The Beginning of Redemption

Theme for 2022 is “Begin Again”

In this eight-part series we are looking at how God began everything and how God begins again.

Two weeks ago Pastor Lester Zimmerman began telling the story of Noah.

Lester gave a general overview of the Noah story and then provided some practical application points.

Then last week I talked about the corruption that was taking place on the earth which was a backdrop for the flood and the reason for such an extreme act on God’s part.

Today I want to talk about what happened on the other side of the flood.

The book of Genesis gives four chapters to describing this event in detail, so it is appropriate that we should spend several weeks on it.

What is God doing in this story?

The Bible is God’s story of redemption.

You can be sure that any and every story in the Bible has something to do with redemption.

In fact, it will help you to better understand most stories of the Bible if you look for God’s redemption in the story.

And it will also help you in understanding and telling your own story - because God is still redeeming today!

What is redemption?

Lexham Theological Wordbook Redemption

Redemption relates to deliverance from a situation or from enemies. Most often, this involves paying a price to “buy back” the person or thing that is being ransomed. The word most frequently expresses the process of delivering someone from slavery or exchanging a ransom for something that belongs to God, such as a firstborn child in a family.

Redemption is God’s deliverance.

It is release from bondage and captivity.

And it is the restoration of purpose and value.

When we last left Noah and his family, they were saved from the flood.

They are safe inside the ark.

But they are confined to that ark, along with the animals.

Its one thing to be saved, its another thing to be redeemed, released and restored.

Salvation is a new beginning, but it is just the beginning.

To begin again means to follow through and make the most of your new beginning.

Redemption takes time.

We read the story of Noah and the flood in one sitting.

We quickly move from mourning over the loss of so many people and animals to rejoicing that Noah and his family get to leave the ark and make a new start.

We forget the time that passed in between.

It rained for forty days and forty nights.

I get depressed when it rains for a week.

They spent 150 days on the ark until the waters receded.

That’s five months!

I spent 15 hours on a airplane and I get a little stir crazy.

They did it for five months without a movie library!

And then even after they landed, they waited another two months before they could leave the ark.

When I’m on a plane and it lands, people are getting up and standing in the aisles with their luggage - nobody wants to wait to disembark!

But I find in God’s redemption story, that a lot of time is spent waiting.

Redemption takes time.

As Miracle Max says, “You rush a miracle and you get lousy miracles!”

Oh, but none of us likes the waiting part!

So what are some things that we can learn from the story of Noah to help us with the waiting?

Always know that God’s Spirit is moving.

Genesis 8:1–3 ESV

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,

God remembered Noah.

The truth is that God never forgot about Noah, but the fact that something is happening reassures Noah that God remembers him.

So what is happening?

There’s a wind blowing.

So what?

Well after forty days of nothing but rain, a wind is a pretty big change.

How does that tell you that God remembers you?

Wind, breath and Spirit are all the same in Hebrew.

The wind reminds us of the Spirit of God hovering over the water at creation.

It reminds us of the breath of God the gives us life.

God is brooding over the waters again.

God is breathing life again.

God is moving again.

When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, it was signaled by the sound of wind.

Acts 2:1–2 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

The disciples, like Noah and his family were simply waiting.

The sound of the wind signaled movement.

God was doing something new.

The Spirit is moving.

You may be in a place of waiting on God for something to happen, but pay attention to the wind.

God’s Spirit is always moving.

God is always working, even in our waiting.

It may seem like it is just wind, but be encouraged because what you are sensing is movement!

God is parting the waters, driving back the seas and making a way for His redemption.

But it may still take time, so what do you do while you are waiting?

Celebrate the milestones on your journey.

Genesis 8:4–5 NLT

4 exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 Two and a half months later, as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible.

So after forty days the sound of rain changes to the sound of wind.

I’m sure after several months the sound of wind was getting old.

“We have listened to this wind soundtrack for months. Is there anything else on?

How about a giant “scrape” or a “bump!”

That’s the sound of the bottom of the boat making contact with land.

Make a note of what day it is, because something just changed.

Its the day we stopped rocking in the waves and came to rest.

It the day we felt something that we haven’t felt for a very long time - solid ground beneath us.

As you are on your journey of redemption, make note of the changes.

Make note of the first day when you are not feeling discouraged or the first day without a headache and celebrate it.

Make note of the morning that you wake up and do not feel the usual pain and thank God for healing.

Make note of the first time that someone notices you or does something thoughtful and praise God for restoring relationships.

God is working in your situation; celebrate the milestones because they are an indication that God is doing something new.

Your healing is on its way.

Your recovery is in the making.

God is restoring relationships and if you can see it, you can also receive it.

Did everything change at that moment? No.

But something changed at that moment which was an indication of things to come.

Hang in there! It will be just a little while longer...

Move when God says so.

Genesis 8:13–16 NLT

13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began, the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by, and at last the earth was dry! 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives.

It’s New Years Day.

You are 601 years old.

You have been waiting ten and a half months to be able to leave the ark.

You make a whole in the roof to get a better view of the landscape.

You see what looks like mostly dry ground.

“Mostly dry” except for swampy quicksand pits where the surface is dry but underneath, the soils are still unstable.

Do you get out of the boat? Not until God says.

If God gives you a direction, you do it until God gives a different direction.

God told Noah when to get in the boat; he’s going to tell him when to get out.

If Noah got out of the boat now, he would have survived the flood only to get stuck in the mud.

It took two more months after thing looked OK until God said it was OK.

Our timing is not God’s timing.

God knows when the land that appears to be dry is really dry.

God know when what appears to be good timing is really good timing.

You can trust God’s timing.

When partnering with God in His plan of redemption it is essential that we are obedient to Him and his timing.

This is a test.

God wants to release us into his purposes.

But in order to release us, he has to test us.

Release takes testing.

I don’t know anybody who likes taking tests.

But tests are what proves that we have learned.

In ancient times, great honor is preceded by a great test.

It is the tests that give us the confidence to take on the real challenges of life.

The test of sacrifice.

Genesis 8:6–9 NLT

6 After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat 7 and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. 8 He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside.

So did you ever wonder why Noah sent out a raven first?

According to rabbinic tradition, a Raven was a dirty bird.

Some traditions say he was releasing his sin and filth after the atonement of the flood, but that’s putting a nice spin on it.

Perhaps, Noah’s first idea was to risk something that he didn’t really care for.

One problem with a raven is they have a longer range - it could fly long enough and far enough to find land without indicating if the land around the ark was safe for passage.

Ravens are also scavengers. I’m sure it picked up the scent of a dead carcass and it was, “bye-bye raven.”

Then Noah sends our a dove.

The dove is a clean animal and approved for sacrifice.

Doves are often mentioned in scripture as symbolic of love and desire.

By releasing a dove, Noah was sacrificing something precious.

That’s the kind of sacrifice that God desires.

While you are waiting for God, what are you willing to risk? What will you sacrifice?

The test of finding rest.

Genesis 8:9–11 AMP

9 But the dove found no resting-place on which to roost, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were [yet] on the face of the whole land. So he put forth his hand and drew her to him into the ark. 10 He waited another seven days and again sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a newly sprouted and freshly plucked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the land.

There is another thread woven through the story of Noah is the theme of finding rest.

In Hebrew the word for rest (Nuah) sound like (Noah).

The words “resting place” in verse 9 would recall Noah and the promise that He would find rest.

Genesis 5:29 NLT

29 Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the Lord has cursed.”

When they people read Noah in the original Hebrew or about the ark or the dove coming to rest it reminds the reader that the whole story is about finding rest.

It is about our inner life and finding peace.

Some scholars, especially Jewish scholars, see an allegory in the raven and the dove.

The raven circles around but doesn’t come back, the dove has a homing instinct and is more likely to return.

The raven feeds on dead things, the dove looks for living things.

These interpreters see the raven as symbolic of dwelling on the sins of the past, but the dove is looking with hope to the future.

The dove is a symbol of peace and of hope.

The dove returns the second time with an olive branch, a sign that there is not only a tree, but that it is alive and growing.

No wonder that the dove with an olive branch is still a sign of peace - it symbolizes a hopeful and productive future.

While you are waiting for God, can you find peace and rest?

The test of letting go.

Genesis 8:12 (ESV)

12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

Now this would seem to be the worst of all outcomes, but it is actually the best outcome.

The dove, who has an instinct to come back, does not come back.

The dove has found freedom and that becomes a sign to Noah and his family that they too will soon be free.

In the New Testament, the dove becomes a symbol of the Holy Spirit and this is largely because of the freedom the the Holy Spirit brings.

Matthew 3:16 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

When I see a dove, I don’t think about being cooped up in an ark, I immediately go to how the Spirit sets us free.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The question is, will we let go and let the Spirit set us free?

And are we willing to go where the Spirit takes us?

The ark can feel like a safe place after so much time, but when the Spirit takes flight, are we willing to go with Him?

While Noah is waiting for God to give the command to leave the ark, he is conducting experiments; and God is testing Noah.

What kind of sacrifice will Noah offer?

Will he play it safe? or will he offer his best?

Will he look to the past, or will he look to the future?

Will he focus on death or will he look for signs of life?

Will he go when the Spirit moves?

Restoration takes faith.

Genesis 8:20–22 NLT

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

When Noah exits the ark, the first thing he does is to construct and altar and worship God.

I know that we usually prefer music over burnt offering as our expression of worship.

But in ancient times, it was a way of making covenant with the Divine.

Watching the smoke rise to heaven and taking some of the meat from the altar as food, it was literally sharing a meal together with God.

It’s an intimate bonding experience between man and his creator - like camping!

The scripture says that God was “pleased” which again employs the same root word as “rest” in the Hebrew.

God is at home (or at rest) in our worship.

God is literally seated - or resting- on the praises of His people.

Psalm 22:3 ESV

3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

That is worship, when we are resting in God and He is resting with us.

God says, “ I NOAH place where you can find rest.”

God responds to Noah’s worship by speaking.

What does he say?

The same thing he said to Adam in the beginning...

God reasserts his mandate.

Genesis 9:1 ESV

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Just in case you didn’t get the point, he repeats it again in verse seven.

Genesis 9:7 ESV

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

God wants his goodness to multiply and increase in the earth.

God is taking Noah back to the beginning and repeating the same divine mandate that he gave to Adam and Eve.

Multiply goodness.

Bear fruit for the Kingdom.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Its the same mandate that God gives to us as “new creations” in Jesus Christ.

He wants us to multiply the influence of His goodness in the earth.

But we can only do this with his help.

God reaffirms his provision.

Genesis 9:2–4 ESV

2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

So just as God gave Adam dominion over the earth, he ensures the resources of the natural world are available to Noah and his descendants.

The plants and animals are given for food, but respect the life that is in them by not eating the blood.

It’s going to take time to plant fields and grow crops.

The extra sacrificial animals that were brought on the ark will help bridge the gap.

And each time a life is offered, it will be a reminder that it takes life to preserve life.

Only blood can atone for sin.

I don’t know how well Noah knew and understood all of the imagery of sacrifice, but it all points to the One perfect sacrifice for sin.

Jesus would eventually come and give his life at the One sacrifice for sin for all and for all time.

Noah and his sons would begin a new humanity.

But it is Jesus, through the regeneration of the Spirit who makes us a new humanity.

We will talk about it more next week, but sin was not wiped out by the flood.

Sin also survived on the ark, but it would never be allowed to propagate the way it did before.

Because now it was clear that sin leads to death.

Judgement for sin is inevitable.

And obedience to God is the only way to escape judgement.

God reestablishes his covenant.

Genesis 9:12–15 ESV

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

God reestablishes his covenant with Noah as He did with Adam.

The sign of this covenant was a rainbow.

A rainbow is produced when the suns rays pass through water droplets and refract into the color spectrum of light.

A rainbow was not possible until there was rain.

God showed how his beauty can be seen through the most dire circumstances.

The rainbow is also like God calling a “truce.”

God is “hanging up his bow.”

It’s even stronger that that...

How to Read Genesis The Flood

The Hebrew word for rainbow used here is the same as the word for bow, a weapon. Taken in this sense, God hangs his bow up and its upward direction, pointing at God, may signify that God is saying that he will keep the covenant on pain of death.

This isn’t the last time that God will make a covenant contingent only on Himself...

But what we should take from this sign is that God is not interested in destruction… but He loves salvation.

Its one thing to be saved, its another thing to be redeemed, released and restored.

Salvation is a new beginning, but it is just the beginning.

To begin again means to follow through and make the most of your new beginning.

Questions for reflection:

Are there areas of your life where you are waiting for God? Just know that God is moving? What are the moments of movement that you can celebrate? How can you prepare your heart to go when God says go?

You were saved for a purpose! Finding that purpose comes through testing. What are some of the tests that you are experiencing right now? Are your tests helping you to find rest?

What inspires your worship? Have you considered God’s promise? What has God spoken to you in your darkest times? How has God shown you his beauty through the rain?