Flood, fire, earthquake, destruction:-
The moral must be:- why bother? Why go to all the trouble when it’s all going to be destroyed?
What did Noah think when he saw the Deluge? Did he think it would rain just for a few days?
No, he knew that it was going to be a huge flood because God had told him to prepare by building an Ark, and therefore he was prepared to be on the water a long time. He knew that everything that he had known in the world was going to be destroyed, except his wife and family. What did Noah think about this destruction – his house and village, his friends, the whole population of the world, the land, woods, forests, rivers, valleys, hills and mountains? He probably felt extremely fearful, worried, even terrified, not knowing what was going to happen next (as in an earthquake); but, as he reflected in his cabin as the rain poured down in the huge deluge, he thought God must have saved him for a purpose. God knew that Noah was a good man, a survivor and ideally suited for this challenge, to survive the flood and come to a new land with a message of peace and hope – post deluvian, God had plans for human kind.
Noah must have thought, “Why me? Why does it always happen to me? But equally, why do I survive, for what purpose?”. Then he felt a little movement on the back of his hand, and he looked down and there was a little ant. Noah had had instructions to save all the innocent animals and birds and insects and living creatures, male and female, which was why the Ark was so huge.
This little ant reminded Noah of a very significant fact; the ant never gives up, he always keeps working, whatever the conditions and whatever the setbacks he suffers. The ant rebuilds his destroyed house, not just once, but many times, repeatedly, over and over again. He NEVER gives up. He is NEVER defeated. In fact, it is HIS enemies and adversaries who are defeated in the end. Suddenly Noah was filled with enormous hope and reassurance, that God had not destroyed him but had saved him and would use him for an important role.
And that was to lead and show by example that one should never give up, or take the easy route, or be defeated by your enemies who want to see you fail and crushed. The moral is – don’t give up or give in to your enemies, or compromise your life’s principles – stick at it and rebuild, and rebuild, and rebuild. THAT is the moral, of the ant and the flood and the Deluge, and the lesson that Noah learnt.
And the lesson that I learnt.
C.Tim Taylor 2018