In the Ark 7 days before it began to rain.
Rain began the 17th day of his 600th year.
Waters prevailed 150 days.
Ark rested 17th day of the 7th month.
In the Ark 1 year and 17 days; 5 months floating and 7 months on Mount Ararat.
I think it’s safe to say Noah was a patient man.
Today’s post focuses on the 30 day Bible study on patience that I created for the month of September. If you want to join in, you can download the calendar and information sheet below.
September 2016 Bible Study Calendar
30 Day Patience Bible Study Info
Each Monday on the calendar includes the study of specific people in the Bible who demonstrated patience. On Tuesdays (like today!) we will be discussing the study on the blog.
Yesterday’s reading was Genesis 6:5-22; Genesis 7; Genesis 8, and focused on the story of Noah.
Just like Elizabeth and Zechariah, Noah was righteous and blameless. He found favor in the eyes of God. In the time of Noah, God saw how corrupt the earth was, so he decided to destroy it and the people on it except for Noah and his family.
God gave Noah the huge job of building an ark for his family as well as seven pairs of every kind of animal. Genesis 6:22 says Noah did everything just as God commanded him. I just love that verse.
I won’t write out the whole story of Noah, as I’m sure many are familiar with it or can go ahead and read it. What I’d like to discuss is Noah’s patience and faith.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In verse 7 of Hebrews 11, it says that “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.”
What’s amazing to me about Noah’s story is that he did something so absurd when he didn’t know what would really happen. It took patience to build the ark, and I’m sure Noah was ridiculed for what he was doing. It took patience and immense faith to get in the ark 7 days before it rained. It took patience to spend over a year on the ark, just waiting on God.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a cruise ship, but they’re pretty neat. It’s been said that the ark was comparable in size to a modern day cruise ship. I’ve been on two week-long cruises and while they have been nothing short of blissful, by the end of the week, I was ready to get off those boats.
I can’t imagine how Noah and his family felt after spending such a long time in the ark, especially under the circumstances.
Noah’s story inspires me to have patience and faith in the storms of life. If he could wait on God in such an intense situation, I can wait on God in the storms of my life.
I have included a printable below that incorporates questions about Noah’s story as well as your own for personal reflection on the study.
30 Day Patience Bible Study – Personal Reflection on Noah
If you’re following along with the study, I hope you’re enjoying it! Next week we will be studying Sarah. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments or send me an email at alliezottola (at) gmail (dot) com.