Form the time of Adam to the time of Noah man sinned and sinned more. God was grieved that he had made man on the earth. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God cursed the ground. And in later generations at the time of Noah, man had become so violent and wicked that God was grieved that he made man. So shortly after creation when God looked at the earth and said, "IT is GOOD" we see the curse came upon mankind.
Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because you have listened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;
Adam lived under a curse of the ground because of his sin in the garden, and that curse brought hardships and sorrows to him. Then when Cain killed his brother Able, God cursed the ground beneath Cain's feet. God said to Cain:
Genesis 4:11 And now are you cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand;
We see the precedent that disobedience to God's Word is sin, and sin brings on the curse which includes hardships and sorrows.
So from the dawn of time we see man sinning which brings the curse of God. But the birth of one particular human being turned the tide and brought a blessing.
Look at the scripture where Noah is born, His Father Lamech said:
Genesis 5:29 and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.
Noah's dad spoke prophetic words over him when he was born. What you say over your children carries weight. Don't call them bad things, even as a tease. Words are powerful and often carry weight that guide us through life. But notice what was said at his birth. This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.
Look at the life of Noah. Noah was the only man on the face of the earth that was righteous. He pleased the LORD. God determined to destroy the earth, but because Noah blessed the LORD through his obedience, God instructed Him to build a boat. The floods came and once the waters receded God began to bless.
Genesis 8:20And Noah built an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21And the LORD smelled a sweet odor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.
22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
So here we see that God made a covenant with Noah. This was the first recorded covenant of God with man since the fall of Adam. What did God promise? I WILL NOT CURSE THE GROUND ANYMORE.. at the sin of Adam and Eve we see the curse of the ground. And YET, one man pleased God and it made God so happy he promised to never curse the ground again, and also to never again smite all living things as he had done in the flood.
This world is bad, and people are crazy. Things are hard, and times are tough. But, it pleases the LORD if even ONE person is found righteous. If one person honors God and serves him it causes God to decide to bless and not to curse. Even if things are terrible in the USA, terrible over seas, terrible in our governments, terrible in our churches, terrible in our school systems...one person submitted to God can turn the tide and cause God to remember his covenant and to bless us once again.
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