Will We Look for Safety After It Is Too Late? February 24

The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11. The antediluvians were warned, but the record states that they knew not until the Flood came and took them all away.... They saw Noah and his wife and their sons and their wives passing into the ark; and the door was closed upon them. Only eight persons entered that refuge from the storm, and for a week they waited for the rain to come.... Daily the sun rose and set in a clear sky, and daily there came to Noah the temptation to doubt. But the Lord had said that the Flood was coming, and Noah rested in this word. At the end of seven days clouds began to gather. This was a new sight, for the people had never seen clouds.... Thicker and thicker gathered the clouds, and soon rain began to fall. Still the people tried to think that this was nothing very alarming. But soon it seemed as if the windows of heaven had been opened, for the rain poured down in torrents. For a time the ground drank up the rain; but soon the water began to rise, and day by day it rose higher and higher. Each morning as the people found the rain still falling they looked at one another in despair, and each night they repeated the words “Raining still!” Thus it was, morning and evening. For forty days and forty nights the rain poured down. The water entered the houses and drove the people to the temples that they had erected for their idolatrous worship. But the temples were swept away. The crust of the earth was broken, and the water that had been concealed in its bowels burst forth. Large stones were thrown into the air. Everywhere could be seen human beings fleeing in search of a refuge. The time had come when they would have been only too glad to accept an invitation to enter the ark. Filled with anguish, they cried, “Oh, for a place of safety!” Some shrieked to Noah, pleading for admission into the ark. But amid the furious blast of the tempest their voices were unheard. Some clung to the ark till they were washed away by the dashing waves. God had shut in those who believed His word, and no others could enter. Parents with their children sought the highest branches of the trees yet standing; but no sooner had they reached this refuge than the wind flung tree and people into the foaming, seething water.... Where now was the ark and those at whom the people had jeered and mocked? Preserved by the power of God, the immense boat was riding safely upon the waters, and Noah and his family were safe inside.—The Signs of the Times, April 10, 1901.