Story 6: The Ship That Saved Mankind ll

Self-denial and whole-hearted obedience, enormous expense and long hours of hard labor were involved in this Divine assignment, but No'ah faithfully met every requirement, and the crude carpenter's name graces the roster of the heroes of faith in Sacred history.
   Presently the Ark was completed, and the prophesies of the noble patriarch began to be fulfilled. Two animals of every kind, male and female, and a larger number of the domestic animals which were used for food, together with large supplies of grain and other food were placed in the Ark by No'ah. He and his wife, his sons and their wives, entered the Ark and closed the doors. The rains came with ever increasing violence, day by day the waters poured out of the overcast clouds until it seemed as though great oceans had been lifted into the sky, pouring their contents down upon the earth. Forty days and forty nights passed without cessation of the downpour; in every valley and on every plain the torrents swept into ruin everything before them until all the land was submerged. The waters rose higher and higher, covering the hills and the mountains. While millions of human beings joined every living creature of the earth in a watery grave, the great boat in which No'ah and his family abode in perfect security glided over the waters.
   For one hundred and fifty days the waters covered the entire face of the earth. Then the rains ceased, the winds began to blow, and the waters gradually receded toward the rivers, and lakes, and oceans. God's judgments had been accomplished: the human race had been destroyed, with the exception of No'ah and his family, and animal life had been exterminated.
   For many months after the waters began to go down, No'ah and his family remained in the Ark. One day No'ah opened the window which he had made in the Ark and sent out a raven. This bird, being capable of long flights without stopping, flew round and round until the waters had gone down from some high point, and never returned. No'ah then sent out a dove, but it failed to find a place to rest, and soon flew back to the Ark. After another week the dove was sent out again, and this time it returned with a leaf from an olive tree, indicating that the waters had sufficiently abated to permit vegetation to grow upon the land. After waiting another seven days No'ah sent forth the dove for the third time, and this time it did not return.
   It was evident that much of the land near the Ark was dry, and on investigation No'ah discovered that the land all around was dry. God then directed that he and his family leave the Ark, liberating all the animals which they had preserved. It is said that the mountain on which the Ark rested was Mt. Ar'a-rat, in the heart of the elevated plateau between the Black and Caspian Sea where the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes rivers. The mean elevation of this district is 5000 feet above sea level, and Mt. Ar'a-rat reaches a height of 17,750 feet. South of this mountainous region lies the land of ancient Bab-y-lo'ni-a and Mes-o-po-ta'mia, where the descendants of No'ah later settled.
  

Story 6: The Ship That Saved Mankind l

   In the midst of the universal wickedness of mankind and the gross immortality which caused God to order the destruction of the race and of all animal life upon the earth, there was found one good man. Of him alone could it truly be said that he walked with God, enjoyed constant communication with God, and always did what was right in the midst of a perverse and wicked generation. The name of the man was No'ah, who was of the Sethite line, and an immediate descendant of E'noch.
   No'ah retained the integrity of his soul when all the world around him was impure. Sinful companions and degenerate times were to him no excuse for faltering goodness; the darkness of the age merely enhanced the lustre of his rectitude. His goodness was genuine, unique, and stalwart. He was Heaven's representative upon earth, the world's hero, and the preserver of the human race.
   The piety of No'ah was characterized by justice and moral perfection; by Holy Communion with God, and by unfaltering faith and fervor. It did not waver before the rude winds of sin which swept the whole world into destruction, nor was it weakened by the persecution and sufferings of perilous times. It was kept bright and constant in its flame by the inward Grace of God.
   No'ah was the mouthpiece of God to the world of his age; because of his genuine goodness God entrusted to him the purposes of Heaven in the respect to the future. By the anointing of the Spirit of God his pure soul was made the vocalizing agency for God's message to humanity, and he was, indeed, a preacher of righteousness.
   In his communications with God it was revealed to No'ah that the time had come when all the people on earth were to be destroyed because of their wickedness. A great flood was to sweep over the whole earth, drowning every living creature. No'ah and his family, however, were to be spared because he alone had walked upright before the Lord.
   God then told No'ah how he was to save his life and that of his family, and the means by which the lives of two animals of every kind and specie, a male and a female, should be preserved for the future habitation of the world. No'ah was then directed to build a very large ship as large as many of the sea-going steamers of today, very long and very wide, containing three separate stories, and covered with a water-proof roof. The dimensions of the craft, the materials to be used, and the methods of construction were all prescribed by God. God was the architect, but No'ah was the builder; the plan of safety was of Divine origin, but human cooperation was required. The very elements which were to be used for the destruction of the wicked were to bear up in perfect safety this wondrous craft for the security of the righteous.
   The building of the Ark required a long time and involved a great deal of arduous labor. No'ah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Ja'pheth, were one hundred and twenty years in carrying to completion this gigantic undertaking, in which self-abandonment to God's will was required.

Story 5: E'noch Goes To Heaven Without Dying (My Favorite)

   In the midst of the almost universal wickedness that existed before the deluge when men were evil without any admixture of goodness whatsoever, there lived a man who was distinguished for his pious and continuous walk with God over a period of three hundred years. He pleased God, and God communed with Him from day to day. At the end of his earthly journey he had the further distinction of passing immediately into Heavens above, without undergoing death. His body was translated, and both body and soul were carried into the presence of God.
   The name of this man was E'noch, not the E'noch who was a son of Cain, but a man of the family of Seth. He was of the eighth generation from Ad'am and was the great-grandfather of No'ah. In spite of the inherent depravity of sin, notwithstanding the wickedness of his companions and the violent evils of the age, E'noch walked with God. His character was above reproach, his conduct was blameless, and his soul was pure. He was a bright and shining star in the midst of the darkest night in world history, and a sun of righteousness during the storm of violent wickedness.
   After walking with God here on earth, E'noch was called one day to continue his walk with God in Heaven. As a supernatural manifestation of the immortality of man to a generation which had completely forgotten God, and which had no faith in the future life, the glorious and instantaneous transition of this good man was a compelling message. He left behind him the testimony that he pleased God, and that by faith he was translated.
   E'noch had a son whose name was Me-thu'se-lah, and who is famed for attaining the greatest age of all time. He lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years of age, and though the usual lifetime of men of that period ranged from six to nine hundred years, we do not have the record of any other man who reached so great an age. It is a sad commentary on the man who lived longest of all that nothing else worthy of note is said about him, except that he was the father of La'mech. In the course of years La'mech became the father of No'ah, the hero of faith in preserving the human family from complete destruction in the flood, and through whom the Messianic line from Seth was saved.
  

Story 4: Seth And His Descendants ll

   One of the things which greatly accelerated the increase of wickedness during this period was the abuse of the marriage ordinance. As noted in a previous chapter, the descendants of Cain were grossly materialistic, immoral, and wicked. On the other hand, Seth and his descendants represented the lineage of righteousness. Though few in this line were sufficiently notable to be included in the Biblical record, they preserved the knowledge of God in the world. By Divine grace they were enabled to live pure and upright lives notwithstanding the natural depravity of the human heart and the engrossing wickedness of their companions. There was in their hearts an abiding consciousness of God's presence, a sense of intimate fellowship with the Infinite, the appropriation of spiritual provisions more real than the closest human relationship. They were the living witnesses of God in the world's darkest period.
   Certain members of the Sethite line ignored the moral and religious barriers between the families, and took wives from among the Cainites. This fact is stated in the passage: "The sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." To interpret this passage as referring to the marriage of angels with mortal women violates the truth revealed through Divine inspiration. The meaning is simply that the moral requirements in the marriage relationship were discarded. The separation Divinely ordered between the Sethites and the Cainites was set aside, thereby permitting the sons of the Sethites to marry the daughters of the Cainites. This situation led to an indescribable state of spiritual decline and wickedness, involving both lines of the human family in the curse of the approaching deluge. Of all the descendants of Seth then living on the earth only No'ah and his family were saved.

Story 4: Seth And His Descendants l

   After their son A'bel had been slain by his brother Cain, and Ad'am and Eve had been deprived of Cain as a result of the curse of God upon him, a third son was born to them. He was called Seth, which means "compensation" or "substitute." At the time of his birth his mother exclaimed: God hath given me another."
   Little is known of Seth except there sprang from his lineage E'noch and No'ah, the two most notable characters of the next few centuries, and that he was head of the Messianic line which Je'sus came into the world. Ad'am reached the great age of 937 years, and many sons and daughters were born to him and Eve. These children increased in the same manner, as did their descendants, and since people of that era often lived eight or nine centuries the population was greatly increased.
   For a period of more than a thousand years the history of the human race was overshadowed with a pale of silence and oblivion. The multiplied thousands who lived during that period had ideas, emotions, and habits common to all humanity, sustained relations to one another and to the universe much the same as those who live today, and owed supreme allegiance and obedience to God. New discoveries were made, great deeds were wrought, communications received from God, and the race moved forward in material progress. The Divine record, however, mentions only the fact that the people increased in wickedness until God so greatly repented their creation that He brought upon the world a deluge which destroyed every living creature except those who were preserved in the Ark which Noah prepared under His direction. As God looked down upon the world He saw that every imagination of man was continually evil, there were no doubt some good men whom the knowledge of God kept alive on the earth throughout that dark period. Only one man, however, was sufficiently distinguished for righteousness and true spiritual religion to gain recognition in the sacred annals. His name was E'noch, the subject of our next chapter.
  

Story 3: The Birth Of Cain And A'bel ll

   Soon afterwards the Lord apprehended Cain and inquired of him: "Where is A'bel thy brother?" Cain sought to evade the question by asking , "Am I my brother's keeper?" Then the Lord declared that A'bel's blood was like crying to Him out of the ground. For this evil deed Cain was cursed as a vagabond to wander over the earth, a continual exile without a home.
   God placed a mark upon Cain, and sent him away with the announcement that anyone who harmed him should be punished. Cain and his wife went into a distant land, and there his children were born. He built a city which he named after his first son, whom he called E'noch. Included in the curse of God against him was that the land should no longer yield its fruit to his efforts, and he was therefore obliged to turn to industrial occupations for a livelihood. Bitterest of all his sufferings must have been the constant image of his murdered brother in his conscience, and the hours of remorse and anguish as the blood of his own mother's son clung to his hands.
   Not one item of moral goodness is recorded of Cain's descendants. They became leaders in arts and crafts, advanced in worldly wisdom and material prosperity, and spread abroad in the land. Seven successive generations are mentioned in the Bible, but there is no indication that any of them ever worshipped God or performed any religious or moral deed worthy of record. La'mech, the fifth in the line of Cain's descendants, was the first polygamist, also a murderer. In the remorse of conscience he said:
               "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!
                  Ye wives of Le'mech, hearken unto my speech:
               For I have slain a man to my wounding,
                  And a young man to my hurt.
               If Cain hath been avenged sevenfold,
                  Truly Le'mech, seventy-and-sevenfold."
   In the sixth generation they introduced refinements into the system of society. Ja'bel stabilized the occupations of the shepherd and the herdsman. Tu'bal Cain promoted the use of scientific tools, and Ja'bal excelled in music and poetry. The Cainite line excelled in worldly ambition, in wealth and luxury, and in material knowledge. Their moral and spiritual decline, however, led to their complete extinction in the deluge which soon came upon the world.

Story 3: The Birth Of Cain And A'bel l

   Driven from the Garden of E'den under the curse of God, Ad'am and Eve went into the world to set up another home and to work for a livelihood. In the course of time their home was blessed by a first-born son, Eve called him Cain.
   The next birth recorded is that of A'bel, whose name had been taken to mean either "vanity" or "short lived." The name could therefore indicate either the pride with which was accepted, or the untimely death soon to overtake him at the hands of his brother.
   As the two boys grew into manhood they were taught to work. They were not allowed to grow up in idleness and sloth, but were instructed and trained for the active duties of life. A'bel became a keeper of sheep, while Cain chose to work in the fields, raising grains and fruits. Each followed his chosen vocation industriously, achieving prosperity .
   When Ad'am and Eve lived in the Garden of E'den they enjoyed a close personal fellowship with God, carrying on intimate conversions with Him. When the barrier of sin separated them from God they were required to build an altar of heaped up stones on which they offered blood sacrifices in atonement for their sins. Before the altar they made their confessions and prayers to God, and asked God to bless them.
   Cain and A'bel were taught to make such offerings to God. They grew into manhood with a sense of their obligations for worship, and were faithful in practicing formal sacrifices on the altar. Each of them brought to the Lord offerings from the fruits of labor, presenting them in formal worship.
   Just as there were differences in the offerings presented to God upon the altar of sacrifice, so there were fundamental differences in the meaning of the offerings, and in the spirit in which they were given. Cain brought of the fruits and grains which he had grown, but did not take the time or trouble to select the best. A'bel brought of the firstlings and best of his flock, which he killed and burned on the altar as a blood offering to the Lord. His offering conformed to the religious instructions received from his father, both in regard to the form and substance of the offering, and in the motive and spirit with which it was made. Cain's offering was unacceptable to God, not only because of his failure to provide the right sort of sacrifice and to conform to the manner prescribed by God, but because his heart was not right before the Lord.
   God was well pleased with A'bel's offering and gave tokens of its acceptance because it was made in obedience to Divine law, was an offering of faith, and clearly indicated reliance upon  Divine grace for the forgiveness of sin. He rejected the offering of Cain, who exhibited the spirit of sin in his heart by becoming angry with God instead of confessing his wrong and asking forgiveness. He therefore stealthily fell upon his brother while he was in the fields caring for his flocks. So Cain slew A'bel, and so the first child born into this world became the first murderer.