subject: Noah's Seven Day Window [print this page] One hundred and twenty years would have passed since mankind had become so corrupt and wicked, that God had decided to place the human race on some kind of one hundred and twenty year grace period: "Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be one hundred and twenty years.'" Genesis 6:3
Somewhere at the beginning of this grace period, God had approached Noah and gave him the divine blueprints when it came to building a great ship which was called the "Ark." Noah would obey God and begin the great project that God had placed before him. It would take Noah the full one hundred and twenty years to finish building the Ark. It would be at this time that God would approach Noah again and the Lord would announce that a Great Flood of Judgment would be arriving within the next seven days: "Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." Genesis 7:4
During these seven days, Noah would not be idle -- for the Lord had sent every specific type of animal that He wanted saved along with Noah's family. Noah would settle his family along with the animals that God had sent his way inside the great ship: "Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and it's mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth." Genesis 7:2-3
There's a lot we can learn from Noah, being that he was a great man of faith. Although as we would find out later on in this account, he was far from perfect and yet the Lord still decided to choose him when it came to saving the human race at that time. The mere fact that he did all that the Lord had commanded him to do without seeing any signs that a mighty storm or flood was coming, tells us a lot when it comes to the strong faith and trust he had towards the Lord. Noah dedicated the next one hundred and twenty years of his life to building the Ark. Because of his obedience and faith, Noah's family was spared from the great judgment that was coming against mankind and would be honored as one of the greatest men that has ever been recorded in the history of humanity. Oh, if we could follow the Lord with the same type of heart and mind that Noah had? I wonder how much we would be able to get done without having to have everything proven through some type of historical or scientific method.
The task that Noah had completed was so great that the naysayers often times, find it hard to believe that Noah and his family were able to accomplish such a daunting feat all by themselves. Because of their skepticism, people tend to make outrageous claims when it comes to Noah. Some believe that Noah had to be some type of king of some sort? But they fail to realize that Noah had one hundred and twenty years to finish this great ship. Also, they seem to forget that Noah and his family were already expert boat builders during their day. On top of this, the scriptures would have stated that Noah was a king or some type of ruler -- just like they did for everybody else that can be found within the sacred passages. Another important thing to remember, is the love that God has for the human race. There's no way that God would have allowed thousands of loyal workers to perish within the Great Flood of Judgment after they had been so loyal to his faithful servant Noah. Understand that this would not have happened; being that the Lord has shown mankind mercy, grace and love all throughout His sacred scriptures.
There's something else I find quite interesting when it comes to the timing of the flood? Right before God had sent the Great Flood of Judgment, another benefit that Noah had, is when it came to his harvest for that year. Understand, that the flood would take place in the second month on the seventeenth day. Now, I find this to be very interesting, being that the second month would have been the month of November -- which means, that Noah would have just finished his final harvest for that year, in which he could use to stock the Ark with most of it -- right before the Great Flood of Judgment had hit. This should remind us, that if we can learn how to trust God completely when it comes to our own storms, He will provide us with all that we need to make it through those storms and beyond.
