As it was in the days of Noah
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1,708 viewsLiving by Faith in the generation of sin
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
As it was in the days of Noah
As it was in the days of Noah
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
luke17
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
There is so much that can be said about the story of Noah. In fact when I say the name Noah, what do you think of?
If you are a new parent and you are awaiting your first son, you may think about the baby decorations for his room… A common theme for baby boys is Noah’s ark, full of animals in a happy little scene that is sailing on pretty blue water.
If you have a family of young kids, you make think about the story of Noah and use it as encouragement for a close knit family that needs to get along in the midst of difficult situations, because after all that one family was on a boat full of stinky animals that they had to care for until the boat stopped.
Perhaps you look at Noah as a righteous preacher that boldly preaches in a crooked generation, and you are encouraged to save those around you by making a stand for the Lord. Every time you get rejected for preaching the Gospel you think to yourself, “they thought Noah was crazy too...”
And yet all of these caricatures of this story are wrong...
The Flood epidemic was not a peaceful scene of a happy little boat full of animals… It was one of the most extreme pictures of judgement we have in all of scripture… Humanity is judged for sin and is literally washed off the face of the earth… not exactly great pictures to put in your kids bedroom.
The ark was more than a boat full of hard work for a close knit family to learn from. It was a vessel of safety from the judgement happening outside, and we are not ment to make it moralistic life lessons.
And while Noah preached and was considered righteous in a crooked generation, he never saved one person outside of his family. Not the best example of a preacher for you to use to justify your mean-spirited gospel presentations.
In fact all these things I mentioned are actually pictures that should point us to Christ! Listen, there are certainly lessons to be learned by every story we have in scripture, but we must remember that scripture is a special revelation of God to us. We need to ask ourselves, how what this story teaches us about who God is.
There is much for us to read so let’s get started.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
Whenever we see the words, :”these are the generations...” we know that there is a new section of scripture starting… Kind of like a way of saying, now that you know all that you just read, consider this story… Intro Noah...
A righteous man, Blameless in his generation. This does not say that Noah never sinned. We know that that tells us, “aLL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD”… everyone, this included Noah.
Yet what we do see is that he is considered to be way better than the rest of humanity at this point. Last week Cole talked about this sinful human condition that is spiraling out of control. Well, Noah seems to be less infected in comparison to everyone around him. There are other characters in scripture that it says they were blameless… take Job for example… Yet we know from that book that he sins against God and God addresses his sin in questioning God.
One more interesting thing we see here… Noah walked with God… Sound like anyone else we see in scripture up to this point? Enoch, the one who walked with God and God took him. So why then, did God take Enoch and not Noah? I would submit to you that God knew sin had not yet progressed to a place where he had to wipe it out and start again, which is where we find Noah in the story.
The encouraging thing we are meant to see by both of these men, is that there seemed to be hope even in our fallen state… Not hope that we can be good enough for God, but that God can be gracious enough to his fallen creation, and use them in spite of their sinful state.
We see that God will use imperfect sinful men in his perfect plan, for his perfect glory. Isn’t our father gracious?!
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
We find out that Noah was a family man, meaning he like others of his day, had a family to provide for. This also meant he had a family to teach about God. He must’ve known that the world around him was in a bad condition… and as much as we like to not address the few verses before about the Nephilim, we do see that the daughters of men are being somehow sexually infected by what can only be seen as demonic activity to pervert humanity further.
But Noah has 3 boys, which makes him a good candidate for his calling we will see here.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Please notice that the earth was corrupt and all flesh was corrupt. Remember that the curse which God pronounced in was on the land and his created people. Here we see that progression has gotten way worse in so few generations.
Notice also the language here… God saw. One thing we can learn from the beginning of Genesis is that God sees us. Nothing is ever happening that God is unaware of. He sees everything. An important thing we need to learn about our God.
But also this verse echoes of where he saw his creation and said, “it is good”. But here he sees and reports corruption and violence are out of control. In fact just before this it is reported that in more detail… I have already mentioned the sexual immorality infecting the earth, but in the beginning of it also states in verse 3 that mankind is resistant to God and he no longer will strive with us, so his Spirit will not abide in us forever, our days will be shortened.
We find out that God was grieved in his heart about the condition of Man. Meaning he cared deeply about how bad it had gotten, and he wasn’t happy, it hurt him personally. It is important to know this before we can get to any act of judgement, because to skip it would make God out to be a cold heart less judge who joyfully destroys his creation. But that is not the picture we have in scripture.
But in verse 5 we see one of the worst indictments on mankind, and this accurately describes the generation of Noah’s day.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
EVERY intention was ONLY evil… Continually…
We need to see this before getting to verse 11 and 12. We need to see that the progression of sin made it so that mankind could have no hope in and of himself because his every intention was only evil.
We started with a verse about the second coming of Christ and a description of “as it was in the days of Noah...” Well this is what that meant. In those days it was so bad that every intention of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually...
It said in , that they we eating and drinking and marrying… Now that describes a normality to life and it doesn’t mean those things are bad.
because we have
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
It is possible to eat and drink unto God’s glory by enjoying all he has provided to you. So that is not what was wrong with that generation. But when those things are being done in excess and for your own glory and excluding God from receiving praise from you for those things… when you are eating and drinking and marrying with evil thoughts in your heart constantly, and everyone around you celebrates that, now we are getting closer to the condition of the earth in Noahs day.
Seeing this and knowing this, means we can recognize that God should do something about it. And we do see that… And it teaches us something else about God.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Here again we see God doesn’t act uninterested with his creation. He speaks to them. How gracious is it that God would speak and warn.
And notice that he has already determined to make an end to all flesh. This speaks of God’s ability to plan before the foundation of the world as it says in … So we are learning that God is grieved by sin, He see, and he speaks, and now that he is sovereignly in control of judging the earth.
And his plan is to destroy everyone and the earth. There is a reset button on this thing… It reminds us of the language in
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
This picture of chaos and the earth covered with water… remember God creates light and land and sky and everything from this starting point. And yet it sounds like God is resetting things back to that point.
So what will he do with this righteous guy who is blameless? What will he do with Noah?
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
Now before we say too much here… It is important that we point out up until this point inn scripture we have no record of the word Rain or Boat/ark...
When God speaks to Noah, he gives him instruction to build something that made absolutely no sense to him what so ever. Remember the ground watered itself, and best as bible scholars can tell, This Noah guy is living somewhere in Mesopotamia, probably not next to the sea.
How will he know what a boat is and what rain is? This is why Hebrews mentions him in the Hall of Faith in chpt 11. Because even though he didn’t know what God meant, he still believed what God said would come tomorrow and it informed how he lived today .hat is what faith looks like. Believing God and living like it. In his case, building a boat.
And what a boat this is to be. While we do not measure things in cubits, the size of this boat he calls an ark, is nothing short of impressive. It measures 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. I can’t imagine building by hand a boat a tenth of this size.
Not to mention… What do you think people thought of 500 yr old Noah building this? What is a boat? What is rain? Whats a flood?
And God gives instructions to build three decks inside it and make certain rooms and windows. God gives all the information to him even though it wouldn’t have made much sense.
Quick note, scientist and engineers have made a boat from these specs and found that it is one of the most sea worthy and stable boats you can build… Just saying God’s word is specific and seems to prove time and again that it is true...
But the worst part isn’t that he was being told by God to build a boat for the flood, even though he didn’t know what that meant… look at why he is doing it.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
Remember that phrase breath of life describes how human beings are animated by God… He breathed in their nostrils and gave them the breath of life. Which means he has the right to end that life also. And he goes on to say that everything on earth will die.
Noah must have been freaking out. EVERYTHING will die. What would Noah do? His mind had to racing, he needed comfort from God, and he gets it...
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
gen6.
Noah hears that God’s plan has good news… But notice how it was all bad news first. We often say that the bad news is the backdrop to the good news… Meaning, that salvation in Jesus Christ is amazing but doesn’t really make sense until you know how hopeless your condition is first. You see, to say there3 is a savior is one thing.... But to say that you are a sinner that needs a savior is whole other thing.
Here we se that blueprint for how the gospel is to be preached… By showing the bad news and then when it seems like there is no hope, declaring the good news!
God tells Noah that he will establish a covenant with him, and save even his family from the flood that will destroy everything. And this is all the motivation he needs from God. Noah doesn’t know what it will look like, he doesn’t know how hard it will be or what challenges there will be for his family, but he has a promise from God that in the end he will be safe with his whole family and God will establish a covenant with him.
But there is more to the story that Noah needs to know.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”
gen6.19
Noah now hears that he isn’t just building a boat, which he doesn’t know what it is, to save him from a flood of rain, which he doesn’ know what that means, but now he will somehow get every kind of animal, both male and female and take care of them… Which of course means he also needs to gather up every kind of food to feed them and himself…
This is not a task that that anyone can do… Even if he can make the boat to the exact specs that God said, and even if he does gather all the different kinds of food on the earth into that boat… He cannot get every kind of animal into that boat.
That is why when preachers make the story about Noah into some sort of Faith walk that you can do in order to get what he got… it is not the Gospel. Yet we do see the framework of the Gospel in this story… Because One man is being given a task that no man can do. This task will save his family and preserve the creation while the rest of the world is judged… Does that sound like anyone else we hear about in scripture?
The story of Noah points to Jesus who truly rescues God’s family from Judgement. Think about it in this story Noah is a type of Jesus the true rescuer, and Noah’s family is a type of the family of God. They didn’t decide to be born into Noah’s family, and we didn’t decide to be born again and yet God has placed us in his family by pure grace through faith in Christ, our rescuer! And if this is true, then really the ark is a great type of the Church. How so?
What was the message Noah preached? He didn’t have Christ to point to and we don’t have any words of his here in Genesis to know what he preached, but if you build a huge boat and when asked why tell people it gonna rain… thats sermon they will never forget. God said he is going to judge the earth so there has to be a vehicle to carry his chosen family and keep them safe.
The church is Christs’ church in which the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and is structured according to his design found only in scripture. The church is not a build but a people who gather to worship God and becomes a house made up of living stones. This gathering place is one of safety from the flood of sinful living that outside its doors people are drowning and dying… this gathering place of people declare a message of judgement coming and salvation accomplished as God does a work that no man can do. Do you see the similarities in the story of Noah?
So what would Noah do… This is strange and overwhelming but Noah was commended for having Faith in believing God… so the next verse shows you what that looks like.
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Noah had been told by God what to do… He was 500 yrs old and had a small family. He lived in a sinful generation that only ever thought of evil continually. He may not have understood completely what an ark was, or what rain or a flood was, but he did what God told him to do… and it wasn’t easy and it did take only a couple days...
The story of Noah is one of faithfulness and obedience unlike most we see in scripture because it takes 100 yrs to accomplish and there is no way we could ever imagine the ridicule he took from people, and the hard work he had to endure in order to make this ark a reality.
Chapter 6 ends and Noah has his work cut out for him, but he is doing it trusting the Lord.
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
gen7.1
Look again we see that God see Noah… God knew already that he was the one who this task would fall to but he tells Noah, I have seen you. This is not because he wasn’t sure that Noah would do it but God is encouraging Noah by saying to show him that even though he must’ve felt all alone at times and struggled at other times… He was watching him the whole time.
He now instructs him to go inside… It is about to get real.
2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
gen7.2-
Noah no doubt doesn’t understand why he is now being told to do this, but it will make sense later. Yet it is important to note that God declares two genders in even his created animals. God is concerned with preserving animals and people and so he needs both male and female, there is never any debate about this no matter how sinfully dark the world gets. God preserves families who will repopulate, because that is his design… even in animals...
And Noah again does ALL that the Lord commanded.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
Notice Noah was 500 at the beginning of this story and he is now 100… And not just any old 100 yrs have passed, but no doubt 100 yrs of hard labor… that’ll age you quick.
Notice they go into the Ark and it says that two by two every animal goes with them. This isn’t a picture of them pulling the lions on a leash into the ark, but somehow these animals are peacefully not eating each other or fighting with the humans. This is the work only God could do in this story, he brings all the animals to Noah and they go with him and his family into the Ark.
And this is seven days before the flood water come… They obvious needed time to get settled.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
gen7.11-
God’s word is so specific, not only was the boat a seaworthy vessel, but the bible is historically accurate about so much, we should realize that details are important because they prove that God isn’t flippant about anything. He not only see Noah but he knows exactly how old he is to the day...
In some countries people don’t even know their won birthday, (like when I was in Togo), But God knows the very day they were born and exactly when they will die. Our God knows everything. These details are included so we can calculate how long it took to build the Ark and they tell us that God knows everything about his people.
But notice how the flood will happen. Not just rain but deep fountains will burst. This screams of a terrifying experience, not some gentle rain or even a steady downpour. This is a massive act of judgement because water is falling from above and swelling from below. It shows how inescapable Gods wrath is.
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
gen7.12-15
Notice how the story is told… According to its kind… Male and female? Why is this written like this? Because male and female are needed to reproduce and they can only reproduce according to their kind. God is saving his creation and preserving his order. Notice also that he is saving those who have breath of life. Again this harkens back to how we were created causing us to remember that God gave life and can control what happens to that life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
This is one detail that we cannot overlook. Much like the rest of scripture that tells man how to be saved it is always a work that God alone does for us.
Noah could work hard and build an ark according to Gods plan, he could fill it with food and help bring animals in but he couldn’t finish that work on his own… God himself shut them int the ark!
What a picture of how God graciously saves his people. How God authors the plan of salvation and comes incarnate in Jesus to do the work, and as said in Ephesians The Spirit seals it in us just as God sealed them in the Ark!
If there is a thought to think about it is that God sealed them inside where there is safety from the judgement he brought outside.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
gen7.
This is one of the most sobering pictures of judgement we can find in scripture… the words used here, he blotted out every living thing… We see this and it takes our breath away… We are left with a picture of the whole earth covered with water and just this boat floating around with Noah and his family and all the animals and food inside.
Such a stark picture that warns of the judgement of God also speaks of another time when the sin fulness of humanity will progress toward an epic act of judgement. Like we read to open this message in , Jesus was telling his disciples of what they could expect when he will return again.
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
3 Questions for community groups to consider
3 Questions for community groups to consider
Question 1 - In what ways are the days we live in like it was in the days of Noah?
Question 1 - In what ways are the days we live in like it was in the days of Noah?
We saw the downward spiral of sin leading up to this story… Men was murdering and violent. Man was sexually sinful and every thought of his heart was evil constantly. Men were unresponsive to preaching and grieved God.
Does it seem as though this is commonly how we see the world around us? Has the world made a progression into deeper more egregious sin?
Was the main preaching in Noah’s day so crazy to the world around him, and is the main preaching of Christ today also seeming as crazy to the world around us?
Question 2 - What does the story of Noah teach you about God?
Question 2 - What does the story of Noah teach you about God?
You are not the hero of the Bible, God is the subject always. SO what do we learn of him?
God speaks to his people? He Judges the world for sin because he is holy. God delivers his people, God was patiently holding back judgement until the ark was completed. God was specific in his instructions. God told of Rain and floods, something that had never happened up until then, so God speaks of things we can’t understand but he still warns. God was grieved by sin. God did the work man couldn’t do - calling the animals to come to the ark. God can do anything… He is God
Question 3 - If we know what is coming tomorrow (Judgement from God), how should that impact our lives today?
Question 3 - If we know what is coming tomorrow (Judgement from God), how should that impact our lives today?
The story of Noah can be a great encouragement to us, because Noah is commended for living by Faith in God. He believed that in what God said about the judgement coming tomorrow, and every day acted accordingly. Obedience to God’s word is a beautiful thing. If we believe God’s word about the second coming of Christ, how should live accordingly?