Preparing for Judgment
As we study the historical/narrative sections Genesis, one truth should start to emerge as a common thread in each of the accounts: God is sovereign over the affairs of mankind. In examining the story of the flood, yes we are learning about Noah, but it turns out that God is the leading character in this drama. He is in complete control as His plan for mankind unfolds.
This Is God’s Story
A careful reading Genesis 6:8-7:16 reveals that even though much is mentioned about Noah, this is really God’s story. The Lord God Almighty is guiding Noah, using Noah, preparing Noah. God must do this because mere man is insufficient for these things!
1). God Granted Favor to Noah
Noah was a righteous man. But he got that way because of God’s grace. Grace leads to righteousness, not the other way around. Righteousness is the proof of God’s favor in a person’s life. Noah was not sinless, however, he was said to be blameless… and he walked with God. All of this made possible through God’s favor.
2). God Declared Comprehensive Destruction
Because the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, God said to Noah that He would destroy all flesh, including animals (v.11-13,17). Corruption (sahat) is spoilage, rottenness or destroyed. The image is that of fruit that has become rotten, fallen off the tree and then trampled over by men. The word is also used to describe the scenario of someone who has been punched in the eye so that he actually loses his eye (see Exodus 21:26). Violence is oppression, injustice, cruelty, abusiveness, harsh treatment and ruthlessness.
God declared full destruction upon the earth because of the way of mankind (6:13). It is interesting to note that the wording used for, “I am about to destroy”, is the same word “sahat”, meaning “corruption” in the prior verses. People who immersed themselves into evil and wickedness would soon be destroyed. It’s as if God were saying, “You are into destruction? Then destruction it is”.
3). God Gave Instructions to Noah
Noah was then instructed by God to build a vessel that would deliver him, his wife, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives from the coming flood. God gave Noah precise measurements of the ark: 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. Since a cubit is the length from your elbow to your fingertips (18 inches), that translates to 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.
As big of a water craft that this is, many skeptics would say that there is not enough room to fit all the animals, food and supplies, plus a family of eight. A few words to the skeptics:
a). As the builder of the boat, Noah understood what kind of space he had. Would it make sense to put full-grown elephants on the ark, or a baby elephants? Large heavy hippos or small young ones?
b). When all “kinds/species” are considered together as a whole, the average size of an animal is about the size of a sheep. An average sized two-tiered railroad boxcar can fit 240 sheep. The volume of the ark could fit 569 such cars. This would only consume 50% of the carrying capacity, leaving plenty of room for food, water and other provisions (and eight people!).
c). The animals came to Noah (6:20). In other words, God sent the animals to Noah in the right sizes and quantities. It is impossible for God to send all the animals to an ark that He designed that would be too small for them all to fit. (Note: Genesis 6:19-20 says two of every kind; Genesis 7:2-3 adds some more for a very special reason!)
4). God Makes a Promise to Noah
The covenant that God establishes with Noah (briefly mentioned in Genesis 6:18 and expounded upon in 9:11-17) is a beautiful, multi-faceted promise. Not only did God promise that “never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh” (9:15), but embedded within the promise is His commitment to dispense grace! When Noah saw the first rain clouds after exiting the ark, would he have to worry? Or could he live in confidence, based on God’s promise?
5). God was IN the Ark
Some translations of the Bible tell Noah to “enter the ark”. This doesn’t appear to be quite right. The KJV has the correct wording for the instructions to Noah: “Come thou and all thy house into the ark” (Genesis 7:1). Notice the command issued: “come into”. This is an imperative: God told Noah to come to where He was. God was in the ark! This had to be such a huge faith-builder for Noah and his family that God was right there with them as they were about to navigate the convulsing seas throughout the duration of the flood.
6). God Closed the Door of the Ark
Many pastors preach about this verse by saying that “the opportunity for others to be saved is now closed”. Noah is described as a ‘preacher of righteousness’ in 2 Peter 2:5. This sounds like Noah was doing what we might call evangelism, heralding the message that God “will not strive with man forever” (Genesis 6:3). A well-meaning preacher may tell us that Noah is calling people to repentance… possibly, but unlikely.
But I believe this view is incorrect. Noah was indeed preaching, but his message was one of condemnation. We know this because of what Hebrews 11:7 says, “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 righteousness which is according to faith” (NASB).
God had determined that all flesh would be destroyed, and indeed told Noah directly (see Genesis 6:17). This would have been the content of Noah’s message. This is the doctrine of reprobation.
And not only did the wicked people have the witness of Noah against them, but also the witness of nature itself (of which they would soon experience in full force). We know from Romans 1:20 that, “since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (NASB).
7). God Sent the Rain
The great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened, with rain falling for 40 days and 40 nights. Nobody had ever seen rain before. Where did it come from? Some creationists say there was a vapor canopy around the earth that broke open. That may be true. One thing we do know for certain; however the rain descended, it originated from God:
Matthew 5:45 – “He sends rain on the just and the unjust”.
Acts 14:17 – “He gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons”.
2 Peter 2:5 – “He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly”.
Isaiah 55:10 – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven”.
The point is clear: God determines when it will rain, where, and how much. In His perfect timing, He sent the rain in the right quantities to destroy all flesh all over the earth.
Other than full obedience to God’s instructions, Noah had little to do with any of this. He didn’t earn God’s favor. He didn’t decide there would be comprehensive destruction. He didn’t make up the dimensions of the ark. He didn’t close the door and he had nothing to do with the rain! Noah was content in God’s sovereignty. He walked with God. And part of walking with God is trusting and obeying, for which Noah was commended in Hebrews 11!
The parallels between Noah’s day and ours are staggering. While corruption, decay and violence deafen some people to their need for deliverance, we know that God is gracious! Our job is to speak the truth in love by warning of impending judgment and proclaiming deliverance through Jesus Christ!
A Worldwide Flood
Moses makes it clear when writing Genesis that the flood was a global flood. He describes the waters in terms like ‘prevailed’, ‘everywhere’, ‘covered’ and ‘all’. He leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind that this was not a local event, but rather the flood waters covered the entire earth. If it were a local event, then there would be no need to collect all the animals. It’s a ridiculous assertion by skeptics that deny the global event. This is important because deniers of scripture basically say what the serpent said back in Genesis 3:1, “Has God really said…?”
Acceptable Worship
Genesis 8:1 tells us that “God remembered Noah”. This is an interesting phrase because it isn’t that God forgot about Noah in the boat and then suddenly he came to mind. “Remember” is actually a Hebraism for “began to act on behalf of”. In other words, the flood was over – and the restoration of the earth had begun. First, the wind came over the earth to begin the drying process (evaporation). The water began to recede, which would form canyons and valleys. Trees and bushes began to grow again (fresh olive leaves in 8:11!).
In Genesis 8:16, God instructed Noah to “go out of the ark”. Remember, God was in the ark with Noah, his family and the animals (7:16). If God were not still in the ark, He would have used a different command.
Noah’s first act upon exiting the ark was to build an altar for worship. His actions of sacrifice after the flood could not have happened without his actions before the flood. Acceptable worship begins with preparation. Noah knew how reproduction worked. He only needed one female and one male of each of the animals, but God told him to take more. In his full obedience, Noah took the seven clean animals likely knowing that they would be used for sacrifice over a year from when they boarded the ark.
God provided what Noah and his family needed for worship. Noah followed through with obedience, enduring the rigors and hardships of caring for the animals until it was time to slay them all. Noah built an altar to sacrifice every clean animal and every clean bird. Think about how many animals and birds this would have been, and how large this altar would have to be! He just spent 120 years building an ark, 13 months floating in it and now he would build a huge altar. Noah likely dismantled some of the ark to use the wood to build the altar and for the fire itself (in doing so, he demonstrated his full belief in God’s covenant mentioned in 6:18 and expounded upon 9:8-17). All of Noah’s preparations were part of the worship. And if God smelled the sacrifice and considered it to be soothing, Noah’s actions must have been from a glad and willing heart. There is no evidence of grumbling. No evidence of discouragement. No evidence of doubt or unbelief. Remember Noah walked with God. God was IN the ark. Thirteen months of close fellowship with God while the earth is convulsing on the outside of the ship.
The Covenant
God’s promise to Noah was more than “I’ll never flood the whole earth again”. This promise has embedded within it His commitment to dispense grace! God’s preface to the covenant is a reminder that man is made in God’s image and that there will be a severe consequence this time for murder. Then the Lord proceeds re-issue an old command to “be fruitful and multiply”. After the “first things first” talk, God explained the covenant in 9:11 (all flesh would never be destroyed again by a global flood) and what the sign of the covenant would be in 9:13-17 (a beautiful rainbow).
A rainbow is caused by light refracting through rain drops that act as a sort of prism. A stream of light bends as it enters the prism. Inside the prism, the light separates, or refracts, into seven primary colors (red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet). The color spectrum is created because the various colors bend at different angles. Red has the longest wavelength, while violet has the shortest.
When the separated light hits the back of the raindrop, it reflects internally, and then refracts again when it exits the raindrop. Due to the dispersion of the light and the internal reflection, you see the different colors in the sky in the form of a rainbow.
The term “bow” in Hebrew is properly translated as “war bow”. Psalm 7:11-13 and 21:12 explain what God does with His war bow. It’s as if God put His war bow in the sky, without the arrow pointed at mankind, as a beautiful gesture to give His people confidence in His promise. Sinclair Ferguson summarizes it this way: “Think about the rainbow as God’s military bow transformed into an ornament of great beauty that hostility has ceased, and that there is no arrow in the bow”.
A rainbow is something you can see but cannot touch because it is light. It is just like a promise. You cannot touch a promise physically, but you see a promise in action, especially in its fulfillment.
Where else in the Bible do we find a rainbow? Revelation 4:3 says, “And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance”. A full rainbow encircles God’s throne in heaven!
Thoughts that are too lofty for our comprehension:
1). The rainbow existed in the mind of God way before rain ever existed on earth.
2). God has given us a glimpse on earth of something that adorns His very throne from where He reigns!
The Vineyard and the Wine
The story of Noah seems to end on the sour note of disappointment and disgrace. How could Noah, who was declared blameless and righteous… who walked with God and obedient in every way, be found drunk and naked? There are many views of what happened here. He was depressed. He was traumatized. He was trying to ‘escape’ by looking elsewhere for joy and fulfillment. None of these explanations are specifically stated in the Bible. Maybe we’ve been reading this wrong all along.
Noah planted a vineyard in a post-flood environment that was quite different than he was used to before the flood. It is possible that he was not aware of the change in how fermentation worked. There are so many variables involved in alcohol content in wine-making, like temperature, time, sugar, yeast, grape skin damage, etc. Is it possible that Noah got drunk by accident? An honest mistake?
If it’s true that Noah did not sin, then Ham seized the moment to embarrass a truly blameless and righteous man. As a result, the line of Ham through his son Canaan, reaped the consequences of Noah’s curses. Shem and Japheth on the other hand, honored their father by covering his nakedness.
What Are the ‘Types’ in the Account of Noah?
Noah is a type of Christ, the head of a new creation.
The ark is a type representing the means of deliverance.
Clean animals typified the sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
The flood itself is a foreshadowing of the future judgment coming upon the whole world (see Matthew 24:29-25:46).
Did Noah Provide Rest?
Back in Genesis 5, Lamech named his son Noah, which means ‘rest’ or ‘consolation’. His hope was that Noah would be the one to ease the hardships and toil that sin had inflicted upon the world. Did Noah live up to this expectation? No he did not! In fact, due to the nature of the flood, day-to-day living may have actually gotten tougher.
However, this all points forward to the day when Jesus would come, who said, “Come to me you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NASB).
Establish my footsteps in Your Word ~ Psalm 119:133 