The Judgement of God and The Ark of Safety.

Introduction:

This morning we return to our study we’ve titled Prologue, where we are looking at the first eleven chapters of Genesis. We’ve had two weeks of break since our last time together in Genesis with my being away and a special sermon last week, so allow me to both refresh your memory and set the stage for what we’ve just read a few moments ago. When we were in Genesis 6 we observed that the world had grown so corrupt that God decided he was going to pour out his judgement upon the world and destroy it with a flood. Mankind had become so wicked and depraved that every thought and imagination of their heart was continually wicked. All of mankind was this way with the exception of one man named Noah and his immediate family. God made his plans to destroy the earth via a worldwide flood known to Noah and commanded him to build a large boat.

It’s measurements were to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high with one window (essentially a sky light) , one door, and three decks. It had to be made of gopher (Cypress) wood, rooms for the humans and stalls for animals. It had to be waterproofed with tar inside and out. Then stocked with enough food to keep himself, his family and every animal fed for an unspecified amount of time. Genesis 6 ends by telling us that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him to do.

There is a gap of time that occurs between Genesis 6 and Genesis 7. That Gap is around 120 years. Noah was 480 years old when God told him to build the ark and 600 years old when God commanded him to enter the ark. Noah was faithful to the Lord and his calling that entire time.

Genesis seven can be divided up this way:

God’s Final instructions to Noah. (v.1-16)

God’s global judgement poured out. (v.17-20)

Death and destruction cover the earth. (v.21-24)

Let’s examine the text together this morning:

1.) God’s final instructions to Noah. (v.1-16)

Chapter seven begins with God’s final words to Noah just one week before the flood began.

A.) God’s great invitation (v.1,7,13-14) “Come into the ark,...”

Imagine how exciting and yet also terrifying these words must have been for Noah to hear. Exciting because this is what Noah had spent the last 120 years working towards and no doubt enduring massive amounts of ridicule for. Yet, terrifying because who knew what the future would hold for his family.

What would the earth look like once the flood ended?

What was it going to be like being the only humans who survived?

What was life in the ark going to look like and how long would it last?

What was it going to look and feel like to face a storm so ferocious it was going to flood the whole earth?

Just imagine the emotions, and yet, Noah’s faith in God and His Word was strong. And Noah knew God’s comforting presence would be there with them the entire time.

Notice, God didn't say “Go into the Ark”, but rather “Come into” these were tender words and these were words that showed Noah that God was not just present outside the ark but also inside the ark. That he was with Noah no matter where Noah would go and that he would look after Noah within the ark as well as without.

God Beckoned Noah inside the ark like a father might call out to his children to come inside the house before a storm comes.

Application: There are several things we can learn from God’s invitation to Noah:

This is a picture of Christ and the safety and security he brings from judgement. This safety can only be found in Christ alone. Just as Noah found safety and security from God’s wrath by entering the ark, so to can we find safety and security from God’s wrath by entering into Christ.

Matthew 11:28 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Revelation 22:17 NKJV

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Notice also, that the invitation to come into the ark wasn't just to Noah but to his family also. Noah’s godly example before his children must have had a profound impact on his children as well. What a lesson for those of us who are fathers in the room or who may one day be a father to love godly before our children and to teach our children to follow God for themselves.

B.) Instructions regarding the animals (v.2-3,8-9,14-16)

7 of every clean animal these would be used for food for Noah and his family as well as to be offered as sacrifices following the flood and two of every non-clean animal to preserve life.

C.) Seven more days to repent. (v.4,10)- This is indicative of God’s grace.

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

v.16 tells us that God shut them inside the ark. This information is given to us three times (v.1-4, 7-9, 13-16) this is given to remind us of the salvation of God. Even in the midst of judgement, God was merciful, saving some. God himself sealed them inside the ark and know one could open it. Noah and his family were inside the ark of safety. This is a picture, once gain of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2.) God’s global judgement poured out. (v.17-20)

Notice the repetition in these verses. Waters (5x’s), increased (2x’s), prevailed (3x’s), words like rose, greatly, exceedingly are all used to describe the way the flood came about. It’s language that is meant to portray the wild, violent tossing and turning of the water as it covered the earth and battered against the ark. Earlier in v.11 we are told the fountains of the deep were broken up and the heavens were opened. The flood unleashed upon the earth in a global scale was on massive act of de-creation by God.

In chapter seven, God did exactly what he said He would do in chapter 6.

Genesis 6:17 NKJV

17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

God kept his word and flooded the earth for forty days and forty nights.

This is an act so great great it is only comparable to God’s acting in creation. This enormous display of God’s power, strength and might remind us that he is the sovereign Lord of the universe taking control of what was His and pouring out judgement on mankind.

This wasn’t the act of a cruel and angry God who didn't care about mankind. He announced to the World through Noah that judgement was coming. Noah and his sons told the world for 120 years of their need to repent and come into the ark for safety. God gave one final week after Noah and his family entered the ark for people to repent and come into safety. God was merciful, it was man who rejected God’s grace and mercy.

God judges mankind because of man’s selfishness and corruption, because of mankind's self sufficiency and rejection of God, his immorality and evil thoughts, his lawlessness and violence.

Mankind apart from God sit under judgment because they choose to reject God not because God rejects them.

There is another day coming on this world where once again God’s wrath will be pored out upon the entirety of mankind. Jesus spoke of this day using the flood in Noah’s day as an example:

Matthew 24:37–39 NKJV

37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Luke 17:26–27 NKJV

26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Peter also referenced it letting us know that this next judgement won’t be a flood of water but a flood of fire.

2 Peter 3:3–7 NKJV

3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Friends just as it was in the days of Noah that the only escape from the flood was to enter the Ark, the only escape from God’s coming judgement upon a sinful world is the Lord Jesus Christ.

3.) Death and destruction cover the earth. (v.21-24)

What a tragic scene, yet it is a righteous and just act by God.

God warned man time and time again, but, man refused to listen to those warnings. Mankind continued to curse, reject, and rebel against their creator. The tragedy of the evil of man and the righteous judgment of God is so great that it is repeated three times.

The flood brought total death to everything and every one that was not aboard the ark.

Remember the words of Jesus and Peter we just read a few moments ago?

The people of Noah’s day were living selfish, indulgent, materialistic lives right up until the very end. They were eating, partying, drinking, marrying, divorcing, buying, selling, planting and building all while not heeding God’s warning.

They were drowning in their sin long before the flood waters came. They wanted nothing to do with God and rejected him right up until the flood waters bursted forth. God did exactly what he had to do.

Sin always ends in death and destruction.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 NKJV

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Yet, once again in the midst of God’s judgment we are reminded of His grace and mercy. As the flood rises, and waves of water bring bodies bashing against the ark, Noah and his family sat there is safety. Noah and his family are a living embodiment of God’s mercy. They are proof that God will save anyone who believes His word and follows Him.

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 5:24 NKJV

24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

Conclusion:

Genesis 7:17 tells us that it rained for 40 days and nights, but v.24 tells us the water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days. That means, they peaked and were at their highest for 150 days. The entire world was under water.

Only God could do such a thing. God was behind it all. The flood of Genesis 7 was the judgement of God upon a sinful, wicked, immoral and violent world and God will one day judge this earth again.

Just as it was for Noah it will be the same then, the only way to escape God’s coming judgement is by faith in the promise of god for salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Noah’s ark is a picture of Christ.

God Himself purposed and planned the ark, even to the most minute details. God Himself purposed and planned the coming of Christ to save man, even before the foundation of the earth.

There was only one door to the ark. Jesus Christ is the only door—the only way—to enter the presence of God.

God gave the provision for light within the ark. One window—an opening, a skylight—ran all the way around the ark. It ran within eighteen inches of the top . God has given the provision of light to the world: Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

Some kind of tar covered and sealed the ark. The blood of Jesus Christ covers the sins of the believer, cleanses and seals the believer before God.

God Himself gave the great invitation to come and enter the ark. God Himself invites man to come and enter the ark—the safety and security—of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ark was a vessel of refuge, the place of safety and security from the torrential judgment about to fall upon the earth. Jesus Christ is the believer’s refuge, the believer’s safety and security from the coming judgment of hell and eternal separation from God.

The ark was the salvation of both Noah and his family. Jesus Christ is the hope of salvation for all families.

The ark was secured—the door was closed—by God Himself. God Himself secures the believer through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer has perfect security—God sees to it—through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

God kept the door of mercy—the door of the ark—opened right up until the end. But when it was time for judgment the door was shut. There had been a time for grace, but there was also a time for judgment. God has his ministers and followers all over the world preaching the gospel of salvation. God has the door of mercy opened today, but the end is soon coming when the door will be shut and judgment will fall.