Intro: For our Advent season this year, I have chosen to enjoy the Jesse Tree by sharing a 24-day practice to prepare us for the celebration of Christ’s birth; the event we celebrate and honor at Christmas. From the root of Jesse’s stump, we will discover or rediscover the people in the family Tree of Jesus Messiah who were instrumental in bringing the presence of God near to us in order to revive the Spirit-led family of faith. With each day’s reading, we will add a new symbol—an ornament—to our family tree.
Today, is day three of our journey and our symbol is the Ark and the Rainbow.
Many years ago, God gave me a message to teach about venturing into the depths of His love. Because we cannot contain the fulness of God, the Spirit leads us from glory, to glory, to glory in his love and victory. The Spirit—the Living Water—is the One who washes the filth of the world off from us.
We begin with repentance at the surface level of God’s love where it is comfy, affirming, and warm. Everyone loves this season of splashing in the waters of the Spirit, but we must grow up, because spiritual immaturity does not bring glory to God or victory to our lives. Second, the Spirit calls us into the convicting love of God; some filthy areas of our hearts, minds, and wills get a real cleansing here. During these times, our faith must stretch for us to meet God’s will for our lives. We face trials and tribulations differently at this level; endurance and growth become our goals so we climb up closer to the presence of God in Christ [our Ark]. Lastly, there are the raging flood waters of God’s confrontational love where he calls us to rest in the truth of who He is so He can reveal his awesome and mighty power. Christ becomes the redemptive Ark of glorious hope that now carries us through every situation and protects us from evil. We need to rest in Christ’s salvation! In Him we now live, move, and have our being.
The story of the flood reminds use of the depths of Almighty God who can be gentle, compassionate, and inspiring, as well as powerful, holy, and awesome. Humanity did not learn the lessons from the garden, because they continue to eat rotten fruit. We become what we eat; therefore, the world becomes filled with violence and evil. So, God chooses to do something about it. He sends water..lots and lots of water; but, he chooses to preserve Noah [whose name means “rest”], his family, and every kind of animal. Then, God promises to never flood the world again and provides the rainbow to remind Him of that promise—a sign of God’s faithfulness to His covenant of redeeming grace.
Genesis 6:11-21 NLT
11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!
14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”
Genesis 7:17-8:1 NLT
17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet[a] above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.
The Flood Recedes
8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede.
Genesis 9:8-13 NLT
8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
Hebrews 9:15 NLT
15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.
Prayer: Lord, we know you are powerful yet gentle, sovereign yet merciful, holy yet compassionate and we worship you. Take us into the depths of your love so our lives may glorify you. Our hope rests in you, Lord! In Jesus’ name. Amen.