Genesis (Pt. 17) (After the Flood)
Text: Genesis 8:1-22
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Last week we looked at the flood and we saw the flood covering the whole earth; and we saw how Noah was a typology of Christ. Here in chapter 8 we’re at the end of the flood and we see how Noah responds to what’s just happened. And I think that as we read about these events we see that the message that they convey is for believers in every age of history.
The 1st thing I want you to see here is in verses 1 – 5. The rain has stopped and the flood waters begin to recede, and what we can take from those verses is that God never forgets about His people. The world has been destroyed by the flood, and Noah and his family have been on this huge boat for some time now, and God; in His divine wisdom has decided that it’s been long enough.
Now when it says, “God remembered Noah…” it’s not like God had forgotten all about him up until that point in time. What that phrase means is that God took care of Noah and his family throughout the entire flood – it’s not an act of memory, it’s an act of grace that we’re seeing here. It’s a sign of God’s faithfulness. And remember; Noah had faith, that’s how he got into the ark in the first place, but his faith is also important here because it’s been 150 days now that he’s been in the ark, and there’s still no sign of dry land.
Now verse 1 tells us that God sent a strong wind to dry up the waters. And this is interesting for a couple of reasons. First off, the Hebrew word translated as “Spirit” is the word “ruakh”, but about 40% of the time that word is used, it’s also translated as “wind.” Now in our text “ruakh” literally means “wind” but it should bring to mind at least 4 other passages of the bible. First of all in Genesis chapter one, when the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Secondly; in Exodus 14:21 when the Israelites were trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, and God sent a strong wind to blow all night so that the Israelites could walk across on dry land. Thirdly; in John chapter 3, when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus; let’s turn there and look at that… verses 6, 7, & 8 (Read). And then lastly; in Acts chapter 2:1-4 we read about how the disciples were all gathered in one place and in one accord and suddenly there came a sound like a “mighty rushing wind” and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. So I think that we are meant to see the Trinity’s involvement in Noah’s salvation from the flood here. But not just that, but in our salvation as well. In Noah’s case, we have God the Father, and if you remember, God is the one who initiated Noah’s salvation. It was God who gave Noah the warning, and then the invitation to come into the ark. In John 6:44 Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me, draws him…” Then we have the ark, and Noah was safe and secure inside of it; he was safe from the wrath of God that was being poured out on the world – just like every believer is safe in Christ, covered by His righteousness. And then we have this wind, blowing away the waters of the flood, taking away all the old, and making things new – that’s a picture of sanctification, of how we grow to be more like Christ, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit.
The OT is full of images like this, but it’s for our sake. It’s to show us how God works and how He IS working in our daily lives.
And so finally the ark makes landfall. Noah’s been preserved through this judgment, but now he has to wait. In verses 6-14, we see Noah start looking for a sign that the flood is over. Now I don’t know about you all, but I think I would be pretty tired of being in the ark after awhile. You know it had to smell awful, with all those animals. And I’m sure he loved his wife, and his sons, and his daughter-in-laws, but after awhile, you’re going to need a little space, a little breathing room. So verse 6 says, “Noah opened the window of the ark…” But apparently he couldn’t tell how much the waters had receded, so he sends out a raven and a dove. And this right here is kind of showing us how bad Noah was wanting to get out of the ark, but it’s also showing us his patience and trust in the Lord. And believe it or not, God often calls us to wait in patience and hope. He had told Noah that He was going to bring the flood, but He never told him how long it was going to last. Hebrews 6:12 tells us that we receive the promises of God through faith AND patience. And I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Patience isn’t waiting, it’s how you wait. We can wait impatiently just as easily as we can wait patiently.
So that’s what Noah does; he waits patiently, he trusts God, and then finally it’s time to leave the ark.
Now look at those last three verses there, verses 20, 21, and 22 (Read).
When God saves you; the first thing you’ll want to do is worship Him. When you understand the grace of God, and what’s involved in your salvation, I guarantee that you will want to worship the Lord.
A couple of quick points about those verses… This is the first time the word altar is used in the Bible. If you remember, way back in chapter 4 Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord, but there is no mention of an altar. What we’re seeing here is actually the same type of sacrifice that we see later on in Moses’ time. So this sacrifice isn’t only Noah giving thanks for being saved from the flood, but this is also very much like a prayer. Basically this sacrifice is saying this – “God thank you for saving me from the judgment of the flood. You were and are just for bringing judgment upon sinful man. But please don’t flood the world again…” It’s almost like an intercessory prayer that Noah’s offering up here. That’s why we see what we see in verse 21, “The LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” Now when it says there that God “smelled” a soothing aroma, it’s not saying that God has a nose. The Bible is clear, God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. When someone says that or teaches that they have misunderstood the language and writing styles found in the Bible. They haven’t used proper hermeneutics. What this is; is a metaphorical style used to describe God’s pleasure in Noah’s sacrifice. We see the apostle Paul use that same metaphoric language in Ephesians 5:2 where he says, “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.”
God was pleased with Noah’s sacrifice because it is given in faith.
But I want you to see something else here. When God says, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;” He’s basically saying the same thing that He had said in Genesis chapter six, right before the flood. Turn back there with me to Genesis 6:5-7 (Read).
Now this is important and I hope we all understand this.
Man did not suddenly become sinless after the flood. Sin is not something that is outside of us, it’s not external to man. It’s internal. So sin isn’t going to be totally wiped out unless ALL OF MAN is wiped out; or… unless somehow man is changed from the inside out. That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again… or literally, born from above.
And so back in our text here, we see Noah offer up a sacrifice, and God is pleased with it, and God says, “Even though man is sinful.” Now look at it, “FOR MAN’S SAKE, I will never again curse the ground…” In-other-words, God is saying here, “Sin is a permanent reality until Christ comes and makes all things new.” And so by His grace, God is not going to judge the world again by water – and this decision is directly tied to Noah’s sacrifice. Let me explain this. In Noah’s sacrifice, what we have is a foretaste of the propitiation of Christ. Now propitiation is one of those words you don’t hear used a lot today. It basically means to appease and satisfy an angry party or person. And that’s probably why we don’t hear this word used much today, because people don’t like to talk about the wrath of God, because in the Biblical sense, God is angry with our sin, and judgment comes because of His wrath. But the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross served as a propitiation. 1st John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be THE propitiation for our sins.”
Noah’s sacrifice points forward to the ultimate sacrifice – the perfect sacrifice, the propitiation of God by our Lord Jesus Christ!
Then we come to verse 22 – and the first phrase there is, “While the earth remains.” That tells us that the earth; at least in its present state isn’t going to last forever… this verse expects a final judgment, but it’s not going to be by water. Verse 22 goes on and shows us that God is going to establish, until the final judgment, a cycle of seasons, and nature, and order. And it’s all because of His grace.
Now we’ve got a couple more things to cover in our text so if you’ll turn with me to Romans chapter 3 really quickly; Romans 3:21-25 (Read).
This ties in with everything we just talked about. We’re all sinners… even after the flood sin was still present in the world, but we’re justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that’s in Christ Jesus. And the reason for this is because He shed His blood for us, a means of propitiating God. God knew that at just the right time Christ would be sent into the world, so in His forbearance God passed over the sins from the time of the flood until the 1st Advent… because once Christ came and people put their faith in Him, God could and would then justify them, and be just in doing so.
And lastly; in our text here, we see God reaffirming the cycle of seasons. Now this is very important, especially when you understand history. You see; many of the ancient cultures believed that the seasons were affected by their gods, and they would even tie an appeasement type of sacrifice into their worship. But they thought that when the seasons changed something was up with their gods… like if the seasons changed from fall to winter, their gods were angry, or something bad had happened to them, and so they would make sacrifices to try to either appease them and calm their anger, or make them happy again. This isn’t what our text is saying. God is telling us that He is sovereign over the seasons are going to come and go, regardless of what man does on the earth. God has ordained this and it will come to pass.
All of the other ancient religions thought that if they just offered enough sacrifices, or the right sacrifices, then their gods would change the seasons, but here God is telling us, that’s not the way it works. He has set them up to be cyclical and ordered.
And again, these false beliefs had to have come from the descendants of Noah, and as they migrated to other places and as time went on, they either forgot the truth, or changed it to fit their reasoning or sinful desires. Instead of realizing that Noah’s sacrifice was simply a type of the ultimate sacrifice that was to come, they instead changed things and somehow equated the seasons with the sacrifice. And the reason for that was because sin was still here; their minds were still darkened by sin. That’s all the more reason for us to be like Noah. To be thankful to God, and to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
LET’S PRAY
