TUESDAY October 13, 2026

Divine Longsuffering

...who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
1 Peter 3:20

What is being taught by Peter might be very hard to understand because of the fact that there have been many interpretations made by different scholars. I really believe that one of the problems is that some Bible professors have failed to do a proper exegesis––they have not given a careful interpretation by drawing out correctly what is in the text.

Who was Peter speaking about when he mentioned the disobedient? He referred to both fallen angels and people. The Divine longsuffering spoke of God, when He waited 120 years before sending the flood. For all those years, Mr. Noah prepared the ark.

Can you imagine that there was no rain before the flood? The earth’s ground was watered by a mist (Genesis 2:6). What must people of thought when Mr. Noah began to build a three-story ship with only one door and one window? They may have laughed and mocked him as being crazy. But God had directed Noah to build it, and so he kept building.

Noah brought into the ark all kinds of animals––male and female. After 120 years, the Lord told Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives to go into the ark. God’s longsuffering had ended. Then the Lord God shut the door. Torrents of water poured from the heavens, and water came from under the earth. The land flooded, but the ark floated. Imagine the screams of billions of people as some sought the ark or ran for higher ground, but it was too late––they all drowned. God’s judgment came, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Did you know that pitch covered the bottom of the ark? Pitch speaks of atonement. The one door represents the one door to salvation. Only eight people survived the flood––saved through water. God protected Noah and his family. Have you found grace through Jesus and escaped God’s impeding judgment on sinners?

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
~2 Peter 3:9~

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