The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1907-01-31
Noah Saved in The Ark.

no canvas like that which presents
the ark and the Flood. 1t is too
bold and tragic 10 be passed. 1t
arrests and stirs the most indolent
mind. Once caught upon the SEN
sitive plate of child's memory, it
will never fade. Its unspeakable
horror is mercifully mitigated by
such gentle incidents as the door
shut by Gods own hand, the dove
with olive branch, and the rainbow
spanning all
The Noachian Deluge only pre-
cipitated the inevitable. 1t was
an act of Divine mercy as we'll as
justice. In the great conflict fore
told in Eden between the serpent
seed and the seed of God, the
former were ascendant. The con-
ditions were aggravated by inter
marriage. The sons of God, the
descendants of Seth, were lured by
the siren daughters of Cain, SO
that they chose their wives IRE
spective of the Divine will. All
the proverbial sin and sorrow of
mesalliance followed. The very
physical hardihood of the offspring
made their moral obliquity more
deadly. Every conceivable lust
was rampant. The seed of God
was reduced to a paltry contingent.
1t was on the verge of extinction.
The whole race, in fact, was COM
hitting suicide. 1t was destroy
ing itself. Earth would have soon
been like a desolate island whose
sanguinary population had con-
sumed itself through lust, murder,
and cannibalism.
The Flood was a great mercy.
1t shortened the irretrievable mis-
cry of the race then living. 1t
kept the seed of God alive. It
was an object lesson the world has
never forgotten.
Gods election to salvation is
based upon the moral qualities of
those whom He chooses. Thee is
striking illustration of this IN the
character of Noah He found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, not
through caprice and favor1tism, but
because in wicked and adulter-
OTIS generation he shone like a
light, and lovingly held forth to a
dying race the word which, if re-
ceived, would have proved life to
them. He was just man and up
right, and walked with God. He
was fit to be the second Adam, the
progenitor of new and hopeful
race. And to this end God spared
him.
Noah's faith shines Respondent
upon the rayless irreligion Of his
day. He showed his faith by his
stupendous work. On dry land
and far from the sea he built his
colossal ship. He preached right
eousness to the gaping and gibing
crowd which curiosity brought
from afar to his shipyard. He was
persistent. He kept right on
building and preaching for one
hundred and twenty years. He
built precisely according to the
model shown him. He gathered
in the supply of food for man and
beast requisite for his long voyage.
He selected and admitted the
beasts and fowl as God directed.
With seven souls he entered his
strange prison, had its doors shut
to behind him by the the Invisible
Hand, and tarried in his weird en-
vironment undaunted, though
seven days passed before the first
raindrop battered upon the roof.
Sublime faith, that
The "log-book" of that unpar-
allel voyage is very brief. 1t takes
only twenty-seven verses to mar
rate the novel and thrilling ex-
perience of three hundred and six
ty-five days. Much riches are in
little room. Imagination must be
trusted to uncover them.
AS Noah at length emerged from
the ark, an inexpressibly sad and
and orphaned feeling must have
affected his generous heart.