Genesis 7 | Shut In

Text

Genesis 7 ESV

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. 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.

Introduction

We are so far 3 sermons into looking at Noah and the flood, and we haven’t gotten to the actual flood yet

That is - until this morning

And I can’t help but feel that this might be providential

Our text says that the floods came when Noah was 600 years old, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month

And no, it doesn’t mean it happened on 17 February

But in today’s terms and based on our current calendar, it is believed to be around the beginning of November.

Now I promise you that I didn’t plan it that way, so it seems providential and appropriate that we should arrive at this text on 7 November.

Now we have a lot to cover in a short period of time, so I am going to get straight into the text, which I have divided into 3 headings:

God’s Gracious Call Conveyed

God’s Call Obeyed

God’s Justice Displayed

And our sermon point this morning is that:

The blood of Christ shuts out the waters of judgement and seals believers safely in Him.

1. God’s Gracious Call Conveyed

Genesis 7:1 ESV

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.

The command to Noah according to my ESV translation is to “go into the ark”

Some translations say “Come into the ark”

The Hebrew word can be translated either way, and which one is intended is often determined by the context

So which is it here?

Is God commanding Noah to go into the ark, or to come into the ark?

Our preferred answer will be determined by whether we believe that God is outside the ark, or inside the ark

So is God outside the ark and telling Noah to go in, or is God inside the ark and telling Noah to come in?

The answer is... both.

As we have seen while studying the ark in particular in the past 2 sermons, the ark is much more than a boat

the ark was a sanctuary

And we saw all sorts of connections to the sanctuary of the Garden of Eden where God dwelled with Adam and Eve

and the sanctuary of the tabernacle where God dwelled with His people Israel

And we saw then that the ark was a sanctuary where God dwelled with Noah and his family

the ark was a sanctuary that carried Noah and his family safely through the waters of judgement.

The same waters that raised the ark safely above the flood, was the same waters that destroyed the earth

In other words, the same God who was dwelling in the sanctuary of the ark with Noah, keeping him and his family safe,

was also outside of the ark, pouring out his judgement on the evil generation of Noah’s day.

God was present both in the ark in His love and mercy, and He was present outside of the ark in His justice and wrath.

So whether you think God told Noah to go into the ark or to come into the ark, you are correct.

In the ark and the flood, we see God’s justice in that He did not allow the evil and wickedness of the world to go unpunished, and judged the world by wiping out the whole world in a flood

But we also see God’s grace and mercy, in that Noah found favour in God’s eyes, and that God preserved Noah and his family in the safety of the ark.

In the same way, on the cross we see God’s justice and mercy meet.

We see the justice of God in that He did not allow the sin of the world to go unpunished, but poured out His wrath and judgement on His Son as He hung from the cross

We also see the grace and mercy of God in that God used the cross of Christ to settle our debt and redeem and save all those who believe

God’s command then to Noah is a gracious command, and it is a type of the gospel call to sinners

Jesus is an ark that is already prepared

And we are being graciously called upon to come in and be saved.

The trouble is, people are notoriously stubborn and have great difficulty obeying God’s commands

- even when the command is in our best interests and for our greatest good.

2. God’s Call Obeyed

Genesis 7:5 ESV

5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Genesis 6:9 ESV

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:22 ESV

22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 7:1 ESV

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.

When the Lord gives his reason for saving Noah, it seems to be on the basis of Noah’s merit - because of his obedience

God invites Noah to come into the ark “because I have seen that you are righteous”

If Noah could earn his salvation from God’s judgment on the basis of his own merit, based on his own righteousness, then we can reason that it is possible for us to do the same

But we also see that God says that Noah is righteous “in this generation”

Gen 6:9 also describes Noah as “blameless in his generation”

The design of God here is to place one man in contrast with the whole world

The righteousness of one man, Noah, is contrasted with the sin and corrupted nature of the rest of the world

Gen 6:11-12 - the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and filled with violence, all flesh had corrupted their way

God is contrasting the wickedness of the world against the righteousness of Noah, and condemns the unrighteousness of the whole world

God therefore shows that his punishment is just, seeing that in the whole earth there is only one who is seeking to live in obedience to Him

But God also shows his mercy, not only in saving that one man, but in that for the sake of that one righteous man, He was merciful to his whole family

Noah’s righteousness speaks on behalf of his family - his wife, his sons, and his son’s wives

They are saved along with him

Noah is set apart from the rest of his generation by God as a type, pointing forward to Jesus

In a world filled with nothing but corruption and sinful people, Jesus stands alone as righteous

The first Adam failed to live in obedience to God, but the second and final Adam succeeded

Jesus alone fulfilled every requirement of the Law, and He alone obeyed His Father in every thought and deed

Phil 2:8 - He even took on “human form, and humbled himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross”

He obeyed His Father in life, and in His death

While praying in the garden, He asked the Father 3 times if there was another way. Nonetheless He obeyed His Father in every detail.

He offered His own righteous life in exchange for those of sinners like you and me

Now, because of Jesus’ righteousness and His righteous sacrifice accepted by God, God’s mercy is extended to us

Jesus’ righteousness and His blood speaks on our behalf

and just as through Noah’s righteousness, his family were counted among the righteous on the ark,

so also through Jesus’s righteousness we, the believing, are counted among the righteous

Noah’s work in obedience to God produced an ark; a vessel in which Noah and his family were carried safely through the waters of God’s judgement

Jesus’ work in obedience to the Father produced a propitiatory sacrifice on the cross; and His blood carries the Church safely through the fire of God’s judgement

And Restoration is promised

Noah went into the ark not only expecting to be saved from something, but to be saved for something

He expected a fresh start, a new world, a restored world, a better world

Its implied in God’s gracious provision of clean and the unclean animals to replenish the earth

Its assured in God’s promise in Gen 6:18 to establish His covenant with Noah - and with his wife, and his sons, and his son’s wives

So also are we assured because of the resurrection of Jesus that we, the Church, are not only saved from death but for life - for eternal life

Because Christ was raised, we will be raised

Now Noah and the flood are just types and shadows, and the new world after the flood was not much better than the old

- because Noah and his family were sinners. The world after the flood remains corrupted and still ends in death

But Christ’s righteousness is real, and where Noah’s righteousness was a gift of God and a shadow, Jesus is righteous in and of Himself,

and the new life to which He saves us is an eternal life filled with only the blessings of God

Through Adam’s sin the whole world was condemned, but through Christ’s righteousness the Church is saved

Romans 5:15–21 ESV

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

3. God’s Justice Displayed

Genesis 7:16 ESV

16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

There is a very real sense of finality in that statement - the Lord shut him in

For one thing, this reasserts the supernatural nature of Noah’s salvation - and ours… Noah didn’t shut the door -> God did

Its hard to think how Noah would have been able to pull up a massive, solid door big enough for elephants to walk through

or, even if he could close the door, how he would have sealed it from the barrage of water that was going to hit it and stop the water getting in

or how Noah - who is not said to have ever sailed a boat before, would have known how to build one the size of the Titanic

or how Noah would have known 120 years before the time to start preparing for a flood by building such a vessel

or even how Noah would have known the difference between a clean and an unclean animal years before Moses received those instructions from God

Or how he would have been able to get pairs of male and female of every kind to (A) come to him, (B) go into the ark, (C) get the lions and tigers to sit peacefully next to the sheep

The only way that the flood, the ark, the closing and sealing of the door, or the salvation of the Church and the changing of the human heart and its desires can be explained, is that it is all a supernatural work of God

For Noah and his family, then, being “shut in” by God was a wonderful assurance of their safety, and they would have been able to rest in the ark, safe from the furious barrage and terror of the flood that was about to come

So also the Church, having been sealed by the Holy Spirit, is able to rest in the assurance that we have been “shut in” by the Lord in Christ, safe from the judgement that must come

It is a final shutting in that cannot be reversed or undone, which for the Church is obviously good news.

But for those who were outside of the ark, the shutting of the door was equally final, and absolutely terrifying.

Because the same hand the shut Noah and his family in, also shut the rest of the world out.

The shutting of the door therefore set a permanent partition which separated the world from the safety of the ark, and there was nothing they could do to re-open it.

Their chance had come and gone

They could only wait in terror for the inevitable, which was to face the judgement of God and to receive the justice they deserved for their wickedness.

Genesis 7:17–24 ESV

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.

The word “prevailed” is repeated 4 times - often used in a military sense, meaning to win, to have victory over and triumph over an enemy

In their sin, the world had made themselves enemies of God and rebelled against His good will at every opportunity

They were thoroughly corrupt and hated God and each other

This comes through strongly in these early chapters of Genesis,

beginning with Adam’s sin,

resulting in the murder of Abel,

and being displayed in all humanity in their mistreatment of each other in Genesis 6

where even the every intention of their thoughts and hearts are only evil continually

All of this leading to God using the strong language in Gen 6:6 of “regretting” having even made man in the first place

and deciding to blot them out and kill them all - every last one of them

These people had every chance over the 120 years it took Noah to build the ark, to listen to the words of God and repent and turn to Him.

Had they listened and believed the warnings and repented, they could have been saved from the judgement to come.

But their sinful hearts only grew harder.

This is true still today, where we live in a world completely corrupted and darkened by sin

Where good is called evil and evil is called good

Where corruption runs rampant and greed keeps the poor hungry

Where love of money has babies torn apart limb by limb out of their mother’s womb so that the parents can spend more money on their own desires

Parents who often became parents outside of marriage, because the world rejects God’s design for intimacy to be exclusively between a husband and wife

Even as they reject marriage to be between a man and a woman and now want to marry a man to a man, and a woman to a woman

And just as the world has also rejected God’s design of our bodies, so that boys now call themselves girls, and girls call themselves boys, and now they insist there are even more genders than there are ethnicities

And when any attempt is made to point this culture of death back to the good designs of God, we are hated, despised, called intolerant and fined or jailed for hate crimes.

Good is called evil, and evil is called good.

The world we live in today is a reflection of the world that God destroyed with the flood, possibly worse

And the story of the flood therefore serves as much as a warning to this generation as it did to the people of Noah’s generation.

They had 120 years to turn to God.

This generation has thousands of years of history and warnings to listen to

Apart from that, and sufficient on its own, this generation has the Bible - the Word of God.

Jesus warns us that the flood is a picture of the real judgement of God that is to come - and it will come just as suddenly, and just as unexpectedly, to a world that continues to ignore the warnings

Matthew 24:37–39 ESV

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.

God’s gracious call to Noah to come into the ark, is a type of the gracious gospel call to each of us to come to Christ and be saved

This is the good news - that just as God provided for Noah by carrying him and his family through the waters of judgement in the ark,

He has provided for our salvation in the death and resurrection of His Son

And He has given us this promise - that all - ALL - ANYONE - EVERYONE who believes, shall have their sins washed clean by His blood, and will be counted among the righteous for the sake of Jesus.

And being shut in and sealed with the Holy Spirit, they will be kept safe from the judgement to come and delivered to eternal life.

Respond to this gracious call while there is time.

God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and sin...

God showed this in that even after all those years of watching Noah build the ark and still refusing to listen, even after Noah and the animals had all boarded the ark, verse 10 says that God STILL gave the world another 7 days before the floods came.

And still nobody would listen.

This is a warning to us. You have heard the gospel. You have no excuse.

God is slow to anger, He is patient, He is merciful and gracious… Each additional day He gives us, He gives us by grace, still giving a lost world time to turn to Him and receive forgiveness

But don’t put it off, thinking you have lots of time.

So many think they have time - they’ll give their lives to God when they’re older and have enjoyed their youth

But as the 7 days before the floods came shows us - the sinful heart that refuses the gospel invitation during the 120 years, also rejects it in the last 7 days.

Don’t be shut out.

There is a Saviour. He has paid our debt, and He offers forgiveness for our sins and His righteousness as our clothing

And He will seal you with His Spirit and give you new life, and keep you safe until He comes.

Church, praise God for our Saviour and for our salvation.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 ESV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Don’t love the world or your life, but as Noah gave up everything to enter the ark in expectation of a new and better world,

let us lay down our lives and cast our crowns at the feet of our Saviour and our King, and “run with endurance the race that is set before us...”

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.