Noah and the Big Boat

Have you ever seen a rainbow after the rain? This is the story of the very first rainbow, and a promise God still keeps today.

Long, long ago, the world had become a very unkind place. People were fighting and hurting one another. It made God's heart very sad. But one man still loved God and walked with him, day by day. His name was Noah. One day, God told Noah that a great flood was coming, with so much water it would cover the whole earth.

But God had a plan to keep Noah safe. Noah was going to build a boat. And not just any boat! It had to be enormous. Longer than ten buses in a row, with three floors, lots of rooms, and one big door in the side. That was a very big job. But Noah trusted God, and he did everything God told him to do. Bang, bang, bang went the hammers, day after day. Then Noah covered the boat with sticky pitch, inside and out, so no water could leak in.

He gathered lots and lots of food, for his family and for the animals too. Animals? Yes! God said that two of every kind would come to Noah, a boy and a girl. Two tall giraffes came, ducking at the door. Two big elephants, stomp, stomp, stomp. And two tiny mice, scurrying between their feet. Lions and lambs, bunnies and bears, and birds of every color. Moo, baa, quack, roar! It must have been the noisiest boat in the world.

Then Noah went in with his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Eight people in all. And the Bible says, "The Lord shut him in." God himself closed the door.

Pitter, patter. The rain began to fall. Then it poured, and poured, for forty days and forty nights. The water rose higher and higher, until it lifted the great boat up, and it floated. Outside, the rain splashed and the waves rolled. But inside, Noah's family and the animals were safe and dry. Days went by, then weeks, then months. Water, water everywhere.

Maybe Noah wondered if it would ever end. But the Bible says, "God remembered Noah," and all the animals with him.

God sent a wind across the earth, and slowly, slowly, the water went down. Then one day, bump! The boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Noah opened a window and sent out a raven. It flew back and forth, back and forth. Then he sent out a dove. But she found no place to rest her feet, so she flew back, and Noah gently brought her inside. Seven days later, he sent the dove out again. That evening she came back with a fresh green olive leaf in her beak! Trees were growing again! Now Noah knew the water was going down.

Seven days after that, he sent the dove out once more, and this time she did not come back.

At last, God told Noah it was time to come out. Out came Noah and his family. Out came the animals, hopping and flying and stretching their legs on the dry ground. Noah built an altar and worshiped God. Then God made a promise. Never again would a flood cover the whole earth.

And God gave a sign of his promise. He said, "I set my rainbow in the cloud." Can you picture it? Red and orange, yellow and green, blue and purple, shining across the sky.

God said that whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, he will remember his promise. And he always does. So the next time you see a rainbow, remember Noah, and the God who remembered him.

This story teaches us that God always keeps his promises. Even when the storm is loud and the waiting is long, we can trust him to take care of us.