God Buries the World In Water
God Buries the World In Water
Thank you so much, musicians, week by week, your service and preparation and practice and rehearsal and song selections, just to bless us as God's people. And it is good to be together on the Lord's day. I was just thinking as I was hearing a baby gurgling, and I think a baby burping, that we're okay with baby sounds here, we like them.
So just an encouragement to parents, I know sometimes when your baby's making the sound, I've been there and done that. Most of my kids now don't make sounds during the service, but it can be a little uncomfortable in the moment and you feel like, oh my goodness, what's going on? So obviously if they're screaming, you can take them out. That's a good idea, but just know we're happy to have them here.
And they're part of your family and a part of the church family as well. So glad to have them here as a part of the service each week. Well, it was James Otto Richardson who served as an admiral, admiral, not an admirable, an admiral of the United States Navy from 1902 to 1947.
And he was a very accomplished military commander. He dedicated his life among other things to the study of Japanese warfare. And by 1940, he was the commander in chief of the United States fleet.
And he advised President Roosevelt and the secretary of state who wanted to move naval forces to Pearl Harbor that it was a bad idea. He said, I don't think you understand what you're doing and we're gonna isolate our forces right now. We're not in a position as a Navy to deploy so many resources to Pearl Harbor.
Furthermore, it's too remote and exposed. It's gonna be a logistical nightmare to support that region and what you're hoping to have as a show of force to really cause Japan to stand down, it's probably gonna have the opposite effect. When you've heard of Richardson's name or not, he made multiple trips to Washington to warn President Roosevelt and he was rewarded with being fired.
He was dismissed. And of course, as we look back on what took place that fateful day, there were even many warning signs that were dismissed. But certainly here one where you had someone speaking to the issue that really if anyone had a right to it would have been Richardson.
He dedicated his life to the military. He understood naval forces. He understood Japanese warfare.
And yet the story of Pearl Harbor is very similar to most surprise military defeats in that there's usually similar ingredients. There's an underestimation of the severity of the threat at hand. And somewhere along the way, looking back in hindsight, we can identify, okay, there were warning signs and we just kind of failed to take them seriously.
And then in addition to that, an overconfidence and a general assumption that things will just work out okay in the end. See, what that indicates for us is the natural human response to the distant threat of danger. Happens over and over throughout history.
And mankind evidences these very same traits in evaluating the future as it pertains to future judgment, ultimate judgment. Tend to be underestimating the severity of the threat or ignoring the warning signs or just kind of an overconfidence that assumes things will work out in the end. And so this morning we come to Genesis 7. I invite you to turn there now.
And we begin to see the account of the flood. In fact, entitled this morning's message, God buries the world in water. God buries the world in water.
This is an account of judgment. And oftentimes when we come to Genesis 7, the focus gets on all these other interesting things that are happening. There's all kinds of details that are quite interesting from a scientific perspective to try to understand what exactly is happening here.
We have books and movies and models and museums that emphasize the physical details of the flood. But the primary focal point of Genesis 7 is going to be that God washes away all of the living creatures on earth. And everything that lives on land and breathes gets destroyed.
I mean, that is to be the main emphasis, the main focal point of Genesis 7. And in this, we see God's immeasurable power, we see His righteousness, and we see His mercy. And so I just want to tell you as we embark on Genesis 7 this morning that it is good for us to contemplate judgment. It's good for us to contemplate judgment.
In fact, Genesis 7 is parabolic, it's typological. It was a real event, don't get me wrong, this isn't fairytale, it's a real event, but it points to an even greater event of judgment. It means the significance goes beyond what we read about here in Genesis 7. And I mean, it's no surprise to you, judgment is just not a popular topic.
It's not a popular topic. As I was a little kid, I used to read the paper. And for those of you kids in the room who don't know what a paper is, someone would come to your house in the dark and they would throw this document on your front porch every day, every morning.
And so I would read the comics, of course, was okay with the A section, I'd read the sports section, I really liked the classifieds, so I'd read about vehicles that were for sale and homes that were for sale, and occasionally I would even peruse the personals, not that I was interested, but just curious. And you would read in those personals, people's self descriptors, right? Like moonlit walks on the beach. I enjoy cozy books by the fire, fun loving, outdoorsy.
I've yet to remember, could have just been my memory, but anybody in there classified saying, and I love contemplating future judgment, it's a hobby of mine. It's a real source of interest. Rather than natural man, even as believers, I think, it's not the most pleasant thought to meditate upon.
And yet the Bible is clear about coming judgment because God is gracious and merciful. And he wants to tell us ahead of time what's coming so that we can be prepared, so that we can avoid disaster. And the natural man typically responds to the thought of judgment in one of three ways.
Either open hostility, that's really the first one, open hostility. So Peter would write about in 2 Peter 3, mockers who come with their mocking. And they look at creation and they say, I don't see a God, I'm not concerned about a judgment.
And some people are so bold even to say things like, we're gonna have a party in hell. It was 1926 that Sinclair Lewis stood in a pulpit with a watch and challenged God if he was real to strike him dead in 10 minutes. And that is the mockers who mock.
There is a scoffer who scoffs at the notion of coming judgment. And then there are those in the natural man who aren't openly hostile, but they're afraid. They're fearful of judgment.
It's not an irrational fear, it's the fear that comes from a guilty conscience. Solomon would say in Proverbs 28, one, the wicked flee when no one pursues. And Jesus would say that you actually ought to fear not the ones who can destroy the body, but what? The one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
First John looking at the opposite would say it's perfect love that casts out fear. First John 4, 18, perfect love casts out fear because fear involves punishment. So there are those on the earth that are afraid to die.
They're fearful of impending judgment. They're afraid of punishment. They know that there's some kind of an account and they're unprepared.
Their conscience has not yet been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so there are those who are hostile. There are those who are fearful.
And then probably the most common scenario would be those who are not hostile and they're not fearful. They're just indifferent. Those who are indifferent.
Those who essentially pretend it isn't coming. Proverbs 16, 25, there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Or maybe thinking about Jesus' approach that he described in Matthew 7 as the gate that is wide and the way that is broad that leads to destruction.
I mean, I was floored the first time I studied that passage because growing up, I always thought the narrow path was like the good kids and the broad path was the bad kids. And then you realize the context of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus is talking about pathways to be right with God. And he's saying that Jesus is the narrow gate and the narrow path and all the other religions that promise access to God are the broad path.
The idea is there, it's an easy path. It's open, it's spacious, it's not restricted. And so the indifferent heart just says, you know, I look at my life, I feel pretty good about it.
I'm not too concerned one way or the other. I'm not afraid of it. I'm not saying let's have a party in hell.
I just don't frankly really care. Millions of people who aren't that concerned. They just think that things will probably work out in the end.
And so you come to Genesis chapter seven and this is to sober us. I just want to say that as you hear the message today, the first thing that ought to be going through your own mind is am I prepared for judgment? Am I ready for judgment? Am I ready to meet the judge? Am I in Christ? Have I looked to God for deliverance? I mean, you can live free from fear and judgment. That is the message of the gospel.
Free from the fear of spending eternity separated from God in hell. You could even look forward to the return of Jesus the judge. Secondly, I think this always ought to stir in our heart a concern for the spiritual condition of others.
See, contemplating judgment brings it to the forefront that even in our evangelism, we're not merely recruiting followers so that we have more votes each time at the ballot box or more people on our side, but rather there's two deaths and the first one ends this life and then there is a second death and we're concerned about the spiritual condition of those around us. We have a lot going on. We have a lot of distractions.
We have a lot of burdens. We have a lot of personal concerns. We have a lot of self-absorption and so contemplating judgment, first of all, we're saying, man, am I in Christ? And then secondly, do I have a heart for those around me who are perishing? And then third and finally, contemplating Genesis 7 ought to result in worship.
Just a profound awe of a God who judges and a God who saves. That it's his right to do so. It's his will and his intent.
If you're keeping an outline this morning, the outline is this. God covers the earth in judgment. That's our outline this morning.
God covers the earth in judgment. It's what we're gonna see in Genesis 7 this morning. I wanna read the passage.
We're gonna read all 24 verses and then we're gonna cruise our way through it together. Then he always said to Noah, enter the ark, you and all your household. For you alone I've seen to be righteous before me in this generation.
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. Also of the birds of the sky by sevens, male and female to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth.
For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made. And Noah did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him.
Now Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground by twos, they came to Noah into the ark, male and female as God had commanded Noah.
Now it happened after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth in the 600th year of Noah's life in the second month on the 17th day of the month. On this day, all the fountains of the great deep split open and the flood gates of the sky were opened. Then the rain came upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
On this very day, Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark. They and every beast after its kind and all the cattle after their kind and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind and every bird after its kind, every fowl, every winged creature. So they came to Noah into the ark by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
Those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth 40 days and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth and the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth. The ark went on the surface of the water and the water prevailed more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.
Water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered and all flesh that moved on earth breathed its last. That is birds and cattle in peace and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth as well as all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land died.
Thus he blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky. They were blotted out from the earth. And only Noah remained and those that were with him in the ark.
The water prevailed upon the earth 150 days. God here covers the earth in judgment. And our first point this morning is that God delivers his elect through the ark.
God delivers his elect through the ark. He preserves his own people. Moses makes it clear that in the midst of judgment, God is showing mercy.
And we know that God has specifically chosen Noah for this purpose. He came to Noah and he said, I will establish my covenant with you. Verse one, God tells Noah, enter the ark.
You and all your household, for you alone I've seen to be righteous before me in this generation. So what we're gonna see here is that this is kind of the boarding process, if you will. That's instruction to get on the boat.
God orchestrates all of it. Shows his personal care for his elect, his individual care for his people. Now what we're gonna see as we read through this account is very common in Hebrew narrative.
Moses is gonna keep saying the same thing kind of over and over and over. Why? To help it stick, to bring out the emphasis of certain points. And so we're gonna draw those out as we go.
And so Noah here is seen to be righteous in this generation. Verse one, we know that no man is righteous before God. Job said that there's no one that can make clean out of unclean.
We know that man is sinned in Adam. And so for Noah to be seen before God as righteous is that legal standing. Before God is judged, before his face, Noah is seen as righteous.
This is what David would speak of in Psalm 32 when he said, how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man whose iniquity Yahweh will not take into account. So here's Noah the sinner saved by grace.
We know he's gonna get off the boat and he's gonna demonstrate again that he still has corruption. That he's still inclined at times to evil. And yet here he's seen as righteous by God's mercy and God's grace.
He simply believed the promise of God. And I love how consistent the scripture is. Before we get to everything else here, right up front we just have God's gracious work reminding us.
We're reminded of God's gracious work. That God chose Noah to be righteous. He declared him righteous.
He chose to save him out of a vast sea of humanity. And Noah was an anomaly. I mean, just when you think about the character of God here, who's merciful and generous.
I mean, how many people would God need to save in order to be viewed as merciful? Start thinking about the numbers, like one in 10. Does that sound generous and merciful? One in a hundred, one in a hundred thousand, one in a million. I mean, statistically, that's probably more the realm of what we're talking about here.
And yet God is merciful to this man to preserve him and his family. And he's merciful in wiping out the rest of wicked humanity. God doesn't work in percentages.
He's showing mercy to this one man, his family and the animal kingdom. There's a verse two, God cares that it's not just Noah and his family, but for Noah's benefit, he preserves the rest of creation. And so he tells Noah, this ark that you're building is gonna have to house a lot of animals.
You're gonna need to bring them with you. Two distinctions of kinds of animals on the ark, the clean and the unclean, that'll become clearer in Leviticus chapter 11, where we learn about kind of the birds that eat dead stuff aren't clean, and the animals that have split hooves need to chew the cud or else they lack one of those, they're not clean. So this is before Leviticus 11.
Apparently there was some distinction that Noah already understood about clean and unclean. And there's different numbers of animals that are gonna come on the ark, some by sevens and some by twos. And there's discussion on the sevens, was this two pairs of sevens, so 14 animals, or was it seven, which would be three pairs of male and female and then one extra for sacrifice? We don't know exactly, it could go either way.
Seems to me most likely that it's probably not speaking of 14, I think there'd be a clear way of saying that, but it certainly could be 14 or it could be seven. It either the males and females would reproduce and then you had one extra leftover for sacrifice. And so God says that you're to enter the ark, Noah, verse one, your wife, your sons, and their wives are to enter as well, all the household.
We're gonna have the animals enter in as well. And it's a lot of animals. Verse two, it's every clean animal and of all the birds of the sky.
Why? Because verse four, in seven more days, I will send rain on the earth, 40 days and 40 nights. I will blot out from the face of the land, every living thing that I've made. I mean, can you imagine that message? It's the end of the world as we know it.
I don't think Noah was saying, I feel fine. He had a week to get on the ark and the rainstorm of all rainstorms will come and the purpose of God, and it'll wipe away the living from the earth that he has made. God is the creator and now he's the destroyer.
And so Noah, unsurprisingly, verse five, does all that Yahweh had commanded him. It's consistent. And so we see kind of this idea of the boarding process of what's going to need to take place.
And now we have confirmation of that as we continue to work down through the narrative. We read in verse six that Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. And then he and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
So Moses is making it very abundantly extra clear to everyone here that undoubtedly the family got on board. And so you just imagine right now for Noah, what this would have been like. He spent many years constructing this ark at great personal expense, great labor of time, opposition while he's faithfully serving the Lord and trusting God.
Then he has to stock the boat with supplies, certainly all of the food that was required. I'm sure there were other things that he took with him as well. This isn't like you're packing up for a trip where you're gonna be gone for a year and then you're gonna come back to your house.
There's not gonna be anything to come back to. And so any kind of tools, any kinds of supplies, any kinds of provisions, any family heirlooms, anything that wanted to be preserved had to make its way onto the boat. Certainly there needed to be all kinds of technology for storing and supplying food and water and dealing with animal waste.
We don't know exactly what these details are. I just was thinking when I read that Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came on the earth, I see things right now like I'm getting too old for this. I'm too old to be dealing with a four-year-old.
This is wearing me out. Too tired to get woken up in the middle of the night. I'm too old for this.
And here's Noah, obviously pre-flood, things are a little different. He's pushing 600 and he's building an ark and he's getting together all the supplies and all the logistics and all the animals to witness something that no one has ever seen before. And texture states it so simply, when the flood of water came upon the earth.
I mean, if you've lived to be 50 years old, you're not getting surprised by a whole lot. You've seen a lot of things. You've seen natural disasters.
Noah's 12 times that old. He's two thirds of a millennium. And yet in all he's seen, he's never seen a flood like this.
And so everybody's on board according to verse seven. The animals come on as well, verse eight. We read of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground by cues.
They came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And the text here would seem to indicate that the animals came to Noah. It's kind of a big question.
Like how did they all get there? You know, is Noah just riding around on a horse with a lasso, like bringing together all the pairs? Because the text says that Noah obeyed and God instructed Noah to bring the animals on. But it would seem that Noah was preparing. He's getting everything ready.
And then God is sending the animals that he wanted. He's sending the pairs to Noah. I think the best way to understand that kind of back and forth of Noah obeying and Noah doing as he had commanded.
And then the animals coming would be that Noah was responsible. He built the rooms, he made provisions. He got everything ready for the animals to enter.
And then at the proper time, God sent the animals as he chose. That's that language of they came. Verse nine, they came to Noah.
So how many animals came? I have no idea. There's all kinds of conjecture and speculation. What we know is that this salvation was in a way comprehensive.
It was to be of all the living creatures, every clean animal that would come on according to verse two. And the size of the ark could carry a lot. If you were to compare it to maybe a train, which is a little bit helpful, because I think we know trains better than we know barges.
The size of the ark could carry 522 train cars essentially, a railway train car. So kiddos, if you've ever been sitting at the railroad tracks and you count the train cars going by, it's kind of a fun exercise while you're waiting. That'd be eight trains of 65 cars each.
And if each one of those cars was a double decker, you could fit about 240 sheep sized animals into each car. So you picture each car, 240 sheep sized animals. Obviously some animals are bigger, some animals are smaller, but tens of thousands of small animals could fit in 522 train cars.
So this ark could hold a lot of animals. We don't know for sure, but it would seem to make the most sense that the animals that God sent would have been the strongest that have had the best genetics for reproduction. They probably would have been young.
So they'd have had lots of reproducing years also that would have made them smaller so they could all fit. According to verse 11, after everybody's on the ark in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month on the 17th day of the month, on this day, all the fountains of the great deep split open and the floodgates of the sky were opened. Then the rain came on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
I mean, look at the details that are given here. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month on the 17th day of the month. I mean, you can say, I don't believe the Bible.
You're welcome to do that. It's unwise, foolish and wrong, but you could do that. You could say you don't believe the Bible, but you can't say I believe the Bible and I just don't think the flood was real because the way that this is written, it doesn't say long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away.
It doesn't say once upon a time. No, it's written like this, July 4th, 1776, or June 6th, 1944, September 11th, 2001. I mean, there is a date here that this event took place and Moses is recording it because it was an actual historical real event that took place.
And so although the flood is parabolic and that we learn lessons from it that are more significant than the judgment that's happening here, it was an actual event. The text says that it was on this day, on Noah's 600th year, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on this very day, verse 13, that everybody enters into the ark and on that day, the rains come. And it's just depicted here that everybody gets into the ark.
It would have been a long day, everybody coming on, every beast after its kind, verse 14, the cattle after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, every bird after its kind, every fowl, every winged creature. And so they came to Noah into the ark by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. And those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it behind him.
And I just, I mean, Moses states it and it just sounds like such an orderly procession. I mean, I was thinking of, like, have you ever taught a class with little kids in the class and you try to keep like an orderly procession? What happens? Well, you have to start rearranging the line, like, hey, actually, you're not allowed to stand by so-and-so. You need to go over here.
Can you know what you guys said? Talk too much, you gotta go over here. Like, I mean, I still have childhood trauma from all the times I was separated from my friends unjustly in lines. So I don't know, like, okay, here's the chickens, now the foxes, no, we gotta put an elephant between them.
Like, I don't know how it went, but somehow without eating each other and getting in fights, like all the animals get on the ark together, young, healthy, and safe. And the question inevitably that comes up is, what about the dinosaurs? I think we would assume that the dinosaurs were on the ark as well. They would have been included in the beasts in verse 14.
It would have been included in that after their kind. It says, all of the animals on earth that had the breath of life. But when you read verse 16 at the very end, we see this remarkable little note.
It says, in those that entered, male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it, that is the door behind him. I was just thinking, was that like, you know, an oversight? Noah didn't really think through, oh yeah, I need a strap to close the door at the end or some mechanism. I think this depicts that God gave Noah a job to do.
He assigned him all of the work, he warned him, he told him what was coming, he provided the resources. Noah does all of the work and then what happens? God says, I'm the one who's now gonna close you in and protect you. I mean, this is God's meticulous personal care.
It doesn't even read that the door is closed by itself, but rather the Lord comes and he closes the door. God's personal care for Noah and his family and the animals. And this just demonstrates that his protection and provision will bring them safely through the floodwaters as God promised.
When you understand if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God will bring your salvation to completion. There's a personal care element. He will ensure that there is no one who will snatch you out of the father's hand.
It's a promise. And so I don't know what Noah was thinking about on the ark. We're not told, Moses doesn't elaborate.
Noah's psychological state is not a very important detail for us to learn, but I can certainly tell you at least a couple of things that would come to mind. I mean, while he's in the ark being preserved, people that he hired up and built the ark are dying and perishing. Cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents.
I'm just thinking about how it impacts your heart when one person that you know dies. I hope that moves you in some way. And then how much more tragic when it's like an entire family that would die that you might know and love.
And so Noah, no doubt is dealing with that. And then at the same time, I believe that there would have been, and the scripture testifies of this elsewhere, that heart that was thankful. Psalm 32, David says in verse seven, you Lord are my hiding place.
You guard me from trouble and you surround me with songs of deliverance. Therefore let every holy one pray to you at a time when you may be found surely in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him. And so Noah's just saying, man, Lord, thank you.
Thank you for being my hiding place. Thank you for guarding me from trouble. Thank you for surrounding me with songs of deliverance.
Thank you that although I deserve to be outside of the ark right now, I'm inside the ark. And I know that it was you who initiated my salvation and you came and made a covenant with me. So God really and truly saves.
You need to understand this. This lesson for us right here is to come and break upon our hearts to realize God's personal meticulous care for those people who are his own, that he ensures their salvation. He protects them in the midst of judgment.
And secondly, the backside of this point is that God destroys his enemies outside the ark. See, as God covers the earth in judgment, on the one hand he delivers his elect through the ark, but the backside of that is that he destroys his enemies outside of the ark. So he's preserving his elect and he's punishing his enemies.
Preserving and punishing at the same time. And so we see God's sure punishment of the wicked. Verse 17, then the flood came upon the earth for 40 days and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.
And the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth and the ark went on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed, verse 19, more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered. And the water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered.
So this is a lot of water. Okay, this is an incomprehensible, unfathomable amount of water. Highest mountain on earth right now is 30,000 feet in altitude.
So there will be those who say, scientists, hydrologists, like, look, it's just, it's physically impossible for the earth to sustain that much water over the highest mountain. It just doesn't work. The math doesn't work.
It doesn't pencil out. There's not enough water on the earth right now, first of all. Secondly, the sheer physiology of having that weight of water on the earth, it's impossible.
So I think there's a couple of things that are helpful for us in how we think about these kinds of situations, even the number of animals that came on the ark. There are those that enter into this and they're concerned with providing a natural explanation for everything that happened. In other words, to say God is a God of order.
He established the universe. He had certain laws in the universe, certain laws of science that he put in place. And so now we're gonna figure out exactly how all of this worked without violating any of the laws of science, any of the laws of nature that God established.
Those are interesting conversations. I mean, I think they are. They're fascinating.
Few of them go over my head, but they're interesting nevertheless. But here's the thing. Like there's a lot of things in the Bible, I believe, that break the laws of nature.
I mean, how does a virgin conceive? I don't have a biological answer for that because it was supernatural. God intervened in creation to accomplish his will and purpose. What about when Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes? What about when he gave up his own spirit? What about when he raised the dead? What about when he vanished, when they were about to lay hands on him? See, we read over and over throughout scripture of God intervening in creation supernaturally.
It means that it defies the normal natural laws that exist. So is it possible that all of this took place in accordance with all the natural laws that God established? Certainly. Is it also possible that God put more water on the earth to flood it, and then he took the water away? He certainly could have done that.
And so God used natural means, a giant ark, used natural means, animals who are gonna reproduce with one another. And it's also possible that he intervened and acted in supernatural ways. The other challenge with the very scientific models is we don't actually know what the earth was like at that time.
And so there's this huge assumption that what we see today is what the earth was like prior to the flood. We don't know where the animals lived on the earth. We don't know what the topography looked like.
We don't know what the ocean levels were, the ocean depths. We don't know exactly how the continents were together or pieced together or what the mountain ranges looked like. We don't know about what the glaciers and ice caps were prior to this.
So enjoy reading about the science. It's fascinating, it's fun, it's interesting, but don't be overly concerned with an answer that could somehow satisfy all of our scientific curiosities because that's not the point of the text and there's a lot of information that we simply don't have. What do we know? According to verse 20, all of the earth, even the mountains, even the highest points of the earth were covered with water.
That's to be the big resounding takeaway. Not how it happened, but the fact that it did happen. There wasn't a dry spot left on earth.
When David speaks in Psalm 32 of his sins being covered, it's that same word for atonement. The idea is the entire earth right now has been covered, enveloped in water. And artists who depict the flood often render terrified people doing what? Climbing to the highest point in an effort to survive.
I mean, that's what happens. The instinct is to preserve your life and as the floodwaters come, you would try to make for the high ground. It's what always happens.
And even today what happens when you see floods, you see videos and helicopters, people going to their roofs, people going for higher ground and yet there's nowhere to escape the judgment. They're saying that's what you need to think of when you read verse 20. There's nowhere to go.
There's not a way to get away from the water. There's no high point. I mean, this is how the Bible depicts God's judgment.
Isaiah chapter two, when the Lord comes in his judgment, grown men who were previously looking very strong do what? They look for caves to hide in. They're trying to escape. And so when you read Genesis seven, you're to understand that when the judgment of God comes, there's no safe space.
There's nowhere on earth that you could somehow dodge judgment except for if you're in the ark of salvation. God alone is a refuge and the water takes away everyone else. Verse 21, all flesh that moved on the earth breed its last.
That is birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth as well as all mankind. All, verse 22, in whose nostril was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land died. Thus he blotted out, verse 23, every living thing that was upon the face of the land.
Into verse 23, and only Noah remained and those that were with him in the ark. You understand there was not a single living creature at the end of the flood, except those in the ark. Everything outside of the ark was destroyed.
Marine life survived. Obviously there was provision for plant life and insects, probably in decaying logs and who knows what else. I mean, there was seeds that would come about.
Noah wasn't commanded to bring those onto the ark, but every living creature on earth is destroyed. So one commentator says, sin had affected every aspect of life and nothing short of a new beginning would suffice. So when you read the flood account, this is to testify that when God judges, he judges comprehensively and inescapably.
There was an offer for salvation while the door of the ark was open. And then once the door is closed, everyone who's outside will be destroyed. How did I say that this is parabolic? Well, Revelation chapter 20 speaks of a coming judgment.
I want you to turn there with me and look at how similar, how instructive the flood narrative and the flood account of judgment is to a future coming judgment. John says in Revelation chapter 20 verse 11, and I saw a great white throne and him who sits upon it. It's a glorious throne and it's a throne of judgment.
Okay, this is the judge's seat, reigning and ruling in justice and righteousness. And it's inescapable. Look at the second part of verse 11, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them.
Can't get away from the gaze of this judge who's on the white throne. There's no hiding places. There's no high mountains to run to, to get away from the floodwaters of judgment.
Verse 12, then I saw the dead, the great and the small. So those who were and those who weren't on earth, standing before the throne and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged from the things that were written in the books according to their deeds. So no one was able to get away in heaven and on earth. Everyone is before the throne.
They're standing there. While they're standing there, books about their deeds are being opened. Verse 13, the sea gave up the dead, which were in it.
And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. So whether you were alive when this happened or whether you were dead, it doesn't matter.
Again, it's universal. This is the same kind of lesson that all of us ought to be understanding and taking away. Verse 14, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Remember what Moses recorded in Genesis chapter seven, and all flesh that moved on the earth breathes its last.
And all mankind and all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, and all that was on the dry land died. And out of every living thing, he blotted out from the earth. See, God cares that the people on earth would have a revelation to know that judgment is coming.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness, second Peter says. And so men often think that because judgment isn't right in front of us, I don't need to really take it that seriously. Matthew 24, we learned that in the days of Noah, people were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark.
What were they doing? Well, we might as well just make plans for the future because nothing is going to stop us. Rather, we're to heed the words of our Lord in Luke chapter 12, when he said to the man building bigger barns, you fool, this very night your soul is required of you. So when you read the flood account, you're to see on the one hand, the wrath of the righteous judgment of God being poured out.
Romans 2, 5, this is a sign of his righteous judgment. And at the same time, the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, it leads you to repentance, Romans chapter two, verse four. They're juxtaposed beautifully and perfectly.
And so when you read Genesis chapter seven, here's what I'd ask you first and foremost, are you sure right now where you're at with your judge? Are you confident where you're at with your judge? I mean, do you know that you are in Christ and that your sins have been paid for by the blood of the lamb? Are you able to sit here today and say with confidence, there is no condemnation for me. It doesn't remain, no wrath remains because it was poured out on Christ. Can I tell you that God wants you to respond to his call of salvation today, find salvation in Christ, find that assurance or just say, you know what? Right now, if the flood came, I'd be outside the ark looking in.
I'd be looking for high ground on my own. Next, I would just ask, how's your heart right now toward those who are outside? What's your heart disposition toward those who are outside? I mean, we're not called to save unbelievers. It's not a work that we can do.
The Bible doesn't present that we're to have some kind of a quota and a specific program by which we approach evangelism and we need to think about it in this very specific mechanistic way. But I would just say, if you find in your heart, man, I'm indifferent and I'm really never even thinking about those who are facing judgment. I'm not really praying for anyone who's lost.
I have opportunities the Lord gives me, but then I shrink back in sinful fear. It's a part of loving God and loving people is a concern to warn them of coming judgment. And then in all of it, we come to the end of Genesis 7 and we just marvel at a God who pours out judgment and shows mercy.
I mean, it is truly amazing to think that he cleansed the entire earth with a flood and he was perfect and good in doing so. And that Noah, for whatever he was thinking on that ark, would have been basking in God's grace, not thinking that he was unjust, but being thankful for God's magnificent character in punishing the wicked and preserving the righteous. Let's pray.
Now, there's so many things that we wonder that you don't answer for us in Genesis 7. Where all the water came from, how all the animals fit, what it was like being on the ark. And that you included exactly what we need to hear, which you repeated over and over and over and over to tell us that you judge comprehensively and then you save completely. And so, Lord, I thank you for that complete salvation.
I pray that we would glory in it. Pray that we would take judgment seriously, Lord, wherever that needs to be applied in our lives, that we would do so. And that the result of that is that we'd be people who live in a sober-minded joy awaiting your return.
We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen.
So just an encouragement to parents, I know sometimes when your baby's making the sound, I've been there and done that. Most of my kids now don't make sounds during the service, but it can be a little uncomfortable in the moment and you feel like, oh my goodness, what's going on? So obviously if they're screaming, you can take them out. That's a good idea, but just know we're happy to have them here.
And they're part of your family and a part of the church family as well. So glad to have them here as a part of the service each week. Well, it was James Otto Richardson who served as an admiral, admiral, not an admirable, an admiral of the United States Navy from 1902 to 1947.
And he was a very accomplished military commander. He dedicated his life among other things to the study of Japanese warfare. And by 1940, he was the commander in chief of the United States fleet.
And he advised President Roosevelt and the secretary of state who wanted to move naval forces to Pearl Harbor that it was a bad idea. He said, I don't think you understand what you're doing and we're gonna isolate our forces right now. We're not in a position as a Navy to deploy so many resources to Pearl Harbor.
Furthermore, it's too remote and exposed. It's gonna be a logistical nightmare to support that region and what you're hoping to have as a show of force to really cause Japan to stand down, it's probably gonna have the opposite effect. When you've heard of Richardson's name or not, he made multiple trips to Washington to warn President Roosevelt and he was rewarded with being fired.
He was dismissed. And of course, as we look back on what took place that fateful day, there were even many warning signs that were dismissed. But certainly here one where you had someone speaking to the issue that really if anyone had a right to it would have been Richardson.
He dedicated his life to the military. He understood naval forces. He understood Japanese warfare.
And yet the story of Pearl Harbor is very similar to most surprise military defeats in that there's usually similar ingredients. There's an underestimation of the severity of the threat at hand. And somewhere along the way, looking back in hindsight, we can identify, okay, there were warning signs and we just kind of failed to take them seriously.
And then in addition to that, an overconfidence and a general assumption that things will just work out okay in the end. See, what that indicates for us is the natural human response to the distant threat of danger. Happens over and over throughout history.
And mankind evidences these very same traits in evaluating the future as it pertains to future judgment, ultimate judgment. Tend to be underestimating the severity of the threat or ignoring the warning signs or just kind of an overconfidence that assumes things will work out in the end. And so this morning we come to Genesis 7. I invite you to turn there now.
And we begin to see the account of the flood. In fact, entitled this morning's message, God buries the world in water. God buries the world in water.
This is an account of judgment. And oftentimes when we come to Genesis 7, the focus gets on all these other interesting things that are happening. There's all kinds of details that are quite interesting from a scientific perspective to try to understand what exactly is happening here.
We have books and movies and models and museums that emphasize the physical details of the flood. But the primary focal point of Genesis 7 is going to be that God washes away all of the living creatures on earth. And everything that lives on land and breathes gets destroyed.
I mean, that is to be the main emphasis, the main focal point of Genesis 7. And in this, we see God's immeasurable power, we see His righteousness, and we see His mercy. And so I just want to tell you as we embark on Genesis 7 this morning that it is good for us to contemplate judgment. It's good for us to contemplate judgment.
In fact, Genesis 7 is parabolic, it's typological. It was a real event, don't get me wrong, this isn't fairytale, it's a real event, but it points to an even greater event of judgment. It means the significance goes beyond what we read about here in Genesis 7. And I mean, it's no surprise to you, judgment is just not a popular topic.
It's not a popular topic. As I was a little kid, I used to read the paper. And for those of you kids in the room who don't know what a paper is, someone would come to your house in the dark and they would throw this document on your front porch every day, every morning.
And so I would read the comics, of course, was okay with the A section, I'd read the sports section, I really liked the classifieds, so I'd read about vehicles that were for sale and homes that were for sale, and occasionally I would even peruse the personals, not that I was interested, but just curious. And you would read in those personals, people's self descriptors, right? Like moonlit walks on the beach. I enjoy cozy books by the fire, fun loving, outdoorsy.
I've yet to remember, could have just been my memory, but anybody in there classified saying, and I love contemplating future judgment, it's a hobby of mine. It's a real source of interest. Rather than natural man, even as believers, I think, it's not the most pleasant thought to meditate upon.
And yet the Bible is clear about coming judgment because God is gracious and merciful. And he wants to tell us ahead of time what's coming so that we can be prepared, so that we can avoid disaster. And the natural man typically responds to the thought of judgment in one of three ways.
Either open hostility, that's really the first one, open hostility. So Peter would write about in 2 Peter 3, mockers who come with their mocking. And they look at creation and they say, I don't see a God, I'm not concerned about a judgment.
And some people are so bold even to say things like, we're gonna have a party in hell. It was 1926 that Sinclair Lewis stood in a pulpit with a watch and challenged God if he was real to strike him dead in 10 minutes. And that is the mockers who mock.
There is a scoffer who scoffs at the notion of coming judgment. And then there are those in the natural man who aren't openly hostile, but they're afraid. They're fearful of judgment.
It's not an irrational fear, it's the fear that comes from a guilty conscience. Solomon would say in Proverbs 28, one, the wicked flee when no one pursues. And Jesus would say that you actually ought to fear not the ones who can destroy the body, but what? The one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
First John looking at the opposite would say it's perfect love that casts out fear. First John 4, 18, perfect love casts out fear because fear involves punishment. So there are those on the earth that are afraid to die.
They're fearful of impending judgment. They're afraid of punishment. They know that there's some kind of an account and they're unprepared.
Their conscience has not yet been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so there are those who are hostile. There are those who are fearful.
And then probably the most common scenario would be those who are not hostile and they're not fearful. They're just indifferent. Those who are indifferent.
Those who essentially pretend it isn't coming. Proverbs 16, 25, there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Or maybe thinking about Jesus' approach that he described in Matthew 7 as the gate that is wide and the way that is broad that leads to destruction.
I mean, I was floored the first time I studied that passage because growing up, I always thought the narrow path was like the good kids and the broad path was the bad kids. And then you realize the context of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus is talking about pathways to be right with God. And he's saying that Jesus is the narrow gate and the narrow path and all the other religions that promise access to God are the broad path.
The idea is there, it's an easy path. It's open, it's spacious, it's not restricted. And so the indifferent heart just says, you know, I look at my life, I feel pretty good about it.
I'm not too concerned one way or the other. I'm not afraid of it. I'm not saying let's have a party in hell.
I just don't frankly really care. Millions of people who aren't that concerned. They just think that things will probably work out in the end.
And so you come to Genesis chapter seven and this is to sober us. I just want to say that as you hear the message today, the first thing that ought to be going through your own mind is am I prepared for judgment? Am I ready for judgment? Am I ready to meet the judge? Am I in Christ? Have I looked to God for deliverance? I mean, you can live free from fear and judgment. That is the message of the gospel.
Free from the fear of spending eternity separated from God in hell. You could even look forward to the return of Jesus the judge. Secondly, I think this always ought to stir in our heart a concern for the spiritual condition of others.
See, contemplating judgment brings it to the forefront that even in our evangelism, we're not merely recruiting followers so that we have more votes each time at the ballot box or more people on our side, but rather there's two deaths and the first one ends this life and then there is a second death and we're concerned about the spiritual condition of those around us. We have a lot going on. We have a lot of distractions.
We have a lot of burdens. We have a lot of personal concerns. We have a lot of self-absorption and so contemplating judgment, first of all, we're saying, man, am I in Christ? And then secondly, do I have a heart for those around me who are perishing? And then third and finally, contemplating Genesis 7 ought to result in worship.
Just a profound awe of a God who judges and a God who saves. That it's his right to do so. It's his will and his intent.
If you're keeping an outline this morning, the outline is this. God covers the earth in judgment. That's our outline this morning.
God covers the earth in judgment. It's what we're gonna see in Genesis 7 this morning. I wanna read the passage.
We're gonna read all 24 verses and then we're gonna cruise our way through it together. Then he always said to Noah, enter the ark, you and all your household. For you alone I've seen to be righteous before me in this generation.
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. Also of the birds of the sky by sevens, male and female to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth.
For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made. And Noah did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him.
Now Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground by twos, they came to Noah into the ark, male and female as God had commanded Noah.
Now it happened after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth in the 600th year of Noah's life in the second month on the 17th day of the month. On this day, all the fountains of the great deep split open and the flood gates of the sky were opened. Then the rain came upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
On this very day, Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark. They and every beast after its kind and all the cattle after their kind and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind and every bird after its kind, every fowl, every winged creature. So they came to Noah into the ark by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
Those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth 40 days and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth and the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth. The ark went on the surface of the water and the water prevailed more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.
Water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered and all flesh that moved on earth breathed its last. That is birds and cattle in peace and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth as well as all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land died.
Thus he blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky. They were blotted out from the earth. And only Noah remained and those that were with him in the ark.
The water prevailed upon the earth 150 days. God here covers the earth in judgment. And our first point this morning is that God delivers his elect through the ark.
God delivers his elect through the ark. He preserves his own people. Moses makes it clear that in the midst of judgment, God is showing mercy.
And we know that God has specifically chosen Noah for this purpose. He came to Noah and he said, I will establish my covenant with you. Verse one, God tells Noah, enter the ark.
You and all your household, for you alone I've seen to be righteous before me in this generation. So what we're gonna see here is that this is kind of the boarding process, if you will. That's instruction to get on the boat.
God orchestrates all of it. Shows his personal care for his elect, his individual care for his people. Now what we're gonna see as we read through this account is very common in Hebrew narrative.
Moses is gonna keep saying the same thing kind of over and over and over. Why? To help it stick, to bring out the emphasis of certain points. And so we're gonna draw those out as we go.
And so Noah here is seen to be righteous in this generation. Verse one, we know that no man is righteous before God. Job said that there's no one that can make clean out of unclean.
We know that man is sinned in Adam. And so for Noah to be seen before God as righteous is that legal standing. Before God is judged, before his face, Noah is seen as righteous.
This is what David would speak of in Psalm 32 when he said, how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man whose iniquity Yahweh will not take into account. So here's Noah the sinner saved by grace.
We know he's gonna get off the boat and he's gonna demonstrate again that he still has corruption. That he's still inclined at times to evil. And yet here he's seen as righteous by God's mercy and God's grace.
He simply believed the promise of God. And I love how consistent the scripture is. Before we get to everything else here, right up front we just have God's gracious work reminding us.
We're reminded of God's gracious work. That God chose Noah to be righteous. He declared him righteous.
He chose to save him out of a vast sea of humanity. And Noah was an anomaly. I mean, just when you think about the character of God here, who's merciful and generous.
I mean, how many people would God need to save in order to be viewed as merciful? Start thinking about the numbers, like one in 10. Does that sound generous and merciful? One in a hundred, one in a hundred thousand, one in a million. I mean, statistically, that's probably more the realm of what we're talking about here.
And yet God is merciful to this man to preserve him and his family. And he's merciful in wiping out the rest of wicked humanity. God doesn't work in percentages.
He's showing mercy to this one man, his family and the animal kingdom. There's a verse two, God cares that it's not just Noah and his family, but for Noah's benefit, he preserves the rest of creation. And so he tells Noah, this ark that you're building is gonna have to house a lot of animals.
You're gonna need to bring them with you. Two distinctions of kinds of animals on the ark, the clean and the unclean, that'll become clearer in Leviticus chapter 11, where we learn about kind of the birds that eat dead stuff aren't clean, and the animals that have split hooves need to chew the cud or else they lack one of those, they're not clean. So this is before Leviticus 11.
Apparently there was some distinction that Noah already understood about clean and unclean. And there's different numbers of animals that are gonna come on the ark, some by sevens and some by twos. And there's discussion on the sevens, was this two pairs of sevens, so 14 animals, or was it seven, which would be three pairs of male and female and then one extra for sacrifice? We don't know exactly, it could go either way.
Seems to me most likely that it's probably not speaking of 14, I think there'd be a clear way of saying that, but it certainly could be 14 or it could be seven. It either the males and females would reproduce and then you had one extra leftover for sacrifice. And so God says that you're to enter the ark, Noah, verse one, your wife, your sons, and their wives are to enter as well, all the household.
We're gonna have the animals enter in as well. And it's a lot of animals. Verse two, it's every clean animal and of all the birds of the sky.
Why? Because verse four, in seven more days, I will send rain on the earth, 40 days and 40 nights. I will blot out from the face of the land, every living thing that I've made. I mean, can you imagine that message? It's the end of the world as we know it.
I don't think Noah was saying, I feel fine. He had a week to get on the ark and the rainstorm of all rainstorms will come and the purpose of God, and it'll wipe away the living from the earth that he has made. God is the creator and now he's the destroyer.
And so Noah, unsurprisingly, verse five, does all that Yahweh had commanded him. It's consistent. And so we see kind of this idea of the boarding process of what's going to need to take place.
And now we have confirmation of that as we continue to work down through the narrative. We read in verse six that Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. And then he and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
So Moses is making it very abundantly extra clear to everyone here that undoubtedly the family got on board. And so you just imagine right now for Noah, what this would have been like. He spent many years constructing this ark at great personal expense, great labor of time, opposition while he's faithfully serving the Lord and trusting God.
Then he has to stock the boat with supplies, certainly all of the food that was required. I'm sure there were other things that he took with him as well. This isn't like you're packing up for a trip where you're gonna be gone for a year and then you're gonna come back to your house.
There's not gonna be anything to come back to. And so any kind of tools, any kinds of supplies, any kinds of provisions, any family heirlooms, anything that wanted to be preserved had to make its way onto the boat. Certainly there needed to be all kinds of technology for storing and supplying food and water and dealing with animal waste.
We don't know exactly what these details are. I just was thinking when I read that Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came on the earth, I see things right now like I'm getting too old for this. I'm too old to be dealing with a four-year-old.
This is wearing me out. Too tired to get woken up in the middle of the night. I'm too old for this.
And here's Noah, obviously pre-flood, things are a little different. He's pushing 600 and he's building an ark and he's getting together all the supplies and all the logistics and all the animals to witness something that no one has ever seen before. And texture states it so simply, when the flood of water came upon the earth.
I mean, if you've lived to be 50 years old, you're not getting surprised by a whole lot. You've seen a lot of things. You've seen natural disasters.
Noah's 12 times that old. He's two thirds of a millennium. And yet in all he's seen, he's never seen a flood like this.
And so everybody's on board according to verse seven. The animals come on as well, verse eight. We read of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground by cues.
They came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And the text here would seem to indicate that the animals came to Noah. It's kind of a big question.
Like how did they all get there? You know, is Noah just riding around on a horse with a lasso, like bringing together all the pairs? Because the text says that Noah obeyed and God instructed Noah to bring the animals on. But it would seem that Noah was preparing. He's getting everything ready.
And then God is sending the animals that he wanted. He's sending the pairs to Noah. I think the best way to understand that kind of back and forth of Noah obeying and Noah doing as he had commanded.
And then the animals coming would be that Noah was responsible. He built the rooms, he made provisions. He got everything ready for the animals to enter.
And then at the proper time, God sent the animals as he chose. That's that language of they came. Verse nine, they came to Noah.
So how many animals came? I have no idea. There's all kinds of conjecture and speculation. What we know is that this salvation was in a way comprehensive.
It was to be of all the living creatures, every clean animal that would come on according to verse two. And the size of the ark could carry a lot. If you were to compare it to maybe a train, which is a little bit helpful, because I think we know trains better than we know barges.
The size of the ark could carry 522 train cars essentially, a railway train car. So kiddos, if you've ever been sitting at the railroad tracks and you count the train cars going by, it's kind of a fun exercise while you're waiting. That'd be eight trains of 65 cars each.
And if each one of those cars was a double decker, you could fit about 240 sheep sized animals into each car. So you picture each car, 240 sheep sized animals. Obviously some animals are bigger, some animals are smaller, but tens of thousands of small animals could fit in 522 train cars.
So this ark could hold a lot of animals. We don't know for sure, but it would seem to make the most sense that the animals that God sent would have been the strongest that have had the best genetics for reproduction. They probably would have been young.
So they'd have had lots of reproducing years also that would have made them smaller so they could all fit. According to verse 11, after everybody's on the ark in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month on the 17th day of the month, on this day, all the fountains of the great deep split open and the floodgates of the sky were opened. Then the rain came on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
I mean, look at the details that are given here. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month on the 17th day of the month. I mean, you can say, I don't believe the Bible.
You're welcome to do that. It's unwise, foolish and wrong, but you could do that. You could say you don't believe the Bible, but you can't say I believe the Bible and I just don't think the flood was real because the way that this is written, it doesn't say long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away.
It doesn't say once upon a time. No, it's written like this, July 4th, 1776, or June 6th, 1944, September 11th, 2001. I mean, there is a date here that this event took place and Moses is recording it because it was an actual historical real event that took place.
And so although the flood is parabolic and that we learn lessons from it that are more significant than the judgment that's happening here, it was an actual event. The text says that it was on this day, on Noah's 600th year, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on this very day, verse 13, that everybody enters into the ark and on that day, the rains come. And it's just depicted here that everybody gets into the ark.
It would have been a long day, everybody coming on, every beast after its kind, verse 14, the cattle after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, every bird after its kind, every fowl, every winged creature. And so they came to Noah into the ark by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. And those that entered male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it behind him.
And I just, I mean, Moses states it and it just sounds like such an orderly procession. I mean, I was thinking of, like, have you ever taught a class with little kids in the class and you try to keep like an orderly procession? What happens? Well, you have to start rearranging the line, like, hey, actually, you're not allowed to stand by so-and-so. You need to go over here.
Can you know what you guys said? Talk too much, you gotta go over here. Like, I mean, I still have childhood trauma from all the times I was separated from my friends unjustly in lines. So I don't know, like, okay, here's the chickens, now the foxes, no, we gotta put an elephant between them.
Like, I don't know how it went, but somehow without eating each other and getting in fights, like all the animals get on the ark together, young, healthy, and safe. And the question inevitably that comes up is, what about the dinosaurs? I think we would assume that the dinosaurs were on the ark as well. They would have been included in the beasts in verse 14.
It would have been included in that after their kind. It says, all of the animals on earth that had the breath of life. But when you read verse 16 at the very end, we see this remarkable little note.
It says, in those that entered, male and female of all flesh entered as God had commanded him and Yahweh closed it, that is the door behind him. I was just thinking, was that like, you know, an oversight? Noah didn't really think through, oh yeah, I need a strap to close the door at the end or some mechanism. I think this depicts that God gave Noah a job to do.
He assigned him all of the work, he warned him, he told him what was coming, he provided the resources. Noah does all of the work and then what happens? God says, I'm the one who's now gonna close you in and protect you. I mean, this is God's meticulous personal care.
It doesn't even read that the door is closed by itself, but rather the Lord comes and he closes the door. God's personal care for Noah and his family and the animals. And this just demonstrates that his protection and provision will bring them safely through the floodwaters as God promised.
When you understand if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God will bring your salvation to completion. There's a personal care element. He will ensure that there is no one who will snatch you out of the father's hand.
It's a promise. And so I don't know what Noah was thinking about on the ark. We're not told, Moses doesn't elaborate.
Noah's psychological state is not a very important detail for us to learn, but I can certainly tell you at least a couple of things that would come to mind. I mean, while he's in the ark being preserved, people that he hired up and built the ark are dying and perishing. Cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents.
I'm just thinking about how it impacts your heart when one person that you know dies. I hope that moves you in some way. And then how much more tragic when it's like an entire family that would die that you might know and love.
And so Noah, no doubt is dealing with that. And then at the same time, I believe that there would have been, and the scripture testifies of this elsewhere, that heart that was thankful. Psalm 32, David says in verse seven, you Lord are my hiding place.
You guard me from trouble and you surround me with songs of deliverance. Therefore let every holy one pray to you at a time when you may be found surely in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him. And so Noah's just saying, man, Lord, thank you.
Thank you for being my hiding place. Thank you for guarding me from trouble. Thank you for surrounding me with songs of deliverance.
Thank you that although I deserve to be outside of the ark right now, I'm inside the ark. And I know that it was you who initiated my salvation and you came and made a covenant with me. So God really and truly saves.
You need to understand this. This lesson for us right here is to come and break upon our hearts to realize God's personal meticulous care for those people who are his own, that he ensures their salvation. He protects them in the midst of judgment.
And secondly, the backside of this point is that God destroys his enemies outside the ark. See, as God covers the earth in judgment, on the one hand he delivers his elect through the ark, but the backside of that is that he destroys his enemies outside of the ark. So he's preserving his elect and he's punishing his enemies.
Preserving and punishing at the same time. And so we see God's sure punishment of the wicked. Verse 17, then the flood came upon the earth for 40 days and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.
And the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth and the ark went on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed, verse 19, more and more upon the earth so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered. And the water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered.
So this is a lot of water. Okay, this is an incomprehensible, unfathomable amount of water. Highest mountain on earth right now is 30,000 feet in altitude.
So there will be those who say, scientists, hydrologists, like, look, it's just, it's physically impossible for the earth to sustain that much water over the highest mountain. It just doesn't work. The math doesn't work.
It doesn't pencil out. There's not enough water on the earth right now, first of all. Secondly, the sheer physiology of having that weight of water on the earth, it's impossible.
So I think there's a couple of things that are helpful for us in how we think about these kinds of situations, even the number of animals that came on the ark. There are those that enter into this and they're concerned with providing a natural explanation for everything that happened. In other words, to say God is a God of order.
He established the universe. He had certain laws in the universe, certain laws of science that he put in place. And so now we're gonna figure out exactly how all of this worked without violating any of the laws of science, any of the laws of nature that God established.
Those are interesting conversations. I mean, I think they are. They're fascinating.
Few of them go over my head, but they're interesting nevertheless. But here's the thing. Like there's a lot of things in the Bible, I believe, that break the laws of nature.
I mean, how does a virgin conceive? I don't have a biological answer for that because it was supernatural. God intervened in creation to accomplish his will and purpose. What about when Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes? What about when he gave up his own spirit? What about when he raised the dead? What about when he vanished, when they were about to lay hands on him? See, we read over and over throughout scripture of God intervening in creation supernaturally.
It means that it defies the normal natural laws that exist. So is it possible that all of this took place in accordance with all the natural laws that God established? Certainly. Is it also possible that God put more water on the earth to flood it, and then he took the water away? He certainly could have done that.
And so God used natural means, a giant ark, used natural means, animals who are gonna reproduce with one another. And it's also possible that he intervened and acted in supernatural ways. The other challenge with the very scientific models is we don't actually know what the earth was like at that time.
And so there's this huge assumption that what we see today is what the earth was like prior to the flood. We don't know where the animals lived on the earth. We don't know what the topography looked like.
We don't know what the ocean levels were, the ocean depths. We don't know exactly how the continents were together or pieced together or what the mountain ranges looked like. We don't know about what the glaciers and ice caps were prior to this.
So enjoy reading about the science. It's fascinating, it's fun, it's interesting, but don't be overly concerned with an answer that could somehow satisfy all of our scientific curiosities because that's not the point of the text and there's a lot of information that we simply don't have. What do we know? According to verse 20, all of the earth, even the mountains, even the highest points of the earth were covered with water.
That's to be the big resounding takeaway. Not how it happened, but the fact that it did happen. There wasn't a dry spot left on earth.
When David speaks in Psalm 32 of his sins being covered, it's that same word for atonement. The idea is the entire earth right now has been covered, enveloped in water. And artists who depict the flood often render terrified people doing what? Climbing to the highest point in an effort to survive.
I mean, that's what happens. The instinct is to preserve your life and as the floodwaters come, you would try to make for the high ground. It's what always happens.
And even today what happens when you see floods, you see videos and helicopters, people going to their roofs, people going for higher ground and yet there's nowhere to escape the judgment. They're saying that's what you need to think of when you read verse 20. There's nowhere to go.
There's not a way to get away from the water. There's no high point. I mean, this is how the Bible depicts God's judgment.
Isaiah chapter two, when the Lord comes in his judgment, grown men who were previously looking very strong do what? They look for caves to hide in. They're trying to escape. And so when you read Genesis seven, you're to understand that when the judgment of God comes, there's no safe space.
There's nowhere on earth that you could somehow dodge judgment except for if you're in the ark of salvation. God alone is a refuge and the water takes away everyone else. Verse 21, all flesh that moved on the earth breed its last.
That is birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth as well as all mankind. All, verse 22, in whose nostril was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land died. Thus he blotted out, verse 23, every living thing that was upon the face of the land.
Into verse 23, and only Noah remained and those that were with him in the ark. You understand there was not a single living creature at the end of the flood, except those in the ark. Everything outside of the ark was destroyed.
Marine life survived. Obviously there was provision for plant life and insects, probably in decaying logs and who knows what else. I mean, there was seeds that would come about.
Noah wasn't commanded to bring those onto the ark, but every living creature on earth is destroyed. So one commentator says, sin had affected every aspect of life and nothing short of a new beginning would suffice. So when you read the flood account, this is to testify that when God judges, he judges comprehensively and inescapably.
There was an offer for salvation while the door of the ark was open. And then once the door is closed, everyone who's outside will be destroyed. How did I say that this is parabolic? Well, Revelation chapter 20 speaks of a coming judgment.
I want you to turn there with me and look at how similar, how instructive the flood narrative and the flood account of judgment is to a future coming judgment. John says in Revelation chapter 20 verse 11, and I saw a great white throne and him who sits upon it. It's a glorious throne and it's a throne of judgment.
Okay, this is the judge's seat, reigning and ruling in justice and righteousness. And it's inescapable. Look at the second part of verse 11, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them.
Can't get away from the gaze of this judge who's on the white throne. There's no hiding places. There's no high mountains to run to, to get away from the floodwaters of judgment.
Verse 12, then I saw the dead, the great and the small. So those who were and those who weren't on earth, standing before the throne and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged from the things that were written in the books according to their deeds. So no one was able to get away in heaven and on earth. Everyone is before the throne.
They're standing there. While they're standing there, books about their deeds are being opened. Verse 13, the sea gave up the dead, which were in it.
And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. So whether you were alive when this happened or whether you were dead, it doesn't matter.
Again, it's universal. This is the same kind of lesson that all of us ought to be understanding and taking away. Verse 14, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Remember what Moses recorded in Genesis chapter seven, and all flesh that moved on the earth breathes its last.
And all mankind and all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, and all that was on the dry land died. And out of every living thing, he blotted out from the earth. See, God cares that the people on earth would have a revelation to know that judgment is coming.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness, second Peter says. And so men often think that because judgment isn't right in front of us, I don't need to really take it that seriously. Matthew 24, we learned that in the days of Noah, people were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark.
What were they doing? Well, we might as well just make plans for the future because nothing is going to stop us. Rather, we're to heed the words of our Lord in Luke chapter 12, when he said to the man building bigger barns, you fool, this very night your soul is required of you. So when you read the flood account, you're to see on the one hand, the wrath of the righteous judgment of God being poured out.
Romans 2, 5, this is a sign of his righteous judgment. And at the same time, the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, it leads you to repentance, Romans chapter two, verse four. They're juxtaposed beautifully and perfectly.
And so when you read Genesis chapter seven, here's what I'd ask you first and foremost, are you sure right now where you're at with your judge? Are you confident where you're at with your judge? I mean, do you know that you are in Christ and that your sins have been paid for by the blood of the lamb? Are you able to sit here today and say with confidence, there is no condemnation for me. It doesn't remain, no wrath remains because it was poured out on Christ. Can I tell you that God wants you to respond to his call of salvation today, find salvation in Christ, find that assurance or just say, you know what? Right now, if the flood came, I'd be outside the ark looking in.
I'd be looking for high ground on my own. Next, I would just ask, how's your heart right now toward those who are outside? What's your heart disposition toward those who are outside? I mean, we're not called to save unbelievers. It's not a work that we can do.
The Bible doesn't present that we're to have some kind of a quota and a specific program by which we approach evangelism and we need to think about it in this very specific mechanistic way. But I would just say, if you find in your heart, man, I'm indifferent and I'm really never even thinking about those who are facing judgment. I'm not really praying for anyone who's lost.
I have opportunities the Lord gives me, but then I shrink back in sinful fear. It's a part of loving God and loving people is a concern to warn them of coming judgment. And then in all of it, we come to the end of Genesis 7 and we just marvel at a God who pours out judgment and shows mercy.
I mean, it is truly amazing to think that he cleansed the entire earth with a flood and he was perfect and good in doing so. And that Noah, for whatever he was thinking on that ark, would have been basking in God's grace, not thinking that he was unjust, but being thankful for God's magnificent character in punishing the wicked and preserving the righteous. Let's pray.
Now, there's so many things that we wonder that you don't answer for us in Genesis 7. Where all the water came from, how all the animals fit, what it was like being on the ark. And that you included exactly what we need to hear, which you repeated over and over and over and over to tell us that you judge comprehensively and then you save completely. And so, Lord, I thank you for that complete salvation.
I pray that we would glory in it. Pray that we would take judgment seriously, Lord, wherever that needs to be applied in our lives, that we would do so. And that the result of that is that we'd be people who live in a sober-minded joy awaiting your return.
We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen.
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