When the LORD saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” Noah, however, found favor with the LORD…Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:5-9)

…the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. And the LORD said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them… (Genesis 6:2-4)

By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened, and the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that same day Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah’s wife and his three sons’ wives. They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature—all the birds and every winged creature—according to their kinds. Two of every creature that has the breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark. Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:11-16)

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit [ruach] of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind [ruach] to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside. (Genesis 8:1)

“But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” (Genesis 9:7)

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.” (Genesis 9:12-15)

The God with no beginning gives new beginnings.

Reflection Question: How have you experienced God’s incredible mercy in your life?