Noah : Lessons from His Life and Times

The title of the message this afternoon is, Noah Lessons from His Life and Times. There are important lessons for us today. And so let's learn from the life and times of Noah. Let's go back real quickly and get a little bit of background. Beginning in Genesis chapter 5.

In Genesis chapter 5, we have here in this chapter the genealogy beginning with Adam and coming right on down to the time of Noah. Let's pick up beginning in verse 28.

Lammukh lived 182 years. This is Noah's father.

And then he beguiled his son, and he called his name Noah, saying, This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. And after he begot Noah, Lammukh lived 595 years and begot sons and daughters. And all of his years were 777 years, and he died.

And Noah was 500 years old. Can we imagine that?

That, looking back from where we are, 2020, that would be going all the way back to 1520. 1520 would have been 500 years ago.

Look at all this happen in 500 years. Noah lived 500 years. What did he do during those 500 years? Where did he live?

We don't have any information on these 500 years of his life. We just have here in verse 32 that he begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. But other verses would show that, actually, Shem was born two years later than when Noah was 500. He, Noah was 500 and two years of age when Shem was born. Japheth may have been the one that was born when Noah was 500. Ham may have been born after Shem, it is felt.

So Noah had these children when he was 500 years of age.

Now, just to show where Noah was, he was the 10th generation, including Adam. Adam, right on down to Noah. Noah was generation number 10 from the time of creation. He was born about a thousand years after Adam and Abraham were created.

Noah was the great grandson of Enoch. Enoch was a very righteous man. He was the great grandfather of Noah.

Again, we don't know much about Noah before age 500. Age 500. We just don't know much about him.

We're going to find also, as we move along, that Noah was 600 years old when the flood took place.

600. That's 100 years after he began to have these three sons.

100 years before the flood came. And then after the flood, he lived another 350 years. Noah lived almost not too far from the time of the birth of Abraham.

And Shem, the son of Noah, did live well after Abraham was born. Abraham may have known Shem. Abraham may have heard messages from someone that was aboard the Ark. Shem was aboard the Ark.

Abraham may have heard firsthand stories from Shem about what it was like on the Ark. Certainly possible.

So there's a lot of Noah's life that we just don't know a lot about. Almost all the focus on Noah's life, just about all of it, is on the flood.

You know, why did God bring on the flood? Let's pick up the story now moving on into chapter 6. It came to pass verse 1 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them. That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

So in verse 3, the Lord said, God began to see evil intensifying, man becoming very corrupt. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years.

Now, Noah began to have his sons when he was 500 years of age. The flood came when he was 600 years of age.

So this is 120 years before the flood.

When Noah was 480 years of age then, some feel that it took 120 years to build the ark. Some feel that this 120 is just like a mark of how long it would be before the flood would come and that Noah did not begin to build quite yet.

We don't know for sure just how that went. There were giants on the earth in those days, and afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, they bore children. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth.

He was grieved in his heart. You know, God can grieve.

He saw all the evil that was going on. It was so bad. He grieved in his heart at what was happening. And so the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. So the world became very corrupt and very evil. I'd like to read from our Bible commentary. We have, and you can go to our ucg.org website, and you can just do a search for Bible commentary. It's a good way to expand your own personal Bible study.

And for this portion of Genesis 6, our Bible commentary says that Genesis 6 presents a picture of the pre-flood world as being awash in violence, which was the natural consequence of the human heart being wholly motivated by evil purposes. All of man's motivating dispositions were dominated by evil. Man's continual intent was to pursuit of ungodly purposes.

Jesus tells us that despite the appalling evils and evident social difficulties, social degeneracy, the people of Noah's time just continued with their normal daily living, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, seemingly oblivious to the miserable state of the world.

So this world, or this first age of human history, became so evil that God determined that he would destroy it with the great flood. Actually, this evil age had begun with Adam and Eve's sin, as some brought out in the question portion. Also, in another sense, it began with Cain. Cain was one of the main ones who began that evil world. Cain was so wicked, Josepha says he was wholly intent upon getting. Of course, we know that he killed his brother Abel. God sent Cain away as a fugitive and vagabond, but Cain did not change his ways. Josepha says that everything was for himself, though it might be injurious to others. He amassed wealth by violence and robbery. He became a leader of men to wicked courses. He changed the world into cunning craftiness, Josephus wrote. His posterity grew more and more wicked, and they were intolerable in war, in vehement and robberies, in bold and acting unjustly and doing injuries for Cain. So Cain was a big beginner of this first evil age in human history, and it grew more evil over about 1,500 years.

That first evil age, beginning with Adam and Eve's sin, and then Cain lasted for over 1,500 years before it was destroyed. In fact, about 1,600 years before it was destroyed by the great flood.

So God determined this evil age had to end, and he would put an end to it by the flood. Notice in verse 8 now, Genesis 6 and verse 8, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And why did Noah find favor or grace in God's eyes? Verse 9, this is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

So Noah was a righteous man. In Ezekiel 14 and verse 14, Ezekiel writes that in this evil time that he's writing about, it says, even if Daniel and Job and Noah were in this time, they would deliver only their own souls. They would not save anyone else in their family. But Noah is mentioned along with Job and Daniel, very righteous person.

And then in 2 Peter 2 and verse 5, Noah is described as a preacher of righteousness. So you know, Noah was a minister of God, a preacher of righteousness. I picture him during the time he was building the Ark, he was preaching a message about what he was doing. This big old ship, if you call it a ship, big old vessel that would float.

And I picture Noah as also preaching the people when they were asking him what he was doing. And he became very well known, no doubt, what he was doing. So Noah was a preacher of righteousness. I also picture that after the flood, Noah continued to preach what his sons and grandchildren and great-grandchildren should do. He lived 350 years after the flood. So I picture him as a preacher of righteousness before and after the flood. It says that Noah walked with God. That's one of the key things I want us to come back to later in the message.

That we live in a similar time today, and if there's anything that we want to do, because God is worthy of us doing this, if there's anything you and I want to ask ourselves, are we walking with God in a similar time to what Noah lived in? He lived in a time of evil and corruption. And it says he was a just man. And the margin says for perfect that he was blameless and that he was a man having integrity.

Are we that kind of person, and are we walking with God? Are you close to God? You know, that's something to strive for. It doesn't come natural. We have to really want it. We have to put out the effort required. But would you consider yourself as a person that's like Noah, that walks with God? Nothing is more important than we answered, yes. I'm striving to walk with God. I fall short of what I should be doing, but I'm striving to walk with God like Noah.

To walk with God, we'll get more about that later. Noah walked with God because he obeyed God. And we'll read some verses in a few minutes. He did all that God commanded him to do, and that's what we should be striving to do as well. He did the work of God. He did what God told him that he should do. We... Come on down here in verse 11.

The earth also was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt. All flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. Everybody. You know, I don't know if we're quite to that point right now. We're rapidly moving in that direction, it seems, in the world. But that world, all flesh it says, had corrupted their way.

In verse 13, God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And God gave Noah a monumental job to perform. May... I don't know if it took about 120 years that we read earlier in verse 3.

Or if indeed, as some commentaries feel, that it was after the sons were born. 120 is just a benchmark until God would bring the flood. And then after the sons of Noah were born, you know, they would not have reached maturity until they were around age 20. They would be a big help in helping Noah to build such a huge vessel. So it may have been more like 75 years or 80 that the ark was actually being built.

Anyway, we don't know for sure about that. Verse 14, so make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Many feel like that's the type of cypress that would stand up to decay in... in... in... in floating in the water. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.

And this is how you shall make it. The length of it shall be 300 cubic. It's width 50 cubic and its height 30 cubic. You know, this comes out, they feel, to about 525 feet long. You know how long? 525 feet. Now here is someone that works in the building. Mr. Pilkington is going to appreciate this, but this would be longer than a football field.

525 feet. A football field is 100 yards, right? 300 feet. All right, 525 is actually about one football field and three quarters of another one. One and three quarters football fields. Can you imagine the size of the... of the ark? It was 87 and a half feet wide, which comes out to about 29 yards. You know how long? If you're familiar with football, that would be almost three 10-yard sections. 29 yards. And it was to be 52 and one half feet high, about 17 yards high. And so God goes on to give the exact instructions, and He told Noah in verse 17, I'm going to bring the flood of waters upon the earth, but verse 18, I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall go in the ark. In every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort of the birds. You know, I think about those beautiful birds. We have cardinals in our backyard and goldfinch and bluebirds and blue jays and hummingbirds. All of those birds, their ancestors went through the flood. They were aboard the ark.

All those animals, the squirrels that scamper around, dogs and cats, they all... their ancestors all went through the flood. They were aboard the ark.

Because all the other animal life was destroyed, except for those that were on the ark.

Every creeping thing of the earth. There are some creeping things I wouldn't mind if Noah had forgotten about, but no, God wanted him to preserve all that were on the ark.

You shall take verse 21. Can you imagine then all these animals that Noah began to gather together? Actually, chapter 7 amplifies it that there would be one pair of the unclean animals and creatures. There would be seven pairs of the clean animals and creatures.

And so can you imagine? Noah had a zoo. It must have covered many city blocks, gathering all of these animals before they would board the ark.

What a massive operation this is. What a massive ship he is to build.

No wonder it probably did take 75 years, or maybe it took all that 120. Maybe Noah did get started back then.

I want you to notice verse 22, and we're going to pick up on this time and again. Here's why Noah was a man that walked with God.

Thus Noah did according to all, notice the word all, all that God commanded him, so he did. Further than us, the way we want to walk with God. We want to do all that God has commanded us to do, and not to let down in any way.

So again, we've commented on how long Noah was building the ark. Did he have helpers? You know, that cypress wood, if that is what the gopher wood was, there must have been a lot of trees there. He was in Mesopotamia. There must have been a lot of trees that would be modern-day Iraq. Modern-day Iraq looks very desolate. They don't have a lot of trees like that. There must have been a lot of trees and forests.

And did he go out and become a logger and cut down those trees?

Then he would have to square them up so they would fit together, shape and form them.

I tell you, when you start thinking about this, this is some kind of massive job or work that Noah was given to do. It just kind of staggers our minds. He did have his three sons. They grew up, and they were adults by the last, certainly by the last 80 years before the flood.

They reached age 20 by 75 or 80 years before the flood came.

So he had the sons. Did they do all the work? Did they farm out? Some of it. Did Noah go down to a lumber yard and say, here's what I want? They didn't have sawmills, I don't think, back then, but they had people with axes and strong. They could square those big logs into just the right size and shape and length that Noah specified. Did he do it that way? He must have been a pretty wealthy man if he went down to the lumber yard and did it that way.

You know, we don't have the answers to all the ways that Noah went about fulfilling his assignment from God. The more we think about it, the more we marvel at what he was called upon to do. So he began to gather together at some point closer to the flood. He began to gather animals, all the different animals, clean and unclean, seven pairs of the clean, one pair of the unclean. And not only did he gather animals, but he gathered food. Can you imagine feeding all those animals? And by the time they all came into the ark, they were hungry that first day. They needed some straw and some hay and some green.

And you know, think about also all the water. I don't know how he stored water, drinkable water, on the ark. That is not specified. How did they get water? There's no indication that they could drink the water outside or could even get to it. So how did they store water on the ark and have water for themselves and also for the animals? And I guess wouldn't, the animals would not have to have a bath, but Noah and his family would need to wash themselves, wouldn't they?

So they had to have water where they could clean them, you know, take a bath or wash themselves.

So you know, just thinking about this message, Noah's job and assignment was a very awesome one. It kind of staggers my mind to even begin to think about what God called upon him to do. But what he ended up with was a floating vessel about one and three-quarter football fields long, about 29 feet wide and about 52 feet high with different levels and a lot of stalls for animals. For the birds, he had to have cages where they couldn't fly away. Cages for all the birds that he took on the ark.

Awesome.

Were they ridiculed? You know, we've always said that they got mocked, no doubt. They got mocked and ridiculed. This old crazy old man and his sons who are building this big floating vessel in the middle of a cornfield, we even joked about it that way. Well, they probably did get ridiculed.

But Noah was, remember, was a preacher of righteousness. He was preaching at them by what he was doing as well as, I believe, what he was saying.

No doubt he warned people what was coming. But they went about their regular business and they were corrupt and evil even more and more. It just only got worse and worse.

You know, we don't have the time to read all of this story, but let's just skim in Chapter 7, 8, and 9 just a moment. Verse 1 of Chapter 7, the Lord said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I've seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female, two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female, also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive in the face of all the earth. For after seven more days, I want you to notice that the weekly cycle, I believe, is indicated here. Did you know that Noah and his family, they knew about the Sabbath. From the very beginning, the Sabbath was known. They kept the Sabbath. The weekly cycle is indicated as we read some of these verses. After seven days, you'll see that several times, I will cause the rain just seven days away now. In one week, I will bring the rain upon the earth, 40 days and 40 nights.

Notice in verse 5, Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Again, that is the mark of a person that walks with God, doing all that God wants us to do. Noah was 600 years old. Oh, there it is then. At least his firstborn, probably Japheth, was then born when he was 500, was 100 years old, when the flood of waters was on the earth. So Noah with the sons, his wife there, and the sons' wives went into the ark. The clean animals and so forth, two by two, they went into the ark as well. And in verse 7, it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth in the 600th year of Noah's life and the second month, the 17th day of the month.

On that day, all the fountains of the deep, of the great deep, were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened, and so it rained 40 days and 40 nights. And on further down, it says in verse 16, that those that entered male and female of all flesh went in as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. God actually shut the door, you might say, on the ark. The flood was on the earth 40 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 so the earth, all of the earth, was underneath. And all flesh died, verse 21. Verse 23, He destroyed all living things on the face of the ground, both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird. And then going on to chapter 8, and verse 1, God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark.

Verse 24, chapter 7, the verse right before says that the water has prevailed on the earth 150 days. Here they were, floating around. You know, they had no direction. They were just washed about as the waves of the water might take them. They weren't able to steer this big old vessel, but they were safe inside of it. In chapter 8 and verse 4, the ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month. You know when that was? The seventh month is when the seventeenth day would be the third day, actually, of the Feast of Tabernacles. Oddly enough, that's when the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, and the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. And that would be our December. And the tenth month, on the first day of the month, on the tops of the mountains were seen. This was a flood all over the earth. You know, people sometimes believe it was just a local type thing. No, it was all over the earth.

So Noah began to send out birds. He sent out a raven who brought back nothing, sent out a dove who brought back a... let's see... the dove well found no resting place. In verse 10, he waited yet another seven days. Again, we see that weekly cycle indicated. Again, he sent the dove out from the ark, and the dove came back with an olive leaf that had survived the flood.

So he waited yet another seven days, verse 12. So we see that seven days several times. That weekly cycle indicated. Verse 13, it came to pass in the 600 and first year, in the first month of the first day of the month, the waters were dried up. And verse 14 says, in the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dried. And that is when Noah and his crew came out, and they had been over a year in the ark. How would you like to take a voyage like that? Over a year in the ark. Well, they've been very busy, though. Don't you think feeding all of those animals, feeding and taking care of themselves, those eight people had their hands full. They really did. But they were safe. God had brought them, and he had saved humanity, human life.

In verse 20, Noah built an altar to God. Let's go to chapter 9. Our time is moving on here. And God blessed Noah. They came out of the ark. And verse 11, God said, I established my covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. And he gave them the rainbow covenant that you can read about there. In verse 20, we had one of our questions. Noah was a perfect man in this generation, so he never sinned. Yes, Noah was very human. It gives you and me hope. He was not perfect in that way. He made mistakes. And it says that in verse 18, the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from these the whole earth was repopulated. Verse 20, Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. And then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. So here was this man that was so righteous before God, so blameless, and he drank wine from his vineyard. And then he became drunk, and he was naked. And it goes on to say in verse 22, Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, told his two brothers, Shem and Japheth came backward and later covered the nakedness of their fathers, Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son, it may have been Canaan, because he noticed the curse is on Canaan in verse 25. Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants. So his younger son may be actually Ham's younger son, Canaan, who receives the curse. Anyway, we have this incident here.

I'm sure that Noah learned from this. I'm sure he repented of it.

So if we ever mess up bad, repent like Noah did, and don't let it happen again. Strive to not let it happen again. He learned the consequences of sin, Noah did.

So if he's just human, he had to learn like us.

Okay, just to round out Noah's life here in verse 28. Noah lived after the flood 350 years, and so all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. Just a long time, isn't it? 350 years. He saw his children have children. In chapter 10, we have a listing of all of the children of the three sons of Noah. In chapter 10, just to read one verse, verse 32, you can read the first 31 verses. And these are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations in their nations. And from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood. Did you know then you can trace your lineage back to Genesis chapter 10? One day you will find out exactly how your lineage developed, but all of us go back to Genesis chapter 10. And isn't that sad? Noah will one day be very sad to find out what our world is like today. All of the races, all the nations, look at all the evil that is going on in the world. And we're all the descendants of the three sons of Noah.

We all have one blood, and it's sad, all the evil that is happening.

Brethren, I'd like for us to, at the final about 10 minutes of this message, what are some of the lessons that we can learn from the life and times of Noah? Let's go to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24 and read verses 37 through 39.

Matthew 24 verse 37. As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. The second coming of Jesus Christ is going to catch this world by surprise.

And our world today is similar to Noah's world. Evil and corruption are increasing all the time.

And just as Noah came out of that evil age before the flood, the first evil age of man, you might say, like Noah, we need to come out of this present evil age that we live in. Second Corinthians 6 and verse 17 says to come out and be separate. Just come out of this world. Make sure this world that we're not tainted in any way are spotted by the world. So number one, the first lesson we can learn is that we come out of this evil age, this evil world that's all around us. The second lesson we can learn is that, like Noah, we should strive to be blameless, to be a person of integrity, to be a just person in the midst of a very evil world. Turn to Philippians 2 and verse 15. Here's the kind of life that we should strive to live. Ephesians, pardon me, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 15. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 15, that you may become blameless and harmless. We should be striving to live a life that is blameless. We should, in every way, strive to live a life that reflects the laws and the commandments of Almighty God so that nobody can come to us and say, well, this person uses all kind of foul language, or this person indulges in alcohol and even gets drunk from time to time. So, you know, we should strive to live a life that is within the laws of God, that is blameless and harmless, children of God without fault, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. That's the kind of life that we should strive to live. It's the same kind of life that Noah lived, a life that was blameless.

You know, the third lesson we can learn from the life in times of Noah is, hey, watch out! Even though we're living a blameless and righteous way of life, sin can creep in on us, just like it did Noah. Noah planted this vineyard. He made some wine from the grapes. He drank too much of it and got drunk, so drunk that then he somehow ends up naked. So, you know, sin can creep in. We have to be careful because human nature is still there. Satan is still there. This world is still there to influence us. The fourth lesson we can learn from the life of Noah is, like Noah, we can faithfully do the work God has given to us to do. And we read several times Noah did all that God commanded him. That's why he was the man that walked with God. He did. God told him, go build this giant vessel, gather up all these animals. He did it. He didn't see any flood. He didn't see any waters at that time. He just did the work of God. The work of God at that time was different than our work today. Our work today is preaching the gospel to the world. His work was building an ark for the saving of human life. So he built this huge ark, and he was a preacher of righteousness during that building of the ark, no doubt, and also afterward.

So we can do the work of God that he has given to us to do. Have your heart in the preaching of the gospel. Pray for our home office. Pray for our president, the Council of Elders. And the last thing, as far as lessons from the life and times of Noah, like Noah, we must walk with God in an evil age all around us. This, to me, is the biggest lesson we can learn from Noah. He walked with God.

To walk with God means to obey God. It means to be blameless. It means to do God's will and do His work, to obey God's commandments, to walk with God. Other verses in the Bible say, to walk in the truth, the truth of the Bible, thy word is truth. To walk uprightly, to obey those laws. To walk by faith, faith in God and faith in His way of life, faith in His kingdom to come. Another verse says, to walk in the Spirit, walk after the Spirit and end the Spirit, and walk in newness of life. You know, to walk with God is to be in constant contact and communication. How about you? Someone asked Mr. Armstrong, how many times a day do you pray? I'm sure Mr. Armstrong got down on his knees, like David and like Daniel, several times a day. Those righteous men got down three times a day, it says. Mr. Armstrong said, in answer to that question, how many times a day do you pray?

He said hundreds. And you know, in walking with God, we should be constantly communicating and in contact with God. That's walking with God. When you walk with somebody, you walk with them. You know, my wife and I, we used to take walks. She's not quite able. Her joints don't allow it, but you know, it was always nice to walk and we would talk together as we walked. When two people walk together, they walk close to each other, except in these times we're living in.

I was walking down the street. I try to do a two-mile walk every day, and I saw these two ladies up ahead, about half a city block, and one was on one side of the street, and the other was on the other side of the street. Social distancing. I soon figured that out. So I was going toward them, straight toward one of them, and as I got a little bit closer, I said, I've got to do something.

So I got into the middle of the street. There were no vehicles coming. And we passed each other, and I looked at each one and said, is this enough social distancing? It was. It worked out. These are different times that we're living in right now. But two people that walk together, you know, walk close to each other, and that's the way we want to walk with God, close to God.

James chapter 4 and verse 8 says to draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Who makes the first move in that verse? Draw near to God. That's us, isn't it? That's our part. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. So there's nothing more important.

You know, in times that are very similar to Noah's age, an age of evil and corruption, nothing is more important than to walk with God. And draw closer and closer to God all the time, as this evil age gets worse and worse. Pardon, this is a very timely message today, because we are living in times very similar to Noah's. I want to read from our Bible commentary again. Again, I encourage you to take advantage of the Bible commentary in your Bible study. Just go to ucg.org and search for Bible commentary, and you can type in what you want to see. You can type in Genesis 6 and read what I'm reading from it. And here is our Bible commentary. In many respects, our modern, frantic, pulsating 21st century world is in or approaching the same condition as the ancient world of Noah. Stop and consider our societies. Violence and depravity are everywhere and considered highly profitable and entertaining. For example, our sports and popular entertainment are filled with strife, brutality, assault, and murder. News of the day chronicles endless crime. Streets of our cities are avenues of bloodshed and thievery. Sex and sexuality are not only ever present but literally pushed in our faces by our cultural icons as they engage in and promote open eroticism and perverse alternative lifestyles. Like semi-nude women are used to hawk everything from cars to health care. Unmarried couples living together is common, and about half of all American marriages are destined for divorce. Despite the liberation promised by the sexual revolution, violence against women and poverty for households headed by single women stand at an all-time high. Women are abused and exploited on a scale that is truly shocking. As conditions worsen, more and more of the signs that Jesus said would mark the last days are becoming apparent. Well said. I couldn't improve upon that. This is a timely message. We live in a time similar to Noah's, corrupt and evil, and get worse every day. Brethren, pray the kingdom of God that we heard about in BT Daily. Pray for that to come. Our hope is that the kingdom of God, which will reign with peace and righteousness. But until the kingdom of God comes, you and I, like Noah, we can come out and be separate. We can be blameless and people of integrity.

And we can faithfully do the work that God has given us to do and do God's will.

And like Noah, we can walk with God in these evil times.