Displaying Righteousness in Cheshvan

​God has always been looking for a people who will be faithful and obedient to His Word. In the days of Noah, the Lord was grieved by the explosion of evil in the world. He said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet their days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3 - NKJ) We understand that these 120 years would be the time it took Noah to build the ark. Verse 6 goes on to say, "So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart." He determined to destroy every living thing except for one family. It should be of particular interest to us because it happened during the month that we are in, the eighth month on the Hebrew calendar called Cheshvan. Eight is known as the number of new beginnings. Appropriately, the flood began on Cheshvan 17, and one year and ten days later, on Cheshvan 27, the flood had ended. On Cheshvan 28 Noah brought God a sacrifice.
 
Genesis 6:9 reports that "Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God." (NLT) God decided to share His plan to destroy the earth and all living creatures with Noah. He was instructed to build a huge boat. The length of it was the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four-story building. The footnote in my Bible explains that the boat was six time longer than it was wide which is the same ratio used by modern ship builders. The boat would be the mechanism by which God would save Noah and his family (eight people) along with a pair of every kind of animal. (male and female)
 
Imagine the commitment Noah and his three sons made to build a ship in the desert on dry land!  In doing so, he became the second father of the human race. His obedience and persistence paved the way for a new generation of people and animals to be born on the earth. The writer of Hebrews explains the importance of Noah's faith in his relationship with God. "Faith opened Noah's heart to receive revelation and warnings from God about what was coming, even things that had never been seen. But he stepped out in reverent obedience to God, and built an ark that would save him and his family. By his faith the world was condemned, but Noah received God's gift of righteousness that comes by believing."
(Hebrews 11:7 - TPT)
 
Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came. He and his wife and three sons and their wives, along with the animals, entered the boat in pairs, male and female. There were enough animals taken on the ark for eating and for sacrificing to God for an entire year. Scripture reports that the "rains fell in mighty torrents," for forty days and nights. So much water covered the earth that the boat rose twenty-two feet above the highest mountain peaks. For 150 days the floodwaters covered the earth. Five months from the time the flood began the boat rested on the mountains of Ararat. The meaning of Ararat is "curse reversed." How appropriate! One year and ten days later, on Cheshvan 27, Noah, his family, and the animals left the ark so that they could "be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth," as God had originally planned.
 
Noah's first act upon leaving the ark was to build an altar to the Lord so that he could sacrifice burnt offerings. The pleasing aroma filled the nostrils of the Lord, and He promised to never again destroy all life by flood waters. (Genesis 9:11, 15) A covenant made between Noah and God was confirmed with the sign of a rainbow. God said, "The rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures." (Genesis 9:14 - NLT)
 
Today, when the storms of life crash down on us, we have the ark of Jesus to run to. He is the one who is faithful to calm the storms and bring us to a safe haven. With this in mind, I believe it is our season to establish an altar to the Lord so we can bring Him a fragrant offering. Just as God made a covenant with Noah, He has made one with us through His Son Jesus. He is worthy of our sacrificial worship.