Last night, I thought I would hold my wife until she fell asleep, then do my studying.

MISTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!

I fell right to sleep and woke up a day behind on my Bible study. Today, I was only able to keep pace wih my regular schedule. Tomorow, I will have some time. I will try to make it up then.

Every living thing that moved on the earth perished-birds, livestock, wild animals, creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out-men and animals, and the creatures that move along the ground, and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind on the earth, and the waters receded.

Last night, after snuggling with my wife, I intended to study the scriptures.

That was before I passed out.

That left me waking up today with an hour of reading to do, five verses to memorize, and thirty-five verses to review. Needless to say, I was busy for some time.

But, thanks be to God, I was able to get the work done, and tomorrow I will be back on schedule. In the meantime, I noticed a very interesting writing style in the account of Noah. Take a look at the italicized verses below before reading on.

Did you notice anything...annoying? Like, maybe, that the last four verses are essentially the same sentence written over and over again? I noticed, and in a big way, since I had to try to memorize every subtle little difference between each verse. What could Moses have been trying to accomplish by writing things in this way?

I think I have an idea. The repetitive section begins with the phrase, "For forty days, the floodwaters kept coming..." He then repeats himself over and over again, with each sentence revealing a new fact about this catastrophe. In this way, the description of the flood "keeps coming" as relentlessly as the floodwaters themselves. You begin to feel as Noah probably did, when he sat in the ark and wondered, "Is this rain ever going to stop?" Thus, through the use of this repetition, Moses succeeds in telling history and setting the mood at the same time.

The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

For forty days, the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased, they lifted the ark high above the earth.

The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

They increased greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.

The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet.

It is late, and I am tired. All I can say is-I got it done. However hard it is, may God grant me the strength to do what needs to be done anyway.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month-on that day, the springs of the great dep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day, Noah and his sons-Shem, Ham, and Japheth-together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the grouund according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.

I finished today's verses a little easier, and a little earlier. am caught up on my reading, as well.

Right now, I am reading about King Solomon and the height of Israel's peace and prosperity. What an amazing spectacle! The temple that Solomon built was easily one of the wonders of the ancient world. And according to the Bible, Solomon had so much success that silver was counted of little value during his reign. And why was silver of little value? Because there was just so much GOLD!

But Solomon's wealth was exceeded by his wisdom and his piety. His devotion to God was great, and he had incredible insight into how to dispense justice. These factors combined to make Solomon's reign the high point of Israel's history.

But even the strongest and wisest of men are vulnerable to pressure, seduction, and time. Solomon married many foreign, idol-worshipping women. After this, the Bible does not say that Solomon's fall from grace happened immediately, but it happened as time passed. When Solomon grew old, he weakened and began serving other gods alongside of the Lord.

One might imagine that Solomon thought of himself as strong and wise, and told himself, that is foreign wives would not be able to sway his faith at all. Doubtless, that was true-for a while. But then, bit by bit, inch by inch, Solomon lost what he was, until his sin had destroyed him. Such is the fate of anyone, no matter how great, when they allow sin to have a foothold in their lives.

In our lives, we must pray that God will give us clear vision and a strong will to bear up under the devil's temptations. We must maintain CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth.

I disappointed myself today. Though I managed to get my memorization done, it was almost 4:30 by the time I finished. As a result, my scripture reading didn't get done today. I will have to make it up tomorrow.

I really, really need to start on this earlier in the day, when I can concentrate.

The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal-a male and its mate-and two of every kind of unclean animal-a male and its mate-and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

Thankfully, today's memorizaion was easier than yesterday's. I was suddenly struck, as I read this passage, of what an awesome responsibility God was laying on Noah. He was giving Noah the responsibility of taking care of the sole representatives of all life on this planet while during a disaster more catastrophic than the simultaneous detonation of a thousand nuclear bombs. And without any question or complaint (that is recorded), Noah accept all of God's statements as fact and obeys all of God's commands. Truly he is a role model for the rest of us.

"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the arkyou and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

I don't have much to say today, except that these verses were very difficult to learn. I was at it for hours-probably because I started late at night, and my brain was not working as quickly as it could have been. I am very happy to be finishing at last, but very tired as well. I have no regrets, though. There is great benefit to learning the word of God.

So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is full of violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: the ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top; put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.