Daily Inspirations

 Good morning. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel/Babylon, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. These are the records of the generations of Shem. We started with the generations of Adam – everybody; then Seth, not Cain; then Noah - not the rest of the descendants of Seth; then his three sons; and finally Shem, not Ham nor Japheth. As it does so, the Bible does not refer often to the other lines of descent. Shem was 100 years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood (was that two years after it began, or two years after it ended?). Shem “ only“ lived 500 years after that – a young whippersnapper. Father continue to guide the reader and his/her family every day.

 Good morning. The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.” Remember that they were doing this without God – all on their own. Who knows what it would have led to? “Behold, let us/Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” As you know from your own personal experience, if you don’t understand someone, it’s hard to get anything done. Sometimes it also will sow mistrust and discord. As Paul said in his writings, they become barbarians to us, and we to them. It is also one of the reasons that immigrants have been looked down upon. We will see next time what God did. Father thank You that no matter what country we are from, we can unite in our language of love towards You and each other.

  Good morning. Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar (we mentioned this place last time in connection with Nimrod and Babel). and settled there. “Come, let us make blocks and burn them thoroughly”. And they used brick for stone and they used tar for mortar. “Let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower. whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth“. [My Bible says that their plans were egotistical and proud. The typical Mesopotamian temple-tower known as a ziggurat, was square at the base and had sloping, stepped sides that lead upward to a small shrine at the top.] They apparently thought of heaven as a physical place that they could reach through their own effort, not through God’s grace. Father thank You that through Your grace, not our own efforts, we will soon be with Yo...

 Good morning. The Bible then lists the sons of Ham. We will only mention Nimrod. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and… in the land of Shinar. Canaan became the father of Sidon and Heth (his name will come up again later with Abraham). Shem - the father of all the children of Eber (Origin of the word for Hebrew), from whom Jesus was descended. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to the genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. Of course after the devastation of the flood, mankind lived in sanctification, right? Hardly. Father help us to not have to be subjected to something as devastating as the flood to live our lives righteously before You.

  Good morning. Noah… “May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant“. Noah lived 350 years after the flood. He was the last of those that lived to be over 900 years old. Why did mankind not live as long after the flood? Was there something about the pre-flood conditions that were conducive to long life? Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood. First we had the generations of Adam, then Noah, and now his sons. Genesis first lists the sons of Japheth. We will skip all the names, some of which we will see again later in the Bible. From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language (at this moment in the Bible, all spoke the same language), according to their families, into their nations (at this moment everyone lived close together). We will continue with the other sons next time. Father...

  Good morning. The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Ham, Shem, and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. As we said before, we know that Adam was descended from Seth, but we don’t know from whom Noah’s wife and his sons’ wives were descended. Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He went back to farming - what he was familiar with. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself. Ham saw and told his brothers. The two brothers covered the nakedness of their father without looking. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. How he knew, it does not say. Noah then cursed Canaan, not Ham, and declared him to be a servant to his brothers. There is debate about why he cursed Canaan; some saying it was because God had blessed Ham. Father thank you for continuing to bless and take care of the reader and his/her family. Make this a great ...

  Good morning. How do we know that God will remember that He promised to not flood the earth again? This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. [My Bible says that a covenant sign was a visible seal and reminder of covenant commitments; just like circumcision was.] it shall come about when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. Father when You make a promise we know that You will keep that promise.

 Good morning. I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man. As for you, be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it. Now I Myself do establish my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you. All flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. The promise was not just to mankind, but also to all the creatures of the earth. However He didn’t say He wouldn’t do it by fire (Revelation). Father thank You that even though Your covenant was with Noah and his family thousands of years ago, it is also with us.

  Good morning. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth“. That is the same thing that God said to Adam and Eve. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Before this, mankind was vegan. In chapter 1, even the animals were vegan. Why now was it OK to eat meat? People lived to be 900 years old without eating meat.  Was it because of the flood – did it change something? Later the law of Moses would restrict people from eating certain animals. Now animals would have a reason to fear man. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Father no matter what happens, You have everything planned out perfectly for us, if we will only listen to You.

  Good morning. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. You wouldn’t have to tell me twice. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you that they may be fruitful and multiply on the earth“. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. That is why there were seven (an odd number - no mate) of every clean animal. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and said, “I will never again curse the ground (I forgot to mention this earlier: God cursed the ground because of Adam‘s sin, he didn’t curse Adam) on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing as I have done”. Does that mean that the curse of the ground was lifted? It was God‘s punishment for Adam’s sin. “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and s...

  Good morning. The dove came to him toward evening, and in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. [My Bible says that olives do not grow at high elevations, and the fresh leaf was a sign to Noah that the water had receded from the earth.] Think about it: all the vegetation on the lower levels had been underwater for months. If this leaf had been a “leftover“ from before the flood, it would be withered and no good. Either the old Olive trees had “come back to life“, or this was from a brand new Olive tree. It came about in the 601st year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah remove the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. This was the 601st year of Noah’s life, not how long it had been since Adam was created. Everything lasted one full year. In the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dry. Father he...

  Good morning. In the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. From what was said earlier and will be said later, this is counting from when the rain started and not based on the calendar. Then it came about at the end of 40 days (more), that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the art to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. Tomorrow we will see what happened next. Father go with and meet the needs of the reader and his/her family.

  Good morning. All flesh that moved on the earth perished. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The water prevailed upon the earth 150 days. This would also seem to verify that the flood was worldwide, because how could the water stay that long if it were localized? But God remembered Noah and all the animals that were with him; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of 150 days the water decreased. So is this a second 150 days? As we will see later, probably. Imagine the cabin fever that Noah and his family had. It probably seemed like the water would never go away. Father thank You that no matter how bad things may look, You are always in control!

 Good morning. Noah, his family, and all the animals entered the ark. The Lord closed it behind him. Now is not the time for claustrophobia. Imagine Noah in the ark. OK God I spent 100 years building this thing; now what? Perhaps he hears the pitter patter of rain upon the roof. Then it gets stronger and stronger, perhaps with some wind. Perhaps after days of rain, the ark kind of shudders. Eventually, it lifts off the ground and starts floating. It starts moving about battered by the waves. Can anyone say Dramamine? This goes on for 40 days straight. And the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. This definitely sounds like it was worldwide. What was it like for the people outside the ark? At some point they started to panic. They probably ran to the ark, banging on it, and yelling for Noah to open the door. Even if Noah heard...

  Good morning. It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. In the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open (underneath the oceans - this would seem to indicate that the flood was worldwide), and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The word translated floodgates is used several times in the Old Testament, most notably in Malachi when God says, “I will open for you the windows of heaven”, and pour out a flood of blessings. The rain fell upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. In 2004, within a few months of each other, we had three hurricanes and a flash flood. I remember passing by this horse ranch where the water was almost up to the top of the fence. I cannot imagine what 40 days and 40 nights of continuous rain would produce. Father even in the midst of the storm You protect us from all harm.

  Good morning. After seven more days, I will send rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made. This is the first mention of it raining in the Bible. Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. Now Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. The last we heard, Noah was 500 years old and became the father of “my three sons“. Most people assume that he built the ark over that 100 years. Imagine all the laughter and criticism he would have received. Thankfully they did not have Facebook and Twitter back then. He would have had the help of his three sons over only part of that 100 years, since they would have been too little. Then Noah and his family entered the ark because of the water of the flood. The animals also entered the ark. I still remember the recording of Bill Cosby‘s story about Noah and the flood. Noah didn’t want to do it, and then you hear this deep vo...

 Good morning. The Lord said to Noah, “enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time." That is a very sad statement that he was the only one. Note, God did not say that even of Noah’s wife, his sons, nor his sons’ wives. They came into the ark on Noah’s coattails. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. Why seven of each clean and only two of each unclean? My Bible suggests that they needed more in order to have them available for sacrifice. This does, however, present an argument against the flood being worldwide. It would take an extremely large vessel to hold even two of each, but seven of the clean…? Father continue to go with the reader and his/her family bringing them joy, peace, and happiness!

 Good morning. Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every beast into the ark, to keep them alive with you, they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. Isn’t that amazing? The animals came to Noah; he didn’t have to go find them. Take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them. Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. Father help us to live our lives so that when it is our time to go, we can truly say that we did all that You commanded us.

 Good morning. Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. Some people think that the flood was only regional and did not cover the whole world. I believe it was worldwide. The water reached the top of the mountains and prevailed upon the earth 150 days, as we will see in chapters 7 and eight. If the flood were only regional, it looks like the water would’ve all run off way before then. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. Almighty God makes a covenant with a man. This only happened a few times. We know that Noah and his sons were descendants of Seth, but we don’t know about his wife and their wives. Remember that it said that the sons of God married the daughters of men. Father thank You that You made Your covenant with Noah, and we receive the b...

  Good morning. Then God said to Noah (God didn’t have to tell Noah why the flood was coming, but He wanted mankind to know so that it would not go back into its corruption), “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold I’m about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of Gopherwood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. The length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. One cubit was approximately a foot and a half. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. God made everything the perfect size. Noah didn’t load the ark, and then God say “oops, I messed up“. We will continue this tomorrow. Father You know how to give us exactly the right thing at the right time.

  Good morning. I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and the birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Just like us with salvation, it does not say that Noah did anything in particular to obtain this grace. These are the records of the generations of Noah. One chapter prior to this we had the book of the generations of Adam. Just in case you have not thought about it before, we are not only all descendants of Adam, we are also all descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless (does not mean sinless perfection) in his time; Noah walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. As we said before, we do not know if Noah lived 500 years and then had all three at the same time, or when they were born after that. The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. All flesh had corrupted th...

  Good morning. To add more confusion to what we said yesterday: the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, (this seems to be parenthetical - when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them). Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (seems to refer to the descendants of the Nephilim). Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Sounds like today. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. God had given mankind many centuries to change his heart, but in the end they all wanted to do their own will instead of His. Father, like David, make us men and women after Your own heart.

  Good morning. Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. There is discussion about to what does this refer. Some think that sons of God refers to angels as it does in some places in the Bible; but this seems to be quite a stretch that angels would marry humans. It sounds like a movie – Rosemary’s Baby. [My Bible has another explanation: that sons of God refers to descendants of Seth, while daughters of men refers to descendants of Cain.] “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh, nevertheless his days shall be 120 years“. Is this predicting that the flood would wipe out the descendants of Cain in 120 years? The last we heard about Noah he had children at the age of 500, and the flood came when he was 600. But then did his sons marry descendants of Seth or descendants of ...

  Good morning. Enoch’s son Methuselah lived to the age of 969 years. That is the longest recorded lifetime in the Bible. He had a son by the name of Lamech, whose claim to fame was that he was the father of Noah, saying, “this one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed“. In other words, we may be living 900 years, but that’s a long time to be a sodbuster. All the years of Lamech were 777 years. Seven was the number of completion, so three 7’s were significant. Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The way it reads, Noah did not have any children until he was 500 years old, and then he had triplets. Perhaps it means that they were born some time during those 500 years. Father thank You that everything is going to work out perfectly according to Your plan .

  Good morning. The Bible then gives a list of the descendants of Seth, including how long they lived, generally 900+. Some do not believe that it was a literal 900 years. Most were over 100 before they had their first child. Finally we get to Enoch. He was just a spring chicken of 65 when he became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. How would you like that to be said of you – that you walked with God a great many years? Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. It does not say what happened to him; possibly it was like Elijah. Father help us to be like Enoch and walk with You the rest of our lives.

  Good morning. Chapter 5: this is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him (just Adam?) in the likeness of God. He created them male and female (Adam and Eve), and He blessed them and named them Man in the day (not one 24 hour period) when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image (just like it talked about Adam being created in the image and likeness of God), and named him Seth. So we don’t know how long after Adam was created that Eve was created, nor how long before Cain and Abel were born; but we do know how long before Seth was born. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters (seems to imply that he did not have these children before Seth was born). So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. All those years after the sin, and the Bible does not record that Adam ever asked ...

  Good morning. Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him“. As we will point out again later, the Bible sometimes portrays a strange timeline. If someone were writing this today, they may have placed it shortly after Cain left Adam and Eve. To Seth also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord (A noteworthy statement - implies that before this Adam did not call upon the name of the Lord). Father help us to always call upon You first in the good times and the bad.

  Good morning. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain had relations with his wife (where did she come from? We assume that she is a child or grandchild of Adam and Eve) and she conceived, and gave birth… father of Lamech. He took to himself two wives (normally that would indicate more women than men). Lamech said to his two wives, “I have killed a man for wounding me; and a boy for striking me; if Cain is avenged sevenfold then I 77 fold”. This is a sad state of affairs. He is bragging about killing people for doing almost nothing to him. Perhaps there was little or no outward appearance of vengeance upon Cain. If people do wrong and there is no appearance of consequences, then many times this encourages others to do wrong also. Father help us to do the right thing, not because we fear punishment, but because we want to please You.

  Good morning. You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Cain just killed his brother. Did he really regret that he would be hidden from God‘s face? Why did he think that someone would want to kill him? Perhaps he felt that is what he would do to someone like him who had killed a relative (we are assuming that the biblical account is true – that people only came from Adam and Eve). At this point in time no other people are mentioned. So the Lord said to him, “therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold“. And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him. Of course there has been speculation what the sign was, but no one knows for sure. Father continue to take care of, blessing and healing the reader and his/her family.

  Good morning. What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground (The book of Hebrews talks about this too). Now you are cursed from the ground (which had been cursed by God), which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you’ll be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the Lord, “my punishment is too great to bear“. Seriously? You just killed someone! You don’t go into timeout for something like that. We will finish this tomorrow. Father help us to realize that there are consequences from our actions, and that sometimes the results cannot be reversed.