and continue their rebellion
against the Ruler of heaven. He now uttered imprecations against
God, charging Him with injustice and cruelty. Many of the people,
like Satan, blasphemed God, and had they been able, they would
have torn Him from the throne of power. Others were frantic with
fear, stretching their hands toward the ark and pleading for
admittance. But their entreaties were in vain. Conscience was
at last aroused to know that there is a God who ruleth in the
heavens. They called upon Him earnestly, but His ear was not
open to their cry. In that terrible hour they saw that the transgression
of God’s law had caused their ruin. Yet while, through fear
of punishment, they acknowledged their sin, they felt no true
contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They would have returned to
their defiance of Heaven, had the judgment been removed. So when
God’s judgments shall fall upon the earth before its deluge
by fire, the impenitent will know just where and what their sin
is -- the despising of His holy law. Yet they will have no more
true repentance than did the old-world sinners.
Some in their desperation endeavored to break
into the ark, but the firm-made structure withstood their efforts.
Some clung to the ark until they were borne away by the surging
waters, or their hold was broken by collision with rocks and
trees. The massive ark trembled in every fiber as it was beaten
by the merciless winds and flung from billow to billow. The cries
of the beasts within expressed their fear and pain. But amid
the warring elements it continued to ride safely. Angels that
excel in strength were commissioned to preserve it.
The beasts, exposed to the tempest, rushed
toward man, as though expecting help from him. Some of the people
bound their children and themselves upon powerful animals, knowing
that these were tenacious of life, and would climb to the highest
points to escape the rising waters. Some fastened themselves
to lofty trees on the summit of hills or mountains; but the trees
were uprooted, and with their burden of living beings were hurled
into the seething billows. One spot after another that promised
safety was abandoned. As the waters rose higher and higher, the
people fled for refuge to the loftiest mountains. Often man and
beast would struggle together for a foothold, until both were
swept away.
From the highest peaks men looked abroad
upon a shoreless ocean. The solemn warnings of God’s servant
no longer seemed a subject for ridicule and scorning. How those
doomed sinners longed for the opportunities which they had slighted!
How they pleaded for one hour’s probation, one more privilege
of mercy, one call from the lips of Noah! But the sweet voice
of mercy was no more to be heard by them. Love, no less than
justice, demanded that God’s judgments should put a check
on sin. The avenging waters swept over the last retreat, and
the despisers of God perished in the black depths. -- E. G. White,
Patriarchs and Prophets,Pacific Press Publishing Assn.,
Mountain View, CA., 1958, pp. 98-101.
The next time God will destroy the earth
by fire. Read the details of this next destruction in our incomparable
book, Earth’s Final Hours. Also read approximately
when this distruction by fire will occur.