When the World Was Destroyed by Water
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As the violence of the storm increased, the terror of man and beast
was beyond description. Above the roar of the tempest was heard
the wailing of a people that had despised the authority of God. Satan
himself, compelled to remain in the midst of the warring elements,
feared for his own existence. He now uttered imprecations against
God. Many of the people, like Satan, blasphemed God. Others were
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frantic with fear, stretching their hands toward the ark, pleading for
admittance. Conscience was at last aroused to know that there is a
God who ruleth in the heavens.
They called upon Him earnestly, but His ear was not open to their
cry. In that terrible hour they saw that transgression of God’s law had
caused their ruin. Yet they felt no true contrition, no abhorrence of
evil. They would have returned to their defiance of Heaven had the
judgment been removed.
Some clung to the ark until they were borne away by the surging
waters or their hold was broken by collision with rocks and trees. The
massive ark trembled in every fiber as it was beaten by the merciless
winds. The cries of beasts within expressed their fear and pain. But it
continued to ride safely. Angels were commissioned to preserve it.
Some of the people bound their children and themselves upon
powerful animals, knowing that these would climb to the highest
points to escape the rising waters. Some fastened themselves to lofty
trees on the hills or mountains, but the trees were uprooted and hurled
into the billows. As the waters rose higher the people fled for refuge
to the loftiest mountains. Often man and beast would struggle together
for a foothold until both were swept away.
From the highest peaks men looked abroad upon a shoreless ocean.
The solemn warnings of God’s servant no longer seemed a subject for
ridicule. Those doomed sinners pleaded for one hour’s probation, one
more call from the lips of Noah! But love, no less than justice, de-
manded that God’s judgments should put a check on sin. The despisers
of God perished in the black depths.
Conditions Before the Flood
The sins that called for vengeance upon the antediluvian world
exist today. The fear of God is banished from the hearts of men. His
law is treated with indifference and contempt. “As in the days that
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