Have you been to the Ark in Kentucky? It was raining outside when we went last year. We walked up with traveling companions. My friend Ed Dyer was there, too. This was good news to me. If something bad happens in the world, I like the idea of being close to Ed and Becky. Ed is one of those people who make you feel safe. They and our other friends walk closely with Jesus.
Personally, I was not prepared for the size of the exhibit. The dimensions of the vessel are mind-boggling. Noah’s ark was more of a sea-worthy vessel than an exhibit. So much work. And why? Why did Noah need to build an ark in the first place? Remember God had formed the earth, filled it, and pronounced it good. Adam and Eve chose sin over fellowship with God. The sin-afflicted world entered a death spiral. Then God chose to put an end to people and to the earth. The ark was God’s preservation plan for humankind. Noah, his wife, and their three sons entered the ark. God made a covenant with them.
Covenants represent a different kind of relationship than we commonly have with others. Tim Keller said that his covenant with a grocery store depended on the best prices for quality. He could walk away from his grocery store at any time if another offered better prices and quality. But in a covenant, we choose to stay, come what may.
A covenant in the ancient world was similar to what we in the modern world would call a contract, treaty, or a will. Each covenant established the basis of a relationship, conditions for that relationship, promises and conditions of the relationship and consequences if those conditions were unmet. Technically, covenants were cut not formed. The more powerful person cut a covenant.
It would be easier to build an ark than for us to make our own covenant with God. In the Noahic covenant, God showed us that he believes in life. The ark represented a new chance for the world to live. Just so, God has offered us a new covenant in Christ. Jesus, himself, paid the price so that we might enter into the “ark” of salvation. Who are you bringing with you on the boat?
