Auto generated transcript
I’m going to invite you to Genesis. Chapter seven and eight is where we’re at together today. Genesis chapter seven and eight. And right off the top of your head, you may not know what Genesis seven and eight is, but I can almost promise you’re probably familiar with the story. Today we’re going to deal with the Noahic flood, and I’m going to ask you a question that’s driven me nuts for most of my life, and maybe it has you. Why the flood? Like, why the flood and why why even share about the flood? Like, why is this in the Bible? What what is so important that I need to know about this flood happened a long time ago. How does it have any relevance with me? And when you when you think about the flood, you look at the flood, you try to discover the importance of the flood. Sometimes the tendency is, as people have taught about the flood, they have taught this story as if it’s a one off story. We kind of sometimes get in the tendency of treating the Bible like that. Like it’s just a series of stories to tell us something, maybe some moral thought or something to to do with your life, to be a better version of you. But that’s not the way the Bible is written for us. There’s certainly stories, you know, several stories I have in the Bible, but there’s a grand theme to Scripture. And one of the things that helps us understand why the flood is so important is that when you pick up the Bible, the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis, you discover is a very fast paced description of human history.
And what I mean is these first 11 chapters of Genesis, in a very conservative estimate, the first 11 chapters of Genesis span as much or almost as much time as the rest of the entire Bible. And what I mean is the rest of your Bible is beginning with Abraham In Genesis chapter 12 to 2, you have an inner testimonial period, 400 years of silence. But to the time of Jesus, you’re dealing with almost as much time as what people conservatively say take place between Genesis chapter one and Genesis. Chapter 11 Conservative estimate about 1600 years are taking place in these first 11 chapters, and some even say more than that. But but a minimum very conservatively, 1600 years of history have transpired here to get us really to the place that we’re at. And you got to think, if you were in charge of sharing all the events, that could happen in 1600 years and you just had to pick a few, what would be the top of your radar in sharing with people? And when I think about things I could talk about, I got to just say world catastrophe flood. Probably. I’m just probably going to avoid that. Like we treat it like it’s a kids story.
Like everyone, let’s paint the boat, put the little happy smiley animals on board, you know, sticking their heads outside in the midst of a torrential downpour where everyone’s devastated. Like that is not a kids story. That is that is why why are we telling this in Sunday school like this is this is a difficult story. And why, out of all the things you could share in human history, what makes this so significant? I think why the no. Out of all the things you could say, why the no story? And then what does it have to do with you today? How does this relevant for me? Do I need to be worried about a flood? Do I need to be really building a boat? I mean, what’s the what’s my interest and what God is saying here? Well, if you follow along in the book of Genesis, I mean, we’ve discovered how the story is transpired right up until this point. You see Genesis first three chapters, God’s made us with purpose and meaning and giving us intrinsic value highly significant, especially with the audience in which Genesis is written to dealing with Hebrew slaves treated like tools owned like property devalued. Their worth is only seen in what they do. God steps in and he sets them free and he communicates to them that their worth is not based on what they do, but who they are being made in the image of God, which means you’re made for relationship with God to connect to Him and know Him.
But what we discover very early on in Genesis, chapter three, the first parents, Adam and Eve, they reject God and walk away from Him. But it’s God who pursues, pursues them in his grace and forgives them and gives the promise of a messiah. But what we find after Adam and Eve is that’s the trajectory of all of humanity, that after an Adam and Eve, they have Cain and Abel, the next generation. You think, well, they’ve learned from their parents. They’re going to get it together, but they don’t. In fact, one kills the other. It’s devastating. Like Cain kills Abel. And then from them, Cain’s lineage. He has Lamech and Lamech, a terrible person. And to the point you get to Genesis chapter five, verse six, it tells us all of humanity is evil. Every intent of their heart is to to do harm. And then you get to this noahic flood. You learn about the great storm. And and really from this, we’re going to learn how to handle the storm. So what I want to do this morning is in Genesis chapter seven and eight, we’re going to look at the picture that’s painted. We’re going to take one thought from each chapter at the picture that God is painting here for. Help us help us understand how to handle this storm, what it means to our life.
And then we’re going to we’re going to take a step back from just the picture that’s painted and just ask that broad question now, an understanding of the story. What does it mean for us? Why is this flood story told and how does it relate to our lives now? So when you dive into the particulars of this beginning in Genesis, chapter seven and verse one, the first point in your notes that God is encouraging us to do is rest in the ark when it comes to to the thought of the storm. It’s a. A picture really of of the storms of life and the ultimate storm we’ll talk about in a minute. But it’s an encouragement for you to to rest in the ark. And if you remember Genesis chapter six, when God tells us he’s going to flood the earth, it also tells us that there’s a particular person who finds favor in the Lord. Genesis chapter six, verse seven and eight. It tells us he finds favor in the Lord, which is the same idea of saying he finds the grace of God. The grace of God is made known in his life. Verse 14 God says He’s going to flood the world. And in verse 18 he makes this covenant with Noah and he tells Noah to build a boat. That boat. He tells him 300 cubits long and he tells her it’s about 75ft wide, 450ft long, 45ft tall. That’s the about the description Noah gets the truthfully, the the thought of a cubit is not a very particular specific measurement.
It’s about from your fingertip to your elbow is the length of a cubit. But it’s not a very specific, as we would say today. When we say 12in, we mean 12in. And that De Cubit is a is a general idea of a length, but it gives the thought that the boat would have been about 450ft long, 75ft wide, 45ft tall. Noah is told to to build this boat before the Lord. And it’s not because of what Noah has done, but rather because of who God is. Noah has found the grace of God. And if you remember, Noah’s lineage was a godly lineage. His grandparents, Enoch, walked with God. Methuselah. After Methuselah comes the flood. Noah’s got a godly lineage. But. But up until the time of Noah. Now no. Noah turns the Lord and he finds the grace of God not based on his own merit, but God’s showing his grace to him. And in Genesis seven one, it says this. Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household. For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. The idea of Ark is really picture of relationship. He’s saying to Noah Noah, while the rest of the world is evil and has turned away from me, you found my grace and I want you to move into relationship with me.
I want you to be under the idea of my protection, my walking in intimacy with me. Dive into the ark. Walk in relationship. It’s. It’s really a much like a picture of the ark and the temple. You think in the ark and the temple that’s being built. And Genesis. This is written to the Hebrew slaves who are being told to build a temple. And in the temple they have the ark. And remember, when God tells them to build the ark, he gives very specific measurements, just like Noah, and they construct this ark and it has furniture. And there’s only two rooms in the temple. In the temple there’s two rooms. There’s the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. They have these furniture that they’re supposed to put in these two rooms. But in the holy of holies, there’s only one piece of furniture, and it’s the Ark of the Covenant. And Israel knew this is where God’s presence dwelt in the ark. The Ark of the Covenant is where God was made known. And if they wanted to, to to draw close to the Lord, they would go to this temple where God’s presence was made known. Now, the idea of the word ark, it just means a box or a cube. God’s presence ruled from this throne. The ark was seen as a throne of God in the temple and in likeness to that, Noah is told to build a boat.
And the boat is an ark. It’s a cube. And in this ark is the presence of the Lord. And it was told to move into the presence of fact, much like the Temple Noah and Genesis Chapter eight, verse 21 and 22. He comes out of the ark when the flood is finished and he makes a sacrifice just like they would do in the temple. Now the Hebrew word for Ark, for the Ark of the Covenant in the temple is not the same exact Hebrew word in Genesis seven for the Ark. That’s the boat. But the connection is certainly there because in Genesis chapter six, verse 14, I read this very quickly last week, but I want you to see how important this is. When Noah is told to make an ark, make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. This This word for pitch is a protective covering both inside and out. It keeps Noah and his family secure in the boat. It keeps them safe. Now, there’s no flood coming in. That pitch protects them. But what’s interesting about this word pitch is it’s the same Hebrew word for the word atonement. And so when Israel when they built the temple in the holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt, only one person one time a year was allowed into that room where God’s presence was, and it was the high priest.
And the high priest would go into that room on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It’s written in in Leviticus chapter 16 and 17. And he would make a sacrifice. He would throw pitch on the ark or atonement. It was to cover Israel, the sins of Israel. The sacrifice was representative of what Jesus would do for us, become the ultimate covering of our sin, that we would be secure in relationship with him. And this is exactly what God is inviting Noah to. He’s saying, Take this atonement, this covering, and enter into this relationship with me that you may experience who I am to rest in the ark. The idea of resting in the ark is to be safe in the presence of the Lord and everything that. God has done for you. And the reason we need that is because God is a judge and God will judge sin in order to be good, He must judge sin. But the question is, is what side of the arc are you on? Are you on the outside looking for an opportunity to be rescued? Are you running away from the Lord or have you found your security in his grace that he has atoned for you? The judgment of God. It matters which side of the judgment you’re on. But if you are safe in the ark, you are secure in his presence, walking in relationship with the Lord. I often compare the judgment of God to the thought of a of a hurricane.
When I was in high school, I lived in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which happens to be the only place of Alabama that actually touches the ocean. If we look at the state of Alabama, there’s just one little sliver comes down and touches the ocean and living in that area, that’s also Hurricane Alley. And I had the I don’t know if you call it an opportunity or what, but I went through some hurricanes. And I remember one particular hurricane in which my dad had purchased a Camaro. And my dad is a little bit of a daredevil. And he decides, you know what? It’s really wise to do? Let’s put your my teenage son and my brand new Camaro and let’s run around in this hurricane. And I have no sense. So I’m like, sure, dad, let’s let’s do that. And we went driving around in this hurricane and we didn’t decide to return home until we saw the tree fall on the local McDonald’s. We’re like, okay, we should probably head back. So we head back. And I remember I get inside because the hurricane is getting worse and we’re like 120 mile an hour winds and it’s getting bigger and bigger. The whenever a hurricane hits land, the backside of the hurricane is always worse than the front. And here we are in the growing winds. And I remember I’m listening to the radio trying to hear everything that’s happening.
And the craziest thing in the middle of this hurricane, I’m sitting here and all of a sudden it just goes calm and I’m listening on the radio and people are talking like very, very passionately about this storm. And I’m like, man, we’re still in this. But all of a sudden it’s just calm. I just, in a matter of seconds, went from crazy to calm and I couldn’t believe it. And I’m like, what is going on? So I walk outside and I’m looking around and I’m seeing some downed trees, but look up to the sky. It’s completely clear there’s not even a rain cloud in sight. And as I’m looking around, I realize, man, there are birds everywhere. For those that like have bird phobia, there would be a concern that you might need to wear a rain jacket just not because of the rain, but because of how many birds there. That’s how many birds are in this and well in the environment around me. But then I began to realize what’s happening, that I’m actually the hurricane hasn’t passed, that I’m actually standing in the middle of the eye of the hurricane. What’s incredible is it’s the most calming place. In fact, the birds have learned in the middle of the storm that the safest place they could go is to fly directly into the eye. And so caught in the middle of the eye of this hurricane are all these birds everywhere.
And then I go back inside to endure the back half of the hurricane. But when I think about the the power of God, he’s a force to be reckoned with. And he’s he’s much like the eye of the hurricane. He’s bringing the storm and the life of Noah. But here he represents himself in this ark, this this eye, this place of solace, this place of rest, not based on what Noah does, but based on who the Lord is. And Noah finds himself atone, secure in the presence of who God is. And and then verse four, it goes on. It says, For in seven days, I will send rain on the earth, 40 days and 40 nights, and we’ll deal with the numbers a little later. But he says, in every living thing that I have made, I will blot out from the face of the ground. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. This thought is repeated over and over in the story of Noah in verse five, verse nine, verse 15 says that as God commands him, leads him, Noah puts his faith in the Lord and he obeys. But you know what’s interesting? When you see God’s promising this, this rain, I love how God does this. He’s saying, Look, here it comes in seven days, it’s going to rain for 40 days. God gives him a little bit of anticipation of what to expect. He doesn’t tell him every detail, but he tells him enough of what he needs to know.
Noah, you got seven days, and when you’re in there in seven days, just know it’s going to last for 40 days. The rain is going to fall. And so Noah has this somewhat of an anticipation as he’s trusting the Lord by faith, obeying his commandments. But you know what’s interesting? When you study the building of this ark, God, very specific in how he tells Noah to to build this ark and and how it needs to accommodate the animals that are going to go in the ark. But, you know, one thing it doesn’t tell us that God ever tells Noah to put on the ark is a rudder. You think if you’re ever going to get on a boat and someone tells you, we’ve lost our rudder, I could just tell you, drop to your knees and pray, okay, Because unless there’s lots of paddles depend on how big this boat is, you’re not going to get anywhere. You’re lost at sea. The rudder is just the smallest portion of the ship, but so important to the direction that it’s going. And what it’s acknowledging in this story is that as Noah builds this boat, he’s trusting in the captain. But the captain isn’t him. That God is steering this ship and he’s completely put his reliability on what the Lord wants to do in his ship. And He’s just resting in God’s presence, knowing that God is going to carry him through because God has promised He would.
I’ve got to say, for me, any time I get in any sort of vehicle going in any direction, I don’t care what it is. A boat, a plane, a car, whatever. Whoever’s in charge of the direction of that ship, I want to be able to put trust in that person to know that it’s secure. And, you know, I think if I’m ever on a plane and the captain goes down and driving, I don’t even know what you call that thing, the stick or the steering wheel or whatever he’s got Ahold of. Like, if no one else on the plane has any experience, I’m probably going to be fighting for the captain’s chair just because I don’t want to put my life in any other foolish person’s hands, but rather just take a risk. And so I just I got to lean in. But but but if you know that the person in charge can be trusted. You can rest in where he’s leading you and in the idea of building the ark. This is what we’re learning about the Lord, is that Noah trusts in the direction that the boat is going to go in God’s hands without the rudder. And I think for us, one of those life verses that encourages us in that direction is the idea of Ephesians two eight and nine, where it tells us, as you think about trusting in the ark, that is the Lord.
It says, for by grace you are saved, rescued by faith, not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Lest you think this has been about you, I can promise you one thing that you’re going to see at the end of this story or you’re not going to see at the end of this story, is Noah is going to not going to walk off this boat having just rescued his whole family and and say to his wife, aren’t I awesome? Like, look how great I am. Take a selfie with the boat. Talking about his glory and goodness, but rather Noah comes out very worshipful because Noah realizes who carried him through. That it’s the true captain that is in charge. You know, even when it comes for us, I don’t think that when Noah puts his faith in the Lord that he’s doing this blindly. He’s he’s seeing God walk with his grandfather, Enoch, who just went with the Lord. He’s seeing the patience of God made known through Methusula. And now in his own life, he has the opportunity to follow after the Lord. Even for you today, when it comes to to following after Christ in your own life, God doesn’t ask you just to pursue him with blind ignorance, but rather God has made himself known in very particular ways as He’s become flesh that you could see the validity of of who Jesus is, as is communicated to you, the Word of God.
If the Word of God in Christ can be trusted, you may not know every detail. Noah doesn’t know every detail. It doesn’t even have a rudder. But God told him enough. And seven days and for 40 days it’s going to rain. And Noah has what he needs to to rest in the presence of God who is atoning for his life, secure in him as he walks in relationship to to the Lord. And it goes on. It says to us in in verse six. Noah was 600 years old when the flood of the waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood of clean animals and of animals that are not clean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground. Two and two male and female went into the ark with Noah as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days, the waters of the flood came upon the earth. You know, verse six, where it tells us no is 600 years old when these floods came. God is communicating to us, has been incredibly patient. If you remember how the story went, we talked last week. Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. The Bible shows him to be the oldest person to ever live. And somebody asks the question, why does the Bible want us to know that? And the answer is, is because of what Methusula represents.
His name loosely translates after him comes judgment. And so God has extended the life of Methusula as an example of his patience and warning to the world that when Methusula dies, judgment is coming and Methusula dies. When in the 600 year of Noah’s life, which is when the flood comes. So Noah, or excuse me, Methusula dies and the flood comes and God is being incredibly patient, even in your life and mine to be where you are today. To hear the Word of God. Tide is the patient grace of God being made known in your life to say to you, Don’t take advantage of this, but learn how to rest in the ark of his presence for what God has done for you, not because of your merit to the Lord, but because of His grace made known in your life. It’s amazing how patient God can be with us. It’s amazing to me how patient God is with me because sometimes I get sick of myself and the Bible tells us every day his mercy is new for me, great is his faithfulness. And it’s incredible that God, the way he has been patient in this passage. And the irony of this story is, as you imagine in these moments, Noah’s just not building an ark. He’s also proclaiming the truth of God. He’s he’s working as a prophet, warning people to turn to the Lord.
And no one does. No one comes to the Lord. But you know who obeys God in this story? The animals. The animals aren’t stupid enough. The animals are the ones that are like, Oh, there’s a boat, let’s go. Right? And the other people are just ignoring the the patient grace of of God to be made known. But you find, as Noah is faithful, not only is his life blessed. But so is his family. The blessing extends beyond him because of the grace of God made known in his life. As the same is true for you to see the arc that is Christ, the representation of this boat that Jesus chooses to to cover you by dying for you on the cross, that you could rest in him, not based on your merit, but what he’s achieved for you. And that through you not only is your life blessed, but also those around you. And in fact, in Hebrews Chapter 11, the message was isn’t really a translation of the Bible. It’s more a paraphrase or more like a commentary. But in Hebrews chapter 11, verse seven, it says this By faith Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see and acted on what he was told. And the result his family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world.
And as a result, Noah became intimate with God. Noah entered into relationship with God. His family has blessed through this and. But could you imagine this being Noah in this day? This was not an easy walk for him. Could you imagine having this initial conversation with his wife? Honey, God told me something. We need to own a boat. And she would be like, That’s great. We could spend the weekends cruising the lake, you know, and just enjoying life. And he said, Oh, no, no, no, not that kind of boat. We’re going to build this boat in the middle of dry land and it’s going to be so ginormous no one can move it. That’s the kind of boat and you would think she’s probably thinking he’s a little crazy. The rest of his family is thinking he’s crazy, but they love him. But could you imagine being his neighbor? I mean, right now you live next to this guy and all day long it’s just nail after nail pounding after pounding. That would be incredibly frustrating. But not only that, if you don’t believe in his cause, like how much mockery and how how he would be treated as just foolish. Right. And Noah is building this boat. And your wife might say to you, well, how long do you need to build such a boat? And he says, I don’t know, about 100 years or so.
He’s spending the next 100 years of his life laboring in and out on on building this boat. He may have hired some help. Who knows? But he’s building a boat in the middle of dry ground. All of the treatment he would have been receiving because of how people would have looked at him. And he’s not only building the boat, but he’s also telling people they need to turn to the Lord. And the people are rejecting that. And they’re not just like, Oh, thank you, Noah, for sharing this, but I’m just preferring not to follow this path, Right? Noah is going to be mocked. He’s going to be treated poorly. And the same could be true for you. Because of your walk with the Lord. Other people may not understand it and some might downright make fun of you because of it. They may treat you poorly. They may reject you. They may shame you. But it tells us in the story. But Noah. Was intimate with God. Noah knew the Lord. And to him that took priority to hide and the atonement to rest and the presence of God. You know, when Noah built this boat, it wasn’t raining. But Noah was planning ahead because he knew something was coming and he was investing in his relationship with the Lord, knowing his his identity was secure there. And when Noah went to build this this boat, the ark wasn’t built by or excuse me, the ark was built by amateurs.
And I think it’s important for us to realize when we come to the Lord, we’re not here to impress God with. With. With who we are. The ark was built by amateurs. It was the Titanic that was built by professionals. You think about we. We think about coming to the Lord and how. How my life can bless my family or people around us. It’s not about impressing people with who you are. But just being faithful where you are to follow after him and God takes care of the rest. And here we see the the fruits of what Noah is doing. He’s not listening to the critics, but rather where the Lord has has called him. And it goes on from there in verse 11 and the 600 year of Noah’s life. In the second month, on the seventh day of the month, on on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened and the rain fell upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. They were went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered male and female of all flesh went in as the Lord commanded. And look at this and the Lord shut him in. And that can be a very ominous statement. Or it can be a very hopeful statement. I think it depends on which side of the boat you’re on.
Same thing is true with the presence of the Lord. The arc of who He is. He is a force to be reckoned with. Where do you find yourself? I mean, could you imagine these moments and tells us and the Lord, shut the door? Was it Noah shutting the door? But it was it was God shutting the door. And we know in the New Testament tells us Noah is a prophet of the Lord proclaiming the truth of God. And I can imagine right up to the last moment when Noah maybe even invited his friends to to his final church service before the flood. He says, we’re we’re going to have a commissioning service for the boat. I really want you guys to come to this. You probably need to come to this. Right. And Noah is still preaching to people. Turn to the Lord God. God’s going to bring his judgment. Turn to the Lord. There’s still an opportunity. The ark is open. And I can imagine as God starts to close the ark, Noah just standing on the inside, just shouting out to people, Turn to the Lord. God has provided a place for you to be rescued. Do not trust in yourself. Do not run away from the opportunity that God has patiently given you in grace. And Noah was just saying over and over, just shouting through the crack of the doors that finally closes.
In the Bible tells us the same thing. That there is judgment of the Lord. He must. Judge in order to be good. A just God demands it. Judgment is coming. The idea of the ark is a picture of maybe the the great judgment that will come death. All of us. All of us face. The question is what will carry you through? Hebrews Chapter nine, verse 27, says it like this and justice is appointed for a man to die once. And after that comes the judgment. And we’ve learned from the past story in Genesis chapter five and six, people live for a very long time in those chapters. And the problem with people wasn’t that they needed more time. The problem was where their heart was surrendered. The problem was within them. They chose to rebel against God rather than turn to him. And the Bible says, you get this opportunity. But after that comes the judgment. In Jesus’s day in Luke chapter 17, even as a warning, he uses the life of Moses or excuse me, Noah. And he says this just as it was in the days of Noah. So will it be in the days of the Son of Man? They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. They were so interested in living life for their glory as if they were gods that they failed to recognize the grace of God being made known.
The beauty of of His ark to to walk in, in his presence. And people will mock you or may mock you for following after the Lord. But you see in the life of Noah, the the beauty of of knowing God intimately in the fruit of that and then goes on in verse 17, it says, The flood continued 40 days on the earth. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them 15 cubits deep, and all the flesh died. That moved on the earth, birds and livestock beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth and all mankind. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. So here it is, the the global catastrophe taking place. Here is the the flood comes over the the the known world as it’s described in Genesis. And, you know, when you look at the flood account, what’s interesting is the Bible isn’t the only place in early civilization that has a flood account. There are several different people, groups that have flood accounts. The most popular is is the Flood of Gilgamesh, which is the tablet there in the top left. There are different people, groups who have written a flood account. But in terms of the noahic flood, as to whether or not it happened, it’s interesting that nothing specifically I would say or has been directly identified as relating to the Noahic flood. But on Mount Ararat in Turkey there is what looks to appear to be where the boat stopped.
It’s said to have stopped on. Mount Ararat looks and appears to be the remnants of the shape of of a boat. And the size of that shape is roughly the size of what’s described as Noah’s boat. In Genesis chapter six, the Turkish government has been appealed to in order to do some excavation. But one thing that’s been said to have been found in that area is a deck petrified deck planking board. And you see that there in the bottom left corner. Who knows if it’s that or not. But it’s just interesting that you have in that general area something that gives the symbolism of an ark. But people still ask the question, okay, when when God flooded the earth, did it really cover the entire earth that it really it was all all the animals and all of humanity? Was it just all of the known world at the time, or was it really all of the world? And I got to tell you, I wasn’t there. So I can specifically speak to personal eyewitness account. But there’s two views people take here as to what all represents. All literally means the all of the world or some say all of just the general region. And the people that tend to say all of all of humanity was killed. But it was humanity as far as humanity has been developed, highlight areas of the Bible where all gives a general idea meaning at the end of Genesis when Joseph will look at the story later, when when Joseph figures out how to help Egypt through the famine, it tells them that people come to Egypt for food.
They come to Joseph directly for food during the famine. And it says All of the world comes to Joseph. Now all of the world literally come to Joseph. Probably not. But it says all the world. Or in Exodus, when the plagues hit Egypt and God’s people are going to be set free from slaves. The Jewish people are going to be set free from slaves. When the plagues hit, there’s a plague that take out the cattle and it says all of the cattle are killed. And then two plagues later it says, and they hid some of the cattle. It’s like, well, did all the cattle really die or is it just a general idea? Some argue the flood the flood maybe didn’t take over the whole world, but at least the known world at the time to wipe out humanity. Others say, yes, it was a global catastrophe. I have a hard time looking at the Grand Canyon and not thinking to myself. Seems like a lot of water came through here, right? In fact, I have some friends, a pastor that lived in Bryce Canyon. He moved away a few years ago. His name is Rob Brannon, his wife, Joanne.
They would often hike in the back of Bryce Canyon and they would find fossils back there. One of the interesting things they would find on occasion, they would hike up about 7000ft and embedded in the rock, they would find shark’s teeth. Now, whatever your stain is of global global flood or not, you’ve got to account for how in the world do shark’s teeth get on the top of Bryce Canyon? Right. And so they’ve got several shark’s teeth that they have found at the top of Bryce Canyon. Here you see a picture of them, 7000ft high. But the point of the flood is to help us recognize when we think in terms of why this story exists, God is helping us see the importance of resting in the ark, resting in the presence of the Lord. And point number two in your notes and this will be quicker is look to a new creation. Look to a new creation in Genesis Chapter eight. As the story unfolds, the Bible goes back to the beginning of creation and connects God’s story of Genesis eight to the beginning of how we were made. As if to say to you Every day, God gives you an opportunity of grace that God made you for relationship. In Genesis chapter one and again in the midst of man’s sin, God is reminding us of that in Genesis eight, because it says in verse one, But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark, and God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided.
Look. Genesis, chapter eight, Verse one is not God being like, Oh no, I got the earth covered in a flood and oh, I forgot completely about. A guy on a boat, right? He’s not saying he forgot. No way. And he’s coming back to know it, but rather he’s saying and God now turns his attention from flooding the earth back to what he desires to do with the life of Noah. God’s attention is back in what he wants to accomplish through Noah’s life. And then it says in the second half of that verse, the wind blew over the earth, which is just like Genesis chapter one and verse two, it tells us the spirit of God hovered over the earth, over the chaos when God created in the beginning. It tells us in Genesis one and two that the earth was form and without void. And and it’s saying, look, the earth is not fulfilling its purpose, that it’s just covered in water, it’s covered in chaos, and out of the chaos, God brings order and the Hebrew mind. The idea of water is this place of chaos. In the beginning, when God created the earth covered in water, chaos, when when Israel is being rescued from slavery out of Egypt, they come to the Dead Sea and they think they’re going to die by the Egyptian army and God parts the water and out of chaos they walk into order.
Out of God’s creation, He takes chaos and he brings order and life. When they get to the promised Land before they cross into the promised Land God parts, the Jordan River, and through the chaos of the water comes order God’s fulfillment of promise in the new Life In Genesis Chapter one, Verse two The spirit of God hovers over the waters, and the word for spirit is the same word for wind. It’s ruach. And so he’s saying here in Genesis chapter eight, verse one, just as at the beginning with creation, that the wind is blowing, the spirit of God has made known and out of the chaos comes order. And in verse four, and in the seventh month of the seventh day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, which is modern day Turkey. And he’s saying in this, in this passage, just like God created in seven days. So on the seventh day of the seventh month, God is bringing order out of this chaos that there would be rest just as God rested on the seventh day, that we could enjoy relationship with him. So God is bringing this boat to a rest. Verse five. And the waters continued to obey until the 10th month and the 10th month on the first day of the month on the tops of the mountains.
This was seen. And it goes on and says in verse 11, And the dove came back to him in the evening and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. The idea of a dove is a symbol of peace. You think when God created in seven days that the the seventh day was a place of peace and joy in the presence of the Lord. And as God brings this boat to a rest, on the seventh day of the seventh month, he brings this dove as a symbol of peace. When Jesus was baptized in Matthew chapter three, it tells us that the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove because Jesus came to this world preaching a message of peace, of life in him. And so Noah is discovering this peace in the Lord. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Verse 14 and the second month of the 27th day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, Go out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons wives with you and bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may swarm on the earth and and be fruitful and multiply on the earth. I can promise that when Noah and his family walked out and the creeping things walked that the wife did not walk with him.
Noah did that on his own. No, he would walk with those creepy things. But but the animals come out and it’s painting this this beautiful picture again that Noah waits for the to obey the commandment of the Lord before he steps out of the boat that the boat had stopped. But he waits for God’s command, a little different than Adam and Eve. They didn’t obey. But this time Noah does obey. And just like Adam and Eve led the animals in the Garden of Eden. So Noah is exiting with these animals into the new creation of what God has provided for them. And when it tells us in the story to be fruitful and multiply, it’s just like Genesis chapter one, verse 22. God told the animals, be fruitful and multiply. And then in chapter nine, verse one, God tells Adam and Eve and his family be fruitful and multiply. And Genesis Chapter one, verse 28. God tells Adam and Eve be fruitful and multiply. What God is saying is God is not finished with us yet. Just as when Adam and Eve were created for relationship with God and Adam and Eve ran from God, God pursued them and continued to be gracious to them. And as you continue on in the story of Genesis, you see over and over again, man turning their back from God and God continuing to be gracious, to provide an atonement, a place of cover, to walk in new creation with the Lord.
And so you read in Genesis chapter eight, Noah, in that same opportunity to walk in the presence of the Lord and enjoy a relationship with him. So here’s the big question then. Why the Noahic flood? Out of 1600 years of anything that you could tell. And you think in 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis. The Noahic Flood takes Genesis chapter six to Genesis Chapter nine to tell us the story. Why so much related to the Noahic flood? Well, if you remember, as you as you study what the Lord has done and let me give you the notes here. This is your blank in your notes. We all need encourage to follow the Lord. The reason he tells us the story is we all need to encourage to follow the Lord. But. But understanding the particularities makes this important. If you remember, in order to understand the Bible, it’s first important to recognize what did it mean to the people there. And then before we can relate it to us and the here and now. And this Genesis story, if you remember. Who is this written to? It’s written to a group of slaves that have been set free. They have just gone through a catastrophic moment with all the plagues that have hit Egypt. They have seen a civilization fall apart, and now they’ve been called out by the Lord to follow him.
A place of uncertainty. A place where they don’t control the rudder of the ship. But they need to know about the God that’s directing them, because just like this flood took place for 40 days. So they’re going to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years. And this picture of the noahic flood is a reminder to God’s people as they wander through the wilderness that God in his atonement and his ark, his presence is with them, that they can find solace in the presence of God and God in His faithfulness will carry us through because his His mercy is new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. It was a place of encouragement for them. And God. So it is for us. That the story of the flood becomes a picture for God’s people throughout all of history. That all of us are going to go through storm and in that storm, we need hope and we need encourage to continue on. And the noahic flood is a reminder to God’s people that he is there with you and he will carry you through the storm because all of us one day will face death. And we need to know that when we rest, we rest in him. In fact, this is exactly the way Peter described it in First Peter chapter three and verse 20. He said it like this because they formerly did not obey when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was being prepared, Noah preaching to them, and which a few, that is eight persons were brought safely through the water.
And then related to us in verse 21 baptism which corresponds to this now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter draws this straight to the idea of death and needing to be resurrected to life. And your life with Jesus doesn’t start the moment you actually die. Your life in Jesus starts at the moment. You surrender your life to him in death and receive what Christ has done. The Bible promises that is eternal life. That is new life. Your relationship with the Lord starts in the moment you trust in Jesus. But the illustration he’s drawing here is to the idea of baptism and baptism doesn’t always mean dunked under water. The word baptism literally means to be immersed. And he’s saying, look, it’s not the appealing to God by being removed or putting put on water for the removal of dirt, but rather coming to God for the appeal of a good conscience before him, that you would receive the forgiveness of God, that you would find newness of life a new creation. Because you have trusted in the arc. Knowing God is with you. That’s the arc coming into his presence, resting in him. And no matter the storm, when you’re with God, there’s there’s always a rainbow waiting on the other end.
A new creation as you walk with him and and with the end in mind. The story is intended to to help you sail towards that destination, towards higher ground in the Lord. The idea of the the the Noah’s Ark story is everyone’s story. Ultimately, in Christ, in order to find ourselves resting in the presence of the Lord, to enjoy his presence for all of eternity, not by trusting himself and choosing to live for the flesh and all of our glory, but rather surrendering ourselves to rest before him and following him wherever he leads. Let me close with this. There was a there was a story about a lady who lived in the fifth story, an attic of an old, older, dilapidated building, and she was living in this attic. She wasn’t able to leave the room because she had illness. And so she she lived her the rest of her life, the rest of her days in this attic. And she was a great saint that loved the Lord deeply, was always an encouragement to be around. And so one of her friends one day decided to go visit her. But in visiting her, she also took another wealthy lady with her on that journey. And as they got to the house, they started to walk up the stairs because there was no elevator. They had to climb five flights of stairs. And as they got a couple of flights up, the wealthier lady looked at the situation she was in and she said this This area is so filthy and dirty.
And the woman that was with her turned her and said, it gets better, higher up. And so they continued on and and they got to the fourth floor of the building and the lady still looking around, thinking, we’ve almost climbed to the top and this is still filthy and dirty and gross to be in. And the woman looks at her and says, I promise you, it gets better, higher up. And they get it finally to the top floor. And when they walk into that room, this great saint of the Lord, her smile just illuminating with the joy of God in her life. But this lady again starts to look around and she says to the woman, You must be miserable living in this circumstance. How do you do it? And the lady, without even batting an eye, looks back at her and says, It gets better, higher up. Guys, can I just encourage you? The Noahic flood is thatrillioneminder for those who come to the Lord, don’t quit. God knows exactly where he’s taking you. God knows exactly what he has for you. His call for your life is to rest in his atonement. To rest in his presence and what he’s done for you to allow him to direct you to the new creation.