Human sin had reached an awful climax. Sooner or later its results must have swept the human race from the earth, as smallpox will slay every native on some infected island. God only hastened by the Flood the inevitable result of wrong-doing. Amid the universal corruption and violence, one man stood out as precious in the sight of God. His name meant Rest; he was righteous toward man and “blameless” toward God; he walked in fellowship with God; his ear was quick to detect, and his hand deft to fulfill the divine will. “By faith Noah . . .” See Heb. 11:7. Such is the character to which God reveals his secrets and with which he enters into covenant. If we live thus we shall cross the flood of death into the resurrection life, 2 Pet. 2:5. Not only shall we be saved, but we shall save others.

Genesis 7:1-24. What anguish! They climbed the highest story of their towers, then to the hills, but the greedy waters followed them, till the last crag was covered, and all living things in the first homes of human life had perished. Equally sudden and unexpected shall be the days of the Son of Man. See Luke 17: 26; 2 Pet. 3:7. But what drowns other men only lifts the child of God nearer his home. The waters bear up the ark. When the loftiest refuges of les and pride are submerged, and the whole landscape is covered with a monotonous waste of trouble, God says to the soul, “Como into the ark.” It is as though he is inside and wants us to enter into close fellowship with himself. See Psalm 27:5. When God shuts the door behind us, no power ean force, no skeleton key can unlock, no wedge ean pry the door. For the extent of the Deluge it is appropriate to consider Luke 2:1-3. In the Genesis, as in the Luke

passage, “all” may be used in a general rather than an absolute sense.