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| GENESIS CHAPTER SIX
The Wickedness and Judgment of Man 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. |
I wondered how can it be that if God created all things Good, how is it possible that God would say that He saw wickedness and He will destroy everything? It’s not that God’s original creation was not perfect but it is because Mankind sinned at the beginning. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, from the tree of knowledge. When they did this, the whole of creation became cursed, sin began to reign in the world. The Earth and everything in it is now caught up in a battle between Good and Evil. Mankind was no longer walking with God. |
| 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.” | God grieves for us, it is a horrible situation. It is not that God hates us and wanted to harm us but that God was sorry that His creation that He loves was in this cursed and horrible situation. God is Holy and Holiness can have nothing to do with Sin, therefore God was fully justified if He wanted to destroy us, because God cannot be around Sin – we had become separated from God. (And as you heard last week, it is because of this separation that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again, The Son of God restored our ability to have a direct relationship with God.) |
| 11 The earth was also 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. | So, God wanted to put an end to this suffering creation, because it was a very sad situation to allow it to continue.
But this is also a very strong image for today. The whole world today is suffering from violence, and indeed it is corrupt. As Christians saved by Jesus we need to separate ourselves from the world, we are different and we need to allow the light that God places within each of us to stand out to show others the way that leads to life. Jesus tells us In John 8:12 “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” And In Mathew 24:37 “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” And if this description is a strong image of today, then this means our Lord is coming back again very soon. |
| 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. | God said of Noah that he was a just man and perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. He saw Noah; one man with a heart that still wanted to walk with God, and I think we should praise God for Noah because he had ears to hear and eyes to see, so God could uses this man in His plan for salvation. It is only through Noah and by the Grace and Mercy of God that any of us exist today. Those who didn’t seek God faced God’s judgement, and they all perished in the flood. But Noah is a man that seeks and believes God and it is accounted to him for Righteousness. |
| The Ark Prepared
13 And God said to Noah, 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: |
God gave Noah very specific instructions on building the Ark, even instructed him on the materials and on the exact size, it was to have three floors. Noah’s Ark was very big and had to be strong enough and stable enough to endure a great flood. And we have seen this many times in the Bible, when God gives specific instructions on how to make something then we should be wise to do it exactly as He has told us. Like when God commanded Moses in the wilderness how to make the Arc of the Covenant and the Tabernacle and all the utensils, even the Temple. We should never think that what God has asked us to do is too difficult, because if God commanded us and we are obedient, then by His Grace He will bless us and supply everything we need to achieve it. |
| 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.
Before the Flood it had never rained upon the Earth. People probably laughed at Noah saying water will fall from Heaven. Noah had to Trust in the Lord with all his heart, And to NOT lean on his own understanding. Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. |
So God intends to destroy all living things on the Earth with a flood, but He looks upon Noah and saw Noah has faith and God declares He will make a covenant with Noah and his family will live according to God’s promise. But lets understand why God chose to use water to flood the Earth. As Christians, if we choose to be baptised meaning we are submerged completely in the water and we rise up again, it is symbolic of dieing and being born again, we rise up again being a new person; symbolically cleansed from our sin. This is exactly what God did to the Earth, God gave the Earth a fresh new start, He washed away all the wickedness from the face of the Earth and blessed Noah and his family with another covenant, of which the rainbow becomes a sign. We are not talking about the rainbow flags you see today, but the rainbow of God in the sky. Anyway, whilst the wrath of God was unleashed upon the Earth God placed Noah into a place of safety inside the Ark. God has place people into safety many times in the Bible when He intends to unleash His wrath. We witness this when He removes Lot and his family before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, and He did this when He removed Daniel – by placing him in Babylon before unleashing the destruction of Jerusalem. He will do this again when He Raptures His Church, and meets with all the true believers in the clouds. |
| 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. | So God rescued two of every living creature, but we should notice here the important fact that God declared “They shall be male and female” God made creatures of the flesh to be either Male or Female. If Noah only saved Males or only saved Females then the animals would die and go extinct. God declared in Genesis 5:2 “He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” This is God’s order of things, animals and Humans cannot change their gender although some try to go against it. If you are born as a Boy you cannot become a Girl and a Girl cannot become a Boy – imagine – if God only rescued Men or only rescued Women then none of us would exist today, because Noah’s sons would have died without having any children. |
| 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 you have heard Pastor Barry say many times “Evolution is not true – it is a lie”. God created all animals after their kind and all kinds were represented on Noah’s Ark so all of God’s creation would be saved. And notice how even the animals were obedient to God. The animals were more obedient than mankind, when God told them to go into the Ark they obeyed, if they didn’t then they would all drown, and let us remember why the flood happened? Because Adam disobeyed and now all of creation is suffering. God told Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit but he disobeyed. |
| 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. | But there has been some men at certain times in the past who was obedient to God, because they trusted in God, had Faith and Obedience and it was accounted to them as righteousness. Remember Joseph who ended up ruling over Egypt? Throughout the various trials Joseph faced, he always listened, trusted in and obeyed God and so God gave Joesph wisdom to prepare a store of food, for the disaster that was coming soon upon the land (famine) … many including Josephs own family would be saved. This is exactly the same as what God is doing for Noah in these verses. Noah listened and obeyed God and stored up much food which God provided, not just for himself but also for his family and all the animals, to survive during and after the flood. It just required trust, faith and obedience. |
| Genesis Chapter 7 The Great Flood
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. |
So Noah was now six hundred years old (imagine?) and his family went onto the Ark and two by two all the animals, male and female went onto the Ark, but additionally Noah took seven male and seven female of each clean animal and seven of each bird male and female – and the Lord shut him in. Notice that it was God who shut the door? It is like Noah and his family, and all the animals had the seal of God upon them, they were marked for safe keeping. If God personally shut them in then surely God had placed a hedge of protection over the Ark.
After seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth and all the fountains of the great deep rose upon the earth and for forty days and forty nights it rained. Something that the world did not believe is possible, despite hearing Noah – who must have warned them repeatedly saying “Repent”, and “Rain will fall from Heaven”. But for the disbelievers it is too late. The door on the Ark that was open for so long is now firmly closed by God Himself. |
| 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. | The flood literally did cover the entire planet…. for forty days and nights. Even the highest mountains were underwater. Imagine so much water that mountains such as Mount Everest would end up underwater? God flooded the whole plant and cleansed everything. When the waters receded it was like a new beginning… symbolic of baptism today. It would be entirely down to Noah and his family to replenish the Earth, and God had a special plan that through the family of Noah, his descendants such as Abraham and Jacob will be born and then Israel would become a nation leading us to the Messiah, Jesus our God – who would die nailed to the cross and bleed for us – washing us clean, not by water, not by a flood but by His own precious blood and by his Spirit, the Holy Spirit represented by a Dove. So God destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: men, women and all animals such as cattle, insects and birds of the air. Only Noah, his family and the animals in the ark remained alive. And the flood prevailed on the earth for one hundred and fifty days. |
| Genesis Chapter 8 Noah’s Deliverance
1 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. 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.
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Then…. God sent a wind upon the Earth to dry up the land so the water would recede and the Ark had come to rest upon the top of a mountain. When God designed the Ark he had Noah build it with only one window that could be opened, and this window was actually the roof of the Ark. This means that God did not allow Noah and his family to witness with their own eyes any of God’s wrath during the destruction and also after. Only when the flood had receded. If Noah had seen the wrath of God in action I believe it means Noah also would have died. This is typical of the character of God whom when He pours out His wrath the righteous are removed and not allowed to witness the wrath of God take place. If we look back and see the wrath of God then we too would die – we can see this happen with Lot’s wife when Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Lot’s wife looked back and instantly she died having been turned into a pillar of salt. So Noah opened up the window of the Ark and he could only see the sky (Heaven) so he could not look for land, but sent out a bird, and waited to see what will happen. The first bird, the Raven flew back and eventually never came back. This meant the Bird probably found dry land. So to be sure, he sent out a Dove. The Dove in the Bible represents God’s Holy Spirit, such as at Jesus baptism. So the Dove flew back and forth for a while, and after seven days it eventually came back with an Olive Leaf from an Olive Tree. This is an important Tree, symbolic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Olive Tree represents new beginning for humanity, peace and reconciliation with God, renewal, and revival. It is a tree of promise and the Oil is used in lamps to give light. Kings were anointed with Olive Oil and Jesus ascended into Heaven from the mount of olives. Anyway, Noah waited another seven days and sent the Dove again, the Dove never returned, meaning it must have found dry land.
So Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 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.” God’s Covenant with Creation 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. 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. “While the earth remains, Seed-time and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter & summer, day and night Shall not cease.” |