"all Aboard?!"

“All Aboard?!”

Did you know that there were only ten generations from Adam to Noah? Think about it; only ten generations from the point when God created man perfectly and in “His image”, until he became so corrupt...that, when God looked down he saw; “.....that every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually.”(Gen. 6:5) Only ten generations until the Creator of the earth and of man knew that He had to destroy them both.

The account of the Great Flood is one that tells the story of both great wrath......and yet, of even greater mercy. And you know, I noticed something that I had never before realized while studying this last week; are you aware that two chapters of Genesis were devoted to creation, and two to the fall of man.....but four chapters were devoted to the flood. What does that mean? well, I guess it means that there is definitely more to this event besides the fact that the animals went on the ark two by two and seven by two. You see, there is a very important message interwoven into this story that we all need to take a closer look at. And that is the intention of this sermon.

Let’s look at Genesis 6:6,7:

“ The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals,

and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.””

So often we look at the account of Noah’s Ark merely as a cute little story that we tell our children from time to time---we many times fail to realize the vital message of urgency that it carries to our generation. Unfortunately, the bible doesn’t tell us all the details of what actually happened from the time that God chose Noah to build this immense boat until the actual time the waters receded....so, if you’ll humor me, let’s use our imaginations along with our common sense and think about some of the untold details of this pivotal time in mankind’s history.....

Now, let’s just imagine that we were there when God told Noah that mankind had become so corrupt that He was going to destroy them and the earth.... I can speculate that Noah probably wasn’t too surprised at this because after all, he himself had constantly witnessed the wickedness of humanity---he had seen that no one feared the Lord any longer nor did they

care to even know Him. And I’m sure when God first told him of his plan of destruction, Noah might have thought that he and his family were also included--but, the scriptures say (verse 8) that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Now the King James version translates this word “favor” as “grace”. The actual Hebrew word here is “chen” (khane) and if you will, notice that here in the account of the flood is the first time that this word “grace” is used in the scriptures........ No, Noah and his family wouldn’t be destroyed, for it was through them that the Creator

would perform an awesome act of mercy.

God said; “Noah, I need for you to build a boat.” Now, that seems simple enough doesn’t it? But wait a minute, this boat had to be constructed according to some very particular specifications...... Noah listened attentively as God said; “Let’s make it 450 feet long (1-1/2 times longer than a regulation football field), 75 feet wide and 45 feet high! Now, in my mind, I’m seeing Noah’s jaw drop to the ground at this point! Again, what Noah said to this is not recorded for us, the bible just says that he did it, but I can imagine what some of us might have said in response to these instructions..... ”I’m a farmer- not a carpenter” or “What do we need a boat that big for?” or “You are God Almighty, you can build it a whole lot faster”

But you know, I don’t believe that Noah said any of those things. You see, Noah was a man of great faith--while all those around him were falling victim to Satan’s alluring deceptions, he was holding fast to the hand of God. And it was because of Noah’s prior faith and obedience that the Lord chose to save him and his family---not only them but also to preserve

humanity through them.

From chapter 6:3 we see that God set Noah a time limit for accomplishing this seemingly impossible undertaking. He said; “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”