Genesis 8:20-22

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20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." ~ Genesis 8:20-22

Today, we close out our study of Genesis 8 where we have been given details about Noah and his survival through the flood. Noah was a man of faith whose faith was galvanized in the faithfulness of the God of the Bible. Noah had a trust in God even though all of his friends and acquaintances had chosen to believe that God was not good. Noah's faith in God was seen in his obedience to God to build the ark, even though it had never rained before. Noah's faith was seen as he preached to the pre-flood world about God's righteousness and the judgment that was to come. 

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar."

After the flood, the first thing Noah did was to build an altar which appropriated his worship of God. To worship God is to be defined by God. When we obey God, we show that He is defining us. Noah's was the first altar built in the Bible. Cain and Abel gave a sacrifice, but there was no mention of an altar. 

The flood or the judgement of God upon man did not change the heart of man. This has been seen down through the centuries. It has always been the grace of God that changes man's heart. It was God's grace that caused Noah to build the ark. Grace is God’s unconditional love in action, embracing us in our imperfections and transforming us by His mercy. The human heart can only be changed by the grace of God, and yet, we can resist such an expression of love. John M. Sheehan once said, "Grace was against my will till God's grace changed me to accept His grace!"

The word "altar" means "high" or "elevated." Noah was atop the mountains of Ararat and the smoke of his offerings ascended even higher. When the altar was built, it was built to the God of grace. God's grace had changed the heart of Noah and as a result he saw God as the covenant keeping God who had proven Himself true as He fulfilled His promises to Noah. In response, Noah offered burnt offerings which was for the atonement for sin. In making these offerings, Noah was asking God for more of His grace and mercy. 

The fire in the offering symbolized Noah's acknowledgment that he knew he deserved judgement from God. Through the flood Noah saw God's staggering judgment. Thus, he offered the sacrifice because his life was granted to him in the midst of the death of the rest of those on the earth around him. Most notably, this and all the other sacrifices in the rest of the Bible point us to the eternal work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

Noah remembered the Lord. That's a miracle because it is our human nature to forget the Lord. It is our human nature to promise God great things in a catastrophe, and then when the catastrophe is over we forget the Lord. In the Gospel of Luke the Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and He passed through Galilee at the border of Samaria and there were ten lepers and they cried out, "Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!" In response, the Lord Jesus healed them. Then the Lord Jesus told the healed men, "Go to the priest and offer the offering and go through the ritual purification and he'll pronounce you clean." One out of ten healed men returned and thanked the Lord for healing him. Noah remembered the Lord.

The very same day that Noah offered these sacrifices was the very same day that Ezra offered his sacrifice in the book of Ezra. This also was the very same day the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Right here in this verse is the first time the Bible mentions an altar. Instead of building a house for himself, Noah offered worship to God. He prepared a spot to meet with God and to give thanks to Him, and to glorify Him. The first thing Noah did after leaving the ark was to worship and to be defined by God.

In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.'"

The Lord smelled a soothing aroma. In response to Noah's soothing sacrifice, God gave Noah a promise that the laws of nature would remain steady and dependable. God promised that there would be a consistent pattern of the motion of the heavenly bodies, consistent gravity, consistent rotation of the earth, consistent solar orbit, and consistent annual cycles. 

This means we will not all die from global warming. It means it will be cold in the winter and warm in the summer. It means there will be summer, and there will be winter, and there will be seedtime and harvest. It means, even though the Flood happened, we will enjoy a period of uniformity where everything continues the same, until the earth goes out of existence. This is the promise of God upon whose faithfulness all of His promises rest. 

The words, "The Lord said in His heart" means this wasn’t a covenant that YHWH made with Noah. This was a covenant that God made with Himself. He determined to overlook the coming times of ignorance. And now, we have been on this earth for some 4500 years and we have survived because of this promise. But, God's next judgment will be the destruction of the planet by fire not water.

In 2 Peter 3:10-13 we read, "10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

I trust that you have entered into the salvation of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as simple as admitting to God that as a sinner you are in need of His forgiveness. Then, believing that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin. And then, asking Him to come into your life as the Lord of your life. If you enter into the protection of God by believing in His Son, I would love to hear about. You can let me know by sending me an email at byoungministry@gmail.com.

Genesis 8:13-19

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13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. ~ Genesis 8:13-19

Today we return to our study of Genesis 8 where we are invited to see and understand the unsinkable promises of God. The story of Noah is quite interesting and very exciting until we get to Genesis 7. At that point, the story seems to get bogged down in the details of the animals and the precise dates. It is easy to skim over such details but that would be a great mistake. We expect and want God to work in the big headlines of life, but He is best found in the subscript of the text.

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry."

It was the 601st year of Noah’s life and it took a lot of courage for Noah to leave the ark. This meant leaving behind a certain measure of safety and security that he and his family had come to know over the year they were in the ark. This new step meant trusting God for a totally unknown future. This is what makes our journey with God in this world so worth it though. When we give Him enough time to bring about His plans for our lives, we are left amazed. Think of it, this was the first day of the first month of that year for Noah. It was the exact same day 1657 years earlier that Adam was created and it was the same day about 2400 years later that the Savior of the world would be born in an insignificant town known as Bethlehem. Such design left for us to discover the Designer of it all.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried."

When God gives dates in the Bible, it is significant and we must take note. Today's plot took place 57 days after Noah opened the covering of the ark and it was the 380th day after Noah and his family entered the ark. Noah and his family had spent over a year waiting and watching as the world was destroyed by water. All of that time, they were in that ark as the waters rose and as the waters receded. 

In v.15-17 of today's passage we read, "15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 'Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.'"

Just imagine the excitement that the family must have felt as they got word it was time to leave the ark. We do not know how God spoke to Noah, whether in a dream or directly, or whether in some other way, but Noah was given divine guidance that he and his family could leave the ark, just as he received divine guidance to enter it. And just as they filled the ark with animals, they’re told now to empty it out. 

As the animals departed, God also gave them a divine command; that they should be fruitful and multiply on the earth. This is the exact same command that was given back in Genesis 1. God created all of the animals at the beginning and the same spark of life that was put into them then carried through to the time of Noah and it carries through even until today. There is a spark of life in all of us and that spark transmits from us to the next generation.

Were it not for the Ark of Noah, there would be no life on earth apart from the oceans. And any animal which wasn’t on the ark is extinct because its life spark died with the flood. And, if the world were billions of years old like evolutionists claim, then the problem would only be exacerbated. From the trillions of moments which have happened since the first life of spontaneous generation supposedly occurred, Evolutionists only explanation for development is evolution, not more generation. When we consider evolution, we are left shaking our heads. It takes far more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in the God of the Bible.

In v.18-19 of today's passage we read, "18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark."

Probably in a state of awe and wonder, Noah and his family obeyed the divine command and they left the ark. The earth was certainly completely different than it was when they entered. The vapor canopy surrounding the earth was gone and the skies looked different. The landscape would have been totally reformed from what they had known. The climate would have been different. Everything was new and everything was a mixed bag of a new adventure.

Sometimes God calls us to do things that are hard and may even seem impossible. We are called to leave the known for the unknown, and when we have to leave the ark that has taken us this far and step out on our own, that's difficult. At times, it is scary and unnerving because once we leave the familiar confines we have always known, we can never go back there again. To leave the ark meant embarking on a new life with new dangers and new opportunities. That takes courage and resolve and a decision not to look back or to second-guess oneself.

This is why God makes so much of our faith in Him. Faith means taking the next step and then trusting God with the results. It is a paradox of life that even though the ark was smelly and cramped, we may be afraid to leave it because it represents the only security we have known for some time. Sometimes we pray for a change in our circumstances, but when the moment comes, we are so overwhelmed with fear that we are paralyzed and unable to move. It is then that faith is given its chance.

We are told in Hebrews 11, by faith Noah built, entered and left the Ark. Both entering the ark and leaving it were very difficult for Noah and his family, I am sure. But, this is what life is really about; getting over those moments when we are paralyzed by the unknown. Some of us are stuck because we know it’s time to move forward but we are afraid to take the first step. We must remember that we do not walk through this life alone. And, the more we respond to the revelation that God gives us, the better we will recognize Him in those most unwanteds of life. It is in the darkest of times that we see Him best. The rule of thumb in following God must be that His presence and His proximity will always be my protection whether I can see Him or not.

Genesis 8:6-12

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6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. 10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore. ~ Genesis 8:6-12 

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 8 where Noah and his family and all of the animals that God brought to them had been on the ark a total of 380 days. That is more than a year. I can only imagine what it was like to be cooped up in that boat for that long with so many animals.

In v.6-9 of today's passage we read, "6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself."

Forty days after the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat, Noah opened the window. With the opening of the window, Noah released a raven which did not return to the ark. A raven is a scavenger bird and would have been perfectly content to land on any surface, even on a dead body to feast. The raven is a bird that represents the flesh. As this passage makes clear, the raven was no help to Noah whatsoever. According to Leviticus, a raven is a symbol of the unclean, like a person who lives apart from the grace of God, content to live in this world of death.

After the release of the raven, Noah released a dove providing for the reader a contrast of the unclean and the clean. God had defined them as such and so each of them provided a picture of man's response to God. The dove returned to the safety of the ark picturing a lost sinner who humbles himself enough to return to God. The reason we return to the Lord is represented by the dove throughout the Bible. At His baptism, the Spirit of God rested on the Lord Jesus and He rested on Him as a dove would come down and rest upon its perch. The dove represents the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible, and, it is His presence in the believer that enables him to persevere in the faith.

In addition, the raven and the dove picture for us the fact that the believer in Christ has two natures. This explains the civil war within the believer that the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 7. The Apostle describes these two within us as "the flesh" and "the Spirit." The whole struggle of the spiritual life arises out of the conflict of the flesh with the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. One is evil, unclean; the other is clean, and good. These are symbolized by these two birds. It is God's way of telling us that in the present age, like Noah, we must be wise to choose the way of the dove, always being defined by God.

In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth."

Seven days later, Noah sent out the dove once again. This time the dove returned with an olive leaf in its mouth. The raven represented death and the dove represented life. In the dove we have the symbol of the Holy Spirit descending upon us when we call on the name Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Messenger of God telling us that all is well with our soul. Through the return of the dove, Noah knew the earth was drying out finally. But, the olive tree can yield leaves even under water. Throughout the Bible, the olive, and the oil it produces gives us symbolism of the work of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. And, is a picture of the resurrection of Christ. Just as the olive can grow out from under water, so Christ came out of the grave as a victor over death. 

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore."

This verse highlights the utter necessity that is ours as we learn daily to walk with the Lord. God continually calls His people to wait on Him. The Israelites waited for over four hundred years to be released from the bondage of Egypt; God’s people waited thousands of years for Him to send the Messiah; and now, two thousand years later, we still wait on the return of the Lord Jesus. Waiting is part of God’s plan for the life of the believer, and I don’t think He wants us to miss the opportunities and growth found in the waiting. Waiting on God gives us the chance to get to know Him better. And the more we know Him, the more we will be defined and completed by Him.

The number 7 is the number that represents completeness or maturity in the Bible. In fact, it was on the seventh day of creation that God rested. The idea of resting and the number seven are intimately connected in the Bible. While on the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus uttered seven sayings, the final one being: "It is finished." When the Lord Jesus said those words He was saying the work of redemption is complete. This is why salvation is by faith through the grace of God. Even the faith that we exercise in the God of the Bible is a gift because it is conditioned upon our understanding of God's faithfulness.

Genesis 8:1-5

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1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. ~ Genesis 8:1-5

Today, we continue our study of Genesis where we are being given an overall view of the story of man with God. In giving us this story, God is highlighted His faithfulness to us. Since Noah had faith in the God of the Bible, God did not disappoint him. We have seen through Noah that true faith in the God of the Bible is not in a hurry. True faith waits on the faithfulness of God. The number 8 in the Bible is the number of "new beginnings" thus the number of the people on the ark.  

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided."

I can only imagine what a whirlwind Noah felt that he was in while he was on the ark for so long. I am sure that when he first heard God tell him to build the ark, He was like, "This can't be real." And, as the days marched on, I am sure that Noah wondered about the veracity of this call that God had given him. In addition, I am sure that Noah wondered after being on the ark for all of those days that if God was aware of him. 

We are told by Moses that "God remembered Noah and every living thing and all of the animals." This means God never relinquished the promise of salvation that He had made to Noah. The Hebrew word translated "remember" is used a total of 73 times in the Scriptures. For Noah, the impossible happened. And, hundreds of thousands of humans and animals died in the flood because they lacked the type of faith that Noah had. 

God remembered Noah by making a wind dry off the earth after the waters receded. It was highly probable that before the flood there was no wind due to the vapor canopy that surrounded the earth. Then, before the flood, a whole different hydrology existed, but when the canopy was removed, typical evaporation and the jet streams happened. 

The word for "wind" in the Hebrew is exactly the same word used in Genesis 1:2 for God's Spirit. There, we read, "The Spirit of God hovered over the waters." Spirit and wind in Hebrew are the same word. 

In v.2-3 of today's passage we read, "2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased."

No doubt the surface of the earth was greatly changed after the flood. In fact, this was when the Grand Canyon was formed as it is now. It wasn't until the flood that the high mountains that we have today were formed. This was due to the break-up of the earth and the subsequent continental drift. It was at that time that the huge basins in the ocean were formed.

In v.4-5 of today's passage we read, "4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen."

On the 17th day the ark rested on Mt Ararat. Interestingly, it happened on the same day that the Lord Jesus Christ came out of the grave almost 2400 years later. The Bible uses two calendars, the creation calendar and the redemption calendar. Until the time of the Exodus, the calendar started in the fall, but at the Exodus, the first month was changed to the spring. The 17th day of the seventh month in the creation calendar is the 17th day of the first month of the redemption calendar. The Passover occurs on the 14th day of the first month and the resurrection happened, according to the Bible, on the Sunday after the Passover, the 17th day of the first month.

Most interestingly, "Ararat" means "the curse is reversed." On the same day that the ark struck the ground, the waters began to subside. The curse of the waters were then reversed at the exact same moment that Noah was brought to the safety of the land. Noah and his ark are a picture of the true reversal of the curse which began at the fall of man in Genesis 3. Only 5 chapters after the fall, Noah was given as a sign of what was to come in the future. The rain lasted 40 days. The waters stayed upon the earth 150 days. It took another 150 days for the waters to abate.  And then Noah waited another 40 days before he opened the window. It all took place in the time of 380 days. Often in life, troubles come on fast and recede slowly. Our calling is to be faithful, to persevere, to hold on to the faithful object of our faith. 

The waters didn’t cover the earth forever. The ark shows that salvation is by faith through God's grace. Grace means that God saves us apart from any effort of our own. God's grace began something new on that 17th day when Noah and his family were saved, What started off as an insignificant date has become a whisper of His grace. This 17th in reality was the first in a series of clues that God gave throughout the Old Testament which all points us to the greatest display of all, the resurrection of His only Son! 

Genesis 7:17-24

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17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. ~ Genesis 7:17-24 

Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 7. It was the design of the Flood to show us how serious God is toward our sin. The purpose of the flood was to save Noah and his family, and to destroy those who were not willing enough to believe in the goodness of God. So when we hear the Lord offer us grace and salvation and an escape from His judgment, we must be quick to understand and respond to that which He offers us.

In addition, to being a man of faith in the God of the Bible, Noah was a patient man. He preached to those who in the end didn't believe right up until one week before the raindrops started the flood. He gave the unsaved a witness of God through his words and he did it by his actions. And even today he still preaches by those same actions to anyone who is willing enough to listen. He was patient in waiting on the Lord’s timing and his patience must have included immense sadness.

In v.17-21 of today's passage we read, "17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man."

The rains came for 40 days and the waters prevailed for 150. Here, we have the word "prevailed" used repeatedly. The word "water" appears repeatedly, as well. The Flood prevailed. This is the flow of the text. And, during all of the time, Noah and his seven family members waited in the quiet solitude within the ark. When the waters came, Noah and his family had to be patient. Whether or not they heard the people outside the boat they knew what was happening and they patiently endured the loss of all of the people they knew. Noah probably thought about the many people who had come into his life as the flood waters rose. This wasn’t a localized flood as skeptics try to claim. This was a global flood and every high hill and every higher mountain was covered and even submerged. Fifteen cubits is almost 25 feet. 

In v.22-24 of today's passage we read, "22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days."

And so, everything and everyone died. And, only a perverse and disconnected heart would find fault with the Creator concerning how He handled this situation. The reality is all things have an end and mixed with joy is sadness and loss. This is the fallen world we live in and even though sin has wrecked this world with death and destruction God is still sovereign and good.

Waiting on the Lord isn’t a concept unique to Noah. Rather, we all struggle at waiting. For many, the deepest pain of waiting lies in the sense that God, who once seemed so near, now feels so far away. But the answer is that if we give God enough time, all things in their end with make sense. When we give Him time, God will enable us to see our waiting from His viewpoint. He will give us His vision, if we are patient. Those days when we find ourselves living in hindsight we understand the why behind the wait. In the meantime, God is doing something eternal within us. When we are careful to be defined by Him, God will define us further with the eternal. The Bible is full of people who waited on the Lord. They discovered God’s delays are not His denials. God always does something in us before He does something for us and though us. The only thing worse than waiting is wishing we had.

In Isaiah 40:31 we read, "But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

There is so much significance to the illustration of an eagle, but one thing about an eagle is that while most birds flee storms, the eagle seems to long for it because it enables him to soar higher than he can in normal conditions. The eagle is the only bird that can lock its wings and wait for the right wind. He waits for the updraft, then soars. At different times of our lives, we are all going to face fierce storms. As we wait on the Lord and trust in Him, He will not only take us through the storm, but He will actually lift us above the storm. In and through our patience in Him, God, in the middle of our storms is allowed to rise us above those storms. So, as we wait on Him He will help us use the adversities and strong winds to benefit us! And, in the end, we will learn that all tides raises all boats to the benefit of all and to the glory of God.

Genesis 7:13-16

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13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. ~ Genesis 7:13-16

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 7 where we are studying the flood that God brought upon the face of the earth because man's wickedness had gotten to be so destructive. You will remember the book of Genesis has an outline that includes four great events and four great people: Creation, The Fall of Man, The Flood, The Tower of Babel, and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. In Genesis 7, the flood and the obedience of Noah is front and center. 

Again and again in this chapter, Noah’s obedience is brought up. Noah was an obedient man because he was a man of faith in the God of the Bible. Noah was told to build the ark and he built it. Even though it took him a long time, 120 years, and it took a lot of effort, Noah pressed on in His faith in the veracity of the God of the Bible. Then add to that, Noah probably endured a sizable amount of verbal abuse from the people who lived around him. Noah's faith in the promises of God was made veracious by his obedience. But, it was not Noah's obedience that made him right before God.

No one has or ever will be justified by our good works. Justification before God is an act, not a work or process. It is not a hopeful destination. Justification is God’s gracious, once-for-all gift to anyone who believes that God has told the truth. Justification is a gracious verdict from God declaring the believer to be righteous in and through Christ alone. It is only Christ's death and resurrection that makes us right before God and fully accepted by Him.

In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort."

Obedience is what leads to life, happiness, and a close and personal walk with God. On the other hand, there is disobedience which is what leads to loss, sadness, punishment, death, and condemnation. This is the reality of life in a fallen world. When we are not obedient, we only bring troubles on ourselves. When we choose to be obedient, life happens in a much different way. Someone once said, "Eighty percent of life is how we choose to respond to the twenty percent that happens to us." When we choose to be defined by God as evidenced in our obedience to His word, life will be more meaningful and purposeful.

In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in."

Noah did not slam the door shut, God shut it seven days before the first raindrop fell. The Lord shut the door from the outside because he was the protector of the ark and its precious cargo. While the sun was yet shining and the sky was blue, while the people around were still convinced that nothing was going to happen, God shut Noah in so that he could not get out. You can see how this pictures "the sealing of the Spirit" described in the book of Ephesians. When we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ we were sealed and kept by the power of God, safe in Christ.

The flood waters came in the second month on the seventeenth day of the month of October or November. It happened some time around the autumn equinox. While the world was sowing its next harvest, Noah was preparing for something different. While the world was probably worshipping the alignment of the heavenly bodies, Noah was worshipping the Lord. While the world was anticipating its next harvest, Noah was anticipating a flood that everyone else laughed at.

God closed the door to the ark and He sealed it from the outside miraculously. Without human hands, Noah and his family and the animals were all sealed in the ark. The whole world was behind them, never to be seen again as they had known it. The world was soon to be below them, and they were embarking on the most incredible journey of faith ever. Nobody had ever or before or since taken such an incredible journey as this. The biggest floating structure ever built, up to that time, rain they had never seen, the destruction of the entire planet. They were all apart of a floating zoo, guided only by God, and living in the hope of a better world and a new life.

Genesis 7:7-12

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7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, 9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. ~ Genesis 7:7-12

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 7 which was the fulfillment of what we had seen in Genesis 6. In Genesis 6 God had told Noah what He wanted him to do and in Genesis 7 Noah did it. God kept His word to Noah. He sent the flood that destroyed every living thing on the earth, and yet He saved Noah, his family, and all of the animals that He brought to the ark. The main point of this chapter is that God always keeps His promises and is always faithful to His word.

God rendered the Flood due to the fact that mankind spoiled His creation. God created all things to be good, but Adam and Eve believed the lies of the serpent and doubted God’s goodness and disobeyed His word, bringing sin into the world. The sin of man pained God and moved Him to bring judgement upon rebellious man. We are told several times early on here in Genesis that the earth was "corrupt" which means to mar, to mutilate, to pervert, to go to ruin, or to destroy. As a result the whole world was "filled with violence." The Hebrew word for "violence" means lawlessness, unrighteousness, or injustice. This Hebrew word is a broad term referring to all the ways sinful man mistreats all of God's creation. 

The flood was God’s response to the evil, the corruption and the violence that man exacted on God's creation. The flood was God taking merciful action to restrain humanity’s ever-increasing evil. God saw that "every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually." So, He decided to destroy what was self-destructing. God didn’t take pleasure in the flood. Rather, man chose His judgement by ignoring Him and embracing the self life which always leads us down the pathway of wickedness. Man's embrace of the self life caused all living things on the earth sorrow and grief. God made the earth to be a place where all of life could flourish, but instead selfish man turned it into a theater of violence and disaster.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood."

Noah was a righteous man because he believed God enough to be defined by Him. God had told Noah to build the ark and then to gather the animals that He brought to him into the ark. Then Noah and his family took shelter in floating savior that was given him by God. Noah illustrated that if we believe God enough, we will obey Him. This does not mean that we will be perfect. Just as our faith will never be perfect this side of heaven, so our obedience will never be perfect. But Noah's faith was good enough that day.

In v.8-9 of today's passage we read, "8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, 9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah."

This means everything God has created is to be seen as sacred. Those things and places and people that we see as unclean were made by God, and therefore we should love and care them. We should always see all people as redeemable even though they may incessantly reject the free gift of salvation. Noah and the animals all obeyed God because of God's grace. God’s grace toward Noah created a man who obeyed Him.  Noah didn’t just want to obey God, he actually obeyed God’s commands. Obedience is evidence that the light has come on in our understanding with regard to what is true, real, and substantive. Disobedience always leads to some form of death because it always takes us away from God, the source of life and reality.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth."

God is trustworthy and can be trusted. I have discovered that the more I trust Him, the easier I find it to trust Him more. As God had said, seven days later it began to rain. God kept His promise about sending judgment on the earth because God never breaks His word. God always does what He says He will do. The Bible contains somewhere around 2,500 prophecies, and of those approximately 2,000 have already come true. They have come true with perfect accuracy, not a single error! The remaining prophecies predict events yet to occur. If God says He will do something, or says something will happen, we know His words is true due to His track record. 

In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights."

The water of the flood came from two places: from above and from below. The first source came from the canopy in the upper atmosphere that shrouded the earth at that time. The second source was from below the surface of the earth. About ten miles below the earth's surface were these subterranean interconnected chambers of water. Volcanic like pressure in those caverns produced an explosion of water that traveled at three miles per second and covered the whole globe in two hours. Once again, as God said it would happen, so the flood came to pass. 

There is much evidence of the flood. Fossils are one of the best evidences of a global flood, especially where many of them have been found. We haven’t found marine creatures, such as fish, clams, and corals, buried and fossilized on the sea floor where they once lived. Instead, we have found most of them buried in sedimentary rocks on the continents, even on high mountains. For that to happen, the ocean waters had to totally flood the continents. 

Countless billions of plant and animal fossils have been found buried in extensive graveyards around the world. Billions of straight-shelled, chambered nautiloids of all different sizes were discovered fossilized with other marine creatures in a 7 foot thick layer within the Redwall Limestone of the Grand Canyon. This fossil graveyard stretches for 180 miles across northern Arizona and into southern Nevada, covering an area of at least 10,500 square miles. To form such a vast fossil graveyard required 24 cubic miles of lime, sand and silt, flowing in a thick, soup-like slurry at more than 16 feet per second to catastrophically overwhelm and bury this huge, living population of nautiloids. And people say the flood did not happen.

Genesis 7:1-6

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1 Then the Lord said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made." 5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. ~ Genesis 7:1-6

Today, we transition in Genesis 7 where the narrative continues to be focused on Noah and his family and the animals God brought to them. Noah was righteous because of his faith in the God of the Bible. The Bible is the foundation of our lives and Genesis is the foundation of the Bible. It is very clear that the New Testament writers believed that this story about Noah and the Flood was absolutely true. This also includes the Lord Jesus, as well. He spoke of Noah as a real person and the account of this Old Testament story as literal. 

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.'"

In the same way that God spoke to create the heavens and the earth and everything in it, the Lord spoke to Noah. Through it all God gave to Noah a story of immense love and faithfulness in the midst of judgment. This is what life is all about; being given a story with God that we can share with others in hopes that faith in the God of the Bible will be awakened in them.

In v.2-3 of today's passage we read, "2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth."

This is the first mention of clean animals in Scripture. According to the Mosaic law, we are instructed on how important blood sacrifices are to God, the blood sacrifices of clean animals. It is also clear that sacrifices were instituted by God long before Noah's story. Cain murdered his brother because he was jealous that his brother made the right sacrifice. And, after the flood, Noah came out of the ark and made a sacrifice unto God. 

The Old Testament sacrificial system pictured a sacrifice that would come. In all the offerings that Old Testament believers made to God, they didn’t buy salvation with those. Those were, in a sense, depictions of the fact that God wanted their heart and their soul to be engaged with Him. He desired faith; He has always desired faith. And faith is best seen in the giving to Him of all that we have been given, and these are ways in which the believer can demonstrate our yieldedness and submission to God. Again, it wasn't that they earned God's favor; No mere human can do that. In giving their all to God meant that they were better off.

The clean-and-unclean animals were symbolic of the fact that God wanted His people to learn to make distinctions. The clean animals were to be used as sacrifices. Through the sacrifices the Lord was saying to those with a heart to trust Him, "I want you to learn to separate my ways from all other ways." From the very start, God taught His people there was His way and there was another way. And it all had to do with every day life. All of it was to be applied to the most common things of their lives. This is the process involved in learning God's culture and to learn to live in God's way. 

In v.4-6 of today's passage we read, "'4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.' 5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth."

According to v.4, God clearly told Noah why he needed to get on the ark. One week later it was going to rain for forty days and forty nights. God’s grace toward Noah created a man who obeyed God. As is always the case, God's grace precedes our obedience. The flood was a precursor for a coming period of time known as the Tribulation. It will be a seven year period which will culminate in God's judgment upon sinful man. 

God gave Noah one final week before the flood to warn the people of His impending judgement. I am sure, during those final seven days, Noah intensified his message of salvation to the people who were on the earth at that time. I am sure the people laughed at the concept of rain since they had never experienced rain before. And, of course, nobody listened. This just underscores how far from God humanity had fallen in those days. Similar to the seven days before the flood, God will give seven years before His next judgement upon man. God is always faithful to offer the way out before man's sinfulness is judged. Aren't you glad that you had the where with all to respond before it became too late?

Genesis 6:17-22

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17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 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 after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. ~ Genesis 6:17-22

Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 6 where we are told by God of the impending flood due to the wickedness of man. There is no other way to interpret today's passage which clearly shows that God was behind it all. As disturbing as it may sound, God had to judge sin, otherwise sin would have won. God is both infinitely merciful and infinitely just. And sadly, there will always be those who will reject His free offer of salvation. But, for us who receive it, we will spend eternity in heavenly bliss.  

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die."

God delivered the flood in response to man's wickedness. Man's wickedness ultimately exposed itself in Noah's day in the sexual realm. It is very noteworthy that in every listing of wickedness in the Bible, we find its ultimate expression to be sexual. This is what Paul described in Romans 1, where he traced man's decline and the fall of all societies back to sexual dysfunction. The ultimate sign of impending collapse in a society is traced biblically back to the turning of men to unnatural lusts with other men, and women to unnatural lusts with other women. 

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you."

God promised to establish His covenant with Noah. This is the first time the term "covenant" is used in the Bible. Even though God was going to destroy the world, the emphasis here is on the fact that God would save through the Flood anyone willing enough to believe in the goodness of God. Sadly, it was only Noah and his family who believed and were saved by the ark. The covenant God established with Noah was binding and it was a covenant of life and also of death. 

The Lord Jesus established the New Covenant in His blood and it is just as binding as what God did for Noah. Like Noah, God has given the conditions and all who obey these conditions, they will be saved. The term "saved" is used 106 times in the Bible and it is always used to indicate being rescued "out of something" or "from something." Not for something.

Salvation is always a work accomplished by God. Our salvation is a salvation from God's wrath. The Bible says we were enemies of God and yet He accomplished the work necessary to restore us to Him and then invited us to believe that His Son's death on the cross made it possible for us to enter into a personal relationship with Him. It is our relationship with God that saves us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and ultimately, the presence of sin. Going to heaven is the result of being made right in the eyes of God through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.19-20 of today's passage we read, "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 after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive."

As instructed by God, Noah brought two of every type of animal into the ark. This is not hard to accept as a real event that actually happened in history when we remember that God had instructed Noah to build the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. The ark had three decks, all spaced fifteen feet apart. It is calculated that there was 100,000 square feet of deck space in the ark. There was 1.4 million cubic feet of storage space which could have easily accommodated 125,000 animals the size of sheep. Given its size, there was plenty of room in the ark to accommodate for all the animals that needed to be on it.

In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."

The specifics given in this passage provides the infrastructure to conclude that the Flood actually happened. While destroying the world, God was saving anyone willing enough to believe in the God of the Bible. The ark was God's idea, and it was how God chose to save Noah and his believing family. The ark was not only a symbol of salvation, it was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

During the entire time that Noah built the ark, 120 years, he preached to the people of the world about the righteousness of God and the judgment that was to come. Noah preached there was only one way to be made right with God and that way was to get on the ark. Noah's call has been ringing out God's justice and His offer of forgiveness ever since. But the call has been rejected far more than it has been accepted. 

There was only one door to enter the ark. The ark was a picture of our eternal salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. It was the Lord Jesus who said, "I am the door." Then, He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." Although it was the Lord Jesus who earned our salvation, it is up to us to receive His free gift of salvation. There is yet another day of coming judgement when God will finally render sin and death void. And, it can be escaped, but you must get on board. And you can only come through one door and that door is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Genesis 6:13-16

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13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks." ~ Genesis 6:13-16

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 6 where rebellious man has drawn a line in the sand, and God had no other choice but to warn sinful man to turn back to Him or they would face certain death. It only took ten generations before God had to start considering the destruction of sinful man. One hundred and twenty years later, God had to judge sin and death because if He did not, sin and death would win. And death was required because in order for man to know the life of God once again, sin had to be overcome by life. Without this plan, there would be no hope for our eternity and we would be trapped in sin and death forever. But, since God has intervened by sending His Son to die on the cross, sin and death has been defeated by life. 

In v. 13 of today's passage we read, "And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.'"

In the days of Noah, human wickedness was growing out of control and as a result, the entire world was to be destroyed. If Noah didn’t find grace in the eyes of the Lord, there would have been none for you and me. And when the world finds itself very soon in the coming tribulation period, very few will come out at the other end having trusted in the grace of God. The deceptive powers of the enemy will be incredibly strong during that time known as Jacob's trouble according to Jeremiah 30:7. In fact, the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:21-22, "21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened."

The increase of corruption and violence in a society are always the mark of an impending disaster. When they become widespread and intense in character, they mark the imminence of collapse. History confirms that this is always the way God acts in society. Man is by nature a fully dependent being, therefore, we must depend upon God for our very breath. We are the most dependent of creatures, even more so than the animals. We lack even the instincts which animals have. Yet, fallen man denies this most important point of life and we are forever trying to assert our ability to do everything for ourselves. All of us lack the rationale, the intelligence, and the knowledge to control our lives. We have deluded ourselves into thinking that we have the ability to live apart from God. 

Whereas Enoch, the first man in the scriptures of whom it says, "he walked with God" was directly taken out of this world to heaven to be with God, God rescued Noah and his family through the flood in the ark. Just as in Enoch and Noah's day, even in today’s wicked world, the grace of God is to be found. Until then, believers in the Lord Jesus must be about His business telling people about God’s offer of forgiveness through His Son's death on the cross. Grace is to be found, but better it be found now, before the time of Jaco's trouble comes. Looking for grace while one is looking for enough food to feed oneself inevitably leads to hard choices that most people will fail at in the end.

In v.14-16 of today's passage we read, "14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks."

As indicated by today's passage the ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. The ark had three decks, all spaced fifteen feet apart. It is calculated that there was 100,000 square feet of deck space in the ark. There was 1.4 million cubic feet of storage space or the equivalent of 522 normal size train cars. And it could have easily accommodated 125,000 animals the size of sheep. Experts say at the time, there were less than 17,600 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians on the earth. When we double that number, because God instructed Noah to include two of each animal on the ark, we have 35,000 animals on the ark. And, they had to have five of the clean animals for the sacrifices for the 371 days that they were on the ark. So, there were no more than 79,000 animals on that large boat. And given its size, there was plenty of room, because it could have accommodated 125,000 animals the size of sheep.

It was the grace of God that caused Him to give to Noah this blueprint for the ark. Noah didn't know anything about building large boats. This was a huge undertaking. Nothing like this had ever been built. Noah didn't understand the displacement of solid objects in water. He didn't understand that if he had something solid and it weighed slightly more than the same amount of water that it's going to sink unless he displaced the water by moving its weight around. This is what Noah did when he hollowed out the wood for the ark. Noah didn't understand to do that, no one did. God, of course, knew it and He gave Noah the directions on how to construct the ark. 

The ark was was made of gopherwood which was probably cedar wood. The words "gopherwood" and "pitch" are both from the same basic Hebrew root, which means "to cover." Thus the ark was made from "atonement wood." The ark was "pitched" or made water-proof, with "gopherwood" which was a picture of "atonement." The Hebrew word used for "atonement" speaks of forgiveness of our sin and being made right with God. Atonement is the most prominent theme of the Bible and it is used here to point us to the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus who went to Calvary's cross to not only cover our sin but to have them removed from us.

Genesis 6:9-12

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9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ~ Genesis 6:9-12

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 6 where we have been observing the continuation of those who believed in the God of the Bible and those who didn't. During the days of Noah, the world was filled with people who were inwardly corrupt, outwardly violent and upwardly rebellious.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God."

Noah's genealogy is the third genealogy in the Bible. It was given here because he was at that point in time the central figure in the biblical story. Noah "was a just man" which means in the Lord's eyes he was found righteous because of his faith in Him, the God of the Bible. Noah was a man of faith and he was waiting for the Messiah whom he believed would one day come to this earth to redeem sinful man. Noah believed this despite the wicked state of the world around him and the growing belief that God was not good.

Noah was a man who believed God when almost everyone else didn't and God counted Noah's faith as sufficient. God  graciously forgave Noah's sin, covered him with His righteousness, and put his sins on Christ who in the mind of God, of course, was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.

Noah's faith led to the second description of him, "He was perfect in his generations." Of all the people on the earth at that time, Noah was the only man of biblical faith. His perfection in the eyes of God was granted to him by God because of his faith in God. It is only by our applied faith in the God of the Bible that brings us into a personal relationship with God wherein we learn that salvation is a total gift from Him. And our faith in the veracity of the God of the Bible is an act of our free will. Noah possessed this kind of faith and this is why Noah walked with God.

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

All three sons of Noah were believers in the God of the Bible along with their wives and their mother. Shem's descendants were the Hebrews, they settled in the lands around the near east. Ham's descendants were the Canaanites that inhabited the land of Israel before Israel got there. They settled in Egypt and Africa. Ham was the son who saw his father drunk and naked after the flood. Due to that embarrassing moment, Noah cursed Canaan, the son of Ham and made the Canaanites the servants of the Shemites. Japheth's descendants settled in Persia, Germany, Russia, Greece, and in Europe.

In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth."

In contrast to Noah, the corrupt state of the rest of the world was evident. The people of earth were corrupt before God, and their corruption was acted on outwardly in violence. They behaved in this way because they no longer "called on the name of the Lord." Instead, they worshiped the creation or false gods, rather than the Creator. And their actions spilled out into contempt of the God of the Bible. They openly and actively and openly defied God to His face.

Humanity is wicked to the core and our wickedness has continued to manifest itself in continually degrading ways. Therefore, God had to punish man's sin. His holy nature required it, but He has always been known to warn man of his degradation first. God has always extended His patience toward wicked man, but when man continues in his rejection of God, God has no other choice than to deal severely with unrepentant man.

According to 2 Peter 2:5, "Noah was a preacher of righteousness." This means he preached that God would grant anyone His own righteousness to anyone willing enough to place their faith in Him. I find it very sad to say, Noah couldn’t convince anybody but his wife and family to board the ark. Noah and his family were the only ones who were justified by God.

The Flood is really history’s most powerful evidence of the final destruction of this earth that is yet to come. The Flood happened due to man's preoccupation with his physical appetites, materialistic attitudes and interests, devotion to pleasure, rebellion against God and unbelief, corruption and violence.  

The Ark had only one door through which Noah had to enter in order to be saved from the Flood. Likewise, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ has only one door. We enter it by faith in His once-and-for-all-time sacrificial death on the Cross and His bodily resurrection three days later. After Noah entered the Ark, God Himself closed the door. Those people outside who chose not to enter the Ark’s only door were left to face the destructive force of the Flood. Today, we have only this one life to enter Christ’s door of salvation.

According to Matthew 24:37, the coming of the Son of man will be just like the days of Noah. All of the people were living their lives as usual, that was until the day that Noah entered the ark. Soon the oddity of the first raindrops ever led to the Flood and they all were drowned except Noah and his family. The Flood provides for us historic testimony to the second coming judgment. It happened once in the days of Noah and it will happen again at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. 

Finally, also in Matthew 24 we read, "For the Son of man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." Noah and his family were saved from the flood waters by getting on the ark which they had built for 120 years. And, here at the end of all times, man has a very similar decision. The decision is simple: To believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ark. And, all who place their faith in the Lord Jesus will avoid God's final judgment because the Lord Jesus bore it on the cross for us.

Genesis 6:5-8

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5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. ~ Genesis 6:5-8

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 6 where the grace of God comes to center stage. Grace is getting what we do not deserve and it always runs downhill. The story of Noah is amazing on many levels and hidden within the text itself is a pattern which centers on the fact that we are not forgotten by the God of the Bible. Even when our world is collapsing around us, He is there to be found by the seeking heart. The hard part for us is to trust Him when everything else seems to be falling apart around us. When the forces of the wicked seem to be winning, God is always willing to secure us in the place of His protection, even in the context of extreme difficulties. The role we play in all of this is to present to Him our willing hearts.

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

In our last study, we talked about the Nephilim, those who came from the union between the sons of God and the daughters of men. At the end of Genesis 6:4 we read, "Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." In that day the world had gotten to the depraved place where they went after hero worship rather than God worship. These men of renown were much like the movie stars or the professional athletes of our day. And like those in the days of Noah, the more we idolize these people, the more our view of truth becomes skewed. 

As a result, the value of human life is reduced. In addition, the concept of personal responsibility is subordinated to the collective whole. Truth is shunned and belittled and tolerance is elevated above truth. This is when we begin to call that which is wicked good and what is good wicked. When believers in Christ identify ourselves with the secular world, eventually only the secular world is left. When the sons of God had intermarried with those outside the chosen line, they incorporated their ungodly practices in with their own.

After only 1550 years of man on earth, things had degraded to such an extent in the days of Noah that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth." But even more terrible than the actual state of things was that "every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." This meant that not only the imagination of the people was wicked, but their desires were too. When noble and right things are set aside, like truth, it doesn’t matter how great are our achievements or how praiseworthy are our deeds, those who arrive at this place are void of moral good. 

This was the state of the pre-flood world where every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually, and this is the state that America is rushing headlong into, even as we boast of the great culture we live in. In the end, what we have is a dichotomy between God’s longsuffering patience and man’s ability and perseverance in filling up that cup until it eventually needs to be poured out in wrath.

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."

This is the first time the Bible records that God was sorry about something, or that He regretted something. The terminology used here leads most people to immediately think that God somehow changes either mentally or relationally toward us. But, God being sorry doesn’t presume any change in Him or in His intent. The Bible used a human term and applied it to God so that we can understand His feeling toward our sin. It was not a changing feeling. It was His very nature being expressed in a way we can comprehend and understand it.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."

The expression of man's wickedness had become so great that God had to intervene. The words, "I will destroy man" describes the wiping of a dish clean or erasing a chalk board. It was a complete removal of what was so that nothing was left. 

The words, "I am sorry" makes God appear to be less than the supreme being that He is. What it means is He is not apathetic to our plight and the effects of our sin in this world. Ezekiel said that God finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Jeremiah wept the tears of God over the judgment to come. The Lord Jesus wept the tears of God over the judgment to come on Jerusalem and Israel. The Lord was sorry means that He was sad. He was so sad that He was sorry He made man on the earth. God feels the destructiveness of sin on the lives of all whom He has created, and that makes Him feel sorry for us.

In v.8 of today's passage we read, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."

Violence increased in the land. Cain killed Abel, and then Lamech killed a young man for hurting him. And by this time it had become an epidemic. And today, our world is no different. The world will always descend into moral degradation and destruction will loom until the end. We see this same scenario being played out before our very eyes. According to the statistics, approximately 20,000 people a year in America are murdered. That is a murder every 24 minutes. God promised destruction and destruction will one day come. But in the midst of it all, God's grace has stepped to the fore. 

Noah didn’t earn God’s grace and neither can we. Grace or the underserved favor of God is the only reason Noah built the ark and God's grace was the only reason he got on it. The Lord sovereignly chose to give grace to anyone who believed in His goodness enough to receive His forgiveness. And, as a result of Noah's willingness of heart, he and his family became trophies of God’s grace. This is the story of all who are willing enough to come to the end of themselves and trust in the goodness of the God of the Bible. Our only hope is being covered by the favor of God that was earned on our behalf by the Lord Jesus Himself.

Genesis 6:1-4

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1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. ~ Genesis 6:1-4

Today’s passage includes four highly debated verses that have led to lots of division among believers in Christ. And yet, the central theme of the Bible is the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If in our study of the Bible, we miss the Lord Jesus, we have studied in error. A correct study of the Bible will unswervingly take us to the One who laid down His life for us. In fact, the Lord Jesus Himself confirmed that the Scriptures are all about Him. 

In Luke 24:25-27 we read, "'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." 

To this point of our study of the book of Genesis, we have been informed about the six days of creation. Then, after God created everything, He rested. Then, we were given details about the fall of man in Genesis 3. Then, we were given a contrast between those who embraced the culture of God and those who rejected the culture of God.

In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose."

Although there are those who interpret this phrase "the sons of God" as describing angelic beings, they fail to take into account the immediate context here in Genesis 1-5. There is really only one interpretive option for this phrase due to its context. Those who disagree with me go to other passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and they arrive upon their conclusion. Our understanding of this phrase is based upon the immediate chapters before today's passage. A correct hermeneutic leads us to do that. This phrase refers to the mixing of the two different lineages mentioned in Genesis 4 and Genesis 5. There is no mention at all of angels in context. 

The sons of God, in this context is speaking of the lineage of Seth. These sons of God "saw the daughters of men." This passage is not describing fallen angels intermarrying with the daughters of humans, as some would lead us to believe. What is being described here is the intermarrying of those who have faith in the God of the Bible with those who did not have faith in the God of the Bible. The problem here was "the sons of God" were marrying women based on their outward beauty, not their inner beauty.

Back in Genesis 4 we learned of the sister of Tubal-Cain; her name was "Naamah" which means "loveliness." The meaning of her name explains why this daughter of Lamech was included in this account. "The sons of God" saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful and they intermarried. Throughout the Bible, the subject of inappropriate intermarrying is brought to the fore from time and time. God always instructs His people to remain within the godly line He has ordained and not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That is the thrust of this passage.

In v.3 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'"

This verse leads with the idea that "God's Spirit shall not strive with man forever." This verse was given before the flood when the wickedness of man came to its zenith, so much so that only Noah and his family found grace in God’s sight. When God spoke these words, He literally meant: "In 120 years I will send the flood to destroy man's wickedness!" Note it was man's wickedness that God judged, not the wickedness of the angels. It happened just as God said it would, 120 years later.

The words, "My spirit shall not always strive with man" demonstrates that we come to repentance only by the Holy Spirit working on our hearts to bring an awareness of God to us, yet the ultimate choice is ours. In the case of Genesis 6:3, only 8 people listened and headed the Spirit during that 120 year span where God’s Spirit continued to strive and to tug at man’s heart right up until the time of the first raindrop that started the flood.

And, as we have seen in the previous two chapters here in Genesis, before the flood, people lived to be quite old, almost a thousand years old. Since man rejected God and His will, God promised his age would change drastically. The reason God cut our years on this earth was due to the fact that even in 70 or 80 years we can accomplish immense wickedness. Imagine people in their hundreds, closing in on their thousands.

In v.4 of today's passage we read, "There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

The term translated "giants" is Nephilim in the Hebrew. It literally means "fallen ones." And these sinful people were "giants." We see this word "Nephilim" also used in Numbers 13:33 which reads, "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

We need not search for any other explanation than "giants" as so many people try to do. The description is given right here in its context. There are other accounts of giants in the Bible as well and descend from other groups. Goliath was one of them, he was a descendent of the Philistines. He fought David and lost.

Genesis 6:2 tells us the Nephilim were larger than average people who came from those of the sons of God being attracted to pretty women and they had children and some of them were very large. The Nephilim were large because they were bred large, at the expense of faith. Even to this day, families choose the road of success and exceptional gene development over godly husbands and wives. 

There is nothing mentioned in the Bible concerning the reproduction of angels with humans. In fact, the Bible clearly informs us that angels do not reproduce. This account today is given to us to show that God expects us to value His truth above all else even when we decide who to get intimate with. It is when we are not being defined by the truth that we serve the purposes of the one who has always been known to undermine the definitions of God. While the enemies goal is to destroy us, God's goal is to make of us those who are inculcated by His truth which will endure forever.