Noah and Di Flood

Di rain no stop. No be for one day. No be for one week. Forty days and forty nights, na so e take fall. And inside one big wooden ship, one family and plenty-plenty animals dey wait, dem dey listen, and dem dey trust.

Dis story happen long time ago, for di early days of di world, many generations after Adam and Eve. Bible talk about one world wey don spoil well-well. People don full di earth, but dem don also full am with violence. Genesis talk say di Lord see how di wickedness of human beings don big reach, and im heart pain am well-well. But one man dey wey different. Im name na Noah. Genesis talk say Noah na righteous man, nobody fit point finger for am among di people of im time, and e dey waka with God faithfully.

God talk to Noah. E tell am say flood dey come, and e tell am make e build ark. No be small boat o. Na one big-big vessel wey dem go make with cypress wood, and dem go rub pitch for inside and outside so dat water no go enter. Three floors. One door for di side. One opening near di roof for light. E go long reach three hundred cubits. Dat one na about one hundred and fifty metres. E long pass football field, and e dey stand for dry land. Imagine di neighbours as dem dey look. Imagine di sound of hammer, every day, every day. And God make one promise to Noah. “I go establish my covenant with you.” Noah go enter di ark with im wife, im three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and dia wives. And with dem, two-two of every kind of living creature, male and female, to keep dem alive. Genesis talk one simple tin about Noah. E do everytin exactly as God command am.

Then di day reach. Di animals enter, two by two, and seven pairs for some kinds. Birds and cows and tins wey dey crawl. Noah and im family enter. And di Lord shut dem inside. Seven days after, di springs of di great deep burst open, and di windows of heaven open. Rain dey beat di roof. Di water dey rise. E carry di ark comot from ground, and di ark begin float. Di water dey go up, dey go up, until even di high mountains disappear under am. Everytin wey dey breathe for dry land die. Na only Noah remain, and di people wey dey with am inside di ark. For one hundred and fifty days, na water rule di earth.

But God remember Noah. E remember every animal wey dey inside di ark. E send wind across di earth, and di water begin go down. Di ark come rest for di mountains of Ararat. Weeks pass. Then Noah open one window and e send one raven comot. Di raven dey fly go, dey fly come. Then e send one dove comot. Di dove no see where to land, so e come back to im hand. Seven days after, e send di dove out again. For evening, di dove come back with something for im mouth. One fresh olive leaf wey e just pluck. Noah understand. Life don begin grow again. E wait seven more days and e send di dove out one more time. Dis time, di dove no come back at all.

When di ground don dry, God tell Noah make e comot. Noah, im family and all di animals step out for one earth wey dem don wash, wey quiet. Di first tin wey Noah do na to build altar and worship. And God make covenant with Noah, with im children-children, and with every living creature. Never again go flood destroy all life for di earth. As long as di earth still dey, planting time and harvest time, cold and heat, dry season and rainy season, day and night no go ever stop. Then God give dem one sign. E put im bow for di cloud. Rainbow, wey bend across di sky. Anytime wey e show, God talk, e go remember im promise.

See one tin wey sweet to know. Genesis no be di only old story about one big flood. For Mesopotamia, di land wey dey between Tigris and Euphrates rivers, writers copy flood stories put for clay tablets. For di Epic of Gilgamesh, one man wey dem dey call Utnapishtim survive flood inside one big boat, and e too send birds comot, one dove, one swallow and one raven, to know whether di land don dry. But di stories no feel di same at all. For Gilgamesh, na di gods send di flood, and after, wetin dem do come dey fear dem. For Genesis, na one God wey judge with sorrow, save with care, and tie imself with promise.

You fit read Noah story for Genesis, chapter six reach chapter nine. Di rain na real. Di fear na real. But di promise na real too. So next time wey you see rainbow, see one tin to think about. Which promise of God you need to remember pass right now?