Genesis 6:19-22. 19Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive… 22So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
Noah’s ark. It’s one of the best known and most loved stories in the Bible, and definitely one of the most important animal stories.
After the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, things just got worse and worse. By the time we get to Genesis 6, God is so angry at man’s sinfulness that he decides to send a flood to destroy the world. This is God’s holy judgment. God can’t stand sin and the people of Earth were very, very sinful, doing terrible things. The Bible says that they literally never did anything good.
But the story of Noah’s ark is also the story of God’s love and mercy. The Bible says that Noah was the one person who still trusted the Lord. So God told Noah to build an ark that would protect him, his family, and anyone who would repent of their sins. For decades Noah preached to the people, warning them and inviting them to enter the ark. Sadly, no one else did. Just Noah, his family, and all those animals.
In the ark there was a family and every animal on Earth. Does that sound familiar? The ark became the new Garden of Eden. Just like Adam and Eve took care of all the animals in the garden, now Noah and Mrs. Noah will take care of all the animals in that big boat.
Noah’s ark was a do-over. A second chance. God needed to start over in the world because the world had become so sinful, but he also loved his creation so much that he decided to save it in that ark. The elephants and emus. The alligators and aardvarks. The platypuses and polar bears. Do you think your favorite animal was in the ark that day? Well, if it’s an animal that is still around today then it probably was.
Yes, the ark saved creation, including all the animals from God’s punishment, but the ark didn’t save the world from sin. Noah was like Adam in the garden in more ways than one. Not only did he take care of all the animals, but he also sinned like Adam. After the flood there was still sin and still death. Sadly, many of the animals in Noah’s ark are probably now extinct (do you know what extinct means?).
Noah was not the savior. Noah needed saving in the ark, he was not the ark. Jesus is the ark!
When Jesus came at Christmastime, he came to save all of creation once and for all time. He came to save you and me, and all the animals. Because of the advent of Jesus, one day there will be no more sin, no more death, and no more dying. We will stop sinning and the animals will stop dying, us too! But first you have to enter the ark of Jesus. You have to trust in his life and goodness as the only thing that can save you from the flood of God’s holy judgment.
Are you in the ark of Jesus?
Questions: What is your favorite animal? Do you think it was on Noah’s ark? Do you think you would have gotten on Noah’s ark? Are you on the ark of Jesus?
TLICfamily 