SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Holiness of God (chapter 6 verses 1-7)
(2). The Grace of God (chapter 6 verse 8 to chapter 7 verse 10)
(3). The Wrath of God (chapter 7 verses 11-24)
(4). The Faithfulness of God (chapter 8 verses 1-22)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• You cannot have failed to see the recent stories in the media (Feb 2014);
• Regarding a small mobile-phone-sized clay tablet;
• The tablet was covered in a 4,000-year-old cuneiform script;
• And you can see it on display at the British Museum in London.
• This cuneiform tablet tells a similar story like Noah, the biblical patriarch;
• Who gathered his family and the world's animals onto a massive ship,
• It contains a number of differences, such as the ark was round in shape;
• And made out of coiled rope not gopher wood.
• Of course I guess you know the old joke why it was called that;
• Because for 100 years Noah kept telling his sons to ‘go for wood’!
• Now this tablet has been at the British Museum since 1985,
• But the owner Irving Finkel did not surrender it for translation until 2009.
• The story is now in the news because Irving Finkel, owner of the tablet;
• Has published a book (The Ark Before Noah),
• And he suggests that Genesis borrowed the story from this earlier Babylonian account!
• The news media did not tell people that this tablet isn't dated with a date itself.
• It's date has been estimated according to Finkel, to be 1900 and 1700 BC.
• We would say he has given a guesstimate to it.
• The cynic might say, well he does have a book to publicise and sell!
• Many (conservative Christian) Bible scholars;
• Believe that the flood occurred circa 2349 BC,
• And that the account in Genesis was written by Moses circa 1450 BC;
• Shortly before his death.
• Christian scholars would therefore say that the Babylonian text;
• Must be a corrupted version an adaptation of the true story in Genesis.
• Or it might be an independent attempt at describing the world-wide flood.
• Rather than discredit the Genesis account;
• It actually confirms the fact that another great civilisation;
• Believed that a world-wide flood took place.
Note:
• Did you know that nearly every culture in the world has a tradition of a global flood?
• You will find over 200 of these stories from all over the world.
• From Asia to Africa, From South America to Europe;
• Most ancient civilisations have the story of a flood documented in their ancient records.
Ill:
• Interesting trivia:
• The word for "boat" in Chinese characters (Chinese character 船 )
• (which survived the Communist-era character simplification);
• Is composed of the symbols for "vessel," "eight," and "person,"
• (Literally "mouth", and sometimes translated as "family member.")
• The characters were developed by the historian Can Ji;
• At the order of the Emperor Huang Di during the 3rd millennium BC,
• And in many cases used combinations of pictograms to represent more abstract ideas.
• Is it coincidence or did he based his character for "boat";
• On the knowledge of the eight people were saved on a ship through the flood?
• We don’t know and therefore it is trivia and amusing;
• Rather than a historic or scientific fact.
• TRANSITION:
• Now there is something appealing and charming regarding the image of the ark;
• i.e. If you buy a children’s Bibles; the ark;
• (or a child’s representation of a small house on a boat) often features on their covers.
• i.e. In bookshops there are so many children’s books that retell this story
• i.e. So many ‘Parent & toddler’ groups or children’s nurseries are called ‘Noah’s Ark.
• This story is so well known, by people of faith and no faith.
• On March 21st 2014 a new Hollywood motion picture will be released;
• (Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone & Emma Watson).
• Once again this story will brought to the attention of millions of people;
• I am sure the film will be entertaining,
• I am sure the film will also be visually stunning to look at.
• I also hope and pray it will cause people to reflect and think!
• After all why did these events happen?
• Why did God bring such a judgement on humanity and his creation?
This narrative is one of contrasts:
• You have the appealing and charming regarding the image of the ark;
• And the vast array of animals coming to find refuge and shelter.
• Yet it is also one of the darkest narratives in the whole Bible.
• Where judgement falls and lives are lost in horrific numbers and circumstances.
• You might say upon reflection, it is hardly a story for children!
Quote: Mark Twain:
“It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”
• To understand the why and wherefore of this incident;
• We need to see these events in there context;
• And this will give us an explanation as to why God took this course of action!
But before we do that let me remind you:
• This Biblical narrative is endorses again and again in the Bible as a historical event:
• Besides the book of Genesis, Noah is also mentioned in:
• 1st Chronicles, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke,
• The book of Hebrews and the 1st and 2nd Epistles of Peter
(1). The Holiness of God
(chapter 6 verses 1-7)
Read: verses 5-6:
“The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”
• The Bible’s focus in this story is not so much on the material side;
• But rather on the moral side.
• We have described in this chapter a world full of people who were;
• Inwardly corrupt, outwardly violent and upwardly rebellious.
• Remember Noah is the tenth generation from Adam
• So it did not take very long for the wickedness of sin to totally corrupt the human race.
• ill: It spread like a deadly cancer
ill:
• You probably know the old joke;
• Question: What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?
• Answer: Half a worm!
• Now if you find an apple with a worm hole,
• It does not mean that there is a worm inside the apple.
• It simply means that an insect laid an egg in the apple blossom.
• Sometime later, the worm hatched in the heart of the apple,
• And then ate its way out."
• TRANSITION:
• Despite the appearance, the worm doesn't work its way into the apple,
• It works its way out.
• And so it is with sin.
• It doesn't work its way into our hearts, it works its way out.
• Although it may reveal itself much later through our words and our actions & attitudes,
• It was there all along, hidden in the very blossom of our human nature.
• Quote: Romans chapter 5 verse 12:
“Just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”
• We have described in these chapters in Genesis;
• A world full of people who were living examples of that truth;
• They were inwardly corrupt, outwardly violent and upwardly rebellious.
• And if you pick up a newspaper today or watch the news;
• You will see the same practice and evidence of humanities sinful hearts.
• And if we are honest enough to look inside our own hearts and minds;
• We realise that we too are a flawed, a sinful people!
• We too are part of the problem with a world gone wrong.
Note: verses 5-6 what we read is terrible, it is awful, it’s staggering;
• We read that God regrets that he has made human beings!
• This is one of the saddest verses in the whole of the Bible!
• What God saw in men and women broke his heart.
Ill:
• Sometimes on the news when a horrible crime has been committed;
• The parents of the perpetrator might say; “I wish he or she had never been born!”
• And yet, I have encountered parents;
• Who have said similar things regarding their troublesome offspring;
• “I wish we had never had them they have only caused heartache and pain!”
Notice:
• What the text says in verse 5:
• Three words describe it: “Every”, “Only”, “All” or “Continually”
• “Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”.
• And yet these were people made in God’s image!
• People who were supposed to reflect his character and express his love!
• And yet the text tells us:
• “Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”.
• Question: Can you imagine how God must have felt?
• When God looked at the earth and “see, it was all ruined”.
• What a difference to God’s words at the beginning of creation,
• When he declared it was all good. In fact he said; “Very good”!
• So here in Genesis chapter 6 God said; “That’s enough!”
(2). The Grace of God
(Chapter 6 verse 8 to chapter 7 verse 10)
“7So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.”; “But Noah”
• On first reading you might say; “Where is the grace of God in these verses?”
• But it is there!
• The grace of God is demonstrated in at least two ways:
FIRST EVIDENCE OF GRACE:
• Not all humanity was destroyed in the flood;
• One man and his family (8 in total) were saved!
• Quote; Chapter 7 verse 13:
13 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”
• And like all people throughout history Noah was saved by grace!
• Quote: Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7 informs us that:
• “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”
Ill:
• When they were building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay,
• They hit a problem.
• Construction fell badly behind schedule because;
• Several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths.
• Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays.
• Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge;
• This would then catch any who fell.
• In spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net.
• After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted.
• A worker or two fell into the net but were saved.
• Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.
• TRANSITION: Noah was not a perfect man but he was righteous;
• That simply means he tried to live a right lifestyle.
• He wanted to be right with God.
• He was a man of faith and God always rewards faith.
• In fact without it, the Bible says “It is impossible to please God”
• (Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6)
SECOND EVIDENCE OF GRACE:
• God gave the people a warning! He did not have to but he chose to.
• For 100 years the people had the warning given to them by Noah and his family!
• Quote: Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7b:
• “…by his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world”
• Noah himself was a living warning to the people of his day;
• He was a lighthouse to all those people he encountered:
Ill:
• Around 450-404 BC lived a man called Alcibiades:
• Alcibiades and he was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, & general.
• Despite his brilliance he was known in Athens for his wild living.
• Often when he encountered the ancient philosopher Socrates
• He would say;
• “Socrates I hate you! For every time I meet you, you show me what I am”.
• Socrates pure and purposeful life was judgement on Alcibiades;
• It reminded him and demonstrated to him that he was living wrong!
• TRANSITION:
• It is only when you encounter the light; that you realise what darkness is.
• When men and women encountered Noah,
• He bore witness to them by his lifestyle and his message.
Ill:
• We are getting warned constantly.
• Manufactures are growing increasingly wary of being sued when their products are misused,
• So they are attaching warning labels to hundreds of items.
• For example, a Superman outfit bears this warning:
• “Parents, please exercise caution—FOR PLAY ONLY.
• Mask and cape are not protective; cape does not enable user to fly.”
Ill:
• On the motorway in terrible conditions you often read warnings;
• The signs flash on and off: “Slow down, keep your distance”
• And yet we see drivers blatantly ignoring those warnings;
• And endangering their own and other peoples lives!
• TRANSITION: Warnings are a sign of concern & grace;
• Change your behaviour or you will reap the consequences of your actions!
• Noah knew (believed the word of God) that a flood of deadly proportions was coming.
• And that knowledge gave him new priorities and a new objective.
• A flood was coming;
• And Noah’s mission was to save both his family and anyone else who would listen.
ill:
• We all know the dangers of a flood.
• We have seen the devastation it can cause on our TV’s;
• And some of you may even have experienced it first-hand!
• Even if a flood doesn’t kill you it can still rob you of all you own.
• A whole lifetime of working and saving can disappear in a day or week or month of rain.
• A few years ago in 2004 a new word came to prominence, ‘tsunami’
• (from Japanese lit. "harbour wave").
• Many of us will never forget the images of history's biggest tsunamis;
• Which hit the south-western coast of Sri Lanka.
• At 10:20 a.m. local time on December 26, 2004
• Where an estimated 230,000 people were almost instantly swept into eternity!
• By the power of one single wave!
On that occasion in 2004 the tsunami was caused by an earthquake;
With a magnitude between 9.1 and 9.3 that shook the whole region.
Here in Genesis chapters 6 to 8 we are told the cause of this flood;
Will be God’s judgement on a sinful, rebellious world!
Note:
• God always judges sin!
• It happened in the past i.e. The flood.
• It will happen in the future i.e. What the Bible calls The Judgement Day.
• Jesus taught about it in the gospels (Matthew chapter 25)
• The apostle John describes it in the book of Revelation (chapter 20 verses 11-12)
• God will judge every nation;
• But he will also call to account every human being!
Now here is where and why the message of Christianity is so important;
• Because on the cross the Bible says (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21):
• "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
• so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Ill:
• The Four Turnabouts.
• FIRST: take your hands and place them together with palms touching each other.
• That pictures God and Adam and Eve in perfect harmony;
• With God in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.
• SECOND: Then take your right hand and turned it so that the palm faced outward;
• And away from the left hand.
• That pictures Adam and Eve turning from God after the Fall.
• THIRD: Then take your left hand and face it outward away from his right hand.
• This pictures God judging Adam and Eve (and the whole human race);
• By casting them out of the Garden.
• Now both hands are facing away from each other.
• FOURTH: You take your left hand and bring it slowly back around;
• So that the palm faced inward–in its original position.
• This pictures God having been reconciled by the cross of Christ;
• (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18-20).
• Even though the right hand is still facing outward and away from the left,
• The left hand now faces toward the right;
• Just as God faces the sinner and begs him to be reconciled.
• TRANSITION: Forgiveness is available and a free gift to those who ‘by faith’;
• Turn to Jesus Christ and invite him to be there Saviour and Lord!
By faith Noah…..built an ark:
• Everything Noah did, in reference to the threatened deluge,
• Was done in virtue of simple faith or belief of what God said.
• It was not because he could show from the weather reports;
• That things were heading to such a catastrophe;
• It was not because event like this had happened before,
• It hadn’t…… in fact it had not even rained!
• We are told in Genesis that the earth was watered by the dew of the ground;
• Not by rain drops from the sky.
• Chapter 6 verse 17: God describe to Noah what was going to take place;
• “ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth”
• So it was not because an event like this had happened before,
• Rendering it probable that it was be likely to occur again;
• It was not because this was the common belief of all men;
• And everyone was in expectation of it.
• The one and only reason Noah acted like he did was by faith in God’s word.
• It was simply because God had warned him of something to come,
• And he put his trust in God’s warnings.
Now in contrast to Noh’s faith and belief:
• We have the unbelief of the people of Noah’s day;
• Who not only refused to believe but openly mocked and ridiculed him.
Ill:
• After all it must have seemed comical to see a man building a huge boat;
• 135 meters long, 22.5 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high.
• In old money that's 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
Question: Could the ark hold two of every species on the earth?
Answer:
• According to the experts (i.e. David C.C. Watson ‘Myths & Miracles’) yes;
• There are approximately 17,000 species on the planet today.
• If you take the average size of animals to be the size of a sheep;
• Remember God could have sent baby elephants, hippos, rhinos and dinosaurs to the ark.
• They need not have been fully grown creatures.
• You could fit 125,280 sheep in the ark;
• That is three times what was required!
• 1 million insects would only take up the same space as 5,000 sheep
• If you Google the question: ‘Could all the animals fit on Noah’s ark?’
• You will get some many calculations answering yes;
• And these sites such as Answers in Genesis,
• (www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/caring-for-the-animals)
• Also answer the questions; How did they feed them?
• What did they do with all the animal waste? Etc.
FOR ME THE BIGGEST MIRACLES IN THE STORY ARE:
• FIRST: God got the animals to the ark;
• Noah did his part with his sons and hired help they built the ark;
• And then God did his part by bringing the animals to him.
• This clear by the words in chapter 6 verse 20; “will come to you”
• I can’t explain how he did it;
• But you cannot explain away the unexplainable – that is why we call it miraculous!
• But the animals came and they came from everywhere!
Quote: David C.C. Watson ‘Myths & Miracles’):
“In many caves of America and Europe we find bones from other animals all mixed together…
For example the Cumberland Bone Cave in Maryland, USA, contains wolverine and grizzly bear (now only found in Canada, tapirs (South America), antelope (Africa), Coyotes (dry praire-land), beaver and musk-rat (rivers and lakes).
In another American fossil ‘graveyard’ are found camel, rhinoceros, and giant boar – none of which now live outside Africa/Asia.
The Victoria Cave, Yorkshire, England - when excavated in 1870 contained grizzly bear, bison, reaindeer (Lapland), mammoth (Siberea), hyaena and hippopotamus (Africa).
All this goes to show that specimens of every kind of animal (yes, even the kangaroo) may well have lived within (say 100miles of Noah)”
• SECOND: Miracle in this story is how did God stop these creatures eating each other;
• And yet we know from the story of Daniel in the den of lion’s;
• God shut their mouths and made then docile;
• Perhaps this is what happened here;
• THIRD: miracle in the story:
• Noah did all that God had commanded him:
• The stand out feature in this chapter is Noah’s faith;
• He took God at his word.
• He was the brunt of jokes for 100 years while the ark was being built;
• Imagine the mockery a giant vessel on dry land no-where near the sea!
• Those who saw him probably mocked him;
• Sadly those who listened to him preach just ignored him!
• As did those people he hired to work alongside him;
• And those people who supplied him with goods etc.
• Noah had not just one fool to put up with;
• But a whole community, in fact a whole nation!
• Yet “in holy fear built an ark to save his family”
(3). The Wrath of God.
(Chapter 7 verses 11-24)
Quote: Chapter 7 verses 9b-10:
“Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.”
Quote: Chapter 7 verses 15-16:
“Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.”
Notice:
• Noah entered the ark and seven days later the rain fell;
• Question: Why wait seven days?
• Answer: May well be because later on in the book of Genesis;
• We read that people mourned a person’s death for seven days;
• i.e. Genesis chapter 50 verse 10:
• “Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father”
• Now according to the Bible, Methuselah was the oldest person to ever live
• Methuselah was the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah.
• Question: Anyone know what his name means?
• Answer: His name means; "his death shall bring judgment"
• Is this seven day wait a time of sorrow and lamentation Noah & his family.
• For the death of their grandfather?
• Let’s broaden it out – a thought that came to me as I prepared:
• Is this seven day wait a time of sorrow and lamentation for both God and Noah.
• A time of grief and mourning for the loss of so much human and animal life!
• Again and again this book tells us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked!
• i.e. Ezekiel chapter 18 verses 11, 23, 32
• Please notice as you read these verses there is a solemnity to them;
• There is a reverential silence!
Quote:
• Claus Westermann, a famous German OT Bible scholar;
• Whose works are translated into many languages, writes:
• “The actual description of the flood, which is really the main part, is relatively short.
• The reason for this brevity is that the coming and the effect of the flood;
• Are presented without comment or dialogue.
• There is no reaction from those involved;
• No lament, cry, death agony – nothing at all of this sort. There is absolute silence…”
• If you read carefully through chapters 6 to 9.
• You discover that there is no dialogue anywhere in the whole story.
• The only sound to be found, is the persistent noise of the falling of the rain.
• Only the sound of rain!
• Now there is speech in our text,
• But it is only found before the waters come and after they have disappeared.
• Noah and his family are silent throughout.
• God says a great deal to Noah, before the flood begins,
• And to him and his sons after the flood waters have eventually gone down,
• But not once do we hear Noah and his family respond.
• Even when they are back on dry land and Noah builds an altar and offers sacrifices,
• Even this is done in silence, too.
• Without speech. Without spoken prayer.
• Note: There is a wordlessness to be observed;
• Not even God has anything to say while the destruction was going on.
• The waters wash away all life except what is in the ark;
• And they seem to take all speech along with it.
• Maybe this is the only way to deal with such a scene of horror?
• A solemn reverential sadness summed up by silence;
• Only the sound of falling rain!
(4). The Faithfulness of God.
(Chapter 8 verses 1-22)
• Quote: Chapter 8 verse 1:
• “But God remembered Noah”
Ill:
• If you have been on a cruise;
• You probably found it a very enjoyable experience.
• i.e. Cruising around the Mediterranean,
• Stopping off at various ports to do his sight-seeing.
• The best of food and the best of amenities.
• Noah enjoyed none of the benefits of a modern cruise liner.
• His accommodation was basic, simplistic, no thrills!
• Day after day, week after week, month after month, for almost a year!
• He has been drifting on what seemed to be an endless sea.
• Every day the same monotonous routine,
• Every day the same view from the boat – nothing in sight but water!
• If you can forget the image of the romantic childhood story;
• Noah and his family were actually shut up in a narrow wooden floating prison:
• With a window going around the top of the ship to let in some light.
• The sea can be a lonely place and Noah must have wondered,
• Had God forgotten him, his family and the animals.
Application:
• There are times when we feel God has forgotten us,
• We feel spiritually dry and our faith is going nowhere fast.
• When we pray, nothing seems to happen,
• Heaven seems silent.
• If you feel that way then be encouraged by Genesis chapter 8,
• It is a reminder that God has not forgotten you!
Verse 1: “But God remembered Noah”
• This short sentence is the turning-point in this dramatic story.
• Up to this point things are getting progressively worse.
• There has been a flood and as a result, destruction, devastation and death;
• Have been experienced everywhere!
“But” this is often a great word in the Bible:
• It is like a hinge on a door;
• That opens the door and takes you into a new room, a different situation.
• And that was true for Noah; from now on things will gradually get better.
• And the only reason they improve is because God intervenes.
The expression ‘God remembered’:
• Means much more than God recalled Noah to his mind.
• It means much more than refreshing ones memory.
Quote: Ronald Youngblood:
“To remember someone meant
means to express concern for someone, to visit someone with gracious love”
• God was always conscience of Noah and his family;
• And when the time was right he would show that concern in visible ways.
3 VISIBLE WAYS GOD SHOWS HIS CONCERN FOR NOAH:
(1). He began to remove the waters (vs 1-5).
1But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”
. 3The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat”.
• The waters were a result of God’s judgement
• The aftermath effect of his punishment on the world.
• So first God sent a wind over all the earth,
• To remove the sign of his judgement.
(2). He gave Noah A sign (vs 6-14).
8Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
The second way God remembered Noah was by giving him a sign:
• Noah wanted to see if the ground had become dry enough;
• For the animals and people to disembark and leave the ark.
• So he sent out birds to test the environment.
• A raven was dispatched, but it just kept flying around.
• Next Noah sent out a dove,
• The first time it flew out and returned,
• The second time it flew out and returned;
• With a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak.
• The third time it flew out and did not returned;
• Because it was able to live again on the earth.
(3). He made Noah a promise (vs 15-22):
15Then God said to Noah,
16“Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.
21The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”
The third way God remembered Noah was by his words:
• As you read the narrative, it would appear;
• That God had not spoken directly to Noah for over a year,
• The last time we are told God spoke was in chapter 7 verse 1.
• For a year and ten days Noah had received no new word from God.
• So when the time was right:
• When Noah needed a new word of encouragement and guidance,
• God spoke!
• And he not only spoke;
• He reminded Noah that he had all the resources to meet Noah’s needs.
Application:
• No matter how dark and stormy our situation may be,
• Out of a dead situation God can bring forth new life.
Ill:
• Native American went into a Bank in Texas.
• He looked at the bank manager and said:
• “Grass all gone, sheep all sick, waterholes all dry!”
• The bank manager took him through to the back of the bank,
• And opened a safety deposit box which contained gold the Indian had mined.
• The Native American then said:
• “Plenty of grass, sheep well, waterhole full”.
• His circumstances were the same,
• But he now knew had resources to survive in abundance.
• No matter how dark and stormy our situation may be,
• Out of a dead situation God can bring forth new hope and new life!
