Noah: Genesis 6:5-22

Recap of the Genesis story and themes

Genesis 1 and 2 describe the creation of the world and mankind. It is called very good by God. The first divine commands are given: multiply and fill the earth, have dominion over it and don’t eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Genesis 3 is the description of the deception of Eve and the sin of Adam and Eve by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In this story, some of the themes of Genesis and the whole Bible are introduced:

Blessings and Curses

Two Spiritual Lines (Line of the serpent and the line of the woman)

Perseverance of the people God, solely because of God’s mercy and grace

Genesis 4 is a description of the first murder where we see that sin crouches waiting for us so that it may overcome us. The murder results in the line of Cain descending into violence and destruction.

Genesis 5 traces the genealogy of Seth, who was born to Eve and becomes the line from which God’s people come. That leads us right to where we are today.

There’s a lot to this story that we aren’t covering. There are a lot of debated topics within this story that we’re not going to get into, not because we’re scared to touch them or don’t have a handle on what’s happening, but because it would take more time than we think is appropriate to spend on those topics in the context of a Sunday morning gathering. I’m happy to offer my interpretation to you offline about the stories that are on the outside of the Noah section and can point you to some resources that have shaped my views, but we’re not going to spend time right now doing that. If you’re interested in the Jewish interpretation of the story of Noah, I commend the Russell Crowe movie to you called “Noah.” It was developed with Jewish Rabbis as consultants and contain mainline Jewish interpretation of the Noah story. It’s very fascinating.

Similarly to the story of Cain where there is a warning, judgment, and grace, these three actions take place in this story as well

Main Idea: In times of judgment, God preserves the righteous by his mercy.

The plan for today is to spend some time with this passage and then see how the New Testament interprets the story of Noah and how it applies to our lives.

So lets pray as we prepare to read Genesis 6:5-22

Father, we come to you humbly recognizing that there is more to this text than we’ll get to today. Open our eyes and hearts that we may see what you have for us today. By the power of the Spirit, use your word to speak to all of us, convicting us of sin, and encouraging us to righteousness.

Genesis 6:5–22 CSB

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” Noah, however, found favor with the Lord. These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth. Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth. “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. You are to make a roof, finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks. “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

Judgement on the earth (vv.5-7)

Following on the heals of the line of Cain, humanity has descended into greater and greater evil. What started as one man killing his brother became societies filled with evil.

If you remember back to Genesis 1, when God was finished creating the earth, he looked on it and saw that it was very good. A mere 5 chapters later we see a tragic contrast. God at this point looked down and saw a world in which violence filled the whole earth. Not on that, but every inclination, or some translations say imagination, of mankind was nothing but evil all the time. Mankind had filled the earth with violence, and their thoughts, their imaginations, their desires, their hearts, were filled with nothing but evil.

The idea here is that the seat of the person, where the thoughts come from, had been corrupted such that evil was the only thought. Jesus taught about corrupted hearts and the fruit that they produce in Luke 6:43–45

Luke 6:43–45 CSB

“A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

Sin flows out of the heart and the fruit is made clear. In the case of mankind before the flood, the fruit was a world that had been corrupted.

The focus of verses 5-6 are on God’s experience of the corruption of the earth

God saw the wickedness and corruption and we read:

Genesis 6:6 CSB

the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.

This is a reminder to us that God does not just watch from afar, uninterested in the goings on of the world, rather he is intimately involved and has personal reactions to what occurs on earth. I think we often believe in a God of Deism, which sees God as a divine watchmaker who set everything in motion and then disinterestedly left the world to run its course. So we scrap and bootstrap our way to the life that we want rather than lean on the God who is intimately involved with what is happening on earth. The picture we get in Genesis 6 is consistent with the picture of God we have seen from the beginning. It’s a picture of God being personally interested in and emotionally impacted by what happens earth.

One commenter notes:

Genesis–Exodus Genesis 6:5–10

The first and last verbs in verse 6 vividly describe the emotions of grief, vexation, and regret in Yahweh. The first verb means to take a deep breath, so to grieve and so to repent. The last verb means to feel pierced, and here to the very heart.

He was pierced to the heart, but not because of anything that he had done, but because of what was happening on earth. The preoccupation of mankind with evil grieved him deeply and called him to action.

The corruption of the earth that had taken place because of man’s sin impacted all of creation. So the only solution was to purify the earth in it’s entirety.

Faithlife Study Bible (Genesis 6:7)

The Hebrew verb used [in verse 7], machah—which may be translated “to erase” or “to remove completely”—often appears in contexts where something is washed away or erased with water (Num 5:23; 2 Kgs 21:13).

The image here is that of dirty dishes. As we eat, germs from our mouths make it onto the utensils we use. Germs from the utensils make it onto the plate and they mix with the food bits that are left on the plate, some of us leave more than others. After the meal is over, the dishes can’t be put back into the drawer or cupboard, they must be cleaned. We’ll scrape off the scraps and rinse the dish with water in order to clear the dish. We complete the process by putting it in a dishwasher with detergent where the dish, depending on the quality of your dishwasher, is more forcefully rinsed and all the filth removed. This is what God has in mind for the earth. He’s going to wash it clean, wipe off the dirt, and purify it with water.

The judgment was that the earth was to be washed clean of all its impurities.

And with the judgment came a warning.

Warning to Noah (vv.8-13)

Now to continue the dishes analogy: Sometimes when we have people over for a meal, we’ll set out dishes and silverware for use, especially if we’re serving something buffet style. On occasion, a dish or type of utensil sits unused, unstained by the meal. That is what God found in Noah. Verse 6 tells us that “Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.”

Lexham Theological Wordbook (חֵן)

n. masc. grace, favor. A pleasing quality or approving or affectionate disposition toward someone.

This noun is often found in the phrase “favor in the eyes of.” To find favor in someone’s eyes is to please that person and receive benefits from them.

Noah is set before us as a contrast to the rest of humanity. Not only is has Noah found favor with God, we’re also going to see he has a contrasting destiny.

But why did Noah find favor with God? Verse 9 tells us: Noah is righteous, blameless, and walked with God.

First, Noah is righteous. This word describes someone who is a faithful member of a group. It has to do with acting uprightly but it is also relational in nature.

To be righteous is to be right with God and with members of the society to which a man belongs.

The word blameless is about being complete. The word is primarily used in the Old Testament, 51 times in fact, to describe animals who were qualified to be sacrifices. Noah was blameless.

Noah was righteous, blameless, and, finally, that he walked with God. The phrase “walked with God” is only used to describe three people in all of the Old Testament. Other people are described as having walked before God, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Only three walked with God.

The instance is one of inference and that is in the Garden in Genesis 3:8 We infer that it was typical of Adam and Eve to walk with God in the Garden.

Genesis 3:8 CSB

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

The second person that is described as having walked with God is Noah’s Great-Grandfather, Enoch. We read in Genesis 5:21–24

Genesis 5:21–24 CSB

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

The traditional explanation is that Enoch was saved from death by God taking him directly to heaven because he walked with God.

The only other person described as having walked with God is Noah. This is to help us see that Noah was a unique person in the Old Testament. It highlights his righteousness and blamelessness in that time.

Having noted how Noah stands out, the author moves us back to pay attention to the state of affairs on earth.

A couple weeks ago, Cody talked about the Hebrew literary device called a chiasm within Genesis 3. The idea is that there will be a mirror of ideas throughout a passage: A B C then C B A. It looks like a mirror or palindrome if you label the ideas. The author is drawing your attention to whatever is in the middle of the chiasm. Here in verses 11-13, we have a similar literary device called a parallelism and chiasm. In Hebrew parallelism, the author rhymes ideas . The repeated idea helps to reinforce and provide more information about the initial idea. In these three verses we have repeated words and ideas, which help clue us in to the device. The repeated ideas are corruption and violence. I checked all of the major English translations and the English obscures the fact that the Hebrew is connected. The word in verse 13 that has been translated “destroy” is the same Hebrew word that has been translated “corrupt” in verses 11 and 12.

Having said that, take a look at verses 11 through 13.

In verse 11, the earth is corrupt in God’s sight and the earth filled with violence

In verse 12, God saw corruption and every creature (all flesh) was corrupt

In verse 13, the earth is full of violence because of them and God is going to destroy (corrupt) those on the earth

We see: Corrupt, violence, corrupt; corrupt, violence, corrupt

There are two Chiasms and the two chiasms form a parallelism.

So remember, the middle of the chiasm is the emphasis of the chiasm. In both chiasms the middle is about the violence that has filled the earth. In other words, the author is drawing attention to the impact of mankind on God’s judgment here. It is their violence that has filled the earth and is the cause of what’s to come.

((…the earth was filled with violence… I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with violence because of them…))

In the parallelism, the second phrase illuminates the first. If we pay attention to the description of violence on the earth, or the middle of the chiasms we see that first “the earth was filled with violence” and then it is moved to “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.”

The cause of destruction is man’s sin, particularly the violence.

One commenter notes:

Genesis (Genesis 6:11)

[there is an] indissoluble connection of sin with destruction.... This teaches us that, in deepest reality, corruption is destruction, that sin is death.... God’s act in punishment corresponds to, and is the inevitable outcome of, our act in transgression. So fatal is all evil, that one word serves to describe both the poison-secreting root and the poisoned fruit. Sin is death in the making; death is sin finished.

This is the idea behind Paul’s discussion of sin and death in Romans. He says (Romans 6:23 )

Romans 6:23 CSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In other words, the end of sin, or what is owed to those who sin is death, but praise be to God he has given us a gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ!

In a similar way, Noah is given the gift of life by grace though the whole world was owed death and destruction because of sin.

After God’s warning to Noah, he shows his grace.

God’s grace to Noah (vv.14-22)

Noah would receive grace by going through the waters in a boat called an ark.

A replica of this ark has been built in Kentucky by Ken Hamm and his organization “Answers in Genesis.” I haven’t been there personally, but the friends of mine that have been report that the structure is way bigger than expected and helps bring some perspective to the story.

The CSB takes some of the guesswork out of the dimensions as it relates the cubit into feet. The boat was somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 50 feet high and would have displaced somewhere in the neighborhood of 22,000 tons. It was a little larger in dimension than half the size of the Titanic.

The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of many global flood narratives of Israel’s neighbor’s, describes a boat that is a cube, which is an entirely unworthy of travel by sea. Yet, the dimensions that are recorded in scripture have been proven seaworthy as most boats are still constructed with similar ratios: six times longer than wide, and 10 times longer than high. In my opinion, this is an example of the validity of the accounts of the Bible and the reliability of its accuracy compared to the accounts of Israel’s Ancient Near East contemporaries with similar flood narratives.

I hope that the discussion of the ark itself helps you trust the accuracy of the Bible and increase your trust in God’s word as authoritative and true, but that is secondary to the importance of this story as a model or type that will be fulfilled multiple times throughout the Bible.

Particularly the idea of God’s special people going through the waters as a means of God’s grace.

The only other use of the word Ark in another story is the description of the basket Moses was put into and then released into the Nile only to be found by Pharaoh’s daughter. God’s grace by passing through water.

Other important instances of God’s grace by passing through water would be Israel crossing the Red Sea out of the hands of Egypt and then later the crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

In the New Testament, the picture of Baptism is closely associated with this example of God’s grace demonstrated in passing through the waters.

It is in this description of going through the waters that God tells Noah how he will purify the earth. It will really be like a dirty dish, submerged with water. The earth would briefly return to the state it was in before God’s creation: covered with water except the boat floating atop.

The final comment of the chapter is simply (Genesis 6:22) “And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.”

Noah obeyed. It’s this comment of Noah’s obedience that is picked up in the New Testament as the authors of the New Testament reflect on Noah’s story.

Reflecting on Noah in the New Testament

Noah is only mentioned a few times in the New Testament, but there is some consistency about how the authors reflect on his story.

In Matthew 24:36-44 and it’s parallel in Luke 17, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:36-44)

Matthew 24:36–44 CSB

“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son—except the Father alone. As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus’ message to his disciples is one of endurance and watchfulness especially in times of evil around them. We are to continue to walk in faithful obedience to him even as the world around us seems to be crumbling because we don’t know when he’ll return.

The author of Hebrews also comments on Noah in the famous chapter that is often called the “Hall of Faith” Hebrews 11:7 says

Hebrews 11:7 CSB

By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

The emphasis of the author of Hebrews remarks that Noah responded in obedience to God’s commands even though they had not ever seen a flood. It was Noah’s response in obedience to the revelation of God that is called faith.

Peter makes two references to Noah in his letters. In 2 Peter, the reference assumes knowledge of the story but is part of a bigger conversation about God’s patience and the rescue of the godly from trials.

1 Peter 3:18-22 , Peter helps us see the connection between Noah’s story and what Jesus did.

1 Peter 3:18–22 CSB

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

Noah’s obedience resulted in the saving of humanity, by God’s grace.

Application

Before we leave the text today, I want to look at how this passage points us to Jesus and how it applies to our lives.

It points to Jesus as the righteous, obedient one

The story of Noah is about a man who was found to be righteous among his contemporaries and obeyed God’s divine commands.

Jesus is righteous among all people as the sinless Son of God who obeyed God’s divine commands. John’s gospel is clearest, here’s one example

John 14:8–11 CSB

“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

Paul agrees

Philippians 2:5–8 CSB

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

Jesus was the righteous one who obeyed the Father. And he took the wage of death we deserved

Jesus took the wage of our sin

If you remember back to the beginning of the message, we talked briefly about the wages of sin being death and God’s gift to us being eternal life in Christ Jesus.

One of the ways the Bible talks about Jesus’ death is one that is in the place of our death.

2 Timothy 1:10 CSB

This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

The author of Hebrews has a lot to say about this. He says in Hebrews 2:9

Hebrews 2:9 CSB

But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.

and later in verses 14-15 (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Hebrews 2:14–15 CSB

Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.

Simply put, Jesus died having put on flesh in order that we do not have to fear death because we are alive in him.

How should we live in response?

1. Respond to God’s revelation

Just as Noah responded to the revelation of God, we too are to respond to the revelation of God. What is that revelation to us? It’s the person of Jesus: His life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God had come. He calls all people to turn away from the sin that has marked their lives and instead of trusting in things that are created, to trust in him the uncreated creator of heaven and earth. Trust in the one who set aside the glory of heaven to take the form of humanity, to become truly human while still being truly God. Trust in the one who perfectly fulfilled the law and demonstrated power over death. Trust the sinless Lamb of God who was unjustly nailed to a cross because of the false witness of those who didn’t like his message. Trust the giver of life, who rose from the dead thereby destroying the one who holds the power of death so we no longer need to fear it. Trust the ascended Lord who sits at the right hand of the Father. Turn away from your sin, and turn to Jesus.

2. Belief in action

Turning to Jesus is not simply agreeing to certain propositions and saying a sinner’s prayer. Turning to Jesus in faith means to change your way of life to be in line with how Jesus says to live. It means not doing the things you know are opposed to holiness, and doing the things that you know are right. The Christian life is about becoming like Jesus and we can’t do that if we don’t partner with the conviction of the Holy Spirit and change our actions. James 4:17 says

James 4:17 CSB

So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.

And Romans 14:23 says

Romans 14:23 (CSB)

everything that is not from faith is sin.

Our faith, our trust, in Christ must lead to action. Not because we are aiming to earn anything—we can’t—but because what we believe influences how we live. We put on seatbelts because we believe that they will keep us strapped in during a wreck. We take antibiotics because we believe that they can kill the bacteria that causes illness. We pledge allegiance to the flag and take an oath to protect the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, so we endure trainings, PCS, and deployments. In the same way turning to Christ, believing in Christ, ought to result in a change of our actions.

Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 4:16)

2 Corinthians 4:16 CSB

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

and (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 CSB

For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

and (2 Corinthians 7:1 )

2 Corinthians 7:1 CSB

So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Are you growing in holiness? Are you intentionally setting aside the things that keep your from growing in your faith with Jesus?

I’m sure there’s low-hanging fruit in your life, there is in my life: doomscrolling Facebook or Instagram and listening to music or watching tv that doesn’t glorify God. But there are probably some ways that will take even more intentionality like how I talk about coworkers or neighbors or learning to depend on God’s leading throughout the day instead of just during my quiet time.

It’s not all hypothetical either, Jesus left us with what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. If you don’t know where to start, go to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, there you will find the beginnings of what it means to live in accordance with belief in Jesus.

The other big key is that learning put belief in action is a team sport. You cannot follow Jesus alone. None of us can go it alone: Cody can’t go it alone, I can’t go it alone, Garry can’t go it alone, you can’t go it alone. We all need people in our lives that challenge us when we are sinning, encourage us when we’re down, celebrate us as we experience victory over sin, and walk with us. Life groups are a great place for these types of relationships to take root, but more than that having a small group of 2 or 3 other people who know you deeply and will call you to deeper devotion and relationship to Christ. May the Lord help us as we go on our journey.