And the Rains Came Down
By Shauna Leis
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month – on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights…..The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.”
Genesis 7:11-12, 18
Here in Kentucky, we recently experienced heavy flooding over several days. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rolled on several occasions causing my children to cower and run for cover in the house. Following that, the rain just poured down, sometimes over an inch in an hour. When this continued for several days, the ground just could not contain it any longer, and flood waters started to rise. Normally trickling creeks ran like white water rapids, ponds spilled over their banks, and lakes rose to dangerous levels.
The waters rose, and people just stood back watching in helplessness. As we were exiting our neighborhood heading out to visit with some family, we noticed a couple standing on the back porch with creek waters lapping at the base of their deck. There was nothing that they could do to stop it as the earth had reached its limit to contain the waters from heaven.
So, imagine with me several thousand years ago as men and women across the earth experienced the floodwaters that ended civilization as people knew it. Most biblical scholars believe that before this day in Noah’s life, there had never been rain before. They say that the grounds of the earth were fed from these “springs of the deep”, and so no rain was needed. In Genesis, we learn that God was so displeased with conduct of the people on earth that He sought to destroy it completely. They had turned to all sorts of evil, and the only one God found who was still righteous was Noah.
Picture the ridicule and scorn that Noah and his family must have endured while they were building the ark, especially as they told people about the flood that was coming. Yet, Noah was faithful to God’s warnings and completed the ark about the time that God told him it was time to enter. God was faithful to Noah and saved him and his family’s lives from the floodwaters that covered the earth. Noah watched it rain for forty days and forty nights and watched the springs of the deep burst forth until God relented and closed the floodgates of heaven. It took many days for the water to recede from the earth so that Noah, his family, and all of the animals could exit the ark onto dry ground.
What awaited them after the flood was a new covenant with God, symbolized by the beautiful rainbow in the sky. After all of the rains of the past couple of weeks, I was reminded again of the covenant God shared with Noah and the rest of us on earth - that he would never again flood the earth and destroy all of its inhabitants. Rainbows have been plentiful with all of the rain that we have received, and I hope that we have all taken the time to thank God for His unending promises and His faithfulness to His people. He never forgets about us and constantly seeks to develop a relationship with us. My prayer for you today is that you will seek Him and His covenant relationship signified in the rainbow. May the rainbow be a reminder to you, too, that He loves you and longs for you to be with Him always!
Pray with me: Oh, God in heaven, Creator of the entire universe and beyond! Your power and majesty amaze us each and every day as we see it displayed in nature with lightning, thunder, and the rain. God, we are so thankful that You are faithful to Your covenant to never again destroy the earth by flood. We are honored that You seek a covenant relationship with us, just as You did with Noah so many thousands of years ago. May the rainbow in the sky be a reminder to us all that You long for us and desire to fellowship with us. Your love is amazing, and Your promises last forever! We pray all of this in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior!