One of the strongest objections people have to belief in God is the problem of death and suffering. The notion that there is a God is not fought against in modern society, provided He is a tailor made god of our choosing. He must love and support our decisions, rescue us from our failings, and generally do our bidding - in exchange for having us believe in Him. He must not bring death or discomfort, or we will vote Him out of Heaven. Any god that desires to control our morality, beyond a few principles that any but the most savage man would agree to (like perhaps not molesting children or not beating up the elderly in nursing homes) cannot be the god of our modern world. In any case, the idea of a personal God that created man and the universe has been relegated to a superstitious “accept by faith” - which is consistently trumped by the “facts of science”.
Make no mistake, the violent intolerance of the world toward a personal God that declares something RIGHT and WRONG can be seen any day one looks in the New York Times editorial section. Read the comments – you’ll get the idea. Many in our nation believe that “In the beginning man created God to soothe his loneliness and make him feel he had a purpose beyond the shortness of his years and to give him hope when tragedy strikes his family with untimely death.
In American, God is often a "fashion statement". On September 12, 2000, the Congress didn’t shrink from saying that they believed in God in America, because they were hurt, and the ACLU said nothing. Why? Because they waited. Within a few years we would apologize to the world for our “anti-Islam” bias and ask them to love us in spite of our misunderstanding nature that was likely inherited from Founding Fathers that were obviously overtaken by the mistaken superstition of Christianity.
Our academic world leads the way in this pursuit of the “man made God”. Consider this story by Philip Johnson in Reason in the Balance:
“Philip Bishop teaches classes in exercise Physiology in the College of Education at the University of Alabama. Like many other college teacher, he likes to tell his students something about himself and what he values. In his case, this personal disclosure involved saying that he believes that “God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ and He has something to tell us about life which is crucial to success and happiness.”… He presented this view as his own “bias” and told students, “ If that is not your bias, that is fine.” He urged his students to keep in mind that whatever he said might reflect his Christian bias and asked them to tell him if his behavior fell short of his Christian ideals….The Court that later reviewed his conduct agreed that Bishop was otherwise very restrained. He never engaged in prayer, read passages from the Bible, handed out religious tracts or lectured on any religious topic during class. On the other hand, Bishop made no secret of his skepticism about the orthodox doctrine that the human body evolved by purely naturalistic and material processes such as random mutation and natural selection. He did not discourse on this in class, but he did invite students and others to a voluntary, after hours meeting at which he lectured on “evidences of God in human physiology”. [After a complaint by another Dean of the faculty on behalf of students that were un-named and never produced in court, Gibson was forbidden to open his mouth concerning his views that there was a God and that he designed man. The University lawyers argued that since this was state school, the mentioning of God was tantamount to the violation of establishing a religion. No mention was made of the hundreds of courses available in public education on subjects ranging from the occult to spiritism, Islam or Buddhism – all of which can be taken for credit and are taught often by adherents of these sects. Judge Gibson of the district court stated as part of the finding that Bishop’s viewpoint was “likely to cause apprehension”] : “Dr. Bishop has tried to make much of the fact that the University has no policy for the limiting of speech of its professors only to their subject areas… [He] has filed numerous affidavits by other instructors at the University describing extracurricular speech in the classroom as efforts to reach out to students. Such attempts at professor-student affinity are laudable. But plainly some topics understandably produce more apprehension than comfort to students. Just as women would find no comfort in an openly sexist instructor, an Islamic or Jewish student will not likely savor the Christian bias that Dr. Bishop professes… There is no suggestion that any other professor has produced student complaints or struck constitutional chords.” [Note that this was remarked without a single first hand testimony from any student against this professor on record.]
It is time for God’s people to see the truth. We cannot straddle the fence of tolerance – for there is little place at the table left for us. We need not be obnoxious in the public square, but we also need to stop accommodating all of this, particularly in our own hearts and minds. The world view as seen from the Bible has a very different view of the Creator, and His character and purposes are drawn out in the Bible in direct opposition to the trends of our time. Remember, only the right map leads you to the proper destination.
Key Principle: The believer must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.
Our reading in this lesson (Genesis 6:9 to 7:5) is part of the third section or “scroll” of the Book (found in Genesis 6:9-7:5). The prologue was from Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 and established through the seven day account that:
1) God was the first cause of everything.
2) God created all that exists.
3) God set time in the physical world.
4) God owns all that is – there is no competing equal.
5) When God created all was GOOD. Though God may be indicted for creating beings with choice – sin and its terrible consequences were not God’s judicial responsibility.
Then we studied the first scroll (2:4-4:26) a bit together in previous studies and discovered that:
1) God provided all for man and gave him a purpose (to work at maintaining the garden).
2) God set the limitations for man and made him guardian over the whole garden.
3) Man took responsibility for the creatures by naming them.
4) God created a helper for man, and he named her – woman – and took responsibility for her.
5) Man’s failure to cover his wife left her open to temptation and eventual failure.
6) God judged man and woman as He revealed He would, expelling them.
7) Expelled man increased in number and in sin – including murder and lies – showing the power of the enemy’s work in and through them.
8) Two groups formed – illustrated in the arrogance of Lamech’s song and the submission of Seth and Enosh in worship of the Lord.
In the second scroll (5:1-6:8) we saw how God revealed a promise to save the race.
1) In chapter five we saw in the genealogy the story of salvation to come.
2) In 6:1-8 we saw the battle of the Titans – a battle of spiritual forces played out in the physical world.
This time we look at the third scroll of Genesis. The third scroll plays out the actual battle between the demonic infestation of the world and the remnant of pure blood still left for man’s eventual salvation. Five principles are apparent in the opening part of the third scroll concerning God’s work in His follower:
There was likely no way for Noah to recognize why God chose his family. He couldn’t see his genetics. All he knew was that he chose to follow God. That is as it should be. We don’t have to understand why God does what God does. We have to trust and obey – follow based on His person and place in our lives – nothing more or less!
Principle #2: Real VISION sees two worlds - God sees both the spiritual causes and the physical effects (6:11-12).
6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
We are most like our Heavenly Father when we see the real world’s impact on the temporal world. The physical world is more often the EFFECT of a disturbance in the spiritual world. We wrestle far less against the physical world, than the spiritual realities behind it.
Principle #3: God lets us in - God opens collaboration with the believer to fulfill His purposes (6:13-14).
6:13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
From the moment God gave man the job of working the Garden, God established the relationship with man as a manager on earth of God’s property. God could have created a world to care for itself – and truly in many systems it does. Yet, God wanted man to work, because MAN needed to work. In addition, it created a PURPOSE for the relationship that would continue through the ages. When God calls on a believer to accomplish something, it is not because God cannot do it another way – it is because He is offering us the privilege of collaboration. That is God’s choice for accomplishment. He builds a team and enjoys empowering others to collaborate individually and collectively.
That is why he created a Levitical priesthood and spread them to every village. That is why he made worship both an individual experience and a CORPORATE one. That is why He refers to the church as the BODY and links us together to serve Him.
Principle #4: God specifies the terms - The collaboration opens the way to fulfillment through obedience (6:15-16)
6:15 “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
God does not seek man to validate Him. He does not need man’s affirmation to become certain of His plan for human history. He knows what He will do, and He knows why. He specified the size because Noah couldn’t have known how large to build it. He specified the layout because Noah could know what was needed. He specified a window because it would later be important to the story. He specified the door because God would be the One who closed the door on the world later in the account.
Principle #5: God reveals truth to those who listen - Obedience opened revelation (not consultation) that helped to offer reason in the midst of trials (6:17-7:4). The revelation helped in seven ways.
6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
Look closely at what God said. He explained the purpose of the ark, promised His covenant to Noah and his family and then instructed him on the subject of filling the ark with animals and provisions. In other words, God uncovered truths about what to do that Noah needed – a process believers call “revelation” – God uncovering truth that is necessary for us to please Him. “Special revelation” refers to directly revealed truths through prophetic utterance. Why does He do this? Because it HELPS us! Look again:
Help #1: Opened the believer’s eyes to the seriousness of the plan of God (6:17).
6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
Noah didn’t wake up one morning and know that God was about to wipe out the world. He had to be told, and the news no doubt gripped his soul. It overwhelmed him so much that he became a “preacher of righteousness” according to 2 Peter 2:5. His testimony was recalled in the “Hall of fame of faith” in Hebrews 11:7. He didn’t go to seminary and prepare for a life of preaching. There was no precedent for this kind of prophetic ministry! He simply was overwhelmed by the seriousness of the impending doom.
This is a quality that many believers are today lacking. We don’t really see the coming destruction of our neighbors. We intellectually believe that God will perform the things written in His Word, but we don’t get very excited about it. We don’t live as though a warning is necessary!
Help #2: Offered consolation to the follower of God on those dearest to Him (6:18).
6:18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
What a relief to Noah that God wasn’t simply offering the BAD NEWS that man was ready for destruction, but the GOOD NEWS that God wanted to save the race He started. Further, Noah would lose MANY that were dear to him, but his own family would be spared. In other words, Noah would lose some he loved, but others he loved would be with Him in the salvation story. How like us that is!
Help #3: Offered a unique view of God’s plans and provisions (6:19-21).
6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
The old adage is true: “Where God guides, God provides.” Noah couldn’t get all the animals, so God BROUGHT them to him. God told Noah that everything would work but that he would have to work hard to get it that way. The collaboration was real,but so was the provision. Nothing got on the ark that God didn’t deliberately cause to grow!
Help #4: Showed the restrictions and limits to the believer (that they may walk in a way pleasing to the Lord) – (7:1).
7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous (tsaddik) before Me in this time.
Noah needed to be encouraged to follow specific regulations of God. Believers don’t make the rules, but they are free to please God by following what God instructs in His Word. God is not offering suggestions, but commands. It is not for His ultimate benefit – it is for OURS!
Help #5: Showed the progressive nature of God’s revelation (how He works) – (7:2-3).
7:2 “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
God stated that two animals would be necessary. Later He explained more thoroughly the idea behind what He wanted Noah to do. As the Word unfolded, Noah understood MORE, though he was called on to obey from the beginning. We don’t always understand all that God is instructing, but with time His desires and reasons do become more apparent as He progressively reveals truth.
Help #6: Gave some advanced warning about the timing of God’s judgment (7:4).
7:4 “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
God didn’t leave Noah hanging that the event of judgment would come to some future generation. Noah needed to give up every other pursuit of life to follow, and he needed to know that God was about to act in the lives of people around him. Because God gave to Noah specific time restraints, Noah could act responsibly with the time he had. Look at your life. Will this body go on forever? No, of course not. There is life eternal and a new body later – but this life is given in a finite way for a finite period. How much of it am I free to waste on self oriented luxury that does nothing for my King or His Kingdom?
Help #7: Revealed specific and measurable ways for the believer to KNOW they have followed well (6:22 and 7:5).
6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. [LATER]
7:5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
Noah needed to DO what God told Him, but when he did he enjoyed the knowledge that God WAS pleased. God laid out what obedience looked like, and then patiently walked him through each step. That is how God works. He is not the boss that cannot be satisfied, the fickle friend that turns on us when they don’t feel good, or the prison warden that simply wants to control us. He wants relationship, and establishes what obedience looks like.
Before we leave this passage, consider some other thoughts about God and His work through Noah:
Note that God waited until there was but one family from which to redeem humanity! God is not worried about majority opinion, popularity, nor is He concerned that time will get away from Him. When He acts, He fully cares for the problem completely. When He warns – He follows through! When all is said and done, people in our modern world read the account and blame Him for an injustice in the very act of saving the race!
The bottom line is that God offers the believer an opportunity to be fulfilled in his or her life. To do so, we must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.
Make no mistake, the violent intolerance of the world toward a personal God that declares something RIGHT and WRONG can be seen any day one looks in the New York Times editorial section. Read the comments – you’ll get the idea. Many in our nation believe that “In the beginning man created God to soothe his loneliness and make him feel he had a purpose beyond the shortness of his years and to give him hope when tragedy strikes his family with untimely death.
In American, God is often a "fashion statement". On September 12, 2000, the Congress didn’t shrink from saying that they believed in God in America, because they were hurt, and the ACLU said nothing. Why? Because they waited. Within a few years we would apologize to the world for our “anti-Islam” bias and ask them to love us in spite of our misunderstanding nature that was likely inherited from Founding Fathers that were obviously overtaken by the mistaken superstition of Christianity.
Our academic world leads the way in this pursuit of the “man made God”. Consider this story by Philip Johnson in Reason in the Balance:
“Philip Bishop teaches classes in exercise Physiology in the College of Education at the University of Alabama. Like many other college teacher, he likes to tell his students something about himself and what he values. In his case, this personal disclosure involved saying that he believes that “God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ and He has something to tell us about life which is crucial to success and happiness.”… He presented this view as his own “bias” and told students, “ If that is not your bias, that is fine.” He urged his students to keep in mind that whatever he said might reflect his Christian bias and asked them to tell him if his behavior fell short of his Christian ideals….The Court that later reviewed his conduct agreed that Bishop was otherwise very restrained. He never engaged in prayer, read passages from the Bible, handed out religious tracts or lectured on any religious topic during class. On the other hand, Bishop made no secret of his skepticism about the orthodox doctrine that the human body evolved by purely naturalistic and material processes such as random mutation and natural selection. He did not discourse on this in class, but he did invite students and others to a voluntary, after hours meeting at which he lectured on “evidences of God in human physiology”. [After a complaint by another Dean of the faculty on behalf of students that were un-named and never produced in court, Gibson was forbidden to open his mouth concerning his views that there was a God and that he designed man. The University lawyers argued that since this was state school, the mentioning of God was tantamount to the violation of establishing a religion. No mention was made of the hundreds of courses available in public education on subjects ranging from the occult to spiritism, Islam or Buddhism – all of which can be taken for credit and are taught often by adherents of these sects. Judge Gibson of the district court stated as part of the finding that Bishop’s viewpoint was “likely to cause apprehension”] : “Dr. Bishop has tried to make much of the fact that the University has no policy for the limiting of speech of its professors only to their subject areas… [He] has filed numerous affidavits by other instructors at the University describing extracurricular speech in the classroom as efforts to reach out to students. Such attempts at professor-student affinity are laudable. But plainly some topics understandably produce more apprehension than comfort to students. Just as women would find no comfort in an openly sexist instructor, an Islamic or Jewish student will not likely savor the Christian bias that Dr. Bishop professes… There is no suggestion that any other professor has produced student complaints or struck constitutional chords.” [Note that this was remarked without a single first hand testimony from any student against this professor on record.]
It is time for God’s people to see the truth. We cannot straddle the fence of tolerance – for there is little place at the table left for us. We need not be obnoxious in the public square, but we also need to stop accommodating all of this, particularly in our own hearts and minds. The world view as seen from the Bible has a very different view of the Creator, and His character and purposes are drawn out in the Bible in direct opposition to the trends of our time. Remember, only the right map leads you to the proper destination.
Key Principle: The believer must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.
Our reading in this lesson (Genesis 6:9 to 7:5) is part of the third section or “scroll” of the Book (found in Genesis 6:9-7:5). The prologue was from Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 and established through the seven day account that:
1) God was the first cause of everything.
2) God created all that exists.
3) God set time in the physical world.
4) God owns all that is – there is no competing equal.
5) When God created all was GOOD. Though God may be indicted for creating beings with choice – sin and its terrible consequences were not God’s judicial responsibility.
Then we studied the first scroll (2:4-4:26) a bit together in previous studies and discovered that:
1) God provided all for man and gave him a purpose (to work at maintaining the garden).
2) God set the limitations for man and made him guardian over the whole garden.
3) Man took responsibility for the creatures by naming them.
4) God created a helper for man, and he named her – woman – and took responsibility for her.
5) Man’s failure to cover his wife left her open to temptation and eventual failure.
6) God judged man and woman as He revealed He would, expelling them.
7) Expelled man increased in number and in sin – including murder and lies – showing the power of the enemy’s work in and through them.
8) Two groups formed – illustrated in the arrogance of Lamech’s song and the submission of Seth and Enosh in worship of the Lord.
In the second scroll (5:1-6:8) we saw how God revealed a promise to save the race.
1) In chapter five we saw in the genealogy the story of salvation to come.
2) In 6:1-8 we saw the battle of the Titans – a battle of spiritual forces played out in the physical world.
This time we look at the third scroll of Genesis. The third scroll plays out the actual battle between the demonic infestation of the world and the remnant of pure blood still left for man’s eventual salvation. Five principles are apparent in the opening part of the third scroll concerning God’s work in His follower:
Principle #1: God is SOVEREIGN over the universe - God chooses the believer for purposes that He alone truly understands (6:9-10):
6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.There was likely no way for Noah to recognize why God chose his family. He couldn’t see his genetics. All he knew was that he chose to follow God. That is as it should be. We don’t have to understand why God does what God does. We have to trust and obey – follow based on His person and place in our lives – nothing more or less!
Principle #2: Real VISION sees two worlds - God sees both the spiritual causes and the physical effects (6:11-12).
6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
We are most like our Heavenly Father when we see the real world’s impact on the temporal world. The physical world is more often the EFFECT of a disturbance in the spiritual world. We wrestle far less against the physical world, than the spiritual realities behind it.
Principle #3: God lets us in - God opens collaboration with the believer to fulfill His purposes (6:13-14).
6:13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
From the moment God gave man the job of working the Garden, God established the relationship with man as a manager on earth of God’s property. God could have created a world to care for itself – and truly in many systems it does. Yet, God wanted man to work, because MAN needed to work. In addition, it created a PURPOSE for the relationship that would continue through the ages. When God calls on a believer to accomplish something, it is not because God cannot do it another way – it is because He is offering us the privilege of collaboration. That is God’s choice for accomplishment. He builds a team and enjoys empowering others to collaborate individually and collectively.
That is why he created a Levitical priesthood and spread them to every village. That is why he made worship both an individual experience and a CORPORATE one. That is why He refers to the church as the BODY and links us together to serve Him.
Principle #4: God specifies the terms - The collaboration opens the way to fulfillment through obedience (6:15-16)
6:15 “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
God does not seek man to validate Him. He does not need man’s affirmation to become certain of His plan for human history. He knows what He will do, and He knows why. He specified the size because Noah couldn’t have known how large to build it. He specified the layout because Noah could know what was needed. He specified a window because it would later be important to the story. He specified the door because God would be the One who closed the door on the world later in the account.
Principle #5: God reveals truth to those who listen - Obedience opened revelation (not consultation) that helped to offer reason in the midst of trials (6:17-7:4). The revelation helped in seven ways.
6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
Look closely at what God said. He explained the purpose of the ark, promised His covenant to Noah and his family and then instructed him on the subject of filling the ark with animals and provisions. In other words, God uncovered truths about what to do that Noah needed – a process believers call “revelation” – God uncovering truth that is necessary for us to please Him. “Special revelation” refers to directly revealed truths through prophetic utterance. Why does He do this? Because it HELPS us! Look again:
Seven Ways Special Revelation Aids a Believer
Help #1: Opened the believer’s eyes to the seriousness of the plan of God (6:17).
6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
Noah didn’t wake up one morning and know that God was about to wipe out the world. He had to be told, and the news no doubt gripped his soul. It overwhelmed him so much that he became a “preacher of righteousness” according to 2 Peter 2:5. His testimony was recalled in the “Hall of fame of faith” in Hebrews 11:7. He didn’t go to seminary and prepare for a life of preaching. There was no precedent for this kind of prophetic ministry! He simply was overwhelmed by the seriousness of the impending doom.
This is a quality that many believers are today lacking. We don’t really see the coming destruction of our neighbors. We intellectually believe that God will perform the things written in His Word, but we don’t get very excited about it. We don’t live as though a warning is necessary!
Help #2: Offered consolation to the follower of God on those dearest to Him (6:18).
6:18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
What a relief to Noah that God wasn’t simply offering the BAD NEWS that man was ready for destruction, but the GOOD NEWS that God wanted to save the race He started. Further, Noah would lose MANY that were dear to him, but his own family would be spared. In other words, Noah would lose some he loved, but others he loved would be with Him in the salvation story. How like us that is!
Help #3: Offered a unique view of God’s plans and provisions (6:19-21).
6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
The old adage is true: “Where God guides, God provides.” Noah couldn’t get all the animals, so God BROUGHT them to him. God told Noah that everything would work but that he would have to work hard to get it that way. The collaboration was real,but so was the provision. Nothing got on the ark that God didn’t deliberately cause to grow!
Help #4: Showed the restrictions and limits to the believer (that they may walk in a way pleasing to the Lord) – (7:1).
7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous (tsaddik) before Me in this time.
Noah needed to be encouraged to follow specific regulations of God. Believers don’t make the rules, but they are free to please God by following what God instructs in His Word. God is not offering suggestions, but commands. It is not for His ultimate benefit – it is for OURS!
Help #5: Showed the progressive nature of God’s revelation (how He works) – (7:2-3).
7:2 “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; 3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
God stated that two animals would be necessary. Later He explained more thoroughly the idea behind what He wanted Noah to do. As the Word unfolded, Noah understood MORE, though he was called on to obey from the beginning. We don’t always understand all that God is instructing, but with time His desires and reasons do become more apparent as He progressively reveals truth.
Help #6: Gave some advanced warning about the timing of God’s judgment (7:4).
7:4 “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
God didn’t leave Noah hanging that the event of judgment would come to some future generation. Noah needed to give up every other pursuit of life to follow, and he needed to know that God was about to act in the lives of people around him. Because God gave to Noah specific time restraints, Noah could act responsibly with the time he had. Look at your life. Will this body go on forever? No, of course not. There is life eternal and a new body later – but this life is given in a finite way for a finite period. How much of it am I free to waste on self oriented luxury that does nothing for my King or His Kingdom?
Help #7: Revealed specific and measurable ways for the believer to KNOW they have followed well (6:22 and 7:5).
6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. [LATER]
7:5 Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
Noah needed to DO what God told Him, but when he did he enjoyed the knowledge that God WAS pleased. God laid out what obedience looked like, and then patiently walked him through each step. That is how God works. He is not the boss that cannot be satisfied, the fickle friend that turns on us when they don’t feel good, or the prison warden that simply wants to control us. He wants relationship, and establishes what obedience looks like.
Before we leave this passage, consider some other thoughts about God and His work through Noah:
Note that God waited until there was but one family from which to redeem humanity! God is not worried about majority opinion, popularity, nor is He concerned that time will get away from Him. When He acts, He fully cares for the problem completely. When He warns – He follows through! When all is said and done, people in our modern world read the account and blame Him for an injustice in the very act of saving the race!
The bottom line is that God offers the believer an opportunity to be fulfilled in his or her life. To do so, we must follow the directions of God’s revelation to experience the fulfillment of accomplishing the Father’s purposes.
Recent Comments