Mar 19
17
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 8
“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. 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. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. 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. Then God said to Noah, ‘Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ 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. 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.’” (Genesis 8, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Revelation 12:13–17
“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.” (Revelation 12:13–17, ESV)
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Introduction
As we come now to the end of the flood narrative I wish focus in upon the answer that the story gives to the question, what will God do in response to the sin of humanity?
This question — the question, what will God do in response to the sin of humanity? — seems to me to be the central question answered by the story of the flood, and here is why: In Genesis 3 the sin of Adam and Eve is described. In Genesis 4 are told of the spread of sin amongst the decedents of Adam and Eve. By the middle of Genesis 6 we learn that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. Moreover, “The earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Genesis 6:5, 11–12, ESV). The question raised by these chapters is, what will God do in response to the wickedness of man? The flood event provides the answer to this question, I believe.
I would ask that you pay careful attention to the way that I worded this question. I am not asking, what did God do in response to the sin of humanity? Instead I am asking, what will God do in response to the sin of humanity? Clearly, my view is that the flood narrative of Genesis 6:9 to the end of chapter 8 answers both of those questions. When we read this story not only do we learn about what God did in response to the sin of humanity that speak upon the earth in the days of Noah, but we also learn something about what God will do. Only one word differentiates the first question from the second — what did God do?, and what will God do? — But the assumptions undergirding each of these questions are very different.
If after considering the flood narrative of Genesis 6:9 and following we ask, “what did God do in response to the sin of humanity?”, are we not assuming that the flood event was merely historical? The assumption is that what we have in Genesis 6:9 and following is a simple and straightforward retelling of an historical event, and nothing more.
But if after considering the flood narrative we ask, “what will God do in response to the sin of humanity?” then it becomes apparent that we view the flood as being more than a common and ordinary historical event, but one that was also prototypical, symbolic, and prophetic.
Yes, it is my opinion that the flood actually happened. ButI am saying that it happened as it did by God’s design so that the event itself revealed what God would do in the future, long after the flood waters receded. This is what we mean when we talk about “redemptive history”. We are talking about those events that have to do the salvation of God’s people. And if we pay careful attention to those events we find that they often have a prototypical, symbolic, and prophetic aspect to them.
The vast majority of historical events are just that — historical events. On Thursday evening I watched my son David daughter play in a basketball game. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was published. One of those events is slightly more significant than the other, but they share this in common — they are historical events, and nothing more. There is record of these events having happened. We might learn something about them through historical inquiry. But they are not prototypes of events that will happen later. They are not symbolic or prophetic in nature.
The events of redemptive history are different. Not only are they real historical events, but Christ and the salvation that would be earned by him is pictured in them.
Take for example the way that Christ was pictured in the passover event. The angel of death passed through all Egypt to kill the firstborn, but those who had the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their house were shielded and spared. That really happened. It was a real historical event in the same way that my son’s basketball game and the signing of the Declaration of Independence were real historical events. But in the passover event we find something more. There we find a picture of Christ and the salvation that is found in him by his shed blood and through faith in his name. That event was redemptive. That event was designed by God to function as a picture of things that would happen later.
Consider also the way in which Christ was pictured by the manna and the water from the rock which was provided to the people of Israel in the wilderness. Those too were real historical events, and yet Christ was typified or symbolized in them.
And lest you think I am playing fast and loose with the text when I find pictures of Christ and the salvation that is found in him in these events of history, I will site the New Testament scriptures to demonstrate that this is how the scriptures themselves interpret these events.
For example, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10 writes, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink…” What is Paul referring to except the events of the Exodus. Israel was led by the cloud, they passed through the sea, they ate the manna, and drank the water which flowed from the rock. Now listen to Paul’s interpretation. “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples [τύπος — models] for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:1–6, ESV). What did Paul see when he considered these historical events — Israel’s eating of the manna from heaven and their drinking of the water from the rock, etc? He saw Christ there. Christ was typified in those historical events. Though Israel was truly saved from the Egyptians, something was also communicated regarding the true end eternal salvation that would be accomplished by the Christ at the appointed time.
The New Testament interprets the flood narrative in the same way. It views the flood as an historical event, but one that also sets a patern for things yet to come.
Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of his return and the final judgement in this way: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 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, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:36–39, ESV).
The story of the flood and of Noah’s deliverence from it in the ark was a preview and a picture of the judgement that will come upon the world at the end time, our salvation, and the renewal of the heavens and the earth in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why I do not ask, what did God do in response to the sin of humanity?when considering the flood, but instead, what will God do in response to the sin of humanity? The flood narrative provides answers to both the historical question and also the future question.
What will God do in response to the sin of humanity? The answer is threefold: One, God will surely judge. Two, God will save his people in his chosen vehicle. Three, God will make all things new. This gospel has been communicated in words. But I am saying is that God has also demonstrated this gospel through certain historical events, the flood being one such event.
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God Will Surely Judge
First of all, the story of the flood demonstrates that God will surely judge the wicked. God poured out a type of judgment on the world of the ungodly in the days of Noah, and by this it is demonstrated that God will surly judge the wicked to all eternity on the last day.
Take note of the patience of God displayed in the years leading up to the flood.
Take note of the mercy and kindness of God displayed in the years leading up to the flood.
Men and women enjoyed the good things of this world as they blasphemed his holy name.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26–27, ESV)
Take note that God warned that the flood of judgement would come.
Notice also the swiftness of God’s judgement in the days of Noah. Noah warned for decades… and then the flood waters came. Noah and his family entered the ark, the door was sealed, and it was too late for the unbelieving world.
Friends, the same story is unfolding in this present world.
God is patient.
He is merciful and kind.
He has issued his warning that judgement day is coming.
And when it comes, it will come swiftly.
Listen to the words of Peter in 2 Peter 3: “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:1–13, ESV)
What do we see in the story of the flood except a demonstration of what God will do in this present world. He will do in this present world what he did in the world that then existed. After displaying patience, after showing mercy, and after warning of the judgement to come, he will pour our his wrath on all the ungodly. This time it will judgement, not with water, but with fire.
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God Will Save His People In His Chosen Vehicle
Secondly, the flood demonstrates that God will save his people in and by his chosen vehicle. God provided a type of salvation for Noah and his family in the ark which God commanded Noah to build, and by this it is demonstrated that God will save his people to all eternity in and by his chosen vehicle, namely, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice that Noah and his family were choose by God. Noah found grace in the sight of God.
Noah and his family were were set apart as holy form the nations.
Seven were saved through their relationship to righteous Noah.
And they were saved by going into the vehicle appointed by God, to be sheltered from the wrath of God poured out.
Noah and his family were saved through the ark in an earth way, but Noah knew that he would be saved spiritually and eternally through shedding of blood and by the sacrifice of another. What was the first thing that Noah did after disembarking from the ark? “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” (Genesis 8:20, ESV). This was an offering of thanksgiving, no doubt. But it was also an offering of propitiation. Undoubtably Noah was sobered by the judgement he saw. He understood that is he and his family were to stand before God righteous it would be because atone was made for their sins.
All of this points forward to Christ, friends. And Noah beloved upon Christ and therefore received a righteousness not his own (Heb. 11).
What differentiated between those who lived and those who died in the days of Noah? Those who were in the ark and associated with Noah lived, whereas those who were outside the ark died.
Are you in Christ? Are you united to him by faith?
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” (Philippians 3:7–10, ESV).
The flood demonstrates that God will save his people in and by his chosen vehicle. This was true for Noah in an earthly sense, but it is true for all who are in Christ in a spiritual one.
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God Will Make All Things New
Thirdly, the flood demonstrates that in the end God will make all things new. God brought a new world out of the waters of the flood. It was not the new heavens and new earth, but a type of new earth. The flood itself was an act of de-creation, as I have already said. But when the flood waters receded, a new world emerged. By this it was demonstrated that God is able to make all things new.
In our text we read, “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” (Genesis 8:1, ESV). The text says that God remembered Noah not because he had forgotten him for a while, but to highlight God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises. God promised to sustain Noah, and he was faithful to keep his word — he remembered Noah and did not forget him. God is faithful to keep his promises, friends.
God “made a wind blow over the earth”. This language is reminiscent of the account of the creation of the world as recorded Genesis 1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1–2, ESV). The word for “Spirit” and the word for “wind” are the same in the Hebrew — rûaḥ.
Notice that everything that was done to flood the earth is now undone here in verses 2 and following. “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.”
In verse 3 we read, “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.” We do not know the exact mountain, for the Hebrew might as well be translated “mountain range”, but it was probably somewhere in what is today eastern Turkey, southern Russia and northwestern Iran. More significant than knowing the precise location of the final resting place of the ark is the fact that it came to rest upon a mountain. Mountains are very significant in the scriptures. Eden was on a mountain. Abraham to Isaac up on mountain and a substitute was provided for him there. Moses received the law on a mountain. The temple in Jerusalem was built on a mountain. Ezekiel saw a vision of the eschatological temple on a mountain. Christ was transfigured on a mountain. The fact the ark came to rest upon a mountain helps us to know what the ark was — a temple or sanctuary wherein Noah was blessed by the presence of God and was by him preserved.
It was after 5 months that the flood 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. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore” (Genesis 8:3–12, ESV).
Notice that Noah keep the Sabbath while on the ark. He lived according to that seven day pattern established by God at creation.
Notice Noah’s connection with the creatures and his tender care for them. Christians should care for animals and for the environment. Proverbs 12:10 says, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”
When the dove brought Noah the olive leaf, he knew the earth was beginning to dry out. When the dove did not return he knew it was time to disembark.
“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” (Genesis 8:13–14, ESV).
When we compare Genesis 8:13-14 with 7:11 we know that Noah, his family and the animals were on the ark for about one whole year.
“Then God said to Noah, ‘Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ 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.” (Genesis 8:15–19, ESV)
It is hards to miss that the language in this passage is similar to the language of Geneses 1:28 and following. When God created Adam and Eve he “blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:28, ESV).
The flood was and act of de-creation, but here we witness a re-creation. Here we have the new heavens and earth, along with the new humanity typified before us. This is not the new heavens and earth, not is it the new humanity — that will become painfully clear as the narrative progresses — but these things are typified here. They will be earned, not by Noah, but by Christ. We will be dillevered into them, not by an ark, but ion Christ. And these new heaven and earth will never fade.
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Conclusion
Let me make a few points of application before we conclude.
One, I ask have you been renewed in Christ? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)Have you been baptized as a profession of your faith? There the waters of judgement are signified.
Two, do you appreciate all that has been provided for us in Christ Jesus?
All things new…
Renewed heavens and earth…
Renewed you…
Three, do you appreciate the patience of God?
God’s patience was displayed prior to the flood.
We are living in a world preserved by God’s patience even now.
Four, are you proclaiming the gospel? Are you holding forth Christ as the vehicle of our salvation?
To the world…
To one another…
To our children…
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17–21, ESV)
Five, are you living a holy life?
Six, do you have the worship of the one true God as the highest aim of your life?
They built and alter first thing
Worship in all of life…
Worship as God has prescribed…
