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*The Bible reading can be found at the bottom of the page if you need it.↓
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History isn't random or out of control—it's a story written by God, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. God is the author, and every event plays a part in His bigger plan. Nothing happens by accident. Just like a great novel or movie, everything is leading toward a final, meaningful conclusion.
This means that when we try to understand history, we shouldn't just look at the past like most historians do—we also need to look at the future. Imagine reading a mystery novel. You might not understand why certain things happen in the early chapters, but when you reach the ending, everything makes sense. In the same way, God is writing history with a destination in mind: Jesus. Everything in the Old Testament—the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—was preparing the way for Christ, who is the key to God's ultimate plan (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Now, think about the flood in Noah's time. After it was over, sin was still a problem. The flood washed away evil people, but it didn't wash away sin itself. It's like cleaning up a mess in your house, only for it to get messy again the next day. If God's goal is to fill the earth with His goodness, does this mean He failed? No! It means He was setting the stage for something greater. The New Testament shows us that the flood was a preview of the final judgment (2 Peter 3:5–7) and the ark was a picture of salvation through Jesus (1 Peter 3:20–21). The story wasn't over yet.
And there's one more clue in Noah's story that points to what was coming. After the flood, Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God (Genesis 8:20). God responded with a promise never to destroy the earth that way again. This moment hints at something much bigger—the ultimate sacrifice that would truly deal with sin: Jesus dying on the cross. Just as Noah's sacrifice led to God's promise, Jesus' sacrifice brings salvation to all who trust in Him.
So, history isn't just a collection of random events. It's God's story, and every part of it leads to Jesus. And just like any great story, the best is yet to come.
More Resources:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Noah-flood.html
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-did-the-first-humans-live-for-so-long
7 When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. 2 Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”
5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. 7 He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 8 With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 9 They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.
13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives.14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.