A Risk to Build -The risk of Noah
Sermon: A Risk to Build - The risk of Noah
Series: Risky Business
Text: Genesis 6:9-22 May 27, 2007 PM
Genesis 6:9-22 (NIV) 9 "This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 "Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 "God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 "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. 14 "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 "This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 "Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 "I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 "But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 "Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 "You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” 22 "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
INTRODUCTION
Last week we looked at the risk Abraham took
A Risk to Go
This week we are going to look at Noah
Noah was told to build an Ark
Why was that a risk?
What Was Noah’s Risk?
What do we need to do
If we are going to be builders?
I. BUILD DESPITE CORRUPTION
Genesis 6:9-13 (NIV) 9 "This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 "Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 "God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 "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."
Let’s look at the history for a minute
According to this chronology there were 1656 years between the creation and the flood.
Note that Adam would have been alive until Noah’s father was 56 years old!
All of the early patriarchs and prophets except for Noah would have heard the story of creation and the fall from Adam himself!
Quote: Mark Sutton: “Man's problems do not stem from acknowledging his sinfulness. Instead, they are rooted in his pride and unwillingness to say, ‘I am guilty; I stand in need of forgiveness.’”
But what had happened?
Look back at Genesis 6
Corruption - Destruction, Destroyed - Already dead!
NOTE - the earth was violent, I wonder about the Dinos?
A. LOOK OUT FOR LAWLESS TIMES
1. It was a time of anarchy
Genesis 6:5 (NIV) 5 "The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."
a. These mighty men
b. Were mighty in wickedness
ILL: Like the young man who was stopped by the traffic cop. The cop snarled, “Don't go telling me you didn't see that stop sign.”
“Oh, to be sure I saw the sign, Officer. The point is--I didn't see you.”
There are a lot of people who think that God is not paying attention.
c. Renowned for sin and for lasciviousness.
2. It goes on to say
a. Every imagination of the thoughts
b. Of his heart was only evil continually
3. That word imagination is interesting word.
a. It comes from a Hebrew root
b. Meaning to shape as a potter
c. They were shaping their thoughts to evil
4. Men were molding wicked philosophies.
a. And they were espousing filthy causes.
b. They were trying to reshape society.
c. Making perversion and vice acceptable
d. Saying good was bad, and bad was good
5. Lawless times
a. And the same sins that produced the flood
b. Are reaching to heaven in our day and age.
IT WAS LAWLESS
B. LOOK OUT FOR LISTLESS TIMES
1. Apathetic!
Matthew 24:37-39 (NIV) 37 "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 "For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 "and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
a. It is not hard to see
2. Just before the flood,
a. Right up to the very day
b. They were eating, drinking, marrying
3. In spite of the preaching of the prophet Noah,
a. They simply yawned in the face of God.
b. Nothing seemed to shake them.
ILL: Like the man who asked his wife, “Do you think the world's problems are caused by ignorance or apathy?”
She replied, “I don't know and I don't care!”
Or then there was the politician who responded to a reporter saying, “I am neither for nor against apathy.
4. They were sure tomorrow would come
a. And they didn’t care about truth
b. Or about righteousness
5. I think that perhaps these people were prosperous
a. They had most material needs met
b. They thought they were doing pretty well
c. So who needs to worry about morals?
d. Who cares about ethics?
ILL: Why has the homosexual movement gained such ground in America? Our apathy. Why has pornography taken over the internet and infiltrated our homes? Our apathy. Why is the drug culture so prevalent in today’s youth? Apathy on our part. Why is Christianity under attack in our world? Because we have been apathetic in confronting our culture. It is our apathy that has allowed prime time to become slime time. It is our apathy that has resulted in vulgar lyrics coming over our radios. It is our apathy that has turned a once moral nation into an ethical swamp.
6. In their arrogance
a. They just couldn’t seem to really care
7. I guess you could call them Loveless as well
a. Because Love requires action
b. But they did not care enought to act
8. I am sure that reading in the newspapers
a. About the rising child abuse bothered them
b. But not enough to worry too much
c. I’m sure they worried about teen pregnancy
d. But not enough to use biblical discipline
e. I bet they got mad when cheated
f. But didn’t mind cheating someone else
9. They were so focused on self gratification
a. They couldn’t see beyond their own noses
b. It was a listless time
c. Nobody really cared about anything
II. BUILD DESPITE DOUBTS
Genesis 6:14-21 (NIV) 14 "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 "This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 "Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 "I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 "But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 "Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 "You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
A. BUILD SOMETHING NEW
1. Build something never seen before
a. Some theologians, No rain, No Ark
b. Noah was given detailed instruction
(1) A ship in the shape of a coffin
(2) Made from gopher wood, cyprus, used for coffins
(3) Incorruptible wood
(4) Covered inside and out with pitch
(5) The word pitch, same word in OT for atonement
(6) It had a window and a door
(7) Noah controlled the window
(8) Only God controlled the door
c. All points the Jesus
(1) A judgment proof salvation
(2) Atonement assured
(3) He comes between them and outpoured wrath of God
2. Believe in someone you haven’t seen before - the voice of the Lord
a. Devote your resources - Time and labor, money and assets
b. The task is bigger than you are - Years and years
B. BUILD FOR THE STORM
1. Sailing through the storm
Mt Everest, 29,0028 Feet
Dead sea, 1292 below Sea Level
Let’s just say 30,000 feet between the two
40 Days of flood, 30,000 feet
750 feet per day
31.25 feet per hour
6.25 inches per minute
You’ve never seen a storm like that
And it is worldwide
There is no where to run
C. BUILD FOR SALVATION
1. God had Noah put a door in the ark
a. And later we see
(1) Noah did not shut the door
(2) We are never to shut the door of salvation
(3) That is God’s prerogative
b. Some people get so Calvinistic
(1) That they forget this
(2) God told us to GO
(3) To Make Disciples
(4) Only God can shut the door of salvation
2. You can’t do it yourself - Calling the animals
a. The ark is a picture of God saving not only mankind
b. But of redeeming creation
Romans 8:19-22 (NIV) "19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
III.BUILD IN DEDICATION
Genesis 6:22 (NIV) 22 "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
A. TRUST AND OBEY
1. This is the Trust and Obey portion
a. Imagine the testimony to Noah’s neighbors
b. Crazy Noah built a boat
c. And then he goes in
d. And Here come animals of all shapes and sizes
2. The unbelieving world
a. Often sees the redeemed streaming to the Church
b. And they laugh at us for fools
c. But the flood is coming
d. God’s wrath will not wait forever
3. It is a principle of God
a. That he witnesses to an age awaiting judgment in 2 ways
(1) By faithful preaching
(2) And by fulfilled prophecy
b. Remember, Noah is called a Preacher of Righteousness
c. And Methuselah’s very name meant,
(1) When he dies, it shall come
B. TRUST IN THE PICTURE OF CHRIST
There is probably no biblical event
So precisely dated by God
As the flood
18 times or so, the Bible makes a time and date citation
By day and month, day by day and month by month
Noah’s struggle
1. God is Patient
a. He loaded the ark and still waited seven day
Genesis 7:10 (NIV) "10And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth."
b. Noah and the animals entered the ark
c. Then 7 days later the flood started
d. God granted them a last week of grace
e. And they abused it
Romans 2:4-5 (NIV) "4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? 5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."
2. There is no record of anyone knocking on the door
a. Just the deadening silence of the Biblical record
3. Let’s also look at the Ark’s schedule
Genesis 8:4 (NIV) 4 "and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat."
4. Some ships don't arrive on time.
a. This one arrived right on the dot.
b. On the 7th month, the 17th day
5. Why is this important?
a. The Jewish calender begins in October,
b. And seven months from October,
c. Is April,
d. And then at the seventeenth day
e. Passover was April the fourteenth
f. And 3 days later is the 17th
g. What happened three days later?
h. Jesus Christ came out of the grave.
i. Jesus was raised from the dead
6. Jesus died on Passover
a. Three days after Passover on April 17
b. Jesus Christ came out of the grave.
C. Peter links the ark with Jesus resurrection
1. And the ark rested upon Mount Ararat
2. Which means Mount of Glory
D. Jesus Christ took the brunt of God's judgement,
1. But on a specific day,
2. It rested upon the mount of God's holiness
3. And we rest with him.
4. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath.
E. He passed through the waters of judgement
1. And stood in resurrection upon the earth
2. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month.
INVITATION
Take the Risk to Build
Because it always points to Christ
Let me review some connections, some comparisons
Between the ark and our salvation in Christ
1. . There is only one way of salvation and there was only one door in the ark.
2. The ark was made of wood, speaking of the humanity of Christ: He had to be born as man in order to save us.
3. The word for “pitch” in 6:14 is the same as the word “atonement” used later in the OT.
4. God invited Noah and his family into the ark (7:1); then, once they were in,
5. God shut them in so that they were secure (7:16).
6. The ark saved not only humankind, but also the creatures within it, just as Christ’s death will one day deliver creation from the bondage of sin (Rom. 8:18–23).
7. The ark saved Noah and his family from judgment because they believed God’s promise (Heb. 11:7); Christ saves us from the wrath to come as we believe Him.
8. First Peter 3:18–22 connects the ark with the resurrection of Christ; the waters buried the old world but raised Noah to a new life.
9. Noah was faithful to obey all that God commanded; Jesus said, “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29).
10. Noah was brought safely through the floods; Christ went through the flood of suffering (Ps. 42:7) and came out in victory.
11. Noah went out of the ark, the head of a new creation with his family; and Christ came out of the tomb, the Head of the new creation, and the Father of a new family.
12. Noah went through the judgment and was kept safe, just as the believing Jewish remnant will go through the Tribulation to establish the kingdom on the earth.
13. Enoch was raptured before the judgment came (5:21–24; Heb. 11:5), just as the church will be raptured before the wrath of God is poured out upon the world. See 1 Thes. 1:10 and 5:9–10.