When you stop to think of it, the simple story of Noah and the ark teaches us a lot about how God works with his people. It teaches us to plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.? Stay fit. When you are 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something really big.? Don’t listen to critics. Do what has to be done.? Build on high ground.? For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.? Two heads are better than one.? Speed isn’t always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.?
We may smile at these statements, but what God wanted Noah and his descendants to know is not mentioned in the list. God told Noah immediately after he left the ark about the conditions under which he and his descendants were to live. Unfortunately, most Sunday school lessons rarely deal with the stipulations of God’s covenant with humanity through Noah. All we learn and remember about the flood story was the sign of the covenant, but we rarely stop to consider the bigger implications of the story, namely that Noah was a partner with the Lord in the salvation of mankind.
