May 29, 2026
The Judgement of God - Excerpt from "The Story of Shem and His Wife"
The family woke up early the next morning. They all headed to the door of the ark before even eating breakfast. They walked onto the ramp of the scaffolding and looked around to see if any more animals or birds were heading towards the ark. They didn't see any, however, there were already some people there from town. In fact, it was a larger crowd than normal. This was the day Noah had said judgment was coming, and the people wanted to mock him when it didn't happen.
"Does anyone want to join us on the ark?" Noah asked the crowd. The only answer he got was laughter and people throwing stones at the ark.
"Well, I guess it's time to come into the ark and shut the door," said Noah with a sigh.
The family walked over the door that was serving as a ramp from the scaffolding into the ark. Then Shem and Ham picked up the rope on one side of the door while Noah and Japheth picked up the rope on the other side. The door was heavy, and it would take a lot of strength to shut it, even with the pulleys. But before they even started to pull the ropes, the door seemed to go up by itself, without any effort from them. The whole family stared as the door shut tight, blocking out the sunlight that had been streaming in through it.
"That was weird," said Ham as he looked suspiciously at the door. "That never happened when we shut it before."
"I guess I didn't need to worry about the door leaking. It seems that God shut it for us, which means He'll keep it from having any leaks," said Noah.
"What do we do now?" asked Japheth.
"I think we should go eat breakfast," replied Noah. Nothing ever seemed to upset him. He acted as if God closed extremely heavy doors every day.
The family had just gotten to the kitchen when they started hearing loud explosions and cracking noises.
"What on earth is that?" Rona asked, fear covering her face.
"It's God's judgment starting," replied Noah. "I'm going to the catwalk and look out of the window so I can see what's happening."
The rest of the family followed him up the narrow staircase, completely forgetting about breakfast. They spread out so they could look out the long window that ran the length and width of the ark. The window was set at a height where they could easily see out when standing on the catwalk. The wooden shutters were open, allowing a good view of the surrounding countryside.
In the distance they could see a cloud of gas and debris and fire rising into the air. It shook the ground, and the ark shook under their feet. Then they saw another cloud of gas, debris and fire rising in a different direction, and then another and another until the sky was filled with black clouds. They could smell something strange, some sort of odor they had never smelled before. It smelled somewhat like rotten eggs. The earth continued to shake under them.
The crowd from town was no longer mocking Noah and his family. Instead, they were crouching down in fear, looking at the black clouds forming, yelling and screaming. But their screams were being drowned out by the noise from the fountains of the deep breaking up.
Not far from the ark a huge crack in the ground opened, and water started gushing out of it. Suddenly, water started pouring out of the dark clouds that had formed in the sky! It seemed as if someone had turned a giant bucket of water over on the Earth. The water came down so hard and fast that the family could barely see through it.
One thing they could see was lightning as it lit up the sky. A few seconds later there would be a huge booming sound. They had never seen lightning or heard thunder before. God's judgment was severe and fearsome!
Ariel pressed close to Shem, fear making her whole body shake. Shem wrapped his arms around his wife. "It's going to be ok. God will keep us safe." He spoke the words close to her ear so she could hear above the tremendous noise around them.
The noise and violent storm outside the ark made everyone in the family afraid. Everyone, that is, except Noah. He was calmly praying. His mouth was moving as he prayed out loud, but only God could hear what he was saying over the deafening noise.
The animals below them were adding to the noise. The terrified beasts were calling to each other, stamping their feet, and trying to escape from their stalls and cages. Many animals will run when they are afraid and that's what they tried to do. Fortunately, their enclosures had been built strong, so the animals couldn't escape. But it didn't stop them from ramming against the sides, trying to break loose.
By this time water was flowing in torrents, both out of the ground and out of the sky. The water was already five feet deep and rising quickly. Animals and people were trying to escape to higher ground. Some people had climbed the scaffolding and were pounding on the door of the ark to be let inside. But it was too late. Even if they had tried, Noah's family couldn't open the door. God had sealed it. The people had been warned and now judgment had come.
"I can't watch this," cried Ariel as she buried her face against Shem, sobbing at the thought of so many people dying.
"Let's go back downstairs," Shem said as he guided her down the narrow stairs to the family sitting area. They sat together, Shem holding and trying to comfort his wife.
The rest of the family came down to the living quarters shortly after Shem and Ariel. The horrific noise outside continued for hours. The rain was still pounding the sides of the ark, but now the ark seemed to be shifting. At first it was a slight movement, back and forth. Then it started rocking and it felt like the whole ark came off the ground.
Noah was the only one who had ever been on a ship. "We're starting to float," he calmly told his family. "The water must have gotten deep enough to lift the ark off the ground."
Once the ark was completely off the ground, it started rocking strongly back and forth. They heard a loud noise, like huge pieces of wood tearing apart as the ark rammed into the scaffolding, breaking it to pieces.
Even though the ark was now floating, it would occasionally scrape the ground when it got near a hill. It would be stuck for a while, held in place on one side while the other side floated freely. It would tip to one side and anything that wasn't tied down would slide and fall. Fortunately, Noah had made his family fasten almost everything in place, so the damage caused by the tipping was minimal. After a while the water would rise enough over the hill that the ark would start floating freely again.
Following are questions to ask your children after reading the story.
1. Read Genesis 7:16. Who shut the door of the ark?
2. Read Genesis 7:11. What were the sources of water that caused the flood?
3. What comes out of a volcano when it erupts? Is one of those things water?
4. What should we do when we are afraid? Memorize a verse that can help you when you are afraid.
Short stories are available for free download. To receive homeschool questions for future stories, sign up for the mailing list or email Nancy at nancyhitt@sweeterdaysliterature.com. All stories are copyrighted by Sweeter Days Literature LLC and can only be distributed with written permission.
