“ ‘ “ For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer. “ For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. . .” ‘ ” Isaiah 54: 7-9, NKJV.
Our Father and our God, here we are once more sitting at Your feet; ready to hear You speak to our hearts. May we be willing to say, after You have spoken, “Here am I, oh LORD, use me for Your honor and Your glory.” In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we will be looking at the last part of our Scripture, “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.” To many people, the flood in Noah’s day represented one thing – the wrath of God. I believe, however, that if we take a closer look, we will soon recognize God’s great mercy!
I have not spent time studying how long ago the flood, spoken of in Genesis 6, took place. I do believe it did happen. According to the figures I have seen, some believe it happened about 4,350-5,000 years ago. The reason I make mention of this, is to show, once again, how great God’s mercy is, in comparison to His wrath. Let us go to Scripture and read a portion of the history of the flood:
“Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. . . For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” . . . And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. . . Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. . . . So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made” (Genesis 7: 1, 4, 10-12, 17; 8: 6, NKJV). Emphasis provided.
For “forty days and forty nights” the flood was upon the earth. It has been more or less, seven thousand years since creation, I believe. If the flood occurred more or less, five thousand years ago, His mercy has been abounding for more or less two thousand years, beyond His wrath! And even beyond two thousand years; because the plan of salvation, whose foundations are laid upon His everlasting love, His enduring mercy, and His matchless grace, was in effect, “before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1: 18-20)! Hallelujah! What a God!
And in His endless mercy, in order that we might rest in the assurance of His great love, He took an oath! The Great God of the universe, who cannot lie (Numbers 23: 19); whose Word is infallible, swore, that He would never again destroy the world with a flood! What a God of love! What a God of mercy! What a God of marvelous grace!
Yesterday, today, and forever, His mercy has outlasted, is outlasting, and will outlast, His wrath! Oh that we might love and serve, such a God!
We will continue.
NOTE: A slight modification has been made to today’s devotional.