Once the bite was taken out of that apple, sin began to spiral the human race slowly into destruction.  Over time, God had become thoroughly disgusted with the lawlessness and sinful humans that He had created, And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing.  He did find one though who was in His favor, Noah, who was blameless and walked in close fellowship with God.  So God instructed Noah to, “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out.  There are references in Genesis that it took Noah about 120 years to build the ark.  

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During that ark building time period, people had many chances to repent of their sins and turn to God.  But in the Bible we see that not one person changed their ways, not one.   Why wouldn’t people change?  Was it because it had never rained before this time?  Whatever the reasons, not one person wanted to leave their life of worldly pleasures and get on the boat.    

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The same thing happened in the days of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah.  The Angels went to Lot to warn him and his relatives to get out before God rained down fire and burning sulfur to destroy the cities because the sins of the city have become so flagrant.  Lot was given a chance to tell his daughters fiancés but they both thought of it to lightly and didn’t heed the warning.  When the Angels led Lot and his wife and two daughters to the city gate in safety they told them to head for the next town and do not look back.  Well Lot’s wife took one last look back on the possessions she had to leave behind and she was turned into a pillar of salt!  Every wicked person that was destroyed had been seduced into the sinful nature that had grown over the years of lawlessness.  It doesn’t happen overnight, just over time.

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Look at the Jewish people after they had spent 70 years in captivity in Babylon.  They were finally released by the new King to return to their land freely.  Out of the couple hundred thousand Jews that were their only about sixty thousand chose to return to Jerusalem, all the rest chose to remain in Babylon with the comfortable pagan lifestyle that they had grown accustom to. 

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God will always send a warning plan or a way out for those who choose to repent and put their trust in Jesus.  In Bible times it was Prophets, today it is the Gospel.  Perfect example is the capital city of the Assyrian empire, Nineveh.  Jonah was sent their by God to proclaim judgment on Nineveh because it was such a wicked, immoral, sinful city.  After his encounter with a whale Jonah is rescued and agrees to obey his calling to prophesy against this pagan city Nineveh.  His preaching caused the entire population of Nineveh to repent before the Lord and is spared destruction.  

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We have to be able to step out of our ‘comfort zones in life’ and all of the fleeting worldly pleasures that hold us back from a trusting relationship with Jesus Christ, our Ark in any storm. 

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