Noah and the Ark

In the time after Adam, people on the earth grew more and more wicked. Violence and cruelty filled the land, and it grieved God's heart deeply. But there was one man who loved God with his whole heart — Noah. God spoke to Noah and told him something extraordinary: a great flood was coming to cleanse the earth.

God gave Noah detailed instructions to build a massive boat called an ark. Noah obeyed every word, even as neighbors laughed and mocked him. He built the ark, gathered two of every kind of animal, and brought his family aboard. Then the rain began — forty days and forty nights of pouring rain. The waters rose and covered everything. But the ark floated safely, protected by God's hand.

When the waters finally receded, a dove returned carrying an olive branch — a sign that the earth was green again. Noah and his family stepped out onto dry land and worshipped God with grateful hearts. God placed a rainbow in the sky as a promise: He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. The Coptic Church sees Noah's ark as a symbol of the Church itself — inside it, we are safe.