Sermon Tone Analysis

*Genesis 8:15-18…* Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife, sons and wives.

17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you that they may multiply greatly increase upon the earth.”

18 So Noah and his family obeyed, and each animal also went out from the ark.

*Commentary*

            With the great Flood now subsided and the earth now dry, God calls to Noah with instructions to leave the ark.

It is not told how God spoke to Noah, only that he obeyed God.

He was to bring everything and everyone out of the ark that he took with him.

The earth they once knew was now history, and the earth they now step foot on is a completely new environment.

All flesh that was not on the ark was dead.

All flesh that was preserved now exits the ark so that “they may multiply greatly and increase upon the earth.”

This is of course what they did, and the present day population, both man and animals, comes from those who exited the ark.

Modern studies on animal migrations have pointed toward the area of Mount Ararat, the resting place of the ark (8:4), as the geographical center of the earth.

Computer studies have shown that this area of the earth (present-day Turkey) is actually the center of the earth, and it appears to be no coincidence that this is where all life came from following the Flood.

The animals could migrate to the east (Asia), west into Europe, and south into Africa.

It is probable that the earth had not yet split at that time, and it was still one large land mass (Pangaea).

If this is the case then explaining how kangaroos made it into Australia and how all the animals made it to Noah prior to the Flood is simple.

Some scientists have proposed that animals after the Flood found a land bridge across what is now called the Bering Straits into the Americas while others found a similar land bridge down the Malaysian Straits into New Guinea.

It was during the Ice Age that these land bridges are known to have existed, for at that time the sea level was remarkably lower than it is today.

The enormous amounts of water were frozen into large ice sheets, and these land bridges were protruding from the sea enabling the animals to migrate into their respective modern-day dwellings.

Upon reaching their destinations, as well as during their journeys, the animal population multiplied very quickly likely due to the lack of competition among themselves.

In the new environment where hot and cold were intensified in various regions, each animal likely pushed forward seeking for its own ecological alcove.

The new environment of earth, with the absence of the vapor canopy that kept the earth at a uniform temperature, was not conducive to many of the larger and more specialized animals like the dinosaurs.

These very large animals needed the oxygen the vapor canopy provided to maintain their existence, and the fact that they have since become extinct proves that either man killed all of them for his own survival or that the environment was simply not able to sustain them after the Flood.

Since we know that God created all living things, including dinosaurs and the like, then we know that they either died completely just prior to the Flood or in the years that followed.

Many other animal species became extinct during this time due to the sharp change in temperatures resulting from the demise of the vapor canopy.

This appears to have led to a great buildup of ice at the poles leading to massive ice sheets that covered northern Europe and the United States.

This Ice Age likely lasted hundreds of years right after the Flood.

*Food for Thought*

            A critical look at the facts of scripture along with some time spent researching the findings of science goes a long way to determining what life was like in the beginning.

Don’t be too easily fooled by what the world teaches about human origins.

The Bible has the answers!

*Genesis 8:20-22…* Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

*Commentary*

            Noah’s first act after exiting the ark is to worship God.

It appears to be the one thing on his mind, and after he makes his way down the mountain, he builds an altar to the Lord.

This is the character of a man who walks with God… /he worships Him after having been saved from judgment/.

In keeping with Abel’s act of worship in Genesis 4, Noah offers animal sacrifices from every clean animal he loaded onto the ark.

He knew this is what he would do because he took the clean animals onto the ark in twos, but he took seven pairs of these clean animals so as to keep them from becoming extinct following his sacrificial act of worship.

Verse 21 speaks of God being pleased with Noah’s worship, and the passage uses an anthropomorphism to describe God (describes God using manlike qualities).

The Lord is said to have “smelled the soothing aroma” of the burnt offering.

This is an expression of God’s pleasure toward Noah as the one who worships God.

It is a wonderful picture of how God views man’s worship towards Him.

Upon receiving Noah’s worship at the altar the Lord makes three proclamations.

First, He says “to Himself” that He will never again curse the ground on account of man, “for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

The phrase “to Himself” literally means “having considered.”

After Noah’s worship God resolves that the pain humanity has brought to Him will be forgiven, and his indignation is eased by the atoning sacrifice.

Now this statement appears to contradict itself because God is saying he will /not/ curse man because man is /corrupt/ in all he does and thinks, and it should say the opposite.

However, the statement is in character with the God of mercy.

Even though man is totally depraved in his nature, God is still merciful to the point of keeping the earth from being destroyed again by His anger.

He is not lifting the curse of Gen. 3:17, rather, He is promising not to inflict further misfortune on the earth.

Second, God says that He “will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

He is making a covenant between all living things and Himself that life will never again be cut off by floodwaters.

It’s not that God regrets what He’s done, but He does promise not to do it again in this manner.

Finally, in verse 22, God promises that as long as the earth endures “seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

In other words God will sustain the food supply and providentially preserve the earth and its ecology until the end of days – until the final judgment of mankind on the planet.

*Food for Thought*

The worship of God is our task, our duty, and our privilege.

It pleases God.

Today at the foot of Mt.

Ararat there is what is known to the locals (modern-day Turkey) as the “Black Castle.”

This small stone structure is quite old, and no one knows who actually built it.

It is open on one side and has steps going up into it.

Though unknown whether or not this structure is the altar that Noah built, it does contain writings that are the oldest known writings on the planet today.

There is also a rock at the foot of this altar today that has eight crosses etched into it.

Crosses have been a religious symbol even before Christ died on one, and it’s possible that the eight crosses on this ancient rock represent the eight people who survived on the ark in Gen. 6-8.

*Genesis 9:1-3…* And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.

3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.”

*Commentary*

            Following Noah’s worship of God at the altar God “blessed” Noah and his sons.

In doing this God is bestowing upon them the ability to “be fruitful and multiply” – the very command He gives to them /after/ he blesses them.

God does this because the world’s population will come directly from the loins of these men.

Without God’s “blessing” they would have neither life, nor be able to produce life.

Noah is clearly following in Adam’s footsteps, for the same command was given to Adam after his blessing to be fruitful and multiply.

What is lacking in Noah’s commission that Adam had was the command to “have dominion over the earth and subdue it” (cf.

1:28).

This is likely due to the fact that Satan still had dominion over the earth stemming from Adam granting it to him (cf. 1 John 5:19).

In this case the animals were to /fear/ mankind as opposed to obeying and understanding him as was the case before the Fall.

This “blessing” of God is parallel to that which God’s elect receive when they are touched by God as preordained people for eternal salvation.

The day they receive God’s “quickening” – His blessing of spiritual life – is they day they begin their own quest to be fruitful~/multiply by having a part in bringing the rest of God’s elect into His eternal fold.

It’s the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20.

In verse two God tells Noah that the animals of the earth, sky, and sea will “fear” and be filled with “terror” because of man.

Notice the one animal group that is missing: /the cattle/.

Whereas all animals today still show this inherent fear of mankind, cattle and other domesticated animals generally do not.

If the former “beasts of the earth” (lions, etc.) /didn’t/ fear mankind, with their population growing far more quickly than man’s, mankind might have been quickly obliterated from the earth by these ravenous beasts.

Their fear of man was essential for man’s survival, and as the text clearly says, they were given into the hand of mankind, not vice versa.

Verse three elaborates on what verse two actually entails.

Noah and his sons (all of mankind), though formerly prohibited from eating the flesh of animals, are now given the permission do so.

God tells him that “every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you…” There is no prohibition here in Noah’s day as there will be later in Israel’s day – a prohibition from many kinds of flesh that is meant to separate them from the pagan nations surrounding them.

Whereas Adam and his progeny were vegetarians leading up to Noah’s day, Noah and all of his descendants (i.e., all people) are given permission to kill animals and eat their flesh.

It is not known why God makes this provision, but it is likely that the new environment of the planet with the absence of the vapor canopy in someway demands the nutrients that meat provides.

*Food for Thought*

            Genesis 9:1-3 is filled with truths and principles that continue to affect mankind today.

We are all descendants of the three sons of Noah, and the mandates given to them to be fruitful and multiply have never been revoked.

There are no population problems on the planet today in God’s eyes, or He would have revoked the command to be fruitful and multiply.

The fact that hunters have to “hunt” animals attests to the fact that animals continue to “fear” and have “terror” of man.

Even our eating habits stem from Noah’s day.

Whereas vegetarianism isn’t wrong, neither is eating meat.

All of this attests to the truthfulness and relevance of the Bible.

*Genesis 9:4-7… *Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.