Journey Through the Bible (9) – Noah Prepares for the Flood

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Journey Through the Bible (9) – Noah Prepares for the Flood

Sermon by  Thomas Thornhill Jr

Passage: Genesis 6


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Journey Through the Bible – 9

Period 2 of 17(#1) – The Flood

 

Tonight, we continue our Journey through the Bible, establishing the 17 time periods (as outlined by Bob and Sandra Waldron) of Bible history.  We have completed the first period – before the flood – which took us from creation up to the time of the flood.  We now begin the 2nd period – the flood and events surrounding it.  This will the first of 2-3 lessons associated with this period.

 

  1. Period 2 – The Flood
    1. This period of time is recorded in Genesis 6-10.
    2. It occurs ~2500-2000 BC and is still part of what is referred to as the patriarchal age (dispensation).
    3. Events during this period to consider:
      1. Events that lead up to the flood – the wickedness of man (6:1-7)
      2. Noah – prepares an ark as God commanded him (6:8-22)
    4. The flood – which lasts about 1 year (7)
    5. Noah and his family leave the ark (8:1-19)
    6. God’s covenant with creation (8:20-9:17) – changes that take place
    7. Noah’s descendants – Shem, Ham and Japheth and their descendants (9:18-10:32)
  2. Events leading up to the flood (6:1-7)
    1. We found in Genesis 5 the genealogy from Adam to Noah – specifically just before the flood. This is estimated to be a period of about 1500 years.
    2. 6:1 – men began to multiply upon the face of the earth and daughters are born to men.
    3. 6:2 – the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful and took them as wives.
      1. This is an interesting passage as there is debate concerning who the sons of God and daughters of men were.
      2. Some contend the “sons of men” were angelic type beings who came and mated with men making a corrupted race. They describe them as the Nephilim (the Hebrew word for “giant” in 6:4. I have a problem with this because:
        1. While angels could be referred to as “sons of God” in Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, that does not necessarily mean that has to be the case in Genesis 6.
        2. There is NOTHING in scripture that indicates angels could procreate with man. That would violate God’s laws of procreation in Genesis 1 (after its kind).
        3. Jesus also stated that angels do not marry (Matthew 22:30).
        4. The word “Nephilim” is also found in Numbers 13:33 – the giants in the land that the 12 spies gave a negative report about. Thus we can see the term CAN refer to men (or we have a problem with angels reproducing with men AFTER the flood).
        5. In vs. 4 their descendants were STILL described as men – (6:4) – mighty men, men of renown.”
      3. The “sons of God” seems more likely to be the descendants of Seth, who were the godly lineage. As populations increased, they saw the beautiful daughters of men (descendants of Cain, or others who were wicked) and intermingled with them – marrying and producing offspring.  As a result, the human race became more spiritually corrupted, as what typically happens is the wicked influences of men overpower the righteous influence of the few.
    4. 6:3-6 – as the wickedness of man increases, God is sorry He had created man and determines to destroy the world. Several declarations are made in this text.
      1. YHWH said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” – God was striving to get men to repent and return to Him (He ALWAYS desires that men not perish).
      2. He allots 120 years before He will destroy all flesh (6:3). NOTE: This is the time from when He makes this determination until the flood begins, NOT necessarily the timeframe Noah had, as we shall see in a moment.
      3. He saw that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of HIs heart was only evil continually” – it was a TOTALLY depraved world. The righteous were so few and rare they could hardly be found.  Consider how Enoch, who “walked with God” was taken up and did not see death (Genesis 5:23-24)
      4. He was sorry that He had made man on the earth and was grieved in His heart.
      5. He determined to destroy mankind and beast and begin again with one who was righteous.
      6. V. 11-12 again indicate how corrupt the earth was – filled with violence and “all flesh” had corrupted their way on the earth.
  3. Noah prepares an ark
    1. 6:8, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”
    2. 6:9 describes Noah – a just man, “perfect (blameless) in his generation.” Noah walked with God.   Noah was a godly man.  We read about Noah 5 occasions in the NT, with a few more texts related to the flood.  Concerning Noah we find:
      1. Matthew 24:37-38 (Luke 17:26-27) – the Lord’s return will be “as in the days of Noah” – things progressing as normal.
      2. Luke 3:36 – genealogy of Jesus
      3. Hebrews 11:7 – by faith he built an ark
      4. 1 Peter 3:20-21 – 8 souls saved through water in the days of Noah (baptism now saves us)
      5. 2 Peter 2:5 – again appealing to the time of Noah but notes that he was “a preacher of righteousness”, thus he was warning the world of impending judgment. None listened, except his family.
    3. 6:10 – he has 3 sons – Shem, Ham and Japheth. We will revisit them in another lesson.
    4. 6:13 – God appears to Noah and warns him that He is going to destroy the earth and its wickedness.
    5. 6:14-16 – Noah is given SPECIFIC instructions to build an ark – gopherwood, with rooms and 3 decks. It is to be ~450 feet long (300 cubits – a cubit is ~18”), 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.  It was to be covered with pitch on the inside and out.  There was to be 1 window and 1 door.  The inside of this ark would have over 100,000 sq. feet of deck space, and more than 1.5 million cubic feet of inside volume.
    6. 6:18 – His covenant was not done – God had made a promise of redemption (Genesis 3:15). It still needed to be brought to its completion (which is why He spared one family).
    7. 6:18 – his sons NOTE: Here is a text that seems to indicate the time Noah had to prepare and build the ark was less than 120 years. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (7:6).  His sons were born to Him when he was 500 years old (5:32).  His sons had wives as the LORD made this promise (6:18), therefore they were likely ~20-30 y/o.  Thus, the timing was likely less than 100 years of preparation time.
    8. 6:19-21 – he was to bring 2 of every living animal – a male and its female “after their kind.”
      1. 6:20 notes that they would come to him – so he was not responsible to go gather them. This shows God’s hand in bringing this about.
      2. 7:2 also notes there were to be 7 of every clean animal (either 7 or 7 pairs).
      3. NOTE: Critics argue that there are more than 1 millions species of animals on earth and they could not fit in the ark.
        1. HOWEVER, note that the instructions of 2 of each “after their kind” – that means 2 horses, 2 pigs, 2 dogs, 2 cats, etc. NOT 2 of each species (e.g. The cat “kind” could include a lion, tiger, house cat, wildcat, etc.).
        2. It has been estimated that there would have been between 2,000 and 35,000 animals which could easily fit, when you consider that most animals are fairly small.
        3. ALSO, it is likely that the animals were juvenile and thus smaller when in the ark.
      4. 6:21 – The rest of the ark would be for provisions and living quarters.
      5. NOTE: IF you have opportunity to visit “The Ark Encounter” in Kentucky, it is a to scale replica that gives a fairly good depiction of not only the necessary animal stalls, but also room for storage and livings spaces. We can also consider that people were advanced enough (they built cities, iron, instruments, etc.) that they likely had the knowledge to build the necessary systems to feed, water and dispose of waste, etc. as needed.
    9. Chapter 7 records entering ark and the flood. We will address this in our next lesson.
  4. Lessons to consider:
    1. Be careful who you marry. According to our text, what caused the world to become so corrupt was the righteous intermingled with the ungodly.  We ought to take note of this (again – we have been addressing this in various studies).
      1. Consider: If you marry an unbeliever, you are likely to have a problem with your spiritual father-in-law.
      2. 2 Corinthians 6:14 – do not be unequally yoked… While this text is not exclusively about marriage, it certainly fits into the warning.
      3. Scripture is filled with examples of the people of God marrying idolaters and the worldly and its results. Israel failed to drive out the idolatrous inhabitants and often intermarried with these idolatrous nations.  Solomon married many foreign wives who turned him from  God (1 Kings 11:1-8); King Ahab married Jezebel, a follower of Baal who had great influence (1 Kings 16:31); Herod married Herodias, who he was not authorized to happen.  She hated John the Baptist so much she had him beheaded (Matthew 14:3-12).
      4. While it may not be unscriptural to marry an unbeliever, it is certainly unwise and will LIKELY result in one’s faith being compromised at best. (Yes there is the possibility of the godly winning over the worldly – even in the Bible – cf. 1 Peter 3:1-2, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, but it is the exception to the rule.)  I have performed a handful of weddings.  To my knowledge 1 has ended in divorce – it was a believer with an unbeliever.
      5. Heed the warning of 1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Evil company corrupts good habits”.
    2. We can be godly in the midst of a wicked world. I do not need to say much more about this.  We have been emphasizing this as we have studied through 1 Peter.  AND we have alluded to is in studying our desire to draw closer to God.   Philippians 2:15 – we shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
    3. Noah – a type of salvation –
      1. In our studies of salvation, we have noted that it involves grace, faith and works. These do not contradict each other, nor is there any conflict between them.  Faith does NOT nullify works of obedience.
      2. Noah: 1) Found grace in the eyes of the Lord – Genesis 6:8-9; 2) Noah had faith – Hebrews 11:7 whereby he saved himself and his household. 3) Noah acted – he obeyed God completely – Genesis 6:22, Hebrews 11:7 – by faith he moved with godly fear and prepared an ark, etc.
      3. We need the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we also need to do our part – believing and obeying Him. Will we?
    4. Complete obedience is what God expects and will accept.
      1. Noah was given specific instructions and he followed them exactly. Genesis 6:22.  See also Genesis 7:5, 9 & 16.
      2. We find here that we are expected to obey God by following His pattern exactly. What if Noah had used a different type of wood.  What if he had changed the dimensions?  Obviously we are not told what would have happened, but from other examples – Cain, Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah, we can conclude that things would not have worked out well for him.
      3. Having said that, understand that this was NEVER an issue, because of who Noah was and God knew him and his heart. That is why Noah was chosen.
    5. God has prepared a day when He will bring this world to an end.
      1. Just as God destroyed the world by flood in the days of Noah, He has appointed another day of final judgment.
      2. 2 Peter 3:3-8 – God is coming back at the time He has appointed.
      3. 2 Peter 3:10 – we do not know when that day will be. That was the point of Matthew 24:37-38.
      4. But know that His future return is as certain as the flood. That is why we need to prepare for that day.

And thus we can see some lessons, as God prepared to judge the world by flood and as Noah prepared an ark, per God’s instructions. There is so many lessons for us to glean from this.  What about you? What are you learning from Noah?  Think about it!

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