They Were Destroyed From the Earth
Notes
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Call to Worship
Call to Worship
The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.
This is the Word of the Lord
Praise be to God
Introduction
Introduction
Last week, we talked about how The Earth was Filled with Violence
Men had multiplied on the Earth, as did their sin
We looked into the phrase in Genesis 6 speaking of the sons of God seeing the daughters of men as beautiful and taking them as wives.
Probably wouldn’t think too much about this, except that it then mentions Giants in relation to this union and men of renown, which makes us wonder about the identity of these “sons of God”
A very interesting topic, but it seems like fallen angels in some form took wives of men and created some sort of demonic/human hybrid, maybe birthing figures that would later become gods and goddesses of pagan mythology.
Also linked this and the increasing wickedness to the development of new technologies, which also has pagan mythological connections.
In some form, wickedness, like a cancer, grew and spread, corrupting all of creation, to the point where God was sorry He had made man.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
God instructed Noah to build an Ark and gave him very specific directions.
We then looked at the dimensions of the Ark and how it would be possible for Noah to get all those animals on board.
Genesis 7
Genesis 7
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. 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; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. 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.”
“Come into the Ark” the LORD said.
Not “go into the Ark”, but “Come”
God does not send His people where He is not.
He invites Noah and his family into safety and his protection.
Likewise, Jesus invites us to “come” to Him for salvation.
John 7:37 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
Noah’s household is saved, because of his righteousness.
Don’t underestimate the influence, especially of a father, over his house.
When a father is properly leading his family, many hardships will be avoided
Even for those who are not yet regenerate.
On this side of heaven, there is always a mixture of bad and good.
Noah was not sinless.
Noah’s son Ham, will later be cursed
He did not follow in the ways of his father Noah, yet he and his wife were still spared destruction because of the righteousness of his father.
Judas was one of Christ’s 12 closest friends,
Yet he was still able to experience the blessings of being in the presence of Christ for years before the betrayal.
7 of every clean animal
The flood is a recreation event.
The old world is being destroyed and a new one created.
God is providing for all animal kinds to be represented, once again, in the new earth.
The clean animals were of more use to Man.
In Genesis 9, God will give Noah and his descendants permission to eat meat.
The clean animals are better food than the unclean
The clean also could be used for milk, eggs, wool, etc.
Also, the clean animals were used in sacrifice to God.
So 3 pairs, and an extra for sacrifice.
And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.
So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.
Obedient Noah
Did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
Hebrews 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.”
Noah was 600, how long did it take for him to build the ark?
God gave humans 120 years to repent Genesis 6:3 “And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.””
Noah would have been 480 years old.
God told Noah that he would save him, his sons, and their wives,
So they must have been old enough to have wives and be married.
Noah had his first son at 500
If you give 25 years for Noah to have 3 sons and them to grow up and get married, that would put Noah at 525
Probably 75 years or less, but we don’t know for sure when God gave the command.
So Noah and his family board the ark, 7 days before the flood, and the animals follow.
Could have spent that seven days preparing and arranging the animals
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
This actually happened.
Tied to a specific year, month and day.
1656 years from Creation, God destroyed all life on earth, save for the 8 souls and representatives of each kind preserved in the Ark.
Fountains of the Deep
Requires speculation, because we don’t know exactly what this means, but we do know that volcanic eruptions emit large amounts of water vapor.
Perhaps there were large reservoirs of water underneath the earth’s crust
The geography of earth in Noah’s day was quite different than that of today.
From the creation account, we know that all the land was gathered together, as was all the water.
Today, we have land separated into 7 continents, with other smaller land masses scattered about elsewhere.
What happened?
Tectonic plates
When the fountains of the deep broke open, perhaps this is referring to the plates shifting and moving, creating the various continents.
The windows of the heaven were opened up
There is no mention of rain occurring until the flood.
Some believe this opening of the windows of heaven is referring to the “water above” being released onto earth.
Genesis 1:7 “Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.”
Whatever these things are referring to, we won’t know with absolute certainty this side of eternity.
Whatever happened was cataclysmic and unleashed the floodwaters of God’s judgement upon the Earth which had been filled with Violence.
On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
God shut him in
The door was not shut by Noah or by anyone else, but by God’s own hand.
The shut door protected those within, and condemned those without.
The door had been open, even for the duration of the 7 days.
Anyone could have entered in and been saved.
But now it was too late.
This picture of salvation:
It is available to everyone.
Today is the day of salvation.
Don’t wait. Don’t delay your repentance.
Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
The whole earth was covered.
Not a local flood.
There is no room for that in Scripture.
There are marine fossils near the top of mount everest.
mountains all over the world have fossils of fish and aquatic creatures.
Where did all the water go?
Seems like the tectonic activity started when the “fountains of the deep” ruptured and rapidly moved about during the flood, and then tapered off
During that time, the plates moved very quickly, smashing into each other, creating mountain ranges, pushing parts of plates up, pushing others down.
We have evidence of this rapid movement from magma hotspots that poke through the surface.
Hawaiian islands
as the plates slowed down, the island masses became bigger, as more lava had time to accumulate.
the active volcanoes are at the eastern end of the island chain, or the
yellowstone
went from the south west of Idaho, right underneath us to its current location
secular geologists agree with this hot spot movement, but disagree on the time frame.
So the point is, the mountains were not as high, nor the valleys as deep, before the flood. At the end of the flood, the sea floor lowered and the mountains were pushed higher, and the water left the surface of the earth, leaving dry land.
The same water that brought death and destruction to earth, elevated the occupants of the ark toward heaven.
When God brings trial and tribulation, God’s people are brought closer to him.
And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.I have, many a time, to little purpose.
All the men, women and children, that were in the world (except that were in the Ark) died.
How many people were on earth?
Assuming modern population growth, and taking into account the extended lifespans,
There very easily could be billions of people, even more than live today.
Maybe the violence that filled the earth included war and mass murders.
There’s no saying for certain
Matthew Henry:
We may suppose that they tried all ways and means possible for their preservation, but all in vain. Some climb to the tops of trees or mountains, and spin out their terrors there awhile. But the flood reaches them, at last, and they are forced to die with the more deliberation. Some, it is likely, cling to the Ark, and now hope that this may be their safety which they had so long made their sport. Perhaps some get to the top of the Ark, and hope to shift for themselves there; but either they perish there for want of food, or, by a speedier despatch, a dash of rain washes them off that deck. Other, it may be, hoped to prevail with Noah for admission into the Ark, and pleaded old acquaintance, Have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence? Hast thou not taught in our streets? “Yes,” might Noah say, “that I have, many a ime, to little purpose. I called but you refused; you set at nought all my counsel, and now it is not in my power to help you: God has shut the door, and I cannot open it.” Thus it will be at the great day. Neither climbing high in an outward profession, nor claiming relation to good people, will bring men to heaven. Those that are not found in Christ, the ark, are certainly undone, undone for ever; salvation itself cannot save them.
We may suppose that some of those that perished in the deluge had themselves assisted Noah, or were employed by him, in the building of the ark, and yet were not so wise as by repentance to secure themselves a place in it. Thus wicked ministers, though they may have been instrumental to help others to heaven, will themselves be thrust down to hell.
Let us now pause awhile and consider this tremendous judgment! Let our hearts meditate terror, the terror of this destruction. Let us see, and say, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; who can stand before him when he is angry? Let us see and say, It is an evil thing, and a bitter, to depart from God. The sin of sinners will, without repentance, be their ruin, first or last; if God be true, it will. Though hand join in hand, yet the wicked shall not go unpunished. The righteous God knows how to bring a flood upon the world of the ungodly.
Conclusion/Application
Conclusion/Application
The obvious message for us from this Chapter is to repent and be ready for Christ’s return
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
We are also told in Scripture, that the flood is a picture of baptism.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer 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, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
What saved Noah: The ark or God?
Something less clear that this passage teaches us.
the goodness of God in judgment
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
