Noah's Story

The Lord said, "Let Us go down and see if there are any worth saving"-for the Lord knew that there were still a few that He heard from daily.
He began His search on the one side of the Earth and swept over the land, searching for just enough people to withhold His wrath, but in the end He did not find them. But those that He did find He had mercy on, and chose to save them, for He said, "You are the only worthy ones in all the land."
Yes, I am Noah, and I'm here to tell you how the Lord brought me out of not just persecution, but spared me from His just wrath.
When I was young, I was taught to love the Lord; I was brought up in Him, and my family all trusted in Him. But as time passed, most lost faith and no longer believed. When it was time to build the Ark, the Lord started off by asking a number of us to work on it, but as the years went by, some left, others died, and in the end it was just my little family that entered and sojourned in the Ark.
As the centuries of my youth had gone by, I had many times wondered if He was true or not, and it was in large part due to my father's belief that I remained a believer. As I grew, I was told many of the things that had happened over the years, and some of these were hard to believe. But as my family before me all believed, so I too believed.
Over time, though, I got tired of always hearing about it, and kept wondering if the Lord was real. I had prayed before and listened to His guidance, but never had I heard His voice as clearly as I did on that day when He spoke to Me about building the Ark.
I was taught to fear the Lord, and when I first heard Him speak, I was afraid of what He would ask of me, for I reasoned, “Had He not always asked great things of those that He talked to?”
On that fateful day, as I was in my fields, the Lord came down and spoke to me. I fell down before Him and asked, “What would You have me do, Lord?” And He spoke and told me of the wickedness of the world and that He would destroy it, but promised to keep me safe as long as I followed His instructions.
To begin with, I was frightened of what would happen if I said no. As I began to receive the Lord's commandments, I didn't know what to think. How was I supposed to build this large boat, and how was it supposed to work? Many of these thoughts flooded my mind, and I began to wonder if I was truly hearing from the Lord. He reassured me that I was indeed hearing His voice and His commandments.
After the Lord had spoken to me, I rose up and went on my way home. I was eager and excited that I had such a large project ahead of me. I spoke with my family about what the Lord had shown me and told them what was to come. This was when I felt the first bit of persecution and doubt.
Some of my family, mainly those that weren't as close to the Lord, wanted nothing to do with this project; others listened only out of respect for my father. I visited many of my relatives, talking to each one and asking them for their help, but from the replies I received, I saw for the first time how wicked the world really was.
I had known for a while that some of the world was evil, but I never really thought that it would infect my family and loved ones. I could now see it creeping up on them and devouring them. From those I was closest to, to those I barely knew, I could now see that the world had gained a hold on them.
At first I didn't understand completely why some of my friends and family didn't want to have anything to do with me, but as time passed, I saw and heard the reasons behind it. The main one was that they thought I was crazy, because I claimed I had heard from God and that He had spoken with me. While it wasn't uncommon for the older generations to believe me, most of the younger generations did not and could not, for they had not been taught in the ways of the Lord.
So I took my immediate family and a few friends and moved away from where I was living so that I could begin work on the Ark. I had nothing but the Lord's plans, and I went to work drawing up exactly what would be needed. We made a space large enough for the final Ark to reside, and we starting building it there.
Every so often people would come by, wondering what I was up to, and I even hired some of them as laborers to help with some of the heavy work. I'd also try to tell them of the Lord and how His judgment was going to come upon them, but most of them just laughed and said that as long as I paid them they would help me out, but that they weren't going to believe in why I was doing it.
This was discouraging to hear, for I thought that surely there were going to be some who would like to know of the Lord. But as time passed, it became clear to me that there wasn't anything that was going to change their minds.
My work had started 20 years before I had my first son, and through those years I dwelt with my father and some of my other relatives. I would work on the Ark daily, and though it was long hours, I did it faithfully. The Lord told me I would have more sons, and that my seed would replenish the Earth. He also instructed me to search out future brides for them, so even before my sons were born I began looking for the parents of those that they would marry.
The Lord led me to three different families. These families each bore a daughter, and the Lord blessed them, saying, "I will use this child to preserve man and his seed on the Earth forever, for her family has found favor in My eyes."
The parents would not be allowed to enter the Ark, but the Lord wanted to bless them, for they had turned back to Him even though they'd gone astray. When I told them about what I was doing for the Lord and how the Earth was going to be destroyed, they repented, but their past wickedness had been too great, and the Lord didn't want them to continue. But the Lord gave them daughters to represent them.
It is not mentioned in the Bible about those who did repent when they heard the Lord's words, but because of how great their wickedness had been, the Lord chose not to allow them to escape the flood. There were a number of people over the 120 years of building who wanted to join me in the Ark, but I sought the Lord's face about each one and He said, "While these do repent and turn back to Me, I cannot allow the wickedness that is yet in their hearts to continue. They love Me and are willing to give it up, but for what they've done I must punish them, and that punishment is that they shall not continue into the new earth."
The Lord loved each one that repented, and mercifully allowed most of them to peacefully sleep with their fathers before the floods came. This happened even to my own father, who died five years before the flood. He'd faithfully followed the Lord all the days of his life, but the Lord said that he too was not worthy to go in the Ark; notwithstanding, his seed would repopulate the Earth.
Now, in the beginning of the building of the Ark, the Lord commanded me to hire some men to do the manual labor, for even with my father and a few other relatives, we could not possibly do all that was required. When I had my first son after about 20 years, the Lord again spoke to me, saying, "Let these that do not believe go, for this Ark should last for an eternity, but if it is further touched by these wicked ones, it shall perish."
So I let go all those that I had hired. There were still some that believed the Lord's words and followed Him, and they were allowed to continue the work beside me. But without the help of many laborers, progress was slow.
In time, I had my next two sons, and they later began to work beside us. The years passed quickly, and each boy grew to be a man, but in those days, they were still considered young compared to all those around them. But the Lord helped them to learn quickly and they grew in the Lord as He commanded me to teach them.
My sons knew not most of the wickedness that was happening around them, for the Lord wanted them free from the knowledge of the world and its corruption. The daughters of those families that the Lord commanded me to bring as wives for my sons also were without worldly knowledge, for they were being saved for the new life. From their youth they had lived with us, brought up under our own roof in preparation for marrying my sons.
I knew not what was going on outside our lives, for I was solely focused on building the Ark as the Lord told me. So it was with great shame that one day I learned that my youngest son had sought out some neighbors and had inquired into some of the things of the world, for he had a taste for knowledge and wasn't satisfied with what the Lord had commanded us to teach him.
When he returned, he was brought forth unto all of us, and we asked him what this thing was that he had done. He told us that he had heard some things before and was curious, and he had gone to find the answers.
Well, the Lord was angry, for He had told us that these children were not to be taught of worldly ways, so that the wickedness of man would not be passed on to future generations. The Lord said that because of his disobedience, he should not continue work on the Ark and that he would have to stay.
But being that he was my son and I loved him, I begged the Lord for mercy. I called out to Him for a week asking Him to change his mind. In the end, the Lord listened and did incline Himself unto me. But because of this, the Lord said that the new world would not be as pure as it could have been, and that I would take on the responsibility for that forever.
It's not that I'm responsible for all the wickedness of the world, but I was the small hole through which it was able to leak through. Since that time, I've repented and I've learned my lesson: that even though we are able to change God's mind upon occasion, it's not always the best thing.
Over the years of building, there were many who would come to watch and laugh, or to mostly just sit and use us as entertainment. In the first few years, I would talk about the Lord and some would listen, but as time went on, they would just laugh and yell and tell me to be quiet and that they weren't interested.
After my sons began to work on the Ark, the Lord commanded me to make sure they did not learn of the wickedness around them, so those that would come and scoff were moved even further away. The Lord gave me the idea to build a sort of seating area for them; this way I could put it far enough away that they could still laugh and make jokes at us, but that we would not be able to hear them clearly. There were still a few that would come closer and talk to us-some of them truly interested, others just to be a nuisance. We would regularly chase them away and they weren't a real problem at that time.
But as the years passed, the people around us started to get angry that we continued to follow the Lord, and they wanted us to stop. The spirits that they worshipped as gods told them that if they allowed us to continue, they were going to leave them. They believed that, and began to persecute us. They would come by and try to disrupt the work, or they would destroy parts of the Ark overnight. Anything that wasn't within the Ark itself was open for destruction; anything lying around would be destroyed or messed up.
The Lord kept any harm from coming directly to the Ark, so as we worked nothing would harm us if we were within or on the Ark. The Lord said that this was His plan and that nothing would prevail against it. They even tried to burn it, but the Lord caused that not to work either-nothing would burn no matter how often they tried.
As we continued to work, they started persecuting us more and more, to the point that they would come to our homes and either try to attack us or destroy as much as possible. Most of us who were faithfully working on the Ark moved to a large house right near it, so that we would all be under one roof and be better able to defend ourselves and the Ark.
The Lord was our main protection, but He does believe in you doing what you can also. So those of us working would carry weapons. We never really used them, but as long as we showed force, it did enable us to work a lot more without bother. They would still come and taunt us, but usually their interest would dwindle after awhile.
About 30 years before we completed the Ark, there came a period when no one bothered us. We thought that they had finally given up and were going to leave us alone. But, no, they started coming at night and chanting all around us and the Ark. However, they were never able to move against us. The Lord kept them at bay, for if they had come closer, much worse damage could have been done.
Over the last 25 years is when a lot of my friends and family that had believed in the Lord began to die off. In those days, the Lord would come and warn us that it was their time, and we would have a day or two to say goodbye and for them to get their hearts in order. He would take them in different ways-some even by the enemy forces, whom He used as a testimony for Him and to give those in the world another chance. But sadly, not many changed their hearts. As time went on, there was only my immediate family left, and the last five years were when there were just the eight of us.
Those last years were very interesting, because it was during that time that animals began to appear in the woods and hills around us-some that we didn't even know existed. We didn't have to take care of any of them, besides our own small herd of sheep and cattle. The Lord, Who'd brought them to us from close and far, kept them. It was a miracle to see so many different animals coexisting in such a small area.
As the last year approached, the Lord gave us the date of when He was going to bring about the flood. We began carrying into the Ark all the supplies that we would need. He told us how to preserve different foods so that they could be stored for long periods of time, and He taught us about the different animals and what kind of forage each one would need.
During this time the Lord also gave us the instructions to build some rainwater storage tanks into the Ark for holding water. These were areas that could hold run-off water, and could be opened and closed when needed. During the forty days and nights when it rained, we were able to fully fill these and then had a large supply of clean and clear water.
The Lord said that in the last days before the flood we would be sought after even more, for the Enemy was really mad that we had still been able to work without problems. Over the last 25 years, he had thought he was gaining victories in having different ones killed, but little did he know that it had in fact been a fulfillment of the Lord's will for them. He had only told me who would join me in the Ark; He had not told them, and neither would I until their time had come.
The Devil didn't know the Lord's plan at that time, so when there were only eight of us left, he was quite happy. He thought he had done away with a lot of those that would help replenish the Earth, but when he found out that it didn't stop us, and that we were still going about our business without worry, he began to have his suspicions.
He went to the Lord and asked Him if we had been His choices all along, and the Lord said that, yes, we were the ones He'd use to reseed the Earth. At this, the Devil freaked out, because he had thought all along that he was winning. But it was the Lord's will that we survive. He gave us the power to silence our enemies, and we used this power to stop those that would harm us.
When the time came to load all the animals into the Ark, the Lord told me that we would be in there for seven days and then the floods would come. To me, this was a surprise, because until then I had thought the Lord would bring us directly into it when we were done, but He wanted to make sure we still trusted Him completely.
During these seven days, many people came around and began trying as best they could to destroy the Ark, trying to get inside. But no matter what they tried, the Ark had been built to withstand it. The Ark's lowest windows were still too high for any ladder that they had, so all their attacks came to naught.
These days were truly a test, for there was nothing to do but sit back and care for the animals and wait on the Lord, all the while being attacked from without. But in the end the Lord did it. He brought forth His flood and swept the Earth of the wicked, and through it brought about a new world and a new life for all of us.
After that time of doubting, the Lord again came to me and told me that it was He Who would rule the world, and that I should continue to train my family in Him. I'd wanted to teach them so much more during the time of building the Ark, but we were so busy every day with work that it was very difficult to find enough time with them to teach them fully about Him. Now, during the year's stay within the Ark, I was able to focus directly on what the Lord wanted me to teach them.

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(Jesus:) Noah is one of My servants who accomplished so very much for Me, and he could tell many more stories about the experiences he went through during his long life. Even in the matter of how I protected him during his days of building the Ark, there could be so many more specific incidents related. But this is a good overview, and I am pleased that he was able to give it. Many people will find it interesting and inspiring, and it was given for their sakes.

Copyright © 2005 by The Family International