Sunday Sermons
The Flood - Part 1
The Flood
God Takes Sin Seriously
Genesis 6:5 “And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. “Great in the earth”: Widespread and firmly rooted. “Only evil continually”: Man had cast off all moral restraint and had rushed headlong into every sin imaginable. Genesis 6:7 “I will destroy man”: (NASV “blot out”), lit., to blot or wipe out by washing. Genesis 6:11 “The earth was corrupt before God”: Openly, publicly and flagrantly. The flood is just one example in the Bible of the severity of God. Man may choose to reject God, but man never gets away with it. When evil reaches a certain point, judgment must fall (Genesis 15:16; Daniel 5:27; Matthew 23:32). Therefore we cannot afford to think that God will not punish us, if we continue to remain in sin, (2 Peter 2:5-6).
God’s Longsuffering
The 120 years of Genesis 6:3 must be a period of longsuffering prior to judgment. It cannot refer to a limit being placed on the lifespan of man for man lived in excess of 120 years even after the flood (Noah-9:28; Abraham-25:7; Isaac-35:28). God always gives a time to repent prior to judgment (Romans 2:1-5; 2 Peter 3:9).
God Keeps His Promises and Threats: 2 Peter 3:10
No matter how much time may pass, God's threat of a judgment day will happen. Every judgment that God foretold, came to pass. The Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the expulsion of the Canaanites, the fall of Jericho, and judgments upon such cities as Jerusalem, Babylon, and Nineveh, all came to pass. God's track record in keeping His promises is 100%. The time lapse between promise and fulfillment, should not be viewed as an opportunity to sin, but rather as a chance to repent (2 Peter 3:9, 3:4).
The Flood was an Act of God's Grace
In fact the salvation of every person on the earth today is linked to the Flood, for Jesus Christ is a descendent of Noah through his son Shem (Luke 3:36). If God had allowed things to continue in the time of Noah, what is the guarantee that Noah and his family would have survived these wicked times? Note that Noah was saved by grace: Genesis 6:8. He was saved by His faith: Hebrews 11:7. He was saved by a faith that moved him to obey God’s commands: Hebrews 11:7 . And he was saved by water:1 Peter 3:20. One thing did not save Noah and neither was Noah saved by a grace that did not require anything of him. In addition, note that God’s mercy to the ancient world in having Noah preach to them, did not unconditionally save them. Grace did not somehow take care of the people who did not enter into the ark. Some have argued that Noah could not have preached to everyone upon the planet, therefore the flood of Noah must have been just a local or regional flood. First of all we must understand that nowhere do the Scriptures teach that the preaching of Noah was within the hearing of all that generation. Taking into account the period of longsuffering while the ark was being built (1 Peter 3:20; Genesis 6:3), the news of Noah's remarkable activities and alarming warnings could easily have spread throughout the entire inhabited earth. What actually condemns a person is their sins (Genesis 6:5). In addition, Noah's life and obedience made the rest of man inexcusable, for if one man can live a righteous life in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, all others can too. Be impressed that the only warning that these people received was a warning through preaching. Life up until the moment of the flood was life as normal (Matthew 24:38 “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark”). In like manner, everything will continue as normal right up until the Second Coming (1 Thess. 5:1-3). Noah found grace, because he was trying to do what was right (6:9) (Acts 10:34-35). In the case of Noah, grace and obedience worked together for his deliverance (Hebrews 11:7), just like grace and our obedience work together for our salvation(Ephesians 2:4-9). Grace was likewise extended to many others during this time (1 Peter 3:18ff), however they rejected it. Noah and his family were the only ones who responded favorably to God’s grace. “We also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1).
Noah
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). The Hebrew word translated “blameless” involves the idea of completeness of parts, hence, a well-rounded character. Note that the word “generations” is plural. Over Noah's 500-year life so far, his character stood out from his contemporaries. We need to be impressed that Noah overcame the sinful environment that surrounded him; he refused to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:1-2). Noah explodes the myth that we are simply destined to be shaped by the times in which we live, and that we can never really rise higher than the thinking or morality of the period in which we live. Peter describes Noah as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Through Noah, Jesus warned Noah’s generation (1 Peter 3:19-20).
The Narrow Way
“And did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah….and seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5). God has executed judgment in the past wherein only a fraction were saved, while the vast majority not only were punished, but also ended up lost forever, (“to the spirits now in prison” 1 Peter 3:19). God did not lower His standards, even though that meant that “the world” ended up condemned. The way is still narrow (Matthew 7:13-14).
Noah’s Obedience
His obedience was quick and motivated by a healthy respect for God (Hebrews 11:7 “moved with godly fear”). If we have a hard time “moving” and fulfilling God’s will, then it is probably because we are not taking Him seriously. Noah did not have to see something in order to believe it, “concerning things not seen as yet” (Hebrews 11:7). He did not complain, but rather did exactly as God has commanded (Genesis 6:22). Noah understood that when God gives instructions, man is not permitted to add, subtract, edit, or ad-lib (Proverbs 30:6; 2 John 9). The family of Noah depended upon the Ark and that is one very good reason to build it the way God commanded. Just think, our salvation and very existence depended upon a man building an ark by God's precise specifications! If that Ark was not built correctly, Noah and his family would have perished, and Jesus would have never been born-and either would we have. I am impressed that Noah did not complain that God was going to execute His judgment. Noah certainly had friends and relatives who did not come into the ark, yet Noah never complained that God was being cruel or unfair. In addition, building the ark was a huge task that required a tremendous amount of dedication, consistency, and hard work. Such a project could not be hidden and building the ark might have brought upon Noah ridicule and scorn.
Why So Few?
Like today, it appears that in Noah’s time people had similar excuses for not obeying God. 1. The denial of the supernatural, that there is anything other than this physical existence. 2. Being absorbed in the cares, worries, and things of this life, and too busy to listen to the message (Matthew 24:38). It is so easy to simply be lulled into a false sense of security. All the powerful voices in the world, from the academic community, to the media, to the politicians all tell us that this world will simply go on as usual. 3. In view of what Noah was able to build, we must assume that Noah’s generation did have a level of technology. One wonders if the experts of the time denied the possibility of a universal flood? 4. The preference for sinful pleasures rather than doing what is right. 5. Did some deny that God would do such a thing? Did some even then argue that God was too merciful to punish anyone? (Jude 4)
The Ark
Genesis 6:14 “gopher wood”: Some suggest this means cypress, a wood resistant to decay and used extensively for shipbuilding, but this is only speculation. “Rooms”: Which provided a division of spaces for the animals and also helped brace and strengthen the ark. “Pitch”: To render it watertight, plus this was a flexible covering. The dimensions are as follows: “The length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits” (Genesis 6:15). The length of the cubit in Noah's day is uncertain since there were long and short cubits, royal cubits, Egyptian cubits and Talmudic cubits with length's ranging from 18 to 25 inches. If the cubit being used was 17.5 inches, then the size would have been 437.5 feet long, 72.92 feet wide, and 43.75 feet tall. Since it had three decks (6:16), it had a total deck area of approx. 95,700 feet (equivalent to slightly more than the area of 20 standard college basketball courts.) The gross tonnage would have been 13,960 tons, which would place it well within the category of large metal ocean-going vessels today. Regardless of the length of a cubit, the ark was built with dimensions perfect for floating, the approx. ratios which have been copied by modern ships. Remember, the ark was built to carry cargo and not for speed. Most consider the ark to have been boxy or angular, and not streamlined nor curved. With this shape it increased its carrying capacity by one third. A vessel with these dimensions (ratios) proves to be very seaworthy and almost impossible to capsize. The stability of such a barge is great and it increases as it sinks deeper into the water. The ark had a carrying capacity at least equal to that of 522 standard railroad stock cars. The dimensions given for the ark in the Bible stand as a proof of inspiration and inerrancy. The dimensions have not been exaggerated. There are other Flood Accounts which list dimensions for the ark as: “Six stories high, with the length, width and depth each being 242 feet and having a mast on top, with a pilot to guide it” (Cuneiform Tablets). Berosus, the Greek historian represents it to have been 3000 ft. long and 1200ft. wide. Noah and his sons could have hired laborers to help construct this vessel. In addition, ancient man was very capable of building things on a large scale. “Many other structures from Iran to Ireland (not forgetting Easter Island) prove that Early Man was an astonishingly capable geometrician and engineer” (Watson p. 84). The size of the ark is simply one more factor that rules out a local flood.
Jesus and the Flood
The Flood is viewed as a historical fact by the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles (Isaiah 54:9; Ezekiel 14:14,20; Matthew 24:37-39; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:5-6).
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.ch-of-christ.beaverton.or.us/mdunagan@easystreet.com
