Battle For The Truth (Part 42)

Genesis 7:1-24, “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (2) Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (3) Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (4) For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. (5) And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. (6) And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. (7) And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. (8) Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,” (9) There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. (10) And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. (11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (12) And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (13) In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; (14) They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. (15) And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. (16) And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. (17) And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. (18) And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. (19) And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. (20) Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. (21) And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: (22) All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. (23) And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. (24) And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”

Introduction

We have finally reached the point when mankind has run “Out of Time.” It has been 120-years (Genesis 6:3) since God revealed to Noah that He was going to destroy the world by water. Our text today marks the final week of God’s grace before He brings destruction and man still has not repented. The ultimate question for today’s readers, which this series’ title highlights: Is the Bible in its entirety [beginning with the Genesis record] true or false? The question is inescapable, and every person must answer it for themselves. In Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses declares, that God is “a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” Therefore, anyone who disputes the truth claims of Scripture bears the burden to prove otherwise. Believers agree that the Scriptures are true. For we are able to present the Scriptures themselves as documented evidence of its truth claims, which has withstood the most critical scrutiny and examination possible.

Now, between Genesis 1 through 6, we have covered a considerable amount of History:

Creation (time, light, sun, moon, and stars).

Life (plants, animals, and man).

The Fall of Man because of disobedience to God’s command.

God’s curse upon the serpent including the promise of the serpent’s ultimate defeat at the hands of the Seed of the Woman. curse, and Adam and Eve’s judgment

The first family and its tragedy (Cain kills his brother Abel)

The ungodly union between fallen angels and women that produced the Nephilim.

And now, the Great Flood of Noah’s time.

And time will continue to play a critical role in the Plan of God. From the Beginning and throughout the human experience, time is a constant—from the womb to the tomb, from the cradle to the grave. Each person is assigned a finite amount of time expressed in years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. In Genesis 5, we observe repeatedly, that although people tended to live for hundreds of years, the final epitaph is “and he died.” Amen somebody. The same reality holds true for us today. People are still being born and people are still dying. This reaffirms what God warned Adam of if he chose to disobey His command to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because, in the day that he disobeyed, he would “surely die.” Given the fact that Adam lived 930-years before he died physically, some might charge that God’s warning did not come true. However, as brought out in previous messages, Adam and Eve immediately died spiritually. This is seen in their immediate shame, fear, guilt, and hiding. This of course was followed by physical death.

Side Note: In 2 Peter 3:8, the Apostle Peter informs his readers that God’s view of time can be vastly different than man’s. Peter pinned these words referring to the coming judgment of fire upon the world while pointing back to the judgment upon Noah’s world by water. Peter said, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Interestingly, the longest living person was Methuselah who according to Genesis 5:27, lived 969-years, which is 31-years short of 1,000. This means that by God’s standard, he did not live a day. Amen somebody.

V.1 – “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.”

All things are now ready, and the time has come for Noah and his family to enter the ark for salvation. There are no sweeter words than to hear God say “Come thou.” What makes it even sweeter is that He includes his family, “...and all thy house...” Again, notice that God uses the personal pronoun “thee” and not “them” or “your family.” It has been 120-years, and yet Noah has remained faithful to his calling, and now God is rewarding him. God told him in Genesis 6:18, that He would spare him and his house, which is now being fulfilled. God is faithful! Amen somebody.

V.4-5, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. (5) And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.”

This is now the countdown—seven days. The Ark is built the animals have been gathered, and the food and water supply has been stored. And, consistent with his character, “Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.” The same is repeated in v.9. Saints, we cannot go wrong when we do “all that that the Lord commands us.” Amen somebody.

Vv. 10-13, “And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. (11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (12) And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (13) In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;”

Here we learn that Noah was 600-years old when the flood waters came upon the earth. We also learn that it was not only the rain that caused the flooding, but “all the fountains of the great deep” were “broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” God’s power is now on full display as the earth’s crust ruptured and all the subterranean waters or “fountains of the great deep” came to the surface. The earthquakes must have been of immeasurable proportions, as the tectonic plates shifted, breaking the land mass into pieces forming continents and islands as we know them today. In addition, the watery canopy described in Genesis 1:7, was also broken up which brought an unfathomable amount of water in a relatively short period of time. The rainstorm lasted 40-days and 40-nights. What a storm! Didn’t it rain?

Vv.16, “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.”

The repetition of the animals being male, and female is notable. It appears that God may be reinforcing for us the proper order of life for replenishment and harmony. The same holds true for humans. For we see Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their son’s wives.

Also, what really stands out for me is that the text says, “and the LORD shut him in.” This tells me that God did not leave it up to Noah to secure the door. It is possible that Noah or the other seven onboard may have felt sympathy and opened the door for other relatives and friends who were probably crying out to him from the outside.

Side Note: My mind goes back to story Jesus told in Luke 16:19-33, about the rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. Jesus said, when Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. However, when the rich man died, he opened his eyes in the torment of hell. He could see Lazarus a great distance from him at peace in Abraham’s bosom. He appealed to Abraham to allow Lazarus to come over where he was to bring him some relief. However, Abraham informed him that this was impossible because there was a great gulf fixed between them, so that even if he wanted to cross over, he could not, and neither can you cross over to this side.

Also, I am reminded of the question Jesus was asked one day while He was teaching throughout many cities and villages on His way to Jerusalem. In Luke 13:23-27, someone asked Him, “are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, (24) Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (25) When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: (26) Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. (27) But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.” Letting us know that when it comes to salvation, man neither opens nor closes the door, it is all in God’s Hands. Amen somebody.

Vv.19-22, “And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. (20) Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. (21) And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: (22) All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

The flood covered every hill and mountain peak upon the face of the earth. In fact, the water stood above the highest peak by more than 22’. The floodwaters covered the earth for 150-days or about 5-months. All humans and land animals died that were not in the ark. This is either true or false. What say you?

Side Note: At least two things are very abundantly clear: (1) Only eight souls were inside the ark, and only those eight souls were saved from the destruction of the flood, and (2) Every living creature that was outside the ark perished. Here is the formula: In the ark equals saved, and outside the ark equals condemned. The same is true when it comes to man’s salvation from the coming fiery wrath of God: Those is Christ are saved, and those outside of Christ are condemned. Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Amen somebody.

Conclusion

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Save the name of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, and rose the third day for our justification. Bless His holy name.

So, until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved. Amen.