The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Table of Contents | |
Section | Page |
Start of eBook | 1 |
I. | 1 |
II. | 1 |
III. | 2 |
IV. | 2 |
V. | 3 |
VI. | 4 |
VII. | 4 |
VIII. | 5 |
IX. | 5 |
X. | 5 |
XI. | 6 |
XII. | 6 |
XIII. | 7 |
XIV. | 7 |
XV. | 8 |
THE END. | 8 |
The wickedness of man.
Behold how kind and merciful
Our heavenly Father
was,
To bear so long with sinful
men,
Who had transgressed
His laws.
The hearts of men wax’d
worse and worse,
They disobeyed
the Lord;
They followed their own thoughts,
nor walked
According to His
word.
And men were multiplied on
earth,
They spread both
far and wide;
And there were giants in those
days,
Who did God’s
law deride.
The Lord look’d down
from Heaven to see
If there were
any good;
Behold they all were turn’d
aside,
Sin tainted all
their blood.
Yet still the Lord was good
to them—
He gave them sun
and rain,
And every blessing, yet their
hearts
Were foolish,
wicked, vain.
There is no sin so base as
that
We call ingratitude,
To use those ill, with wicked
hearts,
Who seek to do
us good.
And when the Great and Holy
One
With kindness
stoop’d to bless
The sorrows of a sinful world,
And pity their
distress;—
’Twas vile ingratitude
in them
To act so wickedly,
And spurn the mercy of the
Lord,
The great, the
good, the high.
God’s goodness leads
us to repent,
And give our folly
o’er;—
And if we use His kindness
right,
We’ll go
and sin no more.
God is provoked.
But God is just as well as
good,
He will not always
strive;
He will assert His sovereign
right,
Nor let the sinner
live.
He does not seek the death
of one
Of all the sinful
race,
Yet He will not forever bear
With those who
slight His grace.
His mercy is forever sure,
His justice too
must stand,
And people must obedient be
To what He does
command.
So when the world so wicked
proved,
And wander’d
from the Lord,
And with most stubborn hearts
refused
To hear His sovereign
word;—
He bore with patience long
and kind,
Their steady wickedness;
But did at last withdraw His
grace,
And leave them
in distress.
He gave them up to their own
hearts,
To work their
own desire;
He threatened them with judgment
vast,
And kindled was
His ire.
“My spirit shall not
always strive”—
Jehovah sternly
said—
A Flood I’ll bring which
will destroy
All things that
I have made.
“Why should they live
in guilt and wo,
And all my words
despise;
Their every work, and every
thought,
Is loathsome to
my eyes.”
When God provoked, in anger
speaks,
Who can His word
withstand?
His heart is full of holiness,
And strong is
His right hand.
Noah and his family.
One righteous man was found
on earth,
And him Jehovah
loved;
His thoughts, his words, and
all his deeds,
Were by the Lord
approved.
He kept himself away from
sin,
Nor walk’d
with wicked men;
He loved the God who reigns
on high,
Nor did he love
in vain.
His family he train’d
to know,
And love and serve
the Lord;
And they were safe in keeping
all
The great Jehovah’s
word.
The Lord remembered Noah’s
walk,
And did not him
condemn,
When, for the wickedness of
men,
He did aloud proclaim,—
That He would rain upon the
earth
An overwhelming
flood;
But choose him and his family—
And firm His counsel
stood.
The Lord forever shows regard
To those who love
His ways,
They vindicate His righteousness
And ever show
His praise.
So He would not destroy this
man
Who walk’d
with Him in love,
But promised him that He would
give
Protection from
above.
Then Noah’s fervent
heart was fill’d
With grief for
sinful men;
Yet though God’s judgment
was severe,
He could not once
complain.
He pitied the sad state of
those
Who had despised
the Lord;
He saw that God would punish
them,
According to His
word.
Noah commanded to make an ark.
Jehovah unto Noah said:—
“I will
destroy the earth,
For violence is in the land,
And wickedness
and mirth.
“Men’s hearts
are full of laughter wild,
Their lives are
full of sin;
And I will send destruction
swift,
And show my power
divine.
“I’ll rain upon
the earth a flood,
And drown men
in the storm,
And they shall find no arm
to save,
Amid their fearful
gloom.
“But thee I have found
true and good,
A follower of
my ways;
And I will save thee from
the flood,
And lengthen out
thy days.
“Now therefore build
thyself an ark,
According to my
word;
To save thyself and family,
For ye have fear’d
the Lord.
“For every thing that
now has life,
And all things
that have breath,
Even for the wickedness of
man,
I do devote to
death.
“I am the Lord, the
mighty one,
I, even I, do
speak;
The flood upon the earth I’ll
bring,
And nought my
word shall break.”
Noah prepared to build the
ark,
The tidings did him
grieve;
Yet it was just, and every
word
He did at once
believe.
Noah preaches.
While Noah built for six score
years
The ark to ride
the flood,
He preach’d unto the
people round
The dreadful word
of God.
He show’d to them their
heinous sins,
He told them God
was just,
That He would surely punish
them
Unto the uttermost.
Not only did they break God’s
law
But they despised
His grace;
That they had most ungrateful
proved,
A hard, rebellious
race.
And though the Lord had suffer’d
long,
Nor seem’d
to notice them,
Yet soon He would arise in
might,
And loud His wrath
proclaim.
He told them of the impending
flood,
The threatening
of the Lord;
And that His counsel sure
would stand,
And ever true
His word.
But if they would repent,
perhaps
The Lord would
turn away
His anger from the earth and
thus
Avert the dreadful
day.
But if they should persist
in sin
And folly to the
last;
Then God in wrath would visit
them,—
Their day of grace
be past.
He there fore bade them all
repent,
And turn from
all their sin,
And humbly to Jehovah pray,
To stay His wrath
divine.
The time wore on, the ark
progress’d,
And Noah grew
more bold;
And to the people day by day,
God’s threatened
judgment told.
They heeded not his solemn
words,
Nor mark’d
his tearful eye;
But still continued in their
sin
Against the Lord
most high.
They mock’d him with
their taunting speech,
And call’d
him foolish, vain,
To think that God would drown
the earth
And men in floods
of rain.
They look’d up to the
heavens above,
No threatening
clouds were there;
They laugh’d, they sang,
they danced in pride,
Nor thought of
God, or prayer.
All things remained the same
to them,
For nearly six
score years;
Why should they have distress
of mind,
Or yield their
soul to fears?
Still, Noah, faithful to his
trust,
His solemn warnings
gave;
And patiently prepared the
ark,
His family to
save
And still the people wagg’d
their heads,
As they were passing
by,
And look’d first on
his monster ark,
Then upward to
the sky;—
Then smiled in scorn, and
went their way,
To sin and folly
prone;
Not dreaming, though the skies
look’d fair,
They’d soon
be left alone.
Amid the angry storms of Heaven,
And rising waves
around
Overflowing all the fields
of earth,
And all the highest
ground.
Noah enters the ark.
And now the ark was built;
the day
Of wrath was drawing
near;
Yet still no cloud was in
the sky;
And in men’s
hearts no fear.
No doubt they wonder’d
much what now
This foolish man
would do;
And thought that they would
surely prove,
His prophecy untrue.
But soon he heard Jehovah’s
voice;—
These words he
heard Him say,—
“Come thou into the
ark at once,
With all thy family.”
So Noah enter’d in the
ark,
He and his children
too,
And beasts and birds of every
kind,
Did enter two
by two.
The lives of these Jehovah
spared,
To fill the earth
again,
When He should cause the ark
to rest,
And should the
flood restrain.
And when they all were in
the ark,
The just and mighty
God,
Prepared to bring upon the
earth
The waters of
the flood.
The day of grace was fully
past,
No voice should
now proclaim,
To sinful, faithless, scoffing
men,
Jehovah’s
gracious name.
The righteous in God’s
care were safe,
From every fear
of harm;
But wicked men would be o’erwhelm’d
With terrible
alarm.
[Illustration: Babylon.]
The windows of heaven are opened.
Ah! where shall now the sinner
hide—
what power the
storm can stay?
What pleasing charm can he
call up
To drive his fears
away?
Who can withstand the wrath
of God!
He with a single
breath,
Could vanquish all our boasted
strength,
And visit us with
death.
He gathers now His angry clouds,
And thick they
quickly come;
Bearing along the teeming
rains
And the devouring
storm.
The beauteous sky is overcast.
And darkness fills
the air;
And lightnings flash, and
thunders roll;
No ray of hope
is there.
As if the clouds are not enough,
Heaven’s
windows open wide,
To pour upon the startled
earth
The overflowing
tide.
The clouds come down almost
to earth,
And seem to bend
with rain;
And men look up with fearful
gaze,
Nor can their
fear restrain.
Oh! fearful and majestic scene;
Jehovah’s
awful frown
Seems o’er the sinfulness
of earth,
In anger bending
down.
No sun now cheers, no light
of star
To those shall
ever come,
Who by their long continued
crimes,
Provoked this
awful doom.
The fountains of the deep are broken up.
Not only did the clouds come
up,—
Heaven’s
windows open wide;—
The fountains of the deep
were stirr’d,
And raged on every
side.
The clouds pour’d down
their treasures vast,
The deeps yield
up their store,
The proudest trembles at the
form
Of God’s
almighty power.
The seas are swelling up in
wrath,
And break the
appointed bound—
Their waters overflow the
shore
And fiercely rage
around.
The rivers rise to fearful
height,
And roll their
torrents on,
Until their highest banks
are lost
From sight, deep
overflown.
The fountains too and hidden
springs,
Seem bursting
everywhere;
Their waters flow on every
side,
The common rage
to share.
Now wave meets wave, and swells
the flood
In fury o’er
the land,
Fulfilling all the will of
God,
Obeying His command.
O God! the power is thine
alone,
To punish and
create;
We would with reverence bow
to Thee,
And worship might
so great
And may we never dare provoke
That high Almighty
Power,
Which once awaked against
our sins,
Could blast us
in an hour.
The floating ark.
The waters lifted up the ark,
Majestic it did
ride
Above the swelling, surging
waves,
Along the rolling
tide.
The freight of life it bore
along,
Secure from every
harm;
And though the tempest raged
without,
Their hearts knew
no alarm.
To God in humble earnest prayer,
They sent their
feeble cry,
And He with power and love
did look,
Down from His
throne on high.
And while the raging waves
did roar,
And swift destruction
bring,
Jehovah sheltered them beneath
The shadow of
His wing.
The ark Jehovah guided through
The vast unmeasured
deep;
And all the life therein reposed
He did in safety
keep.
It floated o’er the
valleys low,
And o’er
the highest hill,
For high the waters rose,
and thus
Obey’d the
Almighty Will.
How strong that hand that
can protect,
When danger rages
round;
The mercy of our Father God,
Doth every where
abound.
And those who put their trust
in Him,
And to Him ever
pray,
Will find it is the safest
thing
His counsel to
obey.
The drowning world.
Now let us for awhile return
And see the startled
world,
With all its pride and all
its sin
Swift into ruin
hurl’d.
The waters now are rising
fast,
And men are in
despair;
They can themselves no succur
find,
No ear now hears
their prayer.
They once derided him who
preached
To them the coming
wo,
But now no voice cries out,
Repent;
Ah! whither shall
they go?
The ark to them is firmly
closed,
They cannot enter
in;
They see the flood is rising
round;
They perish in
their sin.
Not highest trees can shelter
them,
Nor mountain caverns
hide,
For caves and heights are
fill’d and lost,
As onward sweeps
the tide.
Ah! would that they had heard
the word
That faithful
Noah preach’d;
Accepted of Jehovah’s
grace
Which he to them
out-reach’d.
But now, alas! it is too late;
No human power
can save
A single soul from perishing,
Beneath the flooding
wave.
Oh! let us not provoke our
God;
But of His grace
partake;
And feel our sins are blotted
out
For His own mercy’s
sake.
The ark rests on Ararat.
For forty days and forty nights,
The waters of
the flood
Prevail’d o’er
all the face of earth,
Obedient to the
word.
Which God the great Jehovah
spake,
To drown it for
its sin;
His word is holy, just and
right
Forever sure,
divine.
The earth was drown’d;
all living things
Had perish’d
from its face,
Save Noah and his family,
Protected by God’s
grace.
The ark rode onward with the
flood;
The hand of God
did guide
The vessel with its freight
of life,
O’er all
the swelling tide.
The clouds do now withdraw
aside;
The deepest fountains
cease,
To pour their treasures forth
on earth;
The waters slow
decrease.
The ark moves on to Ararat,
And rests upon
its height;
While Noah and his family,
Are fill’d
with great delight.
They long to see the earth
again,
Cleansed by Jehovah’s
hand;
They long to see the sun,
great orb,
Shine brightly
o’er the land.
They long to see the trees
put forth,
And beauteous
flowers spring,—
The fields with verdure clothed,
and hear
The birds of morning
sing.
Noah sends forth the raven and the dove.
Then Noah sent a raven forth,
Out of a window
high,
To wander here and there,
until
the waters should
be dry.
And then again he sent a dove
That he might
something learn,
But she could find no resting-place,
And did to him
return.
The waters still spread o’er
the earth,
And slowly did
abate;
For seven days more within
the ark,
He patiently did
wait.
[Illustration: The River Nile by Moonlight.]
And then he sent her forth
again,
And back she came
at eve,
And bearing in her mouth she
brought
To him an olive-leaf.
This token told him that the
flood
Was drying fast
away;
But Noah still within the
ark
For seven days
more did stay.
He now the third time sent
the dove,
Nor did he send
in vain,
The waters of the flood were
dry;—
She ne’er
returned again.
She found a resting-place
on earth,
Beneath a sunny
sky,
And with a gladsome, joyous
heart,
She round about
did fly.
Then Noah look’d forth
from the ark,
And lifted up
to God,
His thankfulness for keeping
him,
According to His
word.
Noah comes forth from the ark.
And now the Lord to Noah spake,
And bade him from
the ark
Go forth, and stand upon the
earth,
And all his family
take.
The waters from the earth
had fled,
The ground was
clean and dry,
No threatening billows form’d
around,
No clouds were
in the sky.
So Noah left the ark, and
came
Forth to the open
air,
And all the beasts and creeping
things,
And fowls, were
with him there.
He brought them out to fill
the earth.
To multiply and
live;
That they might magnify His
name,
Who every good
doth give.
Behold the wondrous hand of
God,
How matchless
is His skill,
Who works in heaven and on
the earth,
The counsel of
His will.
How great, how awful, and
how just
Was that Almighty
word,
Which, for the sinfulness
of men,
Did call the dreadful
flood.
And while the world was perishing,
’Tis pleasing
to observe,
The loving-kindness of the
Lord,
Who did the good
preserve.
He saved them in the ark,
while fell
The overflowing
rain;
And when the flood was dried
away,
He brought them
forth again.
Noah sacrifices to the Lord.
When Noah came forth from
the ark,
His heart was
filled with praise;
He worshipp’d God with
thankful voice,
For His abounding
grace.
He rear’d to God an
altar there,
And offer’d
sacrifice,
And kneeling with his family,
To heaven did
lift his eyes.
And God was pleased with Noah’s
praise,
And witnessed
from above
The offering which in faith
he made,
And blest him
with His love.
Jehovah said—“I
will no more,
Destroy or curse
the ground,
But will display my love and
grace,
Wherever life
is found.”
How tender, loving is the
Lord,
Whose anger does
not burn
Forever ’gainst the
sons of men,
But calls them
to return.
He says to men—“Repent
and live,
And all my law
obey,
And I your strength and hope
shall be,
Through all life’s
devious way.”
O! sacrifice to God in faith,
And all your sins
confess,
And with the riches of His
love,
He will your spirits
bless.
For blood of bulls, or lambs
or goats,
Jehovah does not
care,
But bring the offering of
your hearts,
With humble earnest
prayer.
The bow in the clouds.
Jehovah now a covenant made,
That He would
bring no more
A flood of water o’er
the earth,
As He had done
before.
The nations now should prove
His love,
His truth and
power divine;
His attributes o’er
all the earth,
With glory bright
do shine.
His mercy hath no bound but
truth,
And all His works
do prove,
Unto the sons of men abroad,
His constant,
perfect love.
He set the beauteous Bow on
high
With many colours
bright,
To show His covenant with
men,
Was faithful,
gracious, right.
It hung in heaven, upheld
by God,
And arch’d
the distant gloom,
And bent on either side to
earth,
In bright and
graceful form.
This covenant Jehovah keeps,
Forever faithful,
true;
For when the rains are o’er,
then high
The rainbow comes
in view.
Whene’er we gaze upon
its form,
And note its colours
fair;
Our hearts should be inspired
toward God,
With love and
praise and prayer.
He gives the sun to warm the
earth;
He sends the healthful
shower,
And saves us always, through
His grace,
By His almighty
power.
* * * * *
PHILADELPHIA:
Hogan, Perkins &, Co.