Through the Flood: The Persistence of Brokenness

Genesis 6:9-11:32

Bible Passage: Genesis 6:9–11:32

Summary: This passage recounts the stories of Noah and the flood, illustrating the pervasive brokenness of humanity and God's response to sin, ultimately pointing towards His redemptive plan.

Application: This sermon can help Christians understand that while God brings judgment on sin, His mercy and desire for relationship with humanity persist. It encourages believers to reflect on their own struggles with sin and the hope offered through Jesus.

Teaching: The message teaches that brokenness is an inherent part of the human experience, and despite God's judgment, His love and desire for restoration remain. The narrative shows that even after the flood, sin continued, reflecting our ongoing need for grace.

How this passage could point to Christ: Christ is seen in the flood narrative as the ultimate answer to human sinfulness. Just as Noah's family found refuge in the ark, believers find their salvation and shelter in Christ, who fully addresses the issue of sin and provides a way for reconciliation with God.

Big Idea: God's redemptive love triumphs over persistent brokenness, offering hope in Christ amid the sinful human condition.

1. Noah's Noble Stand

Genesis 6:9-22

2. Flood, Fear, and Favor

Genesis 7:1-24

3. Waters Recede, Hope Rises

Genesis 8:1-19

4. Covenant of Continual Grace

Genesis 8:20-9:17

5. Brokenness Persists, Redemption Prevails

Genesis 9:18-11:32

This opens with two main points. Noah lived on because he was righteous before God, and the earth was full of corruption. Violence had become the norm, and so the divine was going to take matters into His own hands. They must all be wiped from the earth. Noah, however, had three sons. They, along with him, would live. Noah and his sons would receive a covenant after they had acted according to the plans that were given to them to deliver a way of salvation from the waters—by God’s directions, which were the very salvation they were to find. Noah had to act, but God had provided the way and methods through direct communication with him. The “likeness” of God is still playing out. God was at work, and so man was to work as He was working. This would ensure life as He had created life. Noah did according to all that God had commanded him. They were not obedient; Noah was.

The creation narrative is then replayed. The chaotic waters of the deep were unleashed to the state before God’s Spirit hovered over it, and He, they, then began to create order. This time, Noah was the one who would take the male and female to safety. Noah was the one who would answer the call to dominion and take ownership of his responsibility as one made in “God’s image.” He would, through obedience, according to the previous covenant found in creation and then in the garden, make a righteous way. His hands, through work, would bring the salvation of life. The Ark was to save man from the chaotic waters as the “fountains of the deep” erupted, bringing death and covering the dry land, bringing the waters below, or death, to the dry land. The spirit was removed from the creatures of dry land by the waters below.

The waters destroyed, and when it appeared that it was time to perhaps disembark the Ark, Noah sent a bird out to scout. The narrative informs us that it wasn’t until creation was restored to a right state that the waters were contained again to the deep and the waters above stopped falling onto what was “dry land.” Why did Noah release a bird? Where do birds inhabit? The waters above, of course. He sent out the only creature capable of reaching into the sky. He sent the winged creature to find favor, to locate a place where man could inhabit: the dry land. He sent a messenger into the heavens, and it did not find dry land the first time. The dark raven, representing the blackness of death, did not return but flew from here to there. The dove, however, the pure white symbol of innocence, did return. There was not a place to rest yet for man. After one more week, Noah released the dove again. The winged creature had flown into the heavens and brought back a symbol of plenty: the olive leaf.

An astute reader would see the feasts in these narratives. In the seventh month, the spiritual new year for Israel, a set of three is celebrated: Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. The boat rested on the mountaintop, the highland where one could more easily meet with God, where He was with His people. A time of repentance, forgiveness, and renewal of covenant is recorded in these feasts. The tenth month is also a month of repentance—a time of great tragedy throughout the history of Israel. In Zechariah, a fast is required for turning back to God, as He will bring deliverance. Also note the forty-day and seven-day sequences and “as nightfall” approached, signifying that the Sabbath was at hand. The Law is present in all of these stories.

There is yet another covenant born: the “Noahic Covenant.” It encompassed the Adamic and Edenic covenants but added the fear of man into the animals of the earth. It added the meat of animals to the plate of humans. The covenant required that people do not eat the blood of the animals, explaining that it was the life of all living creatures. The blood was required for the shedding of blood. Sin required death, and blood was defined as the life of people. The final statement was that de-creation would never happen again. The destruction of sin would not happen by water ever again. The sign of the rainbow was set in the sky as a sign of the Noahic covenant. Immediately following this, Canaan, Noah’s son, did something lewd to his father while Noah was drunk. Brokenness persisted through the flood. Interestingly, Noah’s descendant Cush became the father of Nimrod. Nimrod was the first to be described as a “Nephilim,” and he was the founder of Babel. Assyria came from Nimrod, as did the great city of Nineveh. Nimrod’s brutality had a thousand-year reign in the form of the nation of Assyria’s brutality and coercive rule. The brokenness of violence had yet again erupted on the earth.

The land of Uz was of Noah’s line, as was Elam. The Elamites were yet another extremely violent nation, one which, in the end, with the Babylonians, conquered the Assyrians. First, however, the God of earth had to cause the language and customs of men to become confused so that they wouldn’t unite and use their strength to bring the world to its knees under their violent ways. God set the descendants of Noah against one another because they were violent and murderous themselves and wanted to unite to become their own God as one nation. They had forgotten that Noah was obedient, and because of their disobedience, they did not disperse and live quiet and peaceful lives, making children and creating order. Instead, they plotted to come together to rule and do violence. Thus, their language was confused, and they fought each other!

There was, however, a line that would prove fruitful: Shem. Shem’s line would be those who settled in the fertile Crescent. They would constantly have raiders from their brothers’ lineage but be a more peaceful people—the Sumerians. Broken people nonetheless, they were not as violent, and from them would come the one of promise: Abram. He would leave Ur with his father after the death of Haran and settle in Haran, only to leave after the death of his father, Terah.