In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines the entire Genesis flood account for details about the timing of the flood events themselves and about the specific people and creatures which perished in the flood. Did the flood finish in forty days and forty nights? Is the Bible ambiguous about which people and animals survived on the earth? And what do these details indicate about the genre of the account, the global or local nature of the flood, and the sobriety we ought to have toward the judgment of God?
The main text for this lesson is Genesis 6:1-9:19.
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d hello hello hello is my microphone on yes All right well good morning welcome back to Sunday school let’s open with a word of prayer Heavenly Father we love your word it is lifegiving it is light shining it shows us not just how we shall walk in the present but Lord what you did in the past and what’s coming in the future so God I pray that you would bless this time and give us greater understanding of this very important event of the flood in Jesus name amen We are continuing in our series on the consequences of sin which is our study of Genesis 3-1 last week we started looking at the flood account in Genesis 6 rather we were looking at the world’s situation right before the flood we saw why God chose to send the flood the wickedness of man was great on the earth and it was only continually multiplying offending all of God’s perfect character character and grieving his heart we also saw why God spared Noah Noah was righteous but from where did Noah’s righteousness come we saw last time that it was not simply by keeping God’s commands Noah was righteous in the same way that we are It ultimately was by faith in God and in God’s promised salvation this Faith resulted in Noah’s obedience but that Faith itself was a gift for from God it did not come from Noah by Grace we are all saved and that has been true since the garden but as we move on to today’s material I am again going to remind you that because the flood the great flood is such an important and instructive event in our history we are spending several lessons on it but we’re also looking at the flood from different Vantage points looking at different aspects of the flood and in this lesson we’re going to do something a little bit unique we’re going to read through the the entire flood account in one sitting so reading all the way from Genesis 6 to Genesis 9 that’s a lot of text it’s a lot of information but we’re not going to try to capture everything in our read through I want us to read through it Al together because I want you to pay attention to two main questions see if we can answer them what is the timeline for the progression of the flood event and then what exactly was destroyed in the flood what’s the timeline what was destroyed because answering these questions will help us get a better grip on whether what we read in God’s word about this flood should be taken as a myth as hyperbole or as genuine historical narrative and we’ll finish our time today by considering a few application questions together so that’s our goal for today so let’s turn to the flood account please open your Bibles to Genesis 6 which we using the few Bibles on page and we’re going to read the whole flood account again paying attention to two ideas as we read the timing of the flood and the scope of the flood now if you have a piece of paper handy or maybe you want to use your phone if you want to take notes there I’d recommend you jot down every time the text gives us a Time indicator or a statement about what perished and what survived in the flood now if you don’t have something to write on or don’t really want to at least make a mental note of where this information appears in the text all right now I’ll help you identify some of those details in the way that I read I’ll emphasize where we see that information in the text but let’s now begin reading in Exodus or sorry Genesis 61 all the way to Genesis 919 this is going to take about 15 minutes so stay focused Genesis 61 now it came about when men began to multiply in the face of the land and daughters were born to them that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they took wives for themselves whomever they chose then the Lord that’s the Hebrew Yahweh then Yahweh said my spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh nevertheless his days shall be 120 years and neim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them those were the Mighty Men Who were of old men of renown then Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart Yahweh said I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky for I sorry that I have made them but Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh these are the records of the generations of Noah Noah was a righteous man blameless in his time Noah walked with God Noah became the father of three sons shemam and japheth now the Earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the Earth was filled with violence God looked on the earth and behold it was corrupt for All Flesh had corrupted their way upon the Earth then God said to Noah the end of All Flesh has come before me for the Earth is filled with violence because of them and behold I’m about to destroy them with the Earth make for yourself an ark of gopher wood you shall make the ark with rooms you shall cover it inside and out with pitch this is how you shall make it the length of the Ark 300 cubits its bread 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits you shall make a window for the ark and finish it to a cubit from the top and set the door of the Ark in the side of it you shall make it with lower second and third decks behold I even I am bringing the flood of water upon the Earth To Destroy All Flesh in which is the Breath of Life from under Heaven everything that is on the earth Shall Perish but I will establish my Covenant with you and you shall enter the ark you and your sons and your wife and your sons wives with you and of every living thing of All Flesh you shall bring two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you they shall be male and female of the birds after their kind of the animals after their kind and of every creeping thing in the ground after its kind two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive as for you take for yourself some of all food which is edible and gather it to yourself and it shall be for food for you and then for them and for them thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him so he did chapter 7 then Yahweh said to Noah enter the ark you and all your household for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time shall take with you of every clean Animal by sevens a male and his female and of the animals that are not clean too too a male and his female also of the birds of the Sky by sevens male and female to keep Offspring 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 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 then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons 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 there went into the ark to Noah by twos male and female as God had commanded Noah it came about 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 the same same day all The Fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened the rain fell upon the Earth for 40 days and 40 nights on the very same 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 and all sorts of birds birds or all sorts of birds so they went into the ark to Noah by twos of All Flesh and 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 for 40 days and the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it Rose above the Earth the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth and the Ark floated on the surface of the water the water prevailed more and more upon the Earth so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered the water prevailed 15 cubits higher and the mountains were covered all flesh that moved on the earth perished birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the Earth and all mankind of all that was on the dry land all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of Life 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 and they were blotted out from the earth and only Noah was left together with those who were with him on the ark the water prevailed upon the Earth days but God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark and God caused a wind pass over the earth and the water subsided also The Fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed and the rain from the sky was restrained and the waters receded steadily from the earth and at the end of 100 50 days the water decreased in the seventh month on the 17th day of the month the ark rested upon the mountains of arabat the water decreased steadily until the 10th month in the 10th month on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains became visible then it came about at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window of the Ark which he had made and he sent out a raven and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth then he sent out a dove from him to see if the water was Abad from the face of the land but the dove found no resting place for the soul of her foot so she returned to him in the ARK for the water was on the surface of all the Earth then he put out his hand and took her in and brought her into the ark to himself so he waited yet another seven days and again he sent out the dove from the ark the Dove came to him toward e evening and behold in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf so Noah knew that the water was Abad from the earth then he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove but she did not return to him again now it came about in the 61st year in the first month on the first of the month the water was dried up from the earth then Noah removed the covering of the Ark and looked and behold the surface of the ground was dried up in the second month on the 27th day of the month the Earth was dry then God spoke to Noah saying go out of the Ark you and your wife and your sons and your sons wives with you bring out with you every living thing of All Flesh that is with you birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth that they may breed abundantly on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth so Noah went out and his sons and his wife and his son’s wife with him every Beast every creeping thing and every bird everything that moves on the earth went out by their families from the ark then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar Yahweh smelled the soothing Aroma and Yahweh said to himself I will never again curse the ground on account of man for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his Youth and I will never again destroy every every living thing as I have done while the Earth remains seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease and God blessed Noah this chapter nine now and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth the fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky with everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand they are given every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you I give all to you as I gave the green plant only you shall not eat the flesh you shall not eat flesh with its life that is its blood surely I will require your life blood from every Beast I will require it and from every man from Every Man’s brother I will require the life of man whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed for in the image of God he made man as for you be fruitful multiply populate the Earth abundantly and multiply in it then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him saying now behold I myself do establish my Covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that is with you the birds the cattle and every beast of the earth W with you of all that comes out of the Ark even every beast of the earth I establish my Covenant with you and All Flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the Earth God said this is the sign of the Covenant which I am making between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all successive Generations I set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a sign of the Covenant between me and the Earth to come about when I bring a cloud over the Earth that the bow will be seen in the cloud and I will remember my Covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of All Flesh and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh when the bow is in the cloud then I will look upon it to remember the Everlasting Covenant between God and every living creature of All Flesh that is on the earth and God said to Noah this is the sign of the Covenant which I have established between me and All Flesh that is all Earth now the sons of the no sons of Noah who came out of the Ark I’m sorry now the sons of Noah who came out of the Ark were Shem and ham and japheth and ham was the father of Canaan these three were the sons of Noah and from these the whole earth was populated all right that was the entire flood account that was a lot I’m sure good to read the whole flood record together though hopefully you were noticing some things that maybe you wouldn’t have noticed if we only read it in sections and upcoming lessons we won’t reread the whole thing together but did you notice the time indicators as we move through the text they’re quite prominent actually from these we indeed can establish a specific timeline for the flood the first bit of time that we get actually this isn’t on the slide but the first time indicator appears as a warning of the coming flood and that’s in Genesis 63 When God Says man’s days will be 120 years now maybe on first reading you might think oh God’s saying this is how long man is going to live from now on I’m going to reduce their lifespan but that can’t be since many postf flood persons actually outlive this age moreover man’s lifespan actually continues to decrease from 120 years or past 120 years until we get the average that Moses mentions in his Psalm Psalm 90:10 famous lines from Moses as for the days of our life they contain 70 years or if due to strength 80 years yet their pride is but labor and sorrow for soon it is gone and we fly away and that’s more or less true today so this 120 years it’s not a new lifespan for man it’s best understood as God’s final display of patience before sending the flood judgment even with the unthinkable co-mingling of the sons of God with the daughters of man in Genesis 61:4 which is an interpretation issue we won’t get into right now but I do believe that that is some kind of demonic possession and co-mingling with human women even with that God still does not send immediate judgment but this new perversion is the beginning of the end of God’s patience with man this and that’s why we see the warning the flood is coming in 120 years sometime shortly afterwards God gives his instructions to Noah to build the ark meaning Noah probably was building the ark and preaching right righteousness for at least a hundred years but again what about the specific timeline of the flood we have that warning according to Genesis 711 the flood begins in the 600th year of Noah was life in the second month on the 17th day of the month on that very day the flood began with rain and the opening up of The Fountains of the deep so water coming from under the Earth from under the oceans and on that very day Noah his family and the Animals entered or finished entering the ark and God shut the door behind them which isn’t now one of the sobering statements of the Bible the door of Salvation was open and the saved entered into it but the day came when that door needed to be shut and it wasn’t man who shut it it wasn’t Noah who shut it it was God so this is the beginning of the flood and according to genes Genesis 7:17 it then Reigns on the earth for 40 days but notice genes Genesis 7:24 says that the Waters continue to rise for 150 days and then notice Genesis 8:3 at the end of 150 days what happens the waters begin to recede in Genesis 8:4 we hear that on the 17th day of the seventh month or that’s the 150th day since the flood began the ark comes to rest on the mountains of arabat so then on the same day that the waters begin to recede the the ark comes to rest on this particular mountain range the waters continue to decrease and Genesis 85 says that on the first day of the 10th month which would be 74 days later or day 224 since the start of the flood the mountains became visible Genesis 8:6 to7 says 40 days then go by and then Noah opens the window and sends out a raven and then a dove so that would be day 264 and we have a little interlude taking place over the next few weeks describing the gradual lessening of water on the earth and then in Genesis 813 we hear that in the 61st year of Noah in the first month on the first day of the month the water was dried from the earth this is 90 days after the date recorded in Genesis 85 when the mountains became visible or day 314 since the start of the flood by day 314 the surface of the Earth is dry and Noah opens the covering or the door of the Ark but Noah doesn’t leave the ark it’s only in Genesis 8:14 on the second month of the 61st year on the 27th day of the month that Moses who writes our book says the Earth was dry and God tells Noah to leave the ark with his family and all the animals so this is about 57 days later depending on how you count it knowing the animals then leave the ark on day 371 more than an entire year since the beginning of the flood so consider that little detail 371 days this must have been a great cataclysm right we sometimes think that the flood began and finished in 40 days you know 40 days 40 nights that’s when the rain came but the Bible says much more about the timing as we’ve just seen get this this flood was a longlasting globe covering disaster event it took time to cover the Earth it took time to recede from the earth and it took time for the earth to dry but during all that time God preserved those on the Ark by the way are you appreciating how meticulous Moses is with the time details in this account it’s not like about 50 days later or it’s like oh yeah uh it started on this date and it ended on this date no we get days years months all specifically noted throughout this is why I say Moses and the spirit of God were clearly concerned about time in the Torah they wanted the people of Israel to understand the times and how Israel fit into them and all this testifies hopefully you’re seeing this all this testifies to what kind of genre this book and this passage is what is the genre of Genesis to9 it’s history it’s historical narrative you don’t write it with all those time details and the specific sequence if you’re not presenting historical narrative hopefully that’s clear now the other question I wanted us to consider as we read through the whole thing is what perished in the flood did you notice any descriptions in the text that might help us answer this question uh yeah it’s so repeated and emphatic Genesis 6:5 God says I will blot out man from Man to animals to creeping things and the birds of the sky Genesis 613 the end of All Flesh has come before me Genesis 6:17 God says he’s bringing the floods To Destroy All Flesh and which is the Breath of Life from under Heaven same verse he also says everything that is on the Earth Shall Perish and then the next two verses Genesis 6:18 and 19 only Noah his family and the pairs of each animal kind are accepted Genesis 7:5 I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I’ve made Genesis 7:2 21 All Flesh that moves perished including Birds cattle beasts swarming things and all mankind Genesis 7 Genesis 7:22 all that was on dry land all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life died Genesis 7:23 God blotted out every living thing upon the face of the land including man and animals and creeping things and birds of the sky only Noah was left together with those in the ark but we’re still not done Genesis 9:11 All Flesh God says After the flood has occurred he says All Flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood neither neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the Earth Genesis 9:15 never again shall water Destroy All Flesh Genesis 9:19 from Noah’s sons the whole earth was populated so what survived the flood okay okay that’s actually a question I think we’ll come back to in another lesson but she’s asking what about the fish where did the fish go how did the the fish survive the flood because it does present a certain question what about salt water versus freshwater fish how could they all survive this flood event but on the basic level we would think that water animals because it was just water on the earth they could continue to survive though there is that specific question of salt water versus fresh but that like I said we’ll try and deal with another lesson but as for land animals and birds and Mankind what survives the flood Noah and only Noah his family and the animals with him on the ark nothing else survives it’s so emphatic in the text what survived only what was in the ark what perished everything else that wasn’t a sea creature or a water creature including all men women and children and the New Testament agrees with this 1 Peter 3:20 1 Peter 3:20 says eight persons surviv the flood by getting on the the ark 1 Peter 2:5 God did not spare the ancient world judging all except the eight people on the ark and Hebrews 11:7 Hebrews 11 say 11:7 says Noah condemned the world and built an arc that only saved his household we’ll talk more next week about whether the flood was truly Global but hopefully you’re appreciating this fact if you say that the flood was local or that other animals or people besides Noah and what with what were with him survived this event you do not get those ideas from the biblical text the Bible does not at all lead you in that direction but it actually forbids you from going in that direction it’s almost like God couldn’t make it any clearer now I hope that you appreciate and you saw the way it affected me even in the reading of it this is a reality that we cannot be clinical about and just treat or speak about with no emotion yeah every person that existed on the earth at that time perished in the flood do we appreciate the gravity of what happened fathers husbands Sons wives mothers grandmothers infants teenagers aspiring artists musicians metal workers businessmen criminals leaders soldiers entertainers people all made in the image of God people like us people with hopes and fears and dreams and lives and livelihoods they all suddenly perished why because they had made themselves enemies of God and refused to repent they loved their sin they loved themselves and they paid no regard to God were they ready for the flood they weren’t they needed more time to get ready but there was no more time the Judgment had come and those who had gotten into God’s Lifeboat were saved but all others perished as we said last week there’s another Judgment Day coming are the people of the world ready are you ready are the people you know and love ready have you and they embraced God’s only way of Salvation consider Jesus words in Matthew 24:37 describing his future return to judge the world Matthew 24:37 sorry I just need to blow my nose so I’ll stop sniffling Matthew 2437 for the coming of the son of man will be just like the days of Noah for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away so will the coming of the son of man be God according to his good character has again given you and me and the people of the world so much time judgment is coming but he’s given time to prepare yet that time is running out Pastor Bobby said this a couple weeks ago but are you ready for the return and Judgment of Christ are you ready to quite literally meet your maker we certainly want to help other people be ready but we want to make sure that we’re ready ourselves well before we finish today I do have a few more application questions we’ve accomplished the main goals of our lesson today we might have even have extra time for your questions and comments but let me give you four application questions based on what we’ve talked about today first how would you use the text of this passage to respond to someone who thinks this account represents a myth an allegory or an exaggeration what would you say right right glena says it’s too detailed we we’ looked at not just certainly we looked at the time details today but you look at the other details of the text this is not presented like a myth this is not presented like it’s some sort of poetic allegory this is presented as history so we can show this to people show them the various time and even construction details in the text many people who dismissed the flood have never actually read the account of it or paid close attention to its details now if they read it and say all right it’s presented as history but I don’t believe it that’s a separate issue but saying that it presents itself as myth or allegory that’s just not that just doesn’t square with the text it’s always good to stand in the authority of the scriptures and simply show it to people as a way to persuade them second question what can we learn about God’s character by comparing the salvation of the Ark and salvation in Christ I alluded to this last time I think you may have heard people talk about how Christ is our Ark and the Ark is a useful metaphor for the gospel that’s why I used it we should be cautious though about trying to make the ark an official type or even trying to make Noah an official type of Jesus the Bible doesn’t do that it doesn’t go that far and if we do that we might start over interpreting the details of Genesis to force them to reveal to us things about Christ or the gospel this is called reading into the text so I would caution against that that being said there are obviously consistent principles consistent gospel principles evident between the ark and Jesus principles that show God’s consistent character and what are some of those principles yeah Mike his long suffering exactly yeah we see the long suffering in the patience patience of God he did it with the flood he’s doing it again before the Judgment that comes with Christ return what else any other parallels between the salvation of the Ark and the salvation of Jesus exactly in both instances it’s an exclusive means of Salvation that is provided by God it’s only those in the ark who are saved it’s only those who are in Jesus who are saved this idea there’s many roads there’s many paths that wasn’t true in the flood it’s not true in Jesus either what else yeah we can so when we talked about why was Noah oh let me repeat your comment first can we talk about election and God’s choosing in connection with the Salvation that’s in the ark and salvation that’s in Christ and I think we can because even when we noted why did Noah find favor with the Lord we say oh he’s righteous well why is he righteous oh he had Faith why does he have faith well the New Testament clarifies it’s a gift from God so God chose to be gracious to Noah make him into a man of Faith a man of righteousness a man who receives God’s favor and that’s true for all those who are in Christ as well why does anyone believe in Jesus what have we been studying through John in our sermon series they are drawn by the father they are taught of God they are begotten from above the ones who were saved in the ark were the ones who were graciously chosen by God and didn’t earn their way there same thing for Jesus Christ those who are saved in Jesus Christ were graciously chosen by God they did not earn their way there or inherit their way there they were reborn from above what else yeah Lea the truth God says it is going to happen yeah so Lea says that in both instances we see the truth that if God said it it is going to happen which is true both for salvation and for judgment God said to Noah I’m going to preserve you with this Ark and he proved faithful to that even through a year-long flood people sometimes ask the question well how could they have survived a year-long flood and we’ll get to that a little bit more in another lesson but that was God being faithful and the same thing for those in Jesus Jesus says Al of the father gives to me I lose none of them no one who’s being placed in Jesus somehow is going to be lost perish into salv or perish away from salvation God proves true to his word but his judgment also his word of judgment also proves true he says I’m going to judge the world and he did and he’s also said I’m again I’m going to judge the world and he will and we looked at we mentioned that text last time from I think it’s second Peter where people are saying where’s the promise of his coming we don’t see it fulfilled everything continues just like it always has just like it always will there’s no judgment I don’t have to worry about your gospel message oh but you do because when God says something’s going to happen it’s going to happen now there’s the little Nuance there certain times he relented of judgment because the people repented but that’s not going to happen with the final Judgment of God Bible indicates that the world is going to be hardened in its rebellion and they’re not going to repent so that judgment is going to come and it’s going to come on you is going to come on each one of us if we do not repent but if we do repent then we are saved and safe in Christ and the New Testament is quite explicit that we are pulled out of the Judgment we are not going to see the Judgment that is coming upon the Earth so that’s good what else Judy yeah Judy says that most of the people perished and I’m immediately reminded of that question of the Disciples of Jesus where they said Jesus are only a few people being saved and if I remember correctly the way that Jesus answers that is not So Much by saying yes or no but he says make sure that you are saved but we are aware of other statements from Jesus why does the road that leads to destruction but narrow is the way that leads to life and few find it it’s a Remnant that is saved throughout the scriptures it’s not the majority that was true in the flood that’s going to be true in the Judgment of Christ do right so there is we can see a parallel between the door of the Ark which basically LED unto salvation and Jesus actually calling himself the door now in that context um I think that’s John 10 where he’s talking about I’m the door to the Sheepfold I’m the door for the Sheep but still the principle of there’s a door unto salvation there’s only one door if you will go through it you’ll be saved but if you won’t you will not be saved and eventually that door will be shut Jesus is that door just like there was a door that led into salvation in the ark very good what else yeah mark just reinforcement of that I think what Jesus talked about theable weding many are called chosen the invitation has gone so right so I think it I get it this does challenge our sense of the fairness of God but I love that there’s the universal invitation call also goes to show how how dire our situation is how much we need and I think you know I’ve just fallen on just thinking it’s amazing that God would save anyone yeah none of us deserve it yeah so let me see if I can collect the few the the several thoughts you gave there so talking about first of all reinforcing the idea of a Remnant being saved with Jesus giving the parable the wedding Feast many are called but few are chosen there only will be a few saved but the opportunity at least from our perspective and the desire from God is that many even all would be saved and so the gospel message is to go to all just as assuredly Noah preached the message to everyone he could so they would get in the ark you know a point that we’ll make later and Ken hem from aners in Genesis has often made is that when you calculate when you theorize how the ark was constructed and how the rooms would be laid out and what’s an efficient way to do the animals and things like that one of the things that you come away with is there’s so much free space on the ark what’s all this extra space for and Ken Ham’s conclusion is oh it’s for people more people could have gotten on the ark there was room for them but they didn’t so in a sense we can say that in Christ more people could be saved and there’s the desire from God that they would be saved there’s room for them but we know that they won’t because they they will refuse they say I don’t want to get on that Lifeboat but the other thoughts he said and now I forgotten what they are sorry Mark um the second one there was something else you said that was good amazed that that God would save any of us the fact that you were saved I thinks to right that’s the one thing I wanted to bring out when it comes to Salvation and it comes to the Judgment of God it is so easy for us to not see the full importance of it not see how wonderful it is that God has shown us Mercy this is the problem when anyone preaches the love of God in the gospel but they never preach the Holiness or the wrath of God in the gospel because if you don’t preach the Wrath then that love doesn’t seem that great oh oh Jesus is going to save me from my sins oh I guess that’s cool I mean yeah I don’t want to have to be sinful or have that sin Weighing on me but if you realize that what your sin has bought you what your sin has earned you is Judgment like the flood of God that overwhelming unrelenting inescapable Judgment of God I mean you will drown in your sins forever is a way that we could describe the metaphor then suddenly the love of God seems so much more magnificent and when you bring to into that too the deservingness of the Judgment of God when you finally see as you’re informed by the scriptures oh the Judgment that came upon the flood was deserved by them because of how Wicked the people were and I’m just like them I don’t naturally think of myself that way because I want to think of myself well but the Bible exposes me and shows me that even the good things I do are tainted by selfishness and pride I am continually spewing moral filth before God I deserve the Judgment I deserve that unrelenting foot stomping from God into eternity that says I hate evil therefore I hate you with that Holy hatred that he can have when we see that and then we see that God has given way of mercy and in fact we have entered into it by faith the faith that God gives then the Gratitude The Joy the thankfulness the commitment to a changed life ought to overflow I’m reminded of this statement that Jesus say about this immoral woman she comes and she’s perfuming Jesus’s feet and wiping the feet with her tears Jesus is dining at the house of a Pharisee and he says if he knew what kind of woman this was he wouldn’t let her touch him he says Simon I have something to say to you he says say it teacher basically says two people had debts one of them was huge and one of them was small but the guy who was owed these debts he forgave them both which one of those former debtors is going to love him more Simon says oh the one he forgave more you’ve answered correctly he says that’s basically the case of this woman she knows her sinfulness she knows her debt and so now that she sees that it’s forgiven or that it can be forgiven in me her love is so great but you you haven’t showed me hardly any love since I’ve come in here what’s it say about you you don’t think you have a great debt you don’t think you have much to be forgiven you don’t think you have anything to be forgiven Therefore your love is so small he who is Forgiven little loves little Jesus says so when we realize how much we’ve been forgiven it should lead to great love for Jesus and even love for others because you sympathize with their same condition I think we’ve we’ve hit a lot of good ones here and maybe we could even say more God in and obviously in both cases the ark and Jesus God is Holy and must judge sin but God is gracious and provides way of Salvation God’s way of Salvation is exclusive there’s no other way and the time to embrace God’s salvation eventually ended eventually the door of the Ark was closed eventually the door of Jesus will be closed so God calls us to come while there’s opportunity because the time is coming when we will all give an account to God either when we die or when he comes in judgment let me get to two other questions here how shall we approach God knowing that he is Holy and will judge mankind for its sinfulness well if we belong to God and demonstrate fruits of obedience we ought to approach with awe and joy because this powerful and holy God he’s not our enemy anymore he’s our father he’s determined only to do us good even to be our protector and help when you see the power of God in the flood you see the Holiness of God in the flood but you see it’s not going to be directed at your destruction but for your help man that’s Comfort but it also should lead to reverence true reverence for God but if we do not belong to God or say we belong to God while we live in sin well knowing god is Holy and will judge mankind for its sinfulness it ought to make us approach with fear fear and trembling even The Humbling ARS of ourselves before God who is a consuming fire Hebrew says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God we have nothing with which to intreat his pardon except his own character and the work of Jesus on on the cross so if we find ourselves living in sin it’s a time to Humble ourselves come to him with that fearful reverence and entreat his pardon and the great news is he says I give it to you Lea mentioned before God proves true to his word but one of the amazing words of the scripture is that God says I will give Mercy to those who ask for it who ask for it according to my way Isaiah 55 says that one final question for you and this is more for you to think through yourself rather than for us to discuss right now several questions here we see Noah as an example of faith and obedience in the face of many unknowns what unknowns are you facing in your life and how can you walk in obedience to God through those unknowns what can you expect from God as you do that the accounts of Noah should both sober us and encourage us no Noah spent apparently 120 years building an ark for a flood that no one else said was coming they probably mocked him for this building of the Ark and this preaching nevertheless Noah preached and pleaded with those mockers our own faithfulness will involve lots of waiting I mean to be a Christian is to be fundamentally someone who Waits waits for the promises of God to be be fulfilled even when people say it’s not going to happen or when your flesh says it’s not going to happen but God always keeps his promises I mean if there’s one theme in the Book of Genesis it might be that God keeps his promises if we wait Faithfully he will vindicate our faith he often does that here he certainly will do that in his coming Kingdom when we see him all right that’s my material questions or comments on what you’ve heard today yeah Mark so it hit me yesterday that pride month upon us oh wow yeah and I think about the rainbow and um you know how we engage people with this in ways that it comes up it’s ironic to me that the very things you’re talking about things that people are where is yeah what are some ways that you think that we can think about it in our minds and engage with people um because it seems like it gets heavier handed all the time it’s almost it’s almost it’s impossible to avoid so love to hear your thoughts on how to engage yeah so Mark you make good observation and a good question this is now pride month officially and there is terrible irony in that title first of all because of the word pride which the Bible identifies as a sin and second of all because the symbol of LGBT pride is the rainbow which was actually a symbol of God’s mercy post flood judgment on sin so I certainly can see a connection between either Pride or the rainbow as a way to engage people with the gospel and say oh you know I see see that you had that rainbow are you aware where that really comes from it’s interesting that you have it you know what the Bible says about the rainbow or you know it’s pride month I see that you’re wearing or you posted something about Pride do you know what the Bible says about that I don’t know if that sounds cheesy or awkward or whatever but hey if we can be awkward for the Lord that’s okay if it can lead to somebody’s salvation it can lead to God’s honor being proclaimed so I can certainly see those avenues for even up gospel conversations I don’t know if you had further thoughts on that Mark no I agre that think is how rebellious it is you know we kids strug we had a good kind of robust discussion in our yesterday about this and how we can there’s a sense in which homosexuality crosses a line that appears to be different right than other however in First Corinthians there a list of [Music] MH for which God says such were some few yeah so um I think for me just really just relishing what I deserve you know God’s Redemption from what I deserve I am you know as Jesus said about the Tower of salom and other things you know unless you repent you likewise perish um I think about feeling that and communicating that in a way that I’m not conding offering here’s what Christ has redeemed me from yeah just you know in our culture can get just so combative yeah um and and I just think about just praying for us as as a people that we would be yeah yeah so talking generally even about what our evangelism should look like it should be with boldness it should be with kindness it should be with love and on the issue of LGB GQ in particular in some ways it’s Unique sin that does in a very obvious Way Cross a line that other sins don’t I mean you’re rejecting the basic sexuality that God has designed and yet even as you mentioned Mark in some ways it’s the same as any other kind of sin the in a way the the chief sin of somebody who lives as a homosexual isn’t their homosexuality it’s their refusal to worship God it’s their refusal to honor God their creator and or to believe in Jesus Christ and so even as we engage with them over their pride over their sinful lifestyle what we ultimately want to point them to is you need to know God this lifestyle you’ve chosen is an in in inhibitor to that ultimately we don’t want to just make people heterosexual that would not actually achieve their salvation it’s have them know Jesus Christ and that is going to in some degree if God gives you the opportunity to speak with a homosexual about his or her sin you probably are going to need to emphasize your common ground you say I may not be a homosexual but I have my own sins and they keep me away from God just as much as your sins do but God has reconciled me through Jesus Christ in his gospel and he can and you need that same thing to happen to you so there’s more we can say on that but certainly emphasizing commonality love boldness the truth of their Rebellion this isn’t like oh well you know those are cultural things and we’re more tolerant now this isn’t really an issue with God it is an issue with God God loves marriage God loves his design for sexuality in marriage and the homosexuality is a repudiation of that so God treats that as a big deal and like other sexual sin he says I’m going to judge I think of that verse from Hebrews it says the marriage bed is to be held in honor among or marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage B is to be undefiled the fornicators and that’s the word just means immorality so that would include homosexuality masturbation pornography prostitution any of those sins that you can think of fornicators and adulterers God will judge I was yester was more it was impressed on me that how God wants us to know him how how he’s not he’s incomprehensible we can’t completely comprehend God but he wants to be known um just like we want to be known because that’s love so um when you just said right now which is the truth you need to know God um I also remember that God wants you to know [Music] him and our sin Keeps Us separated from a helpful way to as marking relate the same we are all in the same sing ship yeah yeah exactly so um to repeat your comment it is interesting and a sign of the goodness of God’s character that we not only need to know God but he actually wants us to know him and not in the sense that he’s needy and he’s like I want be a to love me it’s rather that he’s generous and he says I know what’s going to be the best thing for you which is to know me because I’m God I have all goodness and life in me if you will know me then you will experience eternal life you know the verse that I’ve quoted many many times from Jesus in John 17 this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus whom they whom you have sent God is so loving and generous he says that’s what I want for all people and so the most loving thing that we can do is to help people know God it’s not loving to just tolerate people and their sin and say oh that’s no big deal because then now they won’t know God but if we can bring people to the knowledge of God not just academic knowledge but a personal experiential knowledge of God then that’s the greatest gift that we can give them and it is God’s Own desire now we in another lesson we talked about well how can God desire it if he doesn’t give it to everybody it is a true desire for God even though it coexists with his sovereignty and he says only some only the ones that I’ve chosen will be saved that’s not God being disingenuous that’s not God being callous it’s just God being God God presents those two things in the scriptures and so we believe them time for one more thought or comment Glenda yeah so Glen just pointing out homosexuality lgbtq living it is not only repudiation of God’s design for sexuality and marriage but really God’s design for the family and ultimately for human flourishing it’s just another manifestation of that thought of Eve in the garden and really of mankind in Rebellion against God which is I’m going to live the way I want to live I’m going to determine what’s good what’s fulfilling what’s life rather than listen to what God says that makes man feel very good in himself because he exalts himself to the position of God but what’s the outcome it’s not life it’s death there’s no true lasting Joy or gain from going against God you cannot go against God and win and so it is for those who go into lgbtq they’re not really gaining lasting good from that they’re actually refusing the good that God says he wants to give them good comments good questions appreciate your participation in this lesson but that’s all for this week next week oh let me say this so from this lesson we’ve already seen some good reasons hopefully you’ve seen why this historical flood had to be Global and not local next week we’re going to come back to that question though to really put the nail in the coffin of the argument who says it’s local because we’re going to see that the flood was indeed Global there’s not a devastating local flood that just wiped out life in a certain area it had to have been Global so more about that next time let me close in prayer Lord I Thank you for this time meditating on you your goodness but Lord we do feel a burden for those who are under your judgment right now and it will fall on them just like the flood fell on those people who weren’t ready God I pray that we would have your heart that loves them and that loves you enough to declare your word to them and says this is the god of Glory you need to know him which means you need to repent of your sins and believe Lord help us to be faithful Witnesses and I pray that you’d work through us because you will save Those whom you whom you have marked out as your sheep so use us to do it in Jesus name amen amen thank you everyone
