The Duty Of Noah

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Intro.

Intro. While prophecy is obviously future it is accompanied by immediate duty. We like to hear what is to come, but we shrink back from what that means is our duty in light of it today. Noah is given a limited insight into the future, namely that the end has come and judgement is on the way (). We have seen the the defilement around Noah, and the declaration of prophecy to Noah. God immediately follows that with Noah’s duty to his generation in light of the prophecy that he has recieved. Noah unlike many of us today accepted, respected, and fulfilled his duty in light of God’s revelation. He not only accepted, respected, and fulfilled his duty, but he performed it completely. What is God’s vessel/beacon of salvation in our world today? The gospel that is to be preached by the Church. Our duty is to preach the gospel of righteousness in Jesus which build the Chruch…not a physical building…but a spiritual one.

The Plans In The Duty-God’s plan was to build an ark.

The ship in the plans-

“Make thee an ark ”

This ship was really a large floating barge.

The word “ark” is translated as such 28 times in the O/T, and 2 times in reference to the basket Moses was placed in which preserved His life.

We call it a ship, but it had no means of propulsion. It had to go where God guided it or random chance.

If you are in the ark (church of Jesus Christ) you have no ability to propel.

Question

Are you trying to propel your life in your own direction?

The wood-

“Make thee an ark of gopher wood”

Historians are unsure what type of wood this is, but think it may have been related to Cyprus.

Whatever this wood was it was of the sort that could withstand the water and protect the contents of the ark.

God chose the wood for the ark, but Noah had to gather it.

Question

Are you in the process of choosing wood or gathering wood?

The pitch

The sweat in the plans

“Thou…shalt pitch it within and without with pitch”-

Pitch is what we would call tar.

Obviously covering the ark would make it waterproof…it would, also, make the ark completely black.

The word here translated, as “pitch”, is else where translated as “atonement”.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The measurements

The tar that covers the ark is a picture of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ which he shed for His Church.

Question

Are you trusting in the atonement or are you trusting in your effort in building the ark?

The measurements

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. The measurements

“The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits [450 feet], the breadth of it fifty cubits [75 feet], and the height of it thirty cubits [45 feet]” -

The measurements

Most historians say it could hold up to 1,000 train box cars.

“The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits [450 feet], the breadth of it fifty cubits [75 feet], and the height of it thirty cubits [45 feet]” ()

Ship builders would later learn that the best dimensions for floating ships are length ten times their height and six times their width…surprisingly the exact same dimensions that God gave Noah.

God determines the size of a sea worthy vessel, not Noah or Moses.

Question

Are you trying to determine how big or small the ship/church should be?

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 47). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The cabins

“Rooms shalt thou make in the ark”-

These rooms were for both animal and human passengers.

There was room enough for everyone one who wanted a spot on the ark.

As you can imagine the work was never done

Question

Do you see the ark as a place that has room for all or only for you?

The decks

“Lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make”-

“Lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make”-

The decks made efficient use of the space on the ark.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 48). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

Whenever God creates space...He fills it …His way.

Question

Do you see the space in the ark around you as a waste or an opportunity to see God work?

The window

“A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above”-

“A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above” ().

This was either a cubit square, as seen in most paintings of the ark.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 48). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

Most likely it was cubit gap around the entire top level of the ark to allow for air flow and light.

Question

Are you keeping the window open for God’s light to shine in and for the church to not become recirculated air.

The door

The door

“The door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof”-

“The door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof” ().

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 48). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The door was made to allow entry to the life saving ark.

The door of the church is Jesus Christ.

Question

Are you trying to be the door to the ark? Deciding who belongs or who doesn't.

The sweat in the plans

“The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits”-

“The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits” ()

Noah had to gather materials and supplies, assemble storage of the materials and supplies, organize and execute the labor.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 49). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

God’s calling never lends itself to laziness.

If you are lazy or slothful you will not accomplish the will of God, because God’s will always requires hard work.

If you are looking for an easy life, you are not looking for God’s will.

Question

Do you want the will of God or an easy life?

The scorn in the plans

The Bible does not specify the scorn, but does it have too?

We perceive from the fact that there had not bee rain that Noah was mocked for preaching about it.

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

No doubt Noah was the butt of the joke, the subject of the song in the bar, the fool of academia, and the mean preacher to be avoided by the religious.

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

The walk of faith/righteousness in an unrighteous world is not easy and filled with accolades from society. It is a difficult, uphill climb full of scorning and hostility.

However, the walk of faith/righteousness in an unrighteous world is the only walk that survives the wrath of God and finds shelter in the ark.

The Prompting For The Duty-Inspiration/Motivation

The flood

“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth”--The promise of the flood was the motivating factor forNoah to get busy and build the ark.

“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth” ()

The Sovereignty in the flood-”I, even, I do bring a flood”-Men were to build the ark, gather supplies…etc.

Control

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 50). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

God has the power to bring a flood and the control of when and how it comes.

Man, demons, nor Satan are in control, it is God and God alone.

“I am that I am”- - This is a statement that challenges all who try to exercise power or authority in God’s realm. Men may boast of ability or authority, but only God has the power and authority to make a statement such as this and to fulfill, all that it entails.

Choice

“I, even I, do bring a flood”

“I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.”

God chooses when, God chooses why, and God chooses how

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 51). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

God does not leave room for doubt.

God could have destroyed all mankind by the sword of an angel … as he destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and the camp of the Assyrians; and then there needed no more than to set a mark upon Noah and his family for their preservation. But God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which should drown the world. The reasons, we may be sure, were wise and just, though to us unknown. God has many arrows in his quiver, and he may use which he pleases- Matthew Henry

“God could have destroyed all mankind by the sword of an angel … as he destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and the camp of the Assyrians; and then there needed no more than to set a mark upon Noah and his family for their preservation. But God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which should drown the world. The reasons, we may be sure, were wise and just, though to us unknown. God has many arrows in his quiver, and he may use which he pleases” (Henry).

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 51). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The sureness of the flood

“I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.”

“I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.”

This is not a statement of uncertainty, but rather of absolute certainty.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 51). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

God does not leave room for doubt.

When God is speaking man must listen

When man speaks we may choose to listen or ignore, but when God speaks we ignore His words at our peril.

The sureness of the word of the Lord means Noah had better build an ark or perish with the rest of humanity.

The sureness of God’s word means we had better build the Church/ tell other about Christ and the Hell to come.

The fatalities

Destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die -

“Destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die” ().

The other prompting/motivating factor is the people who will die if Noah does not build the ark.

The ark is the only means of escape.

The totality of the destruction/judgment was a great motivator.

Accepting Christ/Becoming a part of the Body Of Christ which is the Church is man’s only hope of escaping Hell/the judgment to come. The totality of the judgment to come should be a great motivator for us, as well.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, pp. 51–52). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The Faith

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house”-

The Promise In The Duty

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” ()

Noah’s faith was a great motivation for doing what God has called him, too.

Faith is simply acting on the Word of God. In Noah’s case that means building an ark.

Noah, believed God’s Word about the coming flood, and he believed God’s Word about building the ark, he allowed God’s Word to control his entire life.

We can speak all that we want abut our faith and the strength of it. But if we do not obey the Word of God and let God’s Word guide our lives we are not living by faith.

True faith allows God’s Word to control its entire life, it always does.

True faith is always coupled with action. It makes much of God’s Word.

Lack of interest in God’s Church, is a result of diminishing God’s Word, which exposes the absence of faith.

Noah had no precedence for preaching about the coming of the rain and flood. It had never happened according to Hebrews. All he had was the Word of God.

We have today, because we have the precedence of the worldwide flood in accordance with the Word of God.

Noah believed the Word of God and so ought we…even if the whole world stands in opposition to us.

The Promise In The Duty- “With thee will I establish my covenant” (). Here in the middle of this declaration of duty, Noah is given a promise that God will establish a covenant with him. A covenant involves blessings. Some covenants also involve obligations for mankind, but the main thought of a covenant is a promise of Divine blessings. There are at-least eight distinct covenants in the Scripture. The Scofield Bible divides the eight covenants like this: (1) The Edenic covenant which concerned man’s enjoyment of the Garden of Eden []; (2) The Adamic which concerned two things—first, the curse on the earth because of sin and second, the promise of the Savior []; (3) the Noahic covenant which concerned the conditions of the earth after the flood []; (4) the Abrahamic covenant which concerned the Jewish seed []; (5) the Mosaic covenant which concerned the law of God []; (6) the Palestinian covenant which concerned the land for Israel []; (7) the Davidic covenant which concerned the throne and kingdom of Israel []; and (8) the Messianic or New covenant which concerned the millennium []. The number of covenants in Scripture is not what is most important but the principles involved in the covenants are what matter.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 52). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.The Promise In The Duty

“With thee will I establish my covenant” (). Here in the midst of the declaration of duty, Noah is given a wonderful promise that God will establish a covenant with him. A covenant involves blessings. Some covenants also involve obligations for mankind, but the main thought of a covenant is a promise of Divine blessings.

Some Bible teachers see eight distinct covenants in the Scripture. The Scofield Bible itemizes eight covenants as follows: (1) The Edenic covenant which concerned man’s enjoyment of the Garden of Eden []; (2) The Adamic which concerned two things—first, the curse on the earth because of sin and second, the promise of the Savior []; (3) the Noahic covenant which concerned the conditions of the earth after the flood []; (4) the Abrahamic covenant which concerned the Jewish seed []; (5) the Mosaic covenant which concerned the law of God []; (6) the Palestinian covenant which concerned the land for Israel []; (7) the Davidic covenant which concerned the throne and kingdom of Israel []; and (8) the Messianic or New covenant which concerned the millennium []. We confess to the difficulty of ascertaining each covenant with certainty, and so do not dispute the different numbers of covenants given by various Bible scholars. It is not the number of covenants in Scripture that matter but the principles involved in the covenants that matter.

What is a covenant?

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 53). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 53). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The word “covenant” carries with it the meaning “to cut or carve; hence a covenant, from the custom of passing between the divided pieces of the victims slain on the occasion of making such solemn compacts” (Whitelaw).

The source of the covenant

The word translated “covenant” in our text carries with it the meaning “to cut or carve; hence a covenant, from the custom of passing between the divided pieces of the victims slain on the occasion of making such solemn compacts” (Whitelaw).

You can see an illustration of this definition in , .

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, pp. 53–54). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

For us in our day in age we no longer cut animals in two and walk in between them when we make a contract we sign a piece of paper, but when you make a covenant with God you are walking between the equal part man and God of Jesus Christ which were torn asunder on the cross.

The source of the covenant

The source of the covenant

The source of the covenant

“I establish my covenant.”

The sureness of the covenant

“I establish my covenant.”

The sureness of the covenant

It is God’s covenant not Noah’s. This mean it will be fair and equitable and there will be no fine print or deceptive wording in this covenant.

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 54). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

God’s covenants are not meant to limit or restrict the blessings in our lives, but rather to increase and enhance the blessings in our lives.

The sureness of the covenant

“Will I.”

God’s promise are “yea and amen.”

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

The saint for the covenant

20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Sin always makes promises it never keeps, God always keeps His promises.

The saint for the covenant

The saint for the covenant

“With thee will I establish my covenant”-

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 55). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

Noah is recipient of the blessing that come from this covenant.

Why Noah?

Because he walked with God while the rest of the world was walking with the devil.-

There are always blessings to be had from following God.

The summary of the covenant

We may be rejected, short-changed, mistreated, and maligned in this world.

The day is coming when men will see that obedience and devotion to God is/was worth it. God’s blessings are never cheap or stingy…God’s blessings are always great and given in abundance.

The summary of the covenant

The covenant has two features which stand out: 1. There will be no more world-wide floods- .; 2. The rainbow will be a sign- .

Every-time we see a rainbow we are reminded that God will not flood the earth. Regional areas may flood, but never the earth.

The next judgment will be one of fire.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

The Preservation In The Duty-The reason for this duty was preservation.

The participants in the preservation

“Thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee … two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive”- ,

“Thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee … two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive” (, ).

The members of Noah’s family

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 56). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The prerequisites for the preservation

“Thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee”-

“Thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee” ().

Butler, J. G. (2007). Noah: The Ark Builder (Vol. Number Twenty-Three, p. 56). Clinton, IA: LBC Publications.

The prerequisites for the preservation

The place of the preservation

The Performing Of The Duty

The compliance in his performing

The completeness in his performing

The celerity in his performing

The communication in his performing