to build an altar and offer from every kind of clean beast and fowl a sacrifice, thus
manifesting his gratitude to God for deliverance and his faith in Christ, the great
sacrifice. This offering was pleasing to the Lord; and a blessing resulted, not only
to the patriarch and his family, but to all who should live upon the earth. “The Lord
smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground
any more for man’s sake.... While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold
and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” here was a lesson
for all succeeding generations. Noah had come forth upon a desolate earth, but before
preparing a house for himself he built an altar to God. His stock of cattle was small,
and had been preserved at great expense; yet he cheerfully gave a part to the Lord as
an acknowledgment that all was his. In like manner it should be our first care to render
our freewill offerings to God. Every manifestation of his mercy and love toward us
should be gratefully acknowledged, both by acts of devotion and by gifts to his cause.
Lest the gathering clouds and falling rain should fill men with constant terror, from
fear of another flood, the Lord encouraged the family of Noah by a promise: “I will
establish My covenant with you; ...neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy
the earth.... I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant
between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the
earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.... And I will look upon it, that I may
remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature.”
How great the condescension of God and his compassion for his erring creatures
in thus placing the beautiful rainbow in the clouds as a token of his covenant with
men! The Lord declares that when he looks upon the bow, he will remember his
covenant. This does not imply that he would ever forget; but he speaks to us in our
own language, that we may better understand him. It was God’s purpose that as the
children of after generations should ask the meaning of the glorious arch which spans
the heavens, their parents should repeat the story of the Flood, and tell them that the
Most High had bended the bow and placed it in the clouds as an assurance that the
waters should never again overflow the earth. Thus from generation to generation
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it would testify of divine love to man and would strengthen his confidence in God.
In heaven the semblance of a rainbow encircles the throne and overarches the head
of Christ. The prophet says, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the
day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about [the throne]. This was
the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah.” Ezekiel 1:28. The revelator
declares, “Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.... There
was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Revelation
4:2, 3. When man by his great wickedness invites the divine judgments, the Saviour,
interceding with the Father in his behalf, points to the bow in the clouds, to the rainbow
around the throne and above his own head, as a token of the mercy of God toward the
repentant sinner.
With the assurance given to Noah concerning the Flood, God himself has linked
one of the most precious promises of his grace: “As I have sworn that the waters of
Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth
with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed;
but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be
removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee.” Isaiah 54:9, 10.
As Noah looked upon the powerful beasts of prey that came forth with him from
the ark, he feared that his family, numbering only eight persons, would be destroyed
by them. But the Lord sent an angel to his servant with the assuring message: “The
fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every
fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea;
into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Before this time God had
given man no permission to eat animal food; he intended that the race should subsist
wholly upon the productions of the earth; but now that every green thing had been
destroyed, he allowed them to eat the flesh of the clean beasts that had been preserved
in the ark.
The entire surface of the earth was changed at the Flood. A third dreadful curse
rested upon it in consequence of sin. As the water began to subside, the hills and
mountains were surrounded
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by a vast, turbid sea, Everywhere were strewn the dead bodies of men and beasts. The
Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose and pollute the air, therefore he
made of the earth a vast burial ground. A violent wind which was caused to blow for
the purpose of drying up the waters, moved them with great force, in some instances
even carrying away the tops of the mountains and heaping up trees, rocks, and earth
above the bodies of the dead. By the same means the silver and gold, the choice wood
and precious stones, which had enriched and adorned the world before the Flood, and
which the inhabitants had idolized, were concealed from the sight and search of men,
the violent action of the waters piling earth and rocks upon these treasures, and in
some cases even forming mountains above them. God saw that the more he enriched
and prospered sinful men, the more they would corrupt their ways before him. The
treasures that should have led them to glorify the bountiful Giver had been worshiped,
while God had been dishonored and despised.
The earth presented an appearance of confusion and desolation impossible to
describe. The mountains, once so beautiful in their perfect symmetry, had become
broken and irregular. Stones, ledges, and ragged rocks were now scattered upon the
surface of the earth. In many places hills and mountains had disappeared, leaving no
trace where they once stood; and plains had given place to mountain ranges. These
changes were more marked in some places than in others. Where once had been earth’s
richest treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones, were seen the heaviest marks of
the curse. And upon countries that were not inhabited, and those where there had been
the least crime, the curse rested more lightly.
At this time immense forests were buried. These have since been changed to coal,
forming the extensive coal beds that now exist, and also yielding large quantities of
oil. The coal and oil frequently ignite and burn beneath the surface of the earth. Thus
rocks are heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. The action of the water
upon the lime adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and
fiery issues. As the fire and water come in contact with ledges of rock and ore, there
are heavy explosions underground, which sound like muffled thunder. The air is hot
and suffocating. Volcanic eruptions follow; and these often failing to give sufficient
vent to
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the heated elements, the earth itself is convulsed, the ground heaves and swells like
the waves of the sea, great fissures appear, and sometimes cities, villages, and burning
mountains are swallowed up. These wonderful manifestations will be more and more
frequent and terrible just before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world,
as signs of its speedy destruction.
The depths of the earth are the Lord’s arsenal, whence were drawn weapons to
be employed in the destruction of the old world. Waters gushing from the earth
united with the waters from heaven to accomplish the work of desolation. Since the
Flood, fire as well as water has been God’s agent to destroy very wicked cities. These
judgments are sent that those who lightly regard God’s law and trample upon his
authority may be led to tremble before his power and to confess his just sovereignty.
As men have beheld burning mountains pouring forth fire and flames and torrents of
melted ore, drying up rivers, overwhelming populous cities, and everywhere spreading
ruin and desolation, the stoutest heart has been filled with terror and infidels and
blasphemers have been constrained to acknowledge the infinite power of God.
Said the prophets of old, referring to scenes like these: “Oh that Thou wouldest
rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down
at Thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil,
to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy
presence! When Thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, Thou camest
down, the mountains flowed down at Thy presence.” Isaiah 64:1-3. “The Lord hath
his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He
rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers.” Nahum 1:3, 4.
More terrible manifestations than the world has ever yet beheld, will be witnessed
at the second advent of Christ. “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and
the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who
can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?”
Nahum 1:5, 6. “Bow Thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and
they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out Thine arrows, and
destroy them.” Psalm 144:5, 6.
