Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 3 Lesson 24
This week in Sunday school, we begin talking about the next of our Seven Cs of History: the flood Catastrophe. Why did God send the flood? What does it mean that God regretted making man? Why did God spare Noah? And how does Noah’s situation parallel our own today?
Our main text for this lesson is Genesis 6:5-7:1.
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good morning let’s begin Sunday school seems like some people are still traveling in but that’s okay we want to get started good to be back with you at this point of our class we’ve looked at two C’s of the seven C’s of history remember that outline of history from Answers in Genesis we’ve looked at we’ve looked in depth at creation accomplished by God in six solar days around 4000 BC we then also looked in depth at corruption the fall of man and its effects and that again likely took place around the same time around 4000 BC very closely following creation but now we come to our third C of the seven C’s of history and that’s catastrophe the great flood now what did the great flood take place following our time information that’s given to us in Genesis especially the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies we can conclude that the flood took place about a thousand seven hundred and fifty years after the flood I’m sorry after creation so what would have been about 2350 BC 2350 BC is one we have the great flood now that number like the date for creation around 4000 BC that’s going to contradict a lot of modern history books and especially their dates for the beginnings of ancient civilizations like Sumer or Egypt for example if you look up when Egypt the Kingdom of Egypt was founded you’ll probably see a date around 3150 BC that’s when it’s asserted the Kingdom of Egypt began of course that’s that’s before that’s before the flood so what do we do with that well remember we operate from a biblical worldview we are not to reinterpret the Bible just to fit man’s theories or his archaeological assertions but we interpret the archaeological data according to what is revealed in the trustworthy and authoritative Word of God and this is not something that comes some of these conclusions are not so direct from the Bible so they can be adjusted but we always start with the Bible and we use that as our as our way of interpreting what we see in the world this is what it means to have a biblical worldview and as Christians that’s what we’re called to do it’s the waited it’s the way to be wise now like our previous seas of history we’re going to spend several lessons looking at this far-reaching event this great catastrophe the great flood recorded in our Bibles from Genesis 6 to Genesis 9 in this first lesson on the flood we’re going to focus on just two main questions why does God send the flood and then why does God save Noah and his family from the flood and here’s our approach to answering these questions today we’re going to investigate and observe Genesis 6:5 2 7 1 well then work through some important interpretation questions questions that arise from this passage and believe me there are a lot and then we’ll consider how our world parallels what Noah was facing and his day now let’s pray before we go on Great God as we considered the flood this catastrophe but I know that we are tempted to say oh I know about the flood there’s nothing to learn here my god no this is this is something we need to come to a fresh because you were revealing yourself in a very purposeful way you’re revealing many aspects of your character that are so important for us to appreciate so important for us to realize for our own relationships with you and for our situation in the world but I pray that you’d open your word to us so we may be transformed by it as we were meant to be in Jesus name Amen well when thinking about Noah and the flood I’m reminded of a Babylon B headline I saw some years ago if you don’t know the Babylon B it’s a web publication that describes itself as your your trusted source for Christian news satire so it’s a site that publishes many fictional articles that are both humorous and poignant well one such article I found has this headline and photo toddler horrified by image of God’s terrible wrath on bedroom wall you can see the image right there well if you think about it the Bee is making a serious point it is common even for non-christians to make cute depictions of Noah’s Ark and the various animals that animals gathered by Noah before the coming of the flood many considered this appropriate decoration for a child’s nursery or a kid’s birthday card when you think about what the flood really was and what the ark really represented a much more sobering picture emerges remember the flood was a comprehensive act of divine judgment in which all life on Earth apart from what was in the sea and apart from what was in the ark was utterly and violently destroyed imagine if such a flood were unleashed on the world today what would that look like the tallest skyscrapers toppled and submerged in water every ill-prepared ship broken up by the violence of giant waves produced by seismic and volcanic disturbances every person soul upon soul of men women and children who are made in the image of God in every land animal and bird covered crushed and drowned by unceasing water imagine all land-based life perishing except for a tiny remnant specifically preserved on a large lifeboat what’s such an event befitting for a child’s nursery fittingly remembered now my point is not that we need to reconsider our kids decor my point is that we need to remember what the flood really represents an overwhelming display of the wrath and mercy of God but why the flood what would cause such a good and generous creator God to utterly destroy his creation well let’s find out from the text take your Bibles please and open to Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 we’re only reading the first part of the flood narrative today from Genesis 6:5 to chapter 7 verse 1 but it will help us answer this question why the flood as context remember that this is many generations after the fall you heard that chronological information at the beginning of today’s class but just a little more by this point Adam even long-lived Adam has been dead for centuries things have descended to such a level in humanity that even the sons of God which I take to be angels have wickedly commingled with the daughters of men according to Genesis 6:1 – for now the details of how that happened are not fully given to us but verse 3 and chapter 6 clarifies that God held man at least partly responsible for this heinous act now let’s read Genesis 6:5 and following to see even more about the state of the earth so following a me starting verse 5 then the Lord that is Yahweh then you always 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 you always 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 the sky for I am sorry that I have made them but Noah found favor in the eyes of y’all 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 Shem ham 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 and 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 and shall cover it inside and out with pitch this is how you shall make it the length of the ark 300 cubits its breadth 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits shall make a window for the ark and finish it to a cubit from the top and set the door of the Ark and the side of it 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 flesh which 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 and of the animals after their kind and of every creeping thing of 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 they shall be food for you and for them the snow it did according to all that God had commanded him so he did then Yahweh said to noah entered the ark you and all your household for you alone i have seemed to be righteous before me in this time very sobering passage of scripture but very instructive as always when we study a passage to the bible we want to start by just making simple observations of the text so let’s do that here notice the phrase that we see in verse 9 these are the records of the generations of Noah we’ve seen this kind of phrase before in Genesis haven’t we it appears throughout the book remember what is it that this phrase affirms what kind of literature are we dealing with if we see this phrase history historical narratives this text claims to be a record of what actually happened what happened to know it this is the record of it notice the descriptions of the people of the earth on the in the days of Noah verse 5 says the wickedness of man was great on the earth verse 5 also says every thought of man’s heart was only evil continually verse 11 says the earth was corrupt verse 11 says also the earth was filled with violence verse 12 says the earth was corrupt verse 12 says all flesh had corrupted their way verse 13 says the earth is stilled with violence because of them and chapter 7 verse 1 says and Noah alone is righteous on earth eight different times then God refers to man’s universal wickedness and what is God’s attitude toward what he sees in man notice the Texas he was sorry that he made man and he was grieved to his heart I wasn’t that surprising statement God was sorry God was grieved as a result God is determined to destroy all mankind and not just man there’s all land animals and birds are to be included in the destruction but in contrast to all other men notice what the text says about Noah verse 8 Noah found favor with God verse 9 no was a righteous man blameless in his time Noah walked with God and then chapter 7 verse 1 Noah alone is righteous before God now again this is a very repeated and emphasized idea what about Noah’s family members well they also righteous well it’s interesting that there aren’t any descriptions in this passage regarding their own righteousness they’re not listed as righteous along with no in fact when we see in chapter 7 verse 1 you alone I seem to be righteous that you is singular in Hebrew not plural not you or your family it’s you Noah all that is very interesting it doesn’t appear the family supports Noah obeys Noah as Noah seeks to obey God’s commands and construct the ark so there is that but no himself is highlighted as the righteous one notice verse 18 where we see God talk about a covenant who establishes the covenant between God and Noah God does and besides build an ark what commands does God give to Noah notice verse 18 he says enter the ark with your family verse 19 in 20 he says take two of all animal kinds into the ark male and female in verse 21 he says gather food and for whom is Noah to gather food for himself for his family and for the animals now this is also something we want to take notice because once again we see human and animal food being talked about together says gather food for yourselves and food for them indicating that it is the same food and humans have what kind of diet at this time a vegetarian diet a diet that does not include animal meat because that only comes after the flood when God says I’ve given these four food to you as well and so it would appear the animals were the same and you notice the term cubit in your Bibles what’s a cubit first of all I think it’s very cute sounding term but actually it’s it’s just the unit of measurement cubit is an ancient ancient measurement of length that represents the distance from the elbow to the fingertips about 18 inches though the length of the Cuba did vary over time and in different places talk more about the cubit and the dimensions of the Ark in detail in a later lesson notice notice what his nose responds to all God’s commands the text says he did everything that the LORD commanded him right we’ve made time to make observations let’s proceed now to some important interpretation questions I told you there are some pretty significant ones here first why does God send a flood on mankind what’s the answer this is God’s necessary response to man’s wickedness man is so reprehensibly wicked it’s demonstrated over and over in the text God cannot stand to endure any more man’s incessant and increasing evil it’s all over the earth it’s reached such a high level God must respond now what does this reveal to us about God and this pronouncement of judgment what do we see about the character of God multiple things what’s one thing certainly we see that God is wrathful remember what the term wrath means wrath it’s just an older term for anger God is an angry god he is full of wrath that which he hates he has a burning anger against an overwhelming anger against and it manifests in judgment but we don’t just see that God is wrathful we see that God is extremely holy God is a God who cannot stand sin his holiness is connected to his anger his holy must His Holiness must blaze forth in hot anger against sin but this too is connected to another attribute we see here that God is just God is wrathful God is holy but God is just the one true God is a God who will give to everyone according to what they deserve you remember what Roman says what does man earn by his sin the wages of sin is death this is what man deserves man deserves God’s wrath because of sin God is only just to mete out this sentence we see God is holy he got his wrath folks he got his just but notice you see God is also extremely patient I was extremely patient consider we are centuries after the fall 1700 years after the fall and after the first murder of Abel and King God was very gracious in those instances but what has man done since those first sins amended his ways turned to God not at all man has gotten worse and worse violence has multiplied the entire earth has become corrupt and all of this is crying out for a holy response to God or response from God the same way that Abel’s blood cried out to God he’s holy he’s wrathful but what does God do he waits he gives more time another year another decade another century another thousand years thousand seven hundred fifty years God has watched man’s evil multiply and more and more rebellion against him and more and more harm against man’s neighbor God is like the vineyard owner and Jesus’s parable in Luke 13 he keeps coming to the tree year after year looking for fruit it keeps finding nothing but he ultimately decides I’ll give it another year before I uproot and burn this tree God is very slow to anger this is something he emphasizes throughout the scriptures he is long-suffering and we see that even here in this beginning of the flood account but there is a limit to God’s patience God does eventually say enough is enough I have given you enough time and so he says here think just how terrible the sin of the world in Noah’s day must have been for these descriptions all the world is corrupt all the world is filled with violence and consider how long this went on because God is holy and just along with being patient you cannot let sin go undealt with rather that was true back then that’s true today notice also in this passage we see that God is extremely good God is extremely good they say what this is wrath where do you see the goodness of God you can never separate God’s goodness from God’s wrath in fact you can never separate any of God’s attributes from one another this is one thing that my theology professor at seminary has emphasized to us students many times he says you must constantly be working for the integration of God’s perfections God’s attributes never separate them for one another the Bible may emphasize one attribute at a certain time but they’re always all active so even in Wrath God is demonstrating his goodness how so well we can see this without too much thought we see in this passage that God is greatly grieved by sin and by the violence that is in the earth why this can only be because God is a good and compassionate God it moves him it makes him sorrowful to see evil being done instead of good in fact his goodness is so great that it moves him to act he cannot let evil continue on like that if God were not so moved by so much evil we would have a right to question whether his heart is good God would be like a corrupt king whose kingdom were filled with violence and injustice and he just sits on not caring not doing anything for God is no such King his goodness moves him to deal with evil and again that was true back then that’s true today along with this goodness we see that God is merciful God is merciful in his passage even in Wrath even as he looks at the comprehensive can rupture of the earth he does not destroy all God determines to preserve Noah and his family and even all the animals of the world at that time God allows for them God allows for the human race and for the land animals to continue and one sense God could have brought human rule on the earth to an end I mean it’s not like not like man has given himself a very good record man has proven to be the worst image-bearers and under rulers ever but God shows the children of Adam undeserved favor by letting the line humanity letting the line of Noah continue of course this is connected to God’s faithfulness here’s another attribute of God you see in this passage God promised in the garden that the seed of the woman would continue and it would remain in conflict with the serpent till one came from the seed of the woman to ultimately defeat and deliver from the serpent but it sure looks like the seed of the serpent has multiplied to the point where there’s almost no seed of the woman left there’s no godly seed left will the serpent then triumph well God be forced and humanity due to the Serpent’s corruption does God is he flourished to break his promise never may it be as is the case so often in the Old Testament when God promises seemed to hang by a thread God proves himself faithful and so he does here God judges the world but he preserves Noah and a godly seed let that be a comfort to each one of us when God’s promises seemed to hang for us by mere threads now we could say more about the attributes of Baba these the ones that I think come most of mine from this passage these observations though they provoke another question how is it that God concealed sorrow and even be sorry that he made man that’s what the passage says and this revelation is indeed profound we sometimes even often think of God as being only stoic or maybe he’s only angry or only happy but God’s more dynamic than that God can feel sorrow yes the perfect God is worthy of all worship the one who is always and eternally satisfied in himself is able to experience grief and what makes God sorrowful according to the passage sin it grieves God to see sin to see people hurting one another to see people failing to imitate him to see people serving false idols that cannot satisfy to see people who rebel against their true king the Bible is very clear that God has emotions if God didn’t react at all emotionally to sin we would have a right to wonder whether sin was really a big deal to God whether God was even good we are moved we are grieved by evil and so is God a good God is grieved and angry at evil and those who do it God is so grieved the text says that he was sorry that he made man now that’s really intense does that mean that God made a mistake that God was surprised at this terrible outcome of man and therefore had to change his plans or even more basically that despite God’s claims the contrary we’ll see this later in the scriptures that God is actually changeable God says I don’t change therefore you’re not consumed but here this certainly seems like God changes and some people have gone so far as to say you know what God really does change God makes mistakes how are we to understand these things in the text if God is immutable if God does not change then how can God experience emotion and even repentance well the solution here is to understand that both God’s emotions and God’s repentance are eternally ordained and sovereignly decided how the motions called repentance they are eternally ordained and suddenly decide see God has always willed to experience certain emotions in time and to even react to circumstances but a parent regret and change of course you see it was always God’s plan to said a flood a man’s wickedness God’s sorrow and gods regret were for known and for ordained as the means by which he would act in sending the flood we see a similar situation in other parts the Bible remember when Israel creates the golden calf exodus around exodus 32 what does God say to Moses let me alone that I may destroy them and I will make of you a great nation Moses then intercedes for Israel and turns aside God’s burning back did God change with God’s foreknowledge or sovereignty compromised in that event not at all God had for known and for ordained that he would be angry over Israel’s sin and that Moses would rescue Israel as an intercessor the whole exchange was sovereignly planned and ordained to show forth the glory of God and accomplish his purposes same thing happens with Jonah and Nineveh you remember Jonah is given this prophecy yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown but God rillettes of this sure destruction because of the repentance of the Ninevites we might ask did God change his mind did he suddenly have a change of heart and say hey you know I’ll be gracious today no God had always ordained nineveh’s repentance and his own for stalling of judgment now you might say well that must mean that God’s emotions aren’t real and that God is just play-acting well no that’s not true God is not fake God does not lie there is a doctrine the doctrine of divine and passability that commonly stated says that God is not subject to emotion or passion and some interpret that to mean that God does not experience emotion but that’s not quite right the doctrine of divine and possibility is that God is not controlled by emotion he’s not subject to a motion or subject to passions God as the independent all satisfy God that he is he’s not subject to passions or moods but himself wills whatever emotion the experiences he says I will I determined that I will experience grief here I determined that I will experience love or whatever emotion that it is there and in this way God demonstrates that his emotions are not like our emotions because what are our emotions like oh they just overwhelm us we say I’m just overcome it’s like something outside of us that we become subject to but not so with God God is not subject to emotions but any emotion that he experiences in time he himself wills I strongly disagree with those who say that God’s emotions that are recorded in the Bible are only apparent and they’re only accommodations to man’s understand truly God is beyond us but this is all over the scriptures if the words of the Bible had any real meaning then God must have emotions you know people say oh it’s just a figure well a figure of what there must be something to the reference it must be something behind the figure if it’s a figure I say oh it’s a figure that that God has changed well that itself needs explanation because God says he doesn’t change well the solution is that God does experience emotion and in one sense he experiences repentance but only in the sense that these were and these were already ordained by God God’s emotions God does have emotions we reflect God’s emotions by being made in the image of God but his emotions are not like ours and neither is his repentance like ours by the way if you want to see a really interesting intersection of this first Samuel 15 when God repudiates Saul as king of Israel twice in the chapter God says that he does not change or repents but then in the middle of the chapter he says I regret making Saul King in the same passage what is that showing us the Bible contradicts itself no but it shows us that God’s changing the God’s repentance is not like ours God is above us and he is sovereign over all things even his emotions and apparent changes this for deigning of emotion in repentance moreover does not mean that God is deceptive if God’s for our Deen means bringing about the situations that he ordains were absent then God would indeed proceed with what he originally is observed to do without Moses’s intercession if Moses had not been there that Israel would have been wiped out after the golden calf God was not joking about that when he announced that intention without Jonah’s preaching or without the Ninevites repentance the city of nineveh would have been obliterated God is not simply pulling pulling people’s legs you see God’s expressed intentions in each one of these passages is real and his emotions are real yet they are still under the umbrella of God’s sovereign power and foreknowledge though these alternatives would have happened if not for intercession they could never have happened because God in fact our day in the intercession now part of this is beyond our understanding we might not be able to see how God’s expressed in tension can be genuine even when he knows that the outcome will be different than what he expresses but God is God God is able to do this whether we’re able to understand it or not I mean think of Jesus’s own experience with Lazarus’s death remember how Jesus reacts even though Jesus knows he’s going to raise Lazarus from the dead shortly what does he do he weeps and he weeps in such a way that those looking on say look at how he loved that man was it all an act with Jesus just playing a part now who was genuine but how was Jesus able to experience and manifest such genuine grief even when knowing the future that was filled with so much hope I don’t know exactly but he was God’s ways are above ours so coming back to Genesis the regret of God’s heart in Genesis 6 is real because of God’s character he chooses to feel this emotion in time in light of man’s extreme wickedness but even this experience of strong emotion this regret it does not make God in the least bit disingenuous or in the least bit unsatisfied with himself get this the joy of God the satisfaction of God the complete happiness of God is not at all diminished by sorrow we’ll regret if God ordains sorrow or even the experience of suffering for himself it does not diminish his complete joy and satisfaction with himself we sometimes wonder why would God choose to experience grief why would he choose to experience sorrow or suffering that seems to contradict the experience of happiness but even we can be joyful in the midst of sorrow it’s apparently not impossible for God to remain completely satisfied even when he chooses to experience sorrow in time now I know I just went into eighth description the discussion of more abstract theology there and if you have questions about this please email me we can talk about it more but I hope you’re getting the concept God does experience emotion even repentance but not like we do because he’s got in his good sorrow and his righteous anger God promises to destroy the earth with water but he says he will spare no and his family why why spare them well text makes it pretty clear Noah was righteous God spared Noah because Noah was righteous but does this mean that Noah was not a sinner well of course not we saw from our lesson last week and a week before everyone born from Adam is sinful Noah would be included in that so where did Noah’s righteousness come from he certainly was obedient to God but why did Noah just try harder than most people well before he asked that question let’s turn to another helpful passage go to the New Testament Hebrews chapter 11 we’ve been making actually a number of references to Hebrews in the last few lessons because the rider Hebrews makes comment on some of these early people Hebrews 11 verses 6 to 7 the writer of Hebrews makes comment unknowing commute 11 6 to 7 the writer says and without faith it is impossible to please him that’s God for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is reward of those who seek him by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith why is it that Noah was righteous then Noah obeyed God according to our passage in Hebrews because Noah had faith because Noah believed God Noah’s righteousness came from faith simple faith he was an heir of righteousness according to faith and where did Noah’s faith come from visions 2 8 and 9 we looked at this recently God gave Noah the faith faith is a gift from God this was not Noah’s doing it was God’s and this is consistent with what we even see in Genesis 6 right God says to Noah I will establish my covenant with you unilateral no conditions mentioned no permission asked God acted all by himself and he determined to show favor to Noah you see Noah was part of that same seed of which Abel was a part the very seed promised by God to the serpent in Genesis 3 I will place enmity between you and the woman and between her seed and your see this seed of the woman is the seed of faith and it’s the one God unilaterally promises to create Genesis indeed the whole Bible is about tracing this see God chose Noah to be part of this seed and therefore he gave Noah faith know his faith cause Noah to be obedient to God and to be at odds with the world we do indeed admire Noah for his righteousness in the midst of so much evil but we must remember God made our righteous God gave Noah the faith and God gets the glory now sometimes people say that salvation was achieved differently by people in the Old Testament that in Christ we have the covenant of grace according to faith before Christ that was the covenant of works we believe by faith and were saved but before people were saved by obedience to God’s commands but this is not true God’s commands were never the means of salvation Paul said the New Testament the law the law of God was introduced actually to increase awareness of sin and the awareness of one’s need for a savior people have always been and always will be saved by grace through faith and God’s promised Savior and substitute Jesus Christ now it’s true that God progressively revealed the details of salvation not all the details were known by Adam or by abel or by noah as they are today but the main message has been present since the fall in the garden we saw this ourselves man needs God to provide mankind a savior and God promises to provided Adam and Eve were shown that they needed God to cover their shame and to defeat the serpent on their behalf the people of Israel were shown through various means that they needed God to provide a substitute to bear their sins to make them righteous later Israelites would see that this substitute would be God’s anointed one the Messiah he would be the king of Israel yet he would also be a sufferer and a man of sorrows but this mystery of the gospel was revealed fully when Jesus came God would not simply provide a substitute God is the substitute set his own son to be the savior the savior that Adam and Noah and Moses and Isiah and all the other Old Testament Saints were looking forward to as believers in Christ today we have this mystery of the gospel fully revealed and that’s why we shared the fully revealed gospel rightly we declare there is no other name under heaven by which a man may be saved which women may be saved only faith in Jesus Christ the god man has power to save so I say again salvation has always been by faith in Jesus Christ never was it by meritorious works God was always going to get the glory by accomplishing salvation in this way even the faith of every Old Testament Saint was an unearned gift from God the old testement has a lot to say about righteous works and sometimes we may say oh it’s because you know they were saved differently but that’s not the case it’s just evidence it’s evidence of the faith that is in their hearts the faith that God put there so we can answer this question again more basically why did God spared no a–from the flood because God chose to be gracious to know it faithful to his own promise and he gave Noah faith no obedient was a result of God’s grace to him not the reason for God’s grace to me so what would the Israelite supposed to learn from all this what are they to learn from this beginning of the flood account I think chief among the purposes of Moses and the Spirit of God would be to draw the Israelites to believe in God they are to understand that God is holy wrathful just patient merciful good faithful they were to believe in God as Noah did to be rescued from the Holy judgment of God instead walk with God as Noah did let his face shine upon you and blessing not have his face turned away from you in judgment do not be like the wicked violent unbelieving world that perish in the judgment and that was a problem for Israel wasn’t it well then what did the wilderness they had a problem with believing God in this account there’s a specific remedy to that problem and isn’t the message the same for us today listen to what 2nd Peter says 2nd Peter for our second Peter 2 verses 4 to 10 give you context this is Peter warning believers against false teachers and the judgment awaiting false teachers and those who follow them and Peter says this second Peter 2 verses 4 to 10 for if God did not spare angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of Darkness reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah a preacher of righteousness with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly and if you condemned the cities of sodom and gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter and if he rescued righteous lot oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men about what he saw and heard that righteous man while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment especially those who indulge the flesh and it’s corrupt desires despise Authority did you get that God knows how to rescue the righteous but he will judge sinners may the kindness and severity of God bring you to faith if you do not yet know him and may we who do know him declared this good but sobering news to others so that they might be brought to faith and to joyous walking with their Lord Jesus before we an have a few other application questions just two more people often claim that God is cruel to have wiped out every person on the face of the earth in the flood how would you use the text we’ve discussed today to help them understand that God’s actions were just hopefully you see that you can do that that you should do that we can see from these texts and many others the goodness and holiness of God because that’s the real issue in this objection right how could he be so cruel I thought God was good yes God is good that’s why he did this for people to call God unjust they overestimate the goodness of man and they underestimate the goodness of God this passage from Genesis 6 along with many others that we’ve looked at previously they showed that there are no good people except for those that God saves and even those our sinners saved by grace the wickedness of people by contrast is extreme and incessant you’ve heard statements like the following many times the question is not why did God judge so many the question is why did he save any at all do you realize just how wicked man is do you realize just how wicked you are don’t ask why did God bring this hard thing ask why do I receive any good from God this passage shows us God’s sensitivity to goodness into lack of goodness because we see God grieved in his heart the continual effrontery to God and His goodness but every person on the earth certainly called for God’s just punishment and he was good and just to eventually send it a side note we have to have God be the one who shows us what is just our hearts are deceitful and wicked we cannot trust her own judgment of right and wrong unless they are based on the Word of God so when we encounter those who say I don’t think God is just it’s a good opportunity to use what Answers in Genesis calls that don’t answer answer strategy this is basically something from presuppositional apologetics it’s a way to show that somebody’s premise invalidates the conclusion if you say that God is unjust on what standard are you basing the judgment where do you get that sense of justice if you say you get it from society or from your own sense of right and wrong well societies vary on what is justice and person-to-person varies on what is considered just there is no real standard and if there’s no standard you can’t judge God therefore your presupposition invalidates itself the solution is that the standard of justice comes from outside of us outside of our societies outside of ourselves it could only come from God God must show us what is just not just and he does so in the Bible that’s why we have that sense of justice God put it there and God informs it only the Bible correctly informs our thinking as to what is just or unjust one other question and then I’ll open it up to you Noah is described as a preacher of righteousness to an ungodly world is our situation any different from his how should we live in light of this truth I think you can readily acknowledge that our position is very similar to no Wes don’t we live in a world that is filled with violence that seems almost totally corrupt in fact second Peter 3 if you were just in Hebrews go to 2nd Peter chapter 3 just a few more books forward second Peter 3 makes this connection abundantly clear for us second Peter 3 verses 1 to 13 Peter says know this first of all then in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts and saying where is the promise that is coming that’s referring to Jesus the second coming for ever since the father’s fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation but when they maintain this it escapes their notice that by the Word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water through which the world at that time was destroyed being flooded with water but by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly man but do not let this one fact escape your notice beloved that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day the Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance but the day of the Lord will come like a thief which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up since all these things would be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat but according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells we’re in the same situation as Noah like Noah you are called to be preachers of righteousness in this doomed generation warning people of the coming judgment of God on the entire earth because of sin pleading with them to repent in light of God’s patient kindness are you such a preacher or do you need the message still preach to you so that you might be saved from the coming judgement do you look forward to the new heavens and the new earth does that inform what you think what you believe and what you do that’s all I have for you questions about today’s lesson if you think of any questions by all means please email me love to try and answer your questions talk further with you about these issues but we’ll end for today next week we take a closer look at the events that occur within the flood itself and their timing let’s close in prayer our great God this is a wondrous piece of Revelation in many ways God it is frightening how do you are you our God to be feared you are God not to be trifled with did you destroy the entire earth and all life on it because of its incessant sin and yet in Wrath you remembered mercy you were acting in goodness your heart is always good you saved Noah and you will yet save those who turn to you today god help us to declare this message make us bold and loving with the people our people who are so lost who are sons of Wrath sons and daughters destined for your wrath if you should not intervene Lord I’m I’m thinking about the rainbow that sign that you promised to put in the sky after the flood or it is a beautiful symbol but it is very meaningful because it not only reminds us of your mercy but of your holiness and wrath it’s a commemoration of what happened in the flood it is something to sober us but to also give us hope and we praise you for that God you are the only Savior and you show yourself so glorious by saving those who do not deserve it we did not deserve it but you were so gracious to us what would I pray those listening today those at Calvary but revel and who you are today in all your attributes God none of them could be separated from one another because you are wholly perfect I pray God that for any who needed they would repent that they would trust in you for salvation know that also they would become more sanctified we know we all need that guy give us a greater love for you reverence for you give us a greater expectation of the future both in its judgment and his deliverance so you might live worthy lives on the earth in Jesus name Amen alright thank you guys I’ll see you next time