directions, their numbers darkening the heavens, and in perfect order they passed to
the ark. Animals obeyed the command of God, while men were disobedient. Guided
by holy angels, they “went in two and two unto Noah into the ark,” and the clean
beasts by sevens. The world looked on in wonder, some in fear. Philosophers were
called upon to account for the singular occurrence, but in vain. It was a mystery which
they could not fathom. But men had become so hardened by their persistent rejection
of light that even this scene produced but a momentary impression. As the doomed
race beheld the sun shining in its glory, and the earth clad in almost Eden beauty, they
banished their rising fears by boisterous merriment, and by their deeds of violence
they seemed to invite upon themselves the visitation of the already awakened wrath of
God.
God commanded Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have
I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” Noah’s warnings had been rejected
by the world, but his influence and example resulted in blessings to his family. As a
reward for his faithfulness and integrity, God saved all the members of his family with
him. What encouragement to parental fidelity!
Mercy had ceased its pleadings for the guilty race. The beasts of the field and the
birds of the air had entered the place of refuge. Noah and his household were within
the ark, “and the Lord shut him in.” A flash of dazzling light was seen, and a cloud
of glory more vivid than the lightning descended from heaven and hovered before the
entrance of the ark. The massive door, which it was impossible for those within to
close, was slowly swung to its place by unseen hands. Noah was shut in, and the
rejecters of God’s mercy were shut out. The seal of heaven was on that door; God had
shut it, and God alone could open it. So when Christ shall cease his intercession for
guilty men, before his coming in the clouds of heaven, the door of mercy will be shut.
Then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked, and Satan will have full control
of those who have rejected mercy. They will endeavor to destroy God’s people; but as
Noah was shut into the ark, so the righteous will be shielded by divine power.
For seven days after Noah and his family entered the ark, there appeared no sign
of the coming storm. During this period their faith was tested. It was a time of triumph
to the world without. The apparent delay confirmed them in the belief that Noah’s
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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,
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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
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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.
“By the word of God ...the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2
Peter 3:5-7. Another storm is coming. The earth will again be swept by the desolating
wrath of God, and sin and sinners will be destroyed.
The sins that called for vengeance upon the antediluvian world exist today. The
fear of God is banished from the hearts of men, and his law is treated with indifference
and contempt. The intense worldliness of that generation is equaled by that of the
generation now living. Said Christ, “As in the days that were before the Flood they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:38, 39. God did not condemn
the antediluvians for eating and drinking; he had given them the fruits of the earth in
great abundance to supply their physical wants. Their sin consisted in taking these
gifts without gratitude to the Giver, and debasing themselves by indulging appetite
without restraint. It was lawful for them to marry. Marriage was in God’s order;
it was one of the first institutions which he established. He gave special directions
concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty; but these directions
were forgotten, and marriage was perverted and made to minister to passion.
A similar condition of things exists now. That which is lawful in itself is carried
to excess. Appetite is indulged without restraint. Professed followers of Christ are
today eating and drinking with the drunken, while their names stand in honored church
records. Intemperance benumbs the moral and spiritual powers and prepares the way
for indulgence of the lower passions. Multitudes feel under no moral obligation to
curb their sensual desires, and they become the slaves of lust. Men are living for the
pleasures
