Noah and the Ark

The World Grows Dark

Long, long ago — so long ago that the mountains were still young — the world had become a very sad place. People had forgotten about God and were doing terrible things to one another every single day.

God looked down at the earth He had made with such love and felt deep sorrow. But in the middle of all the darkness, there was one man who was different. His name was Noah.

Noah loved God. He was honest and kind, and he taught his three sons — Shem, Ham, and Japheth — to love God too.

The Impossible Task

One day God spoke to Noah. "I am going to send a great flood to cover the earth. But I will protect you and your family. I want you to build a very large boat called an ark."

God told Noah exactly how big to make it: three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits tall. He told Noah to use gopher wood, to seal it with pitch inside and out, and to put a door in the side.

Noah's neighbours watched and laughed. There was not a cloud in the sky. There had never been a flood like the one God described. Building a boat that huge made no sense at all.

But Noah kept working, day after day, year after year.

Two by Two

When the ark was finally finished, God gave Noah his next instruction: "Bring two of every kind of creature — male and female — into the ark to keep them alive."

Noah opened the great door and animals came from every direction. Lions padded up the ramp beside lambs. Elephants lumbered next to mice. Colourful birds flew in through the windows. Two by two, they all came in — just as God had said they would.

Noah's family gathered their food supplies — enough for all the people and all the animals — and they climbed aboard. Then God himself shut the door.

Forty Days and Nights

Seven days later, the rain began.

It rained for forty days and forty nights without stopping. Water poured down from the sky and bubbled up from underground springs. Rivers burst their banks. The sea rose higher and higher. Every mountain disappeared beneath the deep, wide flood.

But the ark rose with the water, and everyone inside was safe.

Inside the ark, Noah and his family fed the animals and cared for them. Outside, there was only water in every direction as far as the eye could see.

The Rainbow Promise

After a hundred and fifty days, God sent a warm wind across the water. Slowly, slowly, the water went down. The ark came to rest on the top of a mountain called Ararat.

Noah sent out a raven, then a dove. The dove came back the first time with nothing. The second time, it returned with a fresh olive leaf in its beak! New trees were growing again. The third time, the dove did not come back at all — it had found a place to live.

When Noah and his family finally stepped out onto the dry ground, Noah built an altar and gave thanks to God.

Then God spoke again, and His voice was full of warmth and kindness.

"I will never again flood the whole earth. This is my promise to you, and to every living creature." And as He spoke, colours appeared across the sky — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet — a great, glowing rainbow arching from horizon to horizon.

Even today, whenever we see a rainbow, we can remember that God always keeps His promises.