This was like a magnet to the group of adolescent boys who were playing nearby. Curiosity got the better of them and before you knew it they had stopped playing and were craning their necks to see what was going on behind the fence. But it was an exercise in futility as the fence was much taller than them with not even one knothole for them to peer through.
A month later they could see a structure beginning to appear above the fenceline stretching towards the sky.
“What could it be?“ they thought.
They decided that a couple of them would follow the old man around to see if they could figure out what he was up to.
They soon discovered the old man was a very kind, compassionate and righteous man, always doing the right thing . His neighbors, on the other hand, were quite the opposite.They were always treating everyone with wickedness and evil. Many times the old man would tell them that God wasn’t pleased with their behavior and they needed to change their ways.
His neighbors didn’t want to hear that. They jeered at him, mocked him and cursed him. However, the old man never got mad. He would just go away with a broken heart.
Sometimes the boys would peek through the old man’s window and could see and hear him praying for his neighbors.
One day the old man was talking to a large group of people in the marketplace. There was urgency and compassion in his voice. He told them again that they must turn from their wicked ways. God wasn’t happy with them and they were quickly running out of time.
One of the men in the crowd bent down to pick up a rock to throw at the old man and as he straightened up a large raindrop, the first of many, fell out of the sky and landed between his eyes .
“Look old man, we’re sick and tired of your rambling at us. Just get out of here and leave us alone,“ he blurted out.
“I’ve tried and I’ve tried. I have done everything I can to try and save you. You are now on your own,“ Noah said and then returned to his home to put the finishing touches on the ark and load the cargo.