Noah and the Big Boat

Hammer, hammer, hammer. This is the story of Noah. The Bible says Noah was a righteous man, a word that means doing what is right, and that he walked with God, which many people understand as living close to God, the way a little one stays close to a hand they love.

Glimmer: Ooh, hi there, friend! It's me, Glimmer! Pull your blanket up, and let's hear a big, big story.

Noah had three sons, named Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and a wife, and the sons had wives too. But the world outside their home had become a hard and hurting place. The Bible says the earth was filled with violence, and God saw it.

Then God spoke to Noah, and told him what to build. A ship, a great big ship, made of gopher wood. It would have rooms inside, and three levels, one low, one in the middle, and one high. It would have a roof on top, and a door in its side. And it would be sealed with pitch, a sticky, waterproof coating, inside and out.

The ship was to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. A cubit was an old way to measure, roughly from your elbow to your fingertips. Can you picture it? A very, very big boat.

God told Noah that a flood of water was going to come over the earth. And then God said something to Noah that I want you to hear: “But I will establish my covenant with you.” A covenant is a promise, a strong and steady one. So even before the rain began, God spoke a promise to Noah.

And Noah did as God said. The Bible says: "Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him."

God told Noah to bring animals into the ship to keep them alive: a male and a female of every sort, and more of the clean ones. Birds, farm animals, and the little creeping things of the ground. And Noah was to gather food for himself and for every one of the animals.

Now, you might be wondering: could one boat really hold a family, and so many animals, and all that food? It is a good thing to wonder, and grown-ups wonder it too. The Bible doesn't answer every question we might ask. It tells us what Noah did, and what God said, so let's keep listening.

And then, the animals came. In pairs, they went to Noah and into the ship, just as God had said. Maybe the sheep said baa, and the birds fluttered through the door, and the little creeping things crept along behind. Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives all went in too.

Everyone who was meant to go in had gone in. And then the Bible says, “Yahweh shut him in.” Yahweh is one of God's names. The door of the great ship was closed, and God was the one who closed it. Noah and everyone with him were inside the ship.

Then the rain began. It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights. Drip, drip, pitter, patter, pour. The waters rose higher and higher, until even the tallest mountains were covered, and the ship was lifted up, and floated. Inside, the ship floated on the waters.

This part of the story is sad, and it is okay to feel a little sad about it. The Bible says that everything living on the dry land was gone. That is hard to hear and hard to understand, and I will not pretend it isn't. But the Bible also says that Noah and everyone with him in the ship were left.

Glimmer: Ooh, wow! I feel all cozy and swaying, like I'm being rocked to sleep. Do you feel it too?

Days and days went by, and the waters stayed high. A hundred and fifty days. And then the Bible says something so kind: "God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship." Livestock means farm animals, like sheep and cows.

God made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters began to go down. The rain stopped. Little by little, the water went down, and down, and down. Then the ship came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The ship rested on the mountains of Ararat.

The waters kept going down, until the tops of the mountains could be seen. Forty days later, Noah opened the window of the ship and sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah waited.

Then Noah sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone down. But the dove found no place to rest her foot, so she came back, and Noah put out his hand, and took her in.

He waited seven more days, and sent her out again. At evening she returned, and look! In her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew the waters had gone down. He waited seven more days, and sent the dove out once more, and this time she did not return.

Noah took off the covering of the ship, and looked out. He saw that the ground was dry. Later, the whole earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah: “Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.” Imagine the fresh air and the wide, open sky.

So Noah went out, with his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives. And every animal, every bird, and every creeping thing, family by family, came out of the ship too. God told Noah to bring them out so they could be fruitful and multiply on the earth.

Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh. An altar is a place where Noah offered burnt offerings to God. And then the Bible tells us that God said in his heart, “I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.”

And God said more: “While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Seed time is planting, and harvest is gathering. So while the earth remains, day and night, and every season, will keep on coming.

Then God spoke to Noah and his sons, about a promise for every living creature that came out of the ship. God said, “There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” That promise is for Noah, and his children after him, and every living creature on the earth.

Then God gave a sign of the promise: a rainbow in the clouds. God said he would look at it and remember. Here is tonight's verse, the words God spoke about that sign.

A rainbow, shining in the clouds. Whenever you see one, you can think of Noah, and the big boat, and the promise God made. The Bible says it is a sign of God's promise to every living creature on the earth.

Glimmer: Yawn... goodnight, friend. My nightcap is slipping, and my glow is getting sleepy. Sweet dreams, okay?

Scripture: I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

That is the story of Noah, the big boat, and a promise in the clouds. Starting tonight, you can find out more about Jesus for yourself, together with someone who loves you, or with friends at a church, which is a group of people who gather to learn about God. If a question about God ever pops up, ask a real person you trust. Dear God, thank you for keeping your promises, and for the rainbow in the clouds. Thank you for being with us, in the daytime and in the dark. Help us sleep soundly tonight, in Jesus' name, amen. Goodnight, sleepy one. Sleep well.