Noah and the Ark
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Nobody knows the exact dates, but Noah built an Ark in preparation for the flood a relatively short time after Creation. As you read through the first book of the Bible, God reveals the deteriorating relationship between God and humankind, the deteriorating relationship between people and their neighbours.
In Gen. 1 & 2, we read the story of God calling the world into existance, lovingly creating this world where nothing existed before.
In ch. 3, we read how Adam & Eve plunged the whole world into sin and treason against our maker and ruler.
Ch. 4 describes humanity’s descent into sin; it became worse and worse.
The serious extent of human corruption is described in
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
It’s uncomfortable, but we need to pause and ponder the description of what God saw. This is serious. The story of Noah and the Ark is much more than an animal-rescue adventure. God sent the flood as punishment for human sin. The world was seriously messed up.
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
God’s reason for sending the flood is difficult for us to comprehend. We have trouble wrapping our heads around how sin has tainted every human thought and action because we live in a sin-denying culture.
Last year, Barna research reported that 75% of Americans believe “people are basically good at heart.” And even among Americans who identify as Christian, only 49% agree that sin is “an intentional choice, morally wrong, and it matters spiritually.” That’s less than half. That’s American numbers. In general, Canada is more secular than the States.
We have to deal with sin honestly at church because you won’t hear much about it elsewhere. In the Bible we learn that humankind rebelled against God. A NT author described it this way:
Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Ever since Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit, people do not consistently love God as #1 in our life. People do not consistently love their neighbour as themselves. Although reporters tell stories in the news of amazing rescues and generosity in floods and disasters, there is a regular diet of violence and corruption in our newsfeeds and daily experiences.
Sin is not just a reality “out there.” It’s deeply personal. Disobeying God’s call to love God and neighbour is the reality each of us deals with daily.
You can judge your own success, but even when it’s going well and my obedience seems on-track, I kinda hope that people notice how good I am. You ever get that? It raises the question: Are we being good for God’s glory or does the sin of pride taint our good deeds?
I get it. Talking about sin is uncomfortable. But if we’re going to understand this story and appreciate God’s grace and compassion, we need to sit with God’s judgement of his dearly loved people. Sin, violence, and corruption are at the heart of the story of Noah and the Ark. God makes it clear:
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
It’s amazing though. In the same breath God pronnounces judgement and punishment, God also reaches out to Noah in grace and compassion: I’m sending a flood as punishment for sin so you must make an ark.
I think God’s grace and compassion are a key part of Noah’s story. Where you or I might be tempted to destroy the world and start fresh, the Bible reveals that God consistently likes to preserve a remnant of people and animals. God is pleased to work with people and keep his creation going.
Who was Noah?
Noah comes from the line of Seth. This family line has a history of healthy relationship with God. Noah’s great-grandfather was particularly close to God.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Noah also walked faithfully with God. Unlike Jesus thousands of years later, Noah was not sinless. But, Noah’s relationship with God, his love, respect, and his effort to obey God made Noah the best candidate to work with God to preserve a remnant of people and animals.
In the daily Bible readings I mentioned the Ark Museum. If you’re ever in Kentucky, the Ark museum is fascinating. But as you think about the ark, don’t get distracted by the logistics of building, stocking, and managing the floating zoo. Don’t miss out on the miracle. God is the one who saved Noah’s family and the animals.
It’s one of those fascinating stories where God chooses to partner with fragile, imperfect humans to rescue his world. I’m sure human help slows God down as much as it slows you down when a 4-year-old helps you cook supper but God is delighted to work with people. It’s a theme throughout the Bible, the reality that continues today as God uses Crosspoint to make more disicples and better disciples.
It’s humbling and exciting that we have a group of people who have grown enormously in their faith over the past month. Five people are meeting with the elders on Wednesday in preparation for Profession of Faith:
Ed & Cheryl,
Darlene,
Joel,
and Kristen.
On Oct. 4, the Lord willing, along with 5 people standing up here to say Jesus is their Lord and Saviour, 5 people will be baptized.
Ed & Cheryl will be baptized
Kristen & Ian will present their 3 children for baptism.
Every time we talk about baptism, we talk about water being a sign of God’s judgement. Baptism is a powerful symbol, weighty with meaning. The water of baptism is a sign of God’s judgement and punishment. The water reminds us how, at the cross, Jesus bore the punishment for our sin so we could be washed clean of guilt and shame.
Jesus is like the ark. Just as 8 people were rescued from destruction in Noah’s day, so the church is a collection of people rescued by Jesus. By faith in Jesus, believers in the church float safely above the destructive floodwaters of God’s punishment for sin.
It sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s not a connection I came up with. The Apostle Peter used this imagery in his first letter, talking about:
The days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In this past week, we’ve had a lot of rain and some destructive weather. Flooding in the GTA. Damage in the Rogers Centre. But the storm in Noah’s day was a lot bigger: 40 days of straight rain. Not just rain, but “all the springs of the great deep burst forth.” God used water to “uncreate” the world. Just like before God created dry land or plants or animals, water covered the whole earth. It took a long time for the flooding to go down.
The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
That’s 5 months. 150 days from today is Feb. 3. That’s a long time to wait, bobbing on the surface of the water with a boatload of animals.
Imagine the relief of Mr. & Mrs. Noah, their sons and in-laws when they ark settled on the ground and they finally took the covering off of the ark. Even then they waited for God’s invitation:
Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”
You know the fresh, clean smell of the air and the ground smells after a powerful thunderstorm? That’s what Noah’s family stepped out of the ark to find. The world washed clean and bright and fresh. It’s a new start; a new era. Everything is literally washed clean and new. And God makes a covenant with Noah; a solemn promise never to destroy the earth with a flood.
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
God uses the rainbow as a sign of his covenant. The beauty of sunlight refracting through water droplets in the air is the sign of God’s covenant with Noah. It’s a reminder to us and God of his covenant faithfulness.
Which way does the rainbow point? The rainbow points upward. It’s aimed at God, reigning over the world from heaven. It’s a sign that God will bear the consequences of broken promises.
Baptism is the sign of God’s covenant with you. It’s an outward sign of what God is doing invisibly for you.
Just as water washes the body and purifies your skin, so Jesus cleanses you and purifies you from sin and rebellion in baptism.
Jesus is both God and human. Baptism is a vivid reminder that Jesus took the consequences of our disobedience on himself.
Being baptized is a sign of dying with Jesus and being raised to new life, a pure life, a brand new start because Jesus rose from the grave!
The sacrament of baptism is not just for the people being baptized. It’s a vivid reminder for all people of God’s grace and the new start he offers. We like to have the baptism bowl visible at most of our worship services. It’s a reminder, like the rainbow, of God’s covenant promises.
