Genesis 8.2

Good morning everyone…it is so good to be here this morning and join together with you all. I want to welcome our kids as they go back to join their amazing teacher for this morning. I want to welcome those of you that are joining us online, and thank you for being a part of our extended spiritual family this morning.

Hey, this week has been a very up and down week....Have you ever had one of those? Like, I was busy, then some things got moved around, then I was busy again and it seemed like a bit of a roller coaster as far as timing went. So my question to you is if you have ever experienced needing to wait on the right timing to accomplish something? Maybe you thought enough time had passed, but it really hadn’t. I would think that gardeners would especially notice this. You feel like your plants should be more mature than they are by now, but here you are still watching them grow. I think Bethany has experienced that this year. There were times that I think she felt like she was waiting forever in order to get some harvest. I mean, others were already getting something and here we are waiting and waiting and waiting…That is pretty much how God works sometimes it seems like.

As a matter of fact, Im pretty sure that Noah would have had that kind of a feeling, at least partially based on what he does in todays passage. You see, today we are going to take a look at a couple of things that God did. First of all, really the most important piece of this story with Noah and his family is the reality that

God was working

You see, God never left Noah or any that were on the Ark. God did not turn his back on those that were obedient to him. God didn’t sit out and just wait to see what would happen. We see that through the actions of this next section. However, what we see is God working in God’s time, not our own time. You know, its kind of the same way with us isn’t it....Sometimes we don’t really understand why things are happening the way they are, but when we look back, we can see God working through various situations, or we can see God teaching us something, or preparing us for the next step in life. I mean, I don’t think Im the only one that ever experiences that, am I?

Ok, so what we saw last week is that God remembered Noah. The water had prevailed in the land for 150 days and the Lord remembered Noah. Remember, that didn’t mean that the Lord previously forgot Noah, but that the Lord fulfilled his promise to Noah. Not just to Noah, but to the animals and to his family as well. God fulfilled his promise and

God dries the Earth

Ok, so this is pretty intense, and I want to really give you a view into what was going on here this morning, ok. So, there was rain for 40 days and 40 nights. However, that was just the beginning becuase we read last week that the waters prevailed for 150 days…That is around 5 months of raising waters that Noah and his family are on the ark for. Now, let’s read a little bit this morning and appreciate what Noah and his family were experiencing.

Genesis 8:2–5 (ESV)

The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

OK, so this is at the end of 150 days. Now it says that the fountains of the deep and the windows of heavens were closed. Wait…I thought it only rained for 40 days and 40 nights…Well apparently it took a bit longer to fill the entire planet. This is another evidence of this being more than just a regional flood here. You see, after the 40 days and 40 nights, there would have still been rain from time to time based on this passage. However, it was only constant for 40 days and nights. There was also water coming from the Earth that was raising the water level over the Earth. Now, look at what we just read becuase it says that on the end of another 150 days that the waters were receding that the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat.

Now, just as a side note, there is a lot of conversation about a boat shaped spot in Turkey. However, it doesn’t really make sense for this place to be the Ark because of it being in the place where an active volcano is. It seems strange to thing that a wooden boat would be able to survive hot lava from an active volcano. It also seems unlikely as Noah and his family would have likely used the wood from the boat for new structures and housing. So, it seems unlikely, but I guess anything is possible there, and it is interesting the think about finding the actual ark…

Anyway, What is interesting is the power of the wind when God moves it. You see, the entire Earth was flooded and God made wind blow over the waters. Where did the floodwaters go? Listen, never underestimate the power of moving water! It’s likely that the flood greatly altered the contours of the land and created new areas for the water to fill, both on the surface of the earth and underground. Think of places like the Grand Canyon and then think of caves like Mammoth Caves. You see, evolutionary scientist will tell us that these places took millions of years to create. However, they would also say that if they happened quickly there would have been such a strong force of water moving that it is unlikely to ever happen…Well, that strong force occurs as the power of God moves the wind over the waters, Amen...Since there were eruptions from beneath the earth, whole continents and mountain ranges could have risen and fallen, creating huge areas into which the water could spill. The winds that God sent over the earth helped to evaporate the water and also move it to the places God had provided. A God powerful enough to cover the earth with water is also smart enough to know how to dispose of it when its work is done.

However, at this time, the waters weren’t finished receding yet, becuase when we skip down we read when the Earth was fully dry.

Genesis 8:13–14 (ESV)

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.

Ok, so listen, they entered the ark

Genesis 7:11 (ESV)

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.

So when they entered the ark and the waters started, Noah was 600, 2 months and 17 days. We just read that when the Earth had dried out, Noah was 601 2 months and 27 days. That means that they were in the ark waiting for the Earth to dry out so they could leave the boat for 1 year, 1 month and 10 days. That is a total of 405 days…guys, thats a long time to be waiting isn’t it…I mean especially when you don’t ever really have a time frame behind what you know God has led you to do…Have you ever experienced God’s timing? Do you know that God’s time is not our time?

When I was 20 years old I felt God leading me to full-time ministry. I didn’t really know what that was about, but believed God had called me to serve in ministry and not to have a regular job. Right away I began sending my resume out to churches all across the US. This was back when you had to print your resume and physically mail it out. I spent $100’s of dollars mailing off my resumes on nice paper to churches all over looking for a full time youth pastor. Do you know not a single church responded to me…Not one…that was discouraging. Well, then I moved on and while I still felt God was leading me to serve him in that way, I also knew I had to feed my family and so I took a job. Then I took another job, then another and so on and so forth. About 7 or 8 years later I again felt God leading me to serve a church as a job. I sent out resumes and I finally recieved a call back on one particular church that seemed to be a pretty good fit. I accepted that job and we moved to Lafayette. This was a part time job, so I felt I was getting closer to where God was leading me, but it wasn’t quite there yet. Well…after about 4 years God called us away from that position and I continued to work a full-time job away from the church. Fast forward another 3 years and now it’s 2013, I accepted the full-time position as an associate pastor. I served there until 2019, when I came here. Why do I share that story? Well, you see God’s timing is not our timing. I felt that God called me to full-time ministry, and it wasn’t until 2013 that I experienced that call as a reality. Yet, even then I was not yet where God was leading me until 2019 when we moved here to Northern Illinois. You see, as much as I wanted to experience the fullness of God direction…it wasn’t time yet.

I gotta think that is how Noah and his family felt as well. However, Noah sent out birds to give him an awareness of the situation, and he was able to see that the Earth was not yet ready for life. Then finally we read that it was time to leave in

Genesis 8:18–19 (ESV)

So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

They have finally realized the fulness of God’s promises to them. They have been spared the destruction of the flood, just like God promised, and so their reaction is the same as ours should be. When they see God moving in their lives, they worship God, and

God receives worship

After he stepped out of the ark and stood on the renewed earth, Noah was so filled with gratitude that his first act was to lead his family in worship. He built an altar and offered some of the clean animals as sacrifices to the Lord. For the first time in a very long time, worship was restored on the face of the Earth. Remember that all of humanity, except for Noah and his family left their worship of the Lord. Now, there is a calming spirit of worship. Noah walked with the Lord. Noah, preached for the Lord. Noah served the Lord in physical service. Noah listened and waited on the Lord in the Ark, and now…just like Abel before him, Noah is bringing his best to the Lord as true worship of the Lord was restored to the Earth. Let’s read together

Genesis 8:20–22 (ESV)

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Now, in the Old Testament, when you sacrificed a burnt offering, you gave the entire animal to the Lord with nothing kept back. This was the biblical law because the sacrifice symbolized total dedication to the Lord. Let me just ask you today if this is true of you today? Do you give it all to the Lord, or do you hold a little back for yourself? Now, Im not talking about your finances, although that is part of your commitment. I am talking about you…You see, in a new step of commitment, Noah gave himself and his family completely to the Lord. This is done as they worshiped God while they built this ark. This is done as they entered the ark and as they cared for all of the animals on the ark as well.

Now we read here about God smelling a pleasing aroma of their sacrifice. The description of God “smelling this pleasant aroma” is a human way of stating a divine truth: God was satisfied with the sacrifice, God accepted it, and was pleased with His people and their worship. However, if God refused to “smell” the fragrance of the offering, it meant that He was displeased with the worshipers. So the question I want for you to think about this morning is...

What do I have to offer?

Now this is important becuase we want to continue to offer a sweet smelling aroma as a sacrifice. However, there is a big change in the way things work. In New Testament language, the sacrifice speaks of Jesus Christ offering Himself up for us. “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”. (Eph 5.2). The thing is that our pleasing aroma is Jesus Christ…that is how we are accepted…not becuase of what we have done on our own, but becuase of what he has done for us. You see, Noah offered a sacrifice, but Jesus is our sacrifice.

The question for you to consider about what do you have to offer…the answer is nothing. You have nothing to offer. However, what do do today is follow in Noah’s footsteps offering ourselves to God as a sacrifice. In and of ourselves, we cannot be pleasing to God…However, through the sacrifice of Jesus we are offered a way to be a pleasing aroma.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Those of you that are in Christ are a new creation and you are a pleasing aroma to the Lord. However, we must never forget that is becuase of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This is not becuase the flood cured the evil in the hearts of man. We see the Lord acknowledge that the desire of man is still evil…However, this is in spite of humanity’s desire to sin. God, in his love and Grace has provided a way out so that we will never be forced to endure the judgement of God…as long as we surrender to the Lord.

So, returning to the question that I asked here....What do I have to offer? I have myself, and just as Isaiah said, Here am I Lord, send me...will I say “here I am Lord, use me” Allow my life to be a pleasing aroma to you. Am I willing to offer my life as a living sacrifice to the Lord, holding nothing back and expecting nothing in return…That is what I want to leave us with this morning. Listen, that means that everything comes into view the of the cross. That means that nothing is more important than the Lord. That means that there is not a piece of your life that you are holding back…just in case, or just for now...

Listen, if you are here this morning or joining us online and you would say that you have been impacted by the story of Noah and his commitment and you have realized that your commitment has been less than it should be, then I want to invite you to repent to the Lord and put things back where they are supposed to be. I also want to say that if you are here this morning or joining us online and you would say that you are unsure how to go about putting your priorities back where they should be, then let me invite you to reach out and set up a time for us to start meeting. We offer Biblical counseling right through the office here of LRBC and we would be happy to sit with you and look at how the Scriptures can help you put your life back to focusing on the Lord first. For everyone else, I want to invite you to share with me or someone else here this morning how we can personally be praying for you. Listen we get together multiple times a week and we are praying for the church as well as for those that attend LRBC and we would love to pray for you…For now, let me pray to close us out this morning.

PRAYER