"And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." Genesis 6:7 KJV

If you have heard of and wondered about the God of the Jews and Christians, you might really enjoy hearing about Him and about what he has done for all mankind. If you are just not very likely to read the Bible at all, please take the time to read the following brief topic of mankind's very early history as information and see if you might be interested in reading some more about our God.

Mankind, the Flood and Noah's Sons Go Forth : Genesis - Chapters 4 thru 11

Adam and Eve were the original parents of all mankind. Their first two children, brothers Cain and Able, would become the pattern for many brother pairs who would represent those who truly love and focus upon God and those who do not. Adam and Eve then had Seth and a great many more sons and daughters, who in turn had even more of their own sons and daughters. Among these was Enoch [Genesis 5:24 ] who was so loved by God that He took Enoch to heaven.

It was Gods plan that mankind should rapidly spread out through the world and populate a great many places. Instead, mankind tried to be equal to God by building the great city of Babylon and the Tower of Babel. God then confused their language so that these people could no longer understand one another, which forced them to move on and spread out further into the world. Some would continue to move around and live by hunting and some would live by grazing animals they had rised themselves. Others began to settle down in one area and to raise grain crops for food. As people had more children and built better communities, they began to become more and more evil and fight over things among themselves and to steal from other communities. God was not happy with how evil and murderous his creation that mankind had become.

About this time, there was a man named Noah who loved God and believed that God's Will and Love for him and his family was good and precious thing. God told Noah that He wanted him and his sons to build a huge boat called an "Ark", because God intended to destroy mankind by sending a flood upon the earth. God told Noah this because he wanted to spare Noah, his wife and his sons, and their wives from the flood, and to also have Noah do something very important: to gather animals of all kinds. Noah was to bring two of every kind of animal that lived on the earth onto the Ark when it was finished and to wait until God told him what else to do.

When Noah told the people about the coming flood that was about to happen, everyone just laughed at Noah and his sons. When God told Noah to seal up the Ark with his family and all of the animals in it, the flood came and killed all of the animals and mankind on earth except for Noah's family and all of the animals that they had brought into the Ark.

When enough time had passed for the waters of the flood to recede from the land, the Ark came to rest upon on the dry land of a mountain. God had saved Noah family and all of those animals on the Ark to repopulate the earth. When God stated that he would not send a great flood upon mankind again, he set the rainbow to be a sign among men of this Promise. Just as Adam is known as the first man, Noah is known as the father of the world's present population.

The sons of Noah (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) and their descendants went far out into the world to repopulate the earth, where they continued to develop skills, expanded the uses of the soil and animals for food, and began trading and gathering together into towns and cities. As time went on, once again mankind did more and more as they pleased and they became more violent with their neighbors, caring only about themselves. God was not pleased with how sinful mankind had again become.

If you enjoyed this simple overview of the topic of mankind's very early ages, then read Genesis - Chapters 4 thru 11 for one of the best early histories you will ever read.

We believe the Bible is the Word of God given to us for our understanding. If you wondered about a few things while reading, so have many others before you. If you agree with God about his reasons for sending the Great Flood, and if you see God's great love for Noah in saving him and his family in the Ark, then please know that He greatly loves you too. If you turn to Him now and ask for understanding, He will turn to you and lead you to His Son, our Lord Jesus, for your salvation. The Lord loves you and will never fail you if you love Him and His Son, our Lord Jesus.

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.