Alpha and Omega, Part 13
God’s great mercy shown to Noah
Genesis 7:1 – 8:22
Introduction
- We’ve begun 2023 with “one purpose”: Knowing there is a God!
-- Continuing our series, “Alpha and Omega”; examining the beginning to the end
- Last week: We saw the clarity of Noah’s life … and
-- We do not need parlor tricks or cute gimmicks to follow & obey God
-- What we need is faith that He has already done what He said He would do
- He rescued this man and his family because they obeyed His word
-- Noah shows us how God responds to our faithfulness
-- The faith that Noah has is shown for us to learn from and follow
- Lot to read today, but we’ll unpack it quickly … Read Genesis 7-8 / Pray
Point 1 – God’s Favor
When considering His favor we first must look at His personal invitation
- Recognize: God is calling him into the Ark (v1) … but know this:
• God was also to be in the Ark with him and his family
• FACT: He would be with him wherever he went
• Noah was invited to trust God with everything
- God also approved seven pairs of certain clean animals to be saved (v2)
-- RE: Noah originally was told to take 2 of each (ref Gen 6:19)
-- Why the change? It’s now ~120 yrs. later and God’s plan is more specific
-- Noah is being given final instructions … prepare to go
- Some animals would be needed for sacrifice and worship
• Animals would also be food for Noah and family
• Ensure there are two of each – obvious reason: reproduction
Second, must see that God’s favor is magnified in the obedience of Noah
- His family was invited because destruction was now immanent (v4)
-- But God gave Noah 7 final days to prepare for departure
-- Don’t let this one pass you by … how many days did Creation take?
-- What was curious about that final day? It was a day set aside by God!
- APP: God gave Noah a vision of the judgment to fall upon mankind
-- Reflect on the horrific imagery: “wiped from the earth” (v4)
-- And God says that it will begin on the day that is consecrated for Himself
- Get this: Noah’s compliance had to be feverish
-- Imagine how hard he must have preached, proclaiming the truth of God
-- EMPH: You have one week left … please repent and seek God now!
-- CHALL: If you know destruction is coming, how can you keep it in? (ref hell)
- Noah had spent 120 years doing the unimaginable & the impossible
-- All the while knowing only 8 people would survive what was coming
-- Surely, he would have felt very alone – perhaps near despair …
- But see this: v7-9 … Noah did exactly as God commanded
-- He disobeyed nothing of God’s direction … why?
-- Because Noah, unlike all the others in Ch. 6 was a faithful man (ref v1, 6:8)
-- Specific word use: Hebrew: chen; favor or grace
- TR: So the scene of impending doom is set, BUT we must see within it …
Point 2 – God’s Love
- What is the great salvation of God in the shadow of judgment? The Ark
-- See this: God’s salvation is the star here – it’s not the obedience of Noah
-- Why? Because of His supreme love for His own creation
-- APP: The never-ending love of God is on display here – must focus on this
- For 40 days, there was a raging flood – can you picture the scene inside the Ark?
-- Been on a rocky boat before? Imagine 40 days of raging storm aboard
-- Coupled with the animals and family … surely it was quite a trying time
-- Yet just outside, God is ending every life that He created (…)
- ASK: How do we reconcile God’s love with the destruction before us?
• Time and time again God warned mankind to repent and stop sinning
• Time and time again (4 generations of preachers) they heard the truth
• Time and time again man refused to repent – refused to obey
- Even Jesus brought this to mind when He taught about humanity
-- Luke 17:26-30, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business - eating and drinking, buying, and selling, farming, and building - until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”
- For 150 days, God flooded the earth and cleaned it of sin
-- We’re even told the water rose 20 feet above the mountains (v19-20)
-- This means every living thing died, to include every animal and human
-- The gravity of this for Noah is horrendous – realizing all life had ended
- But … on the Ark, there was safety and provision for all aboard (ponder)
-- I wonder if his worship stepped up during this time … more than ritual prayer?
-- Sometimes we sing out of habit … we worship out of ritual, tradition
- But here, Noah had to come face to face with a mighty realization …
-- KNOW THIS: God is the ONLY one with the authority to do this
- Have we not been protected? Provided for? Given chances to repent?
-- When we consider His great love (Easter approaches) we must exercise this
-- How can we not share what we know? Celebrate who He is? Worship?
-- How can we not try to repay Him by serving and sharing with everyone?
- TR: Want you to get a hold of this today: this is why we can rejoice in Jesus!
Point 3 – God’s Covenant
- For 150 days, God is ALSO silent towards Noah -- no word comes at all
-- There is no record that there was any further instruction … just survive
-- Yet even everything was destroyed … God remembered Noah (v1)
- He rested the Ark on top of a mountain, a place of safety to restart
-- Ararat in nation of eastern Turkey; ancient Assyrian kingdom of Urartu
-- Highest peak is 17,000 feet … places it on 17th day of 7th month
-- RE: The flood began on the 17th day of the 2nd month (the Word is specific)
- We must grasp, and see the great faith (and patience), of Noah: (v6-14)
• Patiently waited 40 days after seeing mountaintops before sending raven
• Patiently waited 7 more days before sending out a dove
• Patiently waited 7 more days before sending out another dove
• Patiently waited 7 more days before sending out a final dove
• Patiently waited 29 days before removing the covering
• Patiently waited 57 more days until the Earth was completely dry
- Surely, cabin fever was rampant here (consider long drive)
-- After nearly a year in the Ark … I’m sure the excitement to leave was palpable
-- APP: However, Noah trusted God and waited for God’s call! (Read 8:15)
- Why? Noah was trusting God to move next, to fulfill His promise
-- Years later, I believe David understood this also: Psalm 31:19, “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”
- Know this: They knew God’s favor, but they also knew God’s wrath
-- Wrath to what? To sin, to disobedience, to choosing their way over God’s
-- How can we not know the same? How can we not use knowledge to worship?
-- APP: It wasn’t until God called them to leave that they did … why?
-- BIG: They CHOSE to seek God’s commands OVER their comfort!
- Do you see what the first thing Noah does when he leaves? (v20)
-- He sets up a place of worship, a place to honor and exalt God alone
-- He didn’t build a house, have a party, trek down mountain, find food, etc.
-- His first priority was to worship God because of what God has done
- TR: I want us to see 3 quick observations for us and we’ll finish:
Conclusion
1. God has offered salvation to us all, just as in the days of Noah
-- Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” We are invited in by the same God to find safety!
2. We must follow Noah’s lead to worship God in our lives
-- Psalm 84:10, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.” I’d rather be a butler in the kingdom of God than live royally in the house of wicked!
3. We must make a great sacrifice and be willing to follow God FIRST
-- Luke 9:23, “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
-- Following God through Jesus means that we emulate Him in our lives
-- It means that we have to choose what He offers, choose to obey fully
- Result:
- Because of Noah’s obedience, God makes a covenant with mankind
• He would never curse the Earth again because of our depravity (v21)
• He guaranteed the times of seasons would continue until the end (v22)
- Personal Challenge:
- How can you choose to live for Him today better than yesterday?
- What has He done for you that you should build an altar and worship?
- Pray
