"A Boatload of Purpose"
Genesis 6 (NASB)
1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.3 Then the LORD said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.7 The LORD said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.13 Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.16 You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.17 Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons wives with you.19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
Luke 17 (NASB)
1 He said to His disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him. 5 The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith! 6 And the Lord said, If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you. 7 Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? 8 But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink? 9 He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?10 So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done. 11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 When He saw them, He said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they? 18 Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner? 19 And He said to him, Stand up and go; your faith has made you well. 20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, Look, here it is! or, There it is! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.22 And He said to the disciples, The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, Look there! Look here! Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.28 It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.31 On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lots wife. 33 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36 [Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.] 37 And answering they said to Him, Where, Lord? And He said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.
1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.3 Then the LORD said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.7 The LORD said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.13 Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.16 You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.17 Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons wives with you.19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
Luke 17 (NASB)
1 He said to His disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him. 5 The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith! 6 And the Lord said, If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you. 7 Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? 8 But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink? 9 He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?10 So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done. 11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! 14 When He saw them, He said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they? 18 Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner? 19 And He said to him, Stand up and go; your faith has made you well. 20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, Look, here it is! or, There it is! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.22 And He said to the disciples, The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, Look there! Look here! Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.28 It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.31 On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lots wife. 33 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36 [Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.] 37 And answering they said to Him, Where, Lord? And He said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.