This Week

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was 
filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; 
for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God 
said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, 
for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I 
am going to destroy them along with the earth.  Make yourself 
an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it 
inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: 
the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty 
cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark, 
and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark 
in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For 
my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, 
to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath 
of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will 
establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the 
ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 
And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two 
of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they 
shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, 
and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping 
thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind 
shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you 
every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall 
serve as food for you and for them." Noah did this; he did all 
that God commanded him. 
And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days. 
In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, 
the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, 
you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 
Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all 
flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps 
on the earth--so that they may abound on the earth, and be 
fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his 
sons and his wife and his sons' wives. And every animal, every 
creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the 
earth, went out of the ark by families. 
----Genesis 6:11-22; 7:24; 8:14-19

"Who’s that?"
"It’s the Lord, Noah."
"Right. Where are ya? Whaddya want? I’ve been good."
"I want you to build an ark."
"Right.  What’s an ark?"
"Get some wood. Build it 300 cubits by 80 cubits by 40 cubits."
"Right. What’s a cubit?"
"Let’s see, a cubit, I used to know. Don’t worry about that. 
After you get that done, go out into the world, collect the 
animals two by two, male and female, and bring them into the ark."
"Right. Who is this really? What’s goin on? How come you want me 
to do all these weird things?"
"I’m going to destroy the world"
"Right. Am I on candid camera? How you gonna do it?"
"I gonna make it rain for a 1000 days and drown ‘em out."
"Right. Listen to this, it’ll save you water. Make it rain for 
40 days and 40 nights and wait for the sewers to back up."
"Right."
----Bill Cosby, "Noah" comedy routine.


High and long,
Thick and strong,
Wide and stark,
Was the ark.
Climb on board,
Said the Lord.
Noah’s kin
Clambered in.
Cow and moose,
Hare and goose,
Sheep and ox,
Bee and fox,
Stag and doe,
Elk and crow,
 Lynx and bear,
All were there. 
Stork and frog
Skunk and hog,
Ape and snail,
Stoat and quail,
Flea and found,
Could be found.
Lark and wren,
Hawk and hen,
Finch and kite,
Flew inside.
Dog and cat, Mouse and rat,
Fly and vole,
Worm and mole,
Creatures all,
Large and small,
Good and mean, 
Foul and clean,
Fierce and tame,
In they came.
Pair by pair,
Gross and fair.
All that walked,
Crawled or stalked
On dry earth
Found a berth.
But the rest,
Worst and best,
Stayed on shore,
Were no more.
That whole host
Gave the ghost.
They were killed
For the guilt
Which brought all
To the Fall.
Later on
It was done:
Back on land
Through God’s hand,
Who forgave,
And did save.
The Lord’s Grace
Be the praise!
----Jacobus Revius, translated by Peter Spier, "The Flood"

cubit: A cubit is a unit of linear measure, from the elbow to the 
tip of the longest finger of a man. This unit is commonly converted 
to 0.46 meters or 18 inches, although that varies with height of 
the man doing the measurement. There is also a "long" cubit that 
is longer than a regular cubit by a handbreadth. 
---- www.ebible.org/bible/web/glossary.htm


Questions:
 What is your earliest memory of this story?
 What part of the story do you struggle with? Enjoy the most?
 What is the importance of this story to you? Why is it such a 
	major story in our collective lives?