Dear Friends

As the forty days and forty nights of Lent unfold, it is not easy to escape thoughts of the other period of forty days and forty nights recorded in Scripture when Noah escaped the great flood by building an ark. For if it hasn’t rained for forty days and nights since the beginning of the year, then it certainly seems like it. There are two connections between the two episodes, although one suspects the weather was somewhat drier in the wilderness where our Lord spent His time in fasting and prayer. The first connection is of course the period of time – forty days being used in the Bible to indicate a long time rather than necessarily exactly five weeks and five days.

However, both passages also concern salvation arriving upon earth. In Noah’s case because God decides against destroying His creation, confirming His promise with a rainbow. In Jesus’ case because His triumph over sin will in due course mean that death will not be able to hold Him, another promise extended to us. Lent is a good time to remember these wonderful promises.

Rev Greg