Noah and the Flood

Man, is God vindictive or what? So he creates the Earth, populates it with Adam and Eve, punishes their descendants because of Abel's murder by Cain, and now floods the Earth because he does not like how its inhabitants are living except for Noah of course!  In the process of deciding how to rid the world of its "immoral" members, God realizes that Noah has always acted righteously and deserves to survive the terrible flood that is going to follow. He also acknowledges that the animals he created did not wrong as well though he does show preferential treatment to the "clean" animals by giving them each seven slots on the Ark instead of just two. After Noah, his family, and the animals were on the Ark for seven days, it began to rain and rained for 40 DAYS AND NIGHTS. Wow, that's enough rain to kill all the life on Earth save for the citizens of the Ark. Eventually, a very angry God decided enough was enough and the rain needed to stop but the water did not all drain away for several months.  In this story, Noah faces a test of faith, tests we will all face in our lifetime whether we believe in a deity or not because they test our willingness to be successful despite hardship. Because of his faith, God rewards Noah with a bountiful Earth.

I have to guess that the Ark was not a very fun place to live for a man and his family stuck in a boat with all the animals of the world. I would have hated since I get sea sick very easily and flood waters are not the most calm waters in the world, but I would have enjoyed getting to live with my favorite animal, elephants. Since I was a little kid I have loved elephants probably because the stuffed animal I called my best friend was an elephant. Anyway, I have to admire their grace and kind nature. They mind their own business and don't bother other animals because they just don't want to cause trouble.

A stuffed elephant for your viewing (it's from a place called Noah's Stuffed Ark)

http://www.stuffedark.com/elephantellie.htm