-12-
The Flood – Part One (The Ark)
Genesis 6:5 – 7:7
I want to begin this session by stating some basic principles and observations:
1. The Bible could be called 'The History of Sin'
2. Sin is the cause of all calamity – cause and effect, in a fallen world.
3. Special calamities can ... and have been brought on by God.
4. God never brings calamity without first giving warning.
5. God is patient before He brings a judgment (calamity).
6. God brings that judgment when, in His mind, iniquity is full.
Examples:
-The Flood
-The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
-The Canaanites (Amorites) who occupied the promised land while Jacob and sons were in Egypt
(more on this in a future session.)
-The battle of Armageddon.
There has never been a calamity that comes even close to that of the flood. Over seven billion people, adult, child, rich and poor, all drowned. Every air breathing animal drowned. All of the surface of the earth was wiped clean. Every blade of grass. Every tree. Every building and every city. The reconstruction would be literally on a clean slate.
All of this supernatural calamity is a foreshadow of the final and ultimate judgment.
Life goes on –or so the people thought.
But God has set a limit to the level of wickedness that He will permit and they had reached it and He drowned them all.
Peter says that the final destruction of sinners will be by fire.
2 great messages
This is history. This is how the old world ended
6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Without the ten commandments how do we know what evil is? Did people even know that they were doing evil? Judging by God's severe action of drowning everyone except 8 people, He held them responsible. This means that God had communicated enough laws verbally for society to function responsibly.
6 ¶ And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
God is sovereign. When we connect his sovereignty to the above verse, we come up with some questions.
God knows everything. He planned the history of the world.
That is, in His plan, He first talked to mankind verbally (on occasion) and expected parents to pass on the knowledge of God to their children. It would then be up to them to ‘follow their conscience’. Next, in His plan, He set apart a nation to be the people to custodians of the knowledge and will of God. At a certain point in History, He moved from using a physical nation to represent Him and He created His church to be the ones holding and spreading His truth to the world. And His plans don’t end there.
We might be able to conclude that God lives and operates in light of His eternal purposes.
But from verse 6 we see that God can also live in the ‘now’, as if the Flood idea was an afterthought. So how can this be possible? With us it would be impossible. But God is without limits. We are left to conclude that somehow, some way God can live in the present and in eternity at the same time. He is God. We will not understand this until we get there. And even then we likely will not comprehend God entirely.
The Bible could also be called 'The history of grace'.
So in verse 6 we were told that it grieved God in His heart that He made man. His initial thought is to wipe out all of mankind.
7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
This really gives us a unique look into the heart and mind of God. This verse is not just some kind of a poetic form of rhetoric to pretend that God thinks like a human. This is real.
But God is a God of grace and when sinners repent, He forgives. He looked for one who would speak on His behalf.
8 ¶ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
In Isaiah's time there was a similar search, albeit on a much smaller scale. Isaiah was given a vision of God in all of His holiness. He was struck with awe. He felt dirty in the sight of the holy God. He expressed his horror and embarrassment of standing before God as a dirty sinner. God fixed that by cleansing him and then asking the question, Who will go and do an errand for me? Isaiah was able to answer, 'Send me.'
God looks for those today who will go for Him and take His message of warning, judgment, and calamity and announce it faithfully. But first he looks for us to come to him and see His holiness and deplore our sin … and accept purging and cleansing from Him.
The biblical account of the flood is rejected by the unbelieving world. Some forms of Christianity have concluded that it is an allegorical story. However Jesus said the account of the flood was literal history. Matthew24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
God found Noah. Or rather, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Verse 8. Noah found favor. Why, was it because he was a sinner just like the rest of us but the only difference between him and anyone else is that he was a believer and his sins were covered? Well, even if that is so, that is not really the thought here. There is mention of his own actions, his own personal righteousness.
6:9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Of Enoch it was said that he walked with God. This denotes a very close and intimate fellowship. Noah was this kind of a man. God chose him to be the new Adam, not in the sense that Jesus is the second Adam, but as a human who had the morals, the beliefs, the spiritual character, the faith on which to build a new society.
We are told that Noah had a family.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. There is something to take note of here. Just over 1500 years earlier God started the multiplying process with just two people. Offspring would have to marry each other. Specifically brothers and sisters would have to marry each other. Now, as God is about to ‘start over’ with mankind, we see that cousins will have to marry cousins. There was no ‘recessive gene’ problem in Adam's time, but it could be a problem by Noah’s time for brothers and sisters to marry.
11 ¶ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
God actually tells Noah that He is going to start over.
13 ¶ And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
What news. He has not yet mentioned water but He has said, Build an Ark of the following features and dimensions.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
Someone has said that the ark was about the same length as a modern oil tanker. Noah is given instructions even regarding the type of wood to use. When we remember the pictures we have seen of an ark, it is a rather awkward looking vessel with a pointed front, sloping curved sides, and quite tall. In actual fact, this boat would have no means of propulsion. It was not going anywhere in particular. It was to be a large rectangle. It would be three stories high, but it would be twice as wide as it was high. It was designed to go with the waves. If a wind was blowing, it would be going with the wind, not against. There would be no worry of crashing into a mountain or hitting a rock. There would never be be wind and waves crashing against it. It would be relatively stable because of its great width and length.
Now God mentions how completely He is going to cleanse the earth.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
God makes a covenant with Noah.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
God is under no obligation to make agreements with his creation. But He does so. This is the love, mercy and favor of God upon the most upright man living on the earth at the time. “You will enter the ark”. This is like the promise of grace to each of us. Jesus is the ark. We are in Him. We are not appointed His wrath, not now, not ever. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Th 5:9
In Verses 19-21 we read about the specific instructions that Noah received for loading the ark.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them."
God gave Noah instructions regarding stocking the ark with a year's supply of food and food for the animals. We have no indication at this point that some of the animals were carnivorous. We assume that some animals became meat-eaters after the fall. Perhaps God caused a hibernation to happen to many of the animals. Or meat-eating may not have begun until after the flood. But I don't think so. I would lean toward the hibernation idea.
God makes the announcement to Noah later on, when they come out of the ark, that animals may now be included in their diet.
Verse 22 ends the chapter with, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him”.
Noah sawed and hammered and preached. This was a massive craft and, as far as we know, not anywhere near an ocean. It would certainly raise questions. And Noah gave answers.
2 Peter 2:5 And God ...did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.
What about the times in which we live?
¶ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2Timothy 3:1
Have nothing to do with them … that is, don't join in. Don't identify with any of this. But realize that, like Noah, we are to stand out and be obvious.
… that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15
Jesus added a couple of other figures of speech that must describe us:
Matthew 5:13 ¶ "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Salt not only flavors and preserves food, but it creates thirst. Does our daily life and attitude create a thirst in others, causing them to want what we have? Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."John 7:38
Our Godly life-style should raise questions with colleagues, neighbors, friends and even family. … and you have the answers, right?
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
1Peter 3:15
1. The Bible could be called 'The History of Sin'
2. Sin is the cause of all calamity – cause and effect, in a fallen world.
3. Special calamities can ... and have been brought on by God.
4. God never brings calamity without first giving warning.
5. God is patient before He brings a judgment (calamity).
6. God brings that judgment when, in His mind, iniquity is full.
Examples:
-The Flood
-The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
-The Canaanites (Amorites) who occupied the promised land while Jacob and sons were in Egypt
(more on this in a future session.)
-The battle of Armageddon.
There has never been a calamity that comes even close to that of the flood. Over seven billion people, adult, child, rich and poor, all drowned. Every air breathing animal drowned. All of the surface of the earth was wiped clean. Every blade of grass. Every tree. Every building and every city. The reconstruction would be literally on a clean slate.
All of this supernatural calamity is a foreshadow of the final and ultimate judgment.
Life goes on –or so the people thought.
But God has set a limit to the level of wickedness that He will permit and they had reached it and He drowned them all.
Peter says that the final destruction of sinners will be by fire.
2 great messages
- Man is hopelessly sinful and will be destroyed.
- When, during the time of their sinful existence they repent, God will forgive.
This is history. This is how the old world ended
6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Without the ten commandments how do we know what evil is? Did people even know that they were doing evil? Judging by God's severe action of drowning everyone except 8 people, He held them responsible. This means that God had communicated enough laws verbally for society to function responsibly.
6 ¶ And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
God is sovereign. When we connect his sovereignty to the above verse, we come up with some questions.
God knows everything. He planned the history of the world.
That is, in His plan, He first talked to mankind verbally (on occasion) and expected parents to pass on the knowledge of God to their children. It would then be up to them to ‘follow their conscience’. Next, in His plan, He set apart a nation to be the people to custodians of the knowledge and will of God. At a certain point in History, He moved from using a physical nation to represent Him and He created His church to be the ones holding and spreading His truth to the world. And His plans don’t end there.
We might be able to conclude that God lives and operates in light of His eternal purposes.
But from verse 6 we see that God can also live in the ‘now’, as if the Flood idea was an afterthought. So how can this be possible? With us it would be impossible. But God is without limits. We are left to conclude that somehow, some way God can live in the present and in eternity at the same time. He is God. We will not understand this until we get there. And even then we likely will not comprehend God entirely.
The Bible could also be called 'The history of grace'.
So in verse 6 we were told that it grieved God in His heart that He made man. His initial thought is to wipe out all of mankind.
7 So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
This really gives us a unique look into the heart and mind of God. This verse is not just some kind of a poetic form of rhetoric to pretend that God thinks like a human. This is real.
But God is a God of grace and when sinners repent, He forgives. He looked for one who would speak on His behalf.
8 ¶ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
In Isaiah's time there was a similar search, albeit on a much smaller scale. Isaiah was given a vision of God in all of His holiness. He was struck with awe. He felt dirty in the sight of the holy God. He expressed his horror and embarrassment of standing before God as a dirty sinner. God fixed that by cleansing him and then asking the question, Who will go and do an errand for me? Isaiah was able to answer, 'Send me.'
God looks for those today who will go for Him and take His message of warning, judgment, and calamity and announce it faithfully. But first he looks for us to come to him and see His holiness and deplore our sin … and accept purging and cleansing from Him.
The biblical account of the flood is rejected by the unbelieving world. Some forms of Christianity have concluded that it is an allegorical story. However Jesus said the account of the flood was literal history. Matthew24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
God found Noah. Or rather, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Verse 8. Noah found favor. Why, was it because he was a sinner just like the rest of us but the only difference between him and anyone else is that he was a believer and his sins were covered? Well, even if that is so, that is not really the thought here. There is mention of his own actions, his own personal righteousness.
6:9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Of Enoch it was said that he walked with God. This denotes a very close and intimate fellowship. Noah was this kind of a man. God chose him to be the new Adam, not in the sense that Jesus is the second Adam, but as a human who had the morals, the beliefs, the spiritual character, the faith on which to build a new society.
We are told that Noah had a family.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. There is something to take note of here. Just over 1500 years earlier God started the multiplying process with just two people. Offspring would have to marry each other. Specifically brothers and sisters would have to marry each other. Now, as God is about to ‘start over’ with mankind, we see that cousins will have to marry cousins. There was no ‘recessive gene’ problem in Adam's time, but it could be a problem by Noah’s time for brothers and sisters to marry.
11 ¶ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
God actually tells Noah that He is going to start over.
13 ¶ And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
What news. He has not yet mentioned water but He has said, Build an Ark of the following features and dimensions.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
Someone has said that the ark was about the same length as a modern oil tanker. Noah is given instructions even regarding the type of wood to use. When we remember the pictures we have seen of an ark, it is a rather awkward looking vessel with a pointed front, sloping curved sides, and quite tall. In actual fact, this boat would have no means of propulsion. It was not going anywhere in particular. It was to be a large rectangle. It would be three stories high, but it would be twice as wide as it was high. It was designed to go with the waves. If a wind was blowing, it would be going with the wind, not against. There would be no worry of crashing into a mountain or hitting a rock. There would never be be wind and waves crashing against it. It would be relatively stable because of its great width and length.
Now God mentions how completely He is going to cleanse the earth.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
God makes a covenant with Noah.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
God is under no obligation to make agreements with his creation. But He does so. This is the love, mercy and favor of God upon the most upright man living on the earth at the time. “You will enter the ark”. This is like the promise of grace to each of us. Jesus is the ark. We are in Him. We are not appointed His wrath, not now, not ever. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Th 5:9
In Verses 19-21 we read about the specific instructions that Noah received for loading the ark.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them."
God gave Noah instructions regarding stocking the ark with a year's supply of food and food for the animals. We have no indication at this point that some of the animals were carnivorous. We assume that some animals became meat-eaters after the fall. Perhaps God caused a hibernation to happen to many of the animals. Or meat-eating may not have begun until after the flood. But I don't think so. I would lean toward the hibernation idea.
God makes the announcement to Noah later on, when they come out of the ark, that animals may now be included in their diet.
Verse 22 ends the chapter with, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him”.
Noah sawed and hammered and preached. This was a massive craft and, as far as we know, not anywhere near an ocean. It would certainly raise questions. And Noah gave answers.
2 Peter 2:5 And God ...did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.
What about the times in which we live?
¶ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2Timothy 3:1
Have nothing to do with them … that is, don't join in. Don't identify with any of this. But realize that, like Noah, we are to stand out and be obvious.
… that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15
Jesus added a couple of other figures of speech that must describe us:
Matthew 5:13 ¶ "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Salt not only flavors and preserves food, but it creates thirst. Does our daily life and attitude create a thirst in others, causing them to want what we have? Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."John 7:38
Our Godly life-style should raise questions with colleagues, neighbors, friends and even family. … and you have the answers, right?
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
1Peter 3:15