Surely, those who lived in Noah's time were given the opportunity to hear the message of the coming of the flood. The Almighty, through Noah, had warned the people of the impending doom. He gave them the chance to mend their ways. They obviously knew why God wanted to destroy the world of the time. However, they reckoned that God could not really be taken too seriously. Many of them, just like many in our day, actually believed that God could not be that harsh as to want to destroy the whole world. Even though they had the opportunity to make peace with the Almighty but they did not do so. Noah's hearers were repeatedly informed that God was angry with them because of the way they lived. They were informed that He had decided to destroy them if they did not repent. Despite all the entreaties they still could not be bothered.
Those who heard Noah's message decided that the message was not for them even though it was addressed to them. Their reasoning was that God ought to have known that they were preoccupied with other things and as such Noah's message could not have been meant for them. They had already concluded that they knew everything that needed to be known. Their stand was that others could act on the message, the less knowledgeable could embrace the message, the poor could receive the message and the sick could do something about the message.
Daringly, some of Noah's listeners actually went on to conclude that the man Noah must be out of his mind to have decided to constantly peddle what they thought was some apocalyptic nonsense. Could Noah not find something better to talk about other than the destruction of life on earth by God? Surely they must have reasoned that God could not be so out of touch with reality that He would want to do that sort of thing. Could Noah not see that things were actually getting better in the world? Could Noah not reconcile himself to the truth that new discoveries were being made? How could he have come to the point of dwelling only on destruction? Could he have become a victim of hallucination?
It got to a point where people then became incensed with the man of God that they thought of attacking the Ark he was building. Obviously, they believed this would discourage Noah and at the same time dampen the enthusiasm of those who might want to listen to him. He was labelled a doomsday preacher who must be stopped before too much damage was done to the morale of the people. Others saw him as a raving lunatic known only for frightening everyone around him. In some quarters he became a butt of jokes. Many contemporaries of Noah, like some people do today, actually believed that they owned themselves. They believed that their times and lives belonged to them and that no one could tell them what to do with their lives. They thought little of the cataclysmic consequences of the way they lived.
Sadly, at the end of it all, the then world had to come face to face with the inevitable. The time of fulfilment came and the so-called powerful people of the time could do nothing to avert the disaster. Noah was vindicated.
The countdown to doom actually started as what one could describe as light showers. This was soon to become a heavy downpour. It was important to note that it was raining everywhere. Weather forecast experts had no clue about what was going to happen. At first, people just tried to ignore it thinking that the rain would stop after a while. They reckoned that if the rain failed to stop, they were capable of taking appropriate measures to contain the situation.
After several days of continuous raining, however, people began to ask questions. Is Noah's prophecy about to come to pass after all? Could Noah have been right all along? Is the end going to come indeed? Would God truly destroy all life with flood water? Not unexpectedly, their thoughts then switched to their investments and other possessions. They began to wonder if anything could be done to avert the fast-approaching disaster.
Unfortunately, for the inhabitants of that doomed world, Noah was no longer around to help clarify the situation. According to God's instructions Noah had entered into the Ark with all members of his family. There were eight people in all: Noah, his wife, his tree sons and their spouses. Suddenly, as if they had just been aroused from a deep slumber, a number of Noah's friends and hearers then decided that they must escape the trouble. They therefore made desperate attempts to board the Ark, but this proved impossible as it was now too late. The entrance to the Ark had been locked and the Almighty had the keys.
Amazingly, it rained for forty days and forty nights. The bible puts it this way in Genesis 7 verses 17, 18 and 19, 'Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.
All hope was lost and all efforts by the people to keep themselves alive failed woefully as everything was submerged. Only Noah and his family were able to stay alive and it was because they were in the ark.
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