Firm Foundations: Noah
Chapter 6: Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good in appearance; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not [a]strive with man forever [b]because he indeed is flesh; [c]nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.”
5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved [d]in His heart. 7 And Yahweh 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 of the [e]sky; for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
Sometimes the story of Noah and the ark is taken lightly. Either it is considered mythology, or it is treated in a lighthearted manner. Last week, I noted how we don’t have any serious songs dealing with Noah’s ark. This week I was looking at Christian T-shirts. . I thought, surely in the Christian adult T-shirt section of the bookstore, we’ll find a serious look at Noah’s flood. These are the designs I discovered. One T-shirt read; “Need an ark? I Noah guy.”
Noah’s ark often shows up in comics. From Noah telling two snails to “take your time” as they climbed the ramp into the ark, to a couple of unicorns holding a “need tickets” sign as they watch all the other animals board the ark.
1. Mankind lives up to his sinful nature. 2. God doesn’t relish punishment. 3. It is still, by grace that you are saved, by faith. 4. God provides the way of salvation. 5. Sin always has consequences. 5. It is the blood that brings remission of sins. 6. The end of the world will be like the days of Noah.
These are the foundational truths that we are learning from the story of Noah’s ark.
Last week:
I. Mankind lives up to his sinful nature.
5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
There are three words used to describe what man’s nature had become; fleshly, violent, and corrupt. And they describe the ruination of all three relational aspects of mankind; how man relates to himself, how he relates to God, how he relates to his fellow man.
Man calls is
an accident, God calls it abomination. Man calls it a defect, God calls it a
disease.
Man calls it an error, God calls it an enmity. Man calls it a liberty, God
calls it lawlessness.
Man calls it a trifle, God calls it a tragedy. Man calls it a mistake, God
calls it a madness.
Man calls it a weakness, God calls it willfulness. Moody Monthly.
II. God doesn’t relish punishment.
6 And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved [d]in His heart.Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
III. It is still, by grace that you are saved, by faith.
The first that we will continue with today is “It is still, by grace that you are saved, by faith.”
Throughout my life, I have heard it said about the Bible that in the Old Testament you are saved by the law, and in the New Testament you are saved by grace. The God of the Old Testament is judgmental and harsh, and the God of the New is gracious and loving.
That’s not true. The Bible says that God doesn’t change. And the way of salvation was the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament; You are saved by the grace of God, through placing you faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ covering your sin. You say, but in the Old Testament, Jesus hadn’t died yet. No, he hadn’t. But His redemption had been promised. And just as we look back in faith, to the death of Jesus, the Old Testament saints looked forward to His sacrifice. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The fundamental truth about salvation that we learn, from one cover of the Bible to the other, is that you can only be saved by God’s grace. You can’t buy your salvation. You can’t do enough good deeds to buy your salvation. And that fundamental truth was expressed vividly in the story of the ark.
What set Noah apart from the rest of mankind?
8 But Noah found favor (or grace) in the eyes of Yahweh.
This is the first place that grace is mentioned in the Bible. That summarizes why God chose to save Noah; because He chose to save Noah. Now, it does say more about Noah.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, [f]blameless among those in his generations; Noah walked with God.
Chapter 7: Then Yahweh said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.
5 And Noah did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him.
So, Noah was righteous. Does that mean that Noah was really really good, and so God picked him to save? Realistically we are led to believe by Scripture that Noah did do what was right, and that compared to the rest of humanity, he was a very God-fearing, commandment following man.
Ezekiel 14:14 even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 14:20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
But did God choose to save him just because he externally followed God’s rules? Read that verse from Ephesians again.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I submit to you that Noah was chosen because of his faith, just as every person in history is approved only by their faith.
He was righteous; he adhered to God’s standards of living. He was blameless; he was not perfect, but he was a man of integrity. His inner life matched his outer life. And he walked with God. He trusted God, he believed God. He loved God.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/5-22.htm
“The phrase here, as in Genesis 5:24, used of Enoch, has passed into common use to express intimacy of communion with God. It denotes more than either standing in His presence, or walking before Him (Genesis 6:9, Genesis 17:1), or following after Him. It combines the ideas of fellowship and progress. It is the picture of one who has God with him in all the various scenes of life.”
Just like Abraham.
Romans 4: What then shall we say that Abraham, [a]our forefather according to the flesh, has found?2 For if Abraham was justified [b]by works, he has something to boast about—but not [c]before God!3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due.5 But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
9 Therefore, is this blessing on [e]the circumcised, or on [f]the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.”
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned 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 which is according to faith.
One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters."
IV. God provides the way of salvation.
It was God’s grace offered through Noah’s faith. But as always, God chose the means of salvation. Noah didn’t design his own means of salvation. Let’s take note of a couple of verses from the text.
13 Then 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 am about to destroy them with the earth.
At this point, God didn’t just turn to Noah and say, “Good luck!” “I hope you come up with a way to save yourself.” “I mean, I could come up with something, but I wouldn’t want to impose my way on you.” “I don’t want to be considered narrow-minded by proposing that there is only one way to be saved.” No, God said,
14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and you shall [h]cover it inside and out with pitch.
This is what you need to do, and how you need to do it. And then God goes on to say,
18 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.
This is my plan, take it or leave it. They chose to take it.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and Yahweh closed it behind him.
It was God’s plan by His grace. But it wasn’t just grace. It was faith. They entered the ark. And they entered the ark seven days before a drop of rain fell. That took faith. Belief that God would do what He said.
Notice that there was just one ark, and only one door into the ark. There was only one way to escape the flood. It’s possible that some people managed to get into other boats when the flood waters came, but it would have been like trying to survive in a canoe on the open ocean. The storm, waves, and duration of the flood made it impossible for anything but God’s ark to survive.
And notice that God shut the door behind them. That kept Noah and his family in safety, but it also kept everyone else out once the flood began.
From the start of the Biblical account, God has offered only one way to be saved. God is not a unitarian universalist. There are not many ways to God. The ark illustrates that foundational truth, but there are many other verses that spell it out explicitly.Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”John 3:3–6 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”John 3:16–18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God
Acts 4:12 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
So, God provides the one way of salvation. The story continues in chapter 6 with God giving specific directions for the dimensions of the boat.
Noah was to build a boat. And it is to be a boat big enough to house two of every kind of unclean animal, and seven of every kind of clean animal. Here’s the description of the vessel.
15 Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark [i]300 cubits, (510 feet) its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. (50 feet) 16 You shall make a [j]window for the ark, and complete it to one [k]cubit from [l]the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
Now I think a picture is worth a thousand words, so I put a picture here on the screen for you. Many of you know about the ark encounter exhibit in Kentucky. It is a life-size replica of the ark according to its Biblical dimensions.
And he brought in all the animals…
19 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.
You probably noticed the dinosaur in the middle of the picture. Yes, they made the boat. And there would have been plenty of room. But I suspect that the animals that boarded the ark were mostly younger, and therefore smaller.
Of course, the wisdom of the world has declared this a myth for years. They have called this story fantastical and impossible. They have tried to destroy it with questions. Now, I’m not going to try and answer every question about the ark. But I want you to at least get a sense of the possible answers to objections to the flood story.
How did 8 people build this vessel all by themselves?
Nobody said that just 8 people built the ark. But just 8 entered the ark. Noah probably had other children who died before the flood. He had other family members who died before the flood. We know that his grandfather Methuselah died in the year of the flood, and his father Lamech died a few years before the flood. Noah likely had servants, or possibly hired hands to help. And he had 120 years to do it in.
How did Noah know how to build this boat? God gave him instructions. It’s possible that Noah was familiar with boats before, and that the ark was just a bigger version of what he had done before. We don’t know, but we do know that if God can create all the intricate and precise things that exist in our world, He could design a boat.
How did Noah gather all the animals? Although the command from God was for Noah to gather the animals, Genesis 7:9 also indicates that the animals “came” to Noah. We know that many animals have an instinct to migrate at certain times of the year. We also know that sometimes animals sense a natural disaster is coming. But, in the end, it is explained by God directing them to go to Noah. This task is humanly impossible to imagine, but with the power of God behind the task, mass animal migration is more than possible.
How was there enough room on the ark? It has been estimated that the average animal size would be about the size of a sheep.
The ark had the capacity of approximately 450 standard semi-tractor trailers.
And the ark had the capacity to hold 112,500 sheep. So, how many kinds of animals were there? And I purposely use the word “kind,” not species. There are estimated to be only 1,398 different kinds of animals, living and extinct. That means that there would have been about 6,744 animals on the ark. Again, if it were packed tightly, it could hold 112,500 sheep sized animals. So, with just 6,744 on board, there would be enough room for shuffleboard on one deck, a golf range on another, and frisbee golf on the third deck.
Let’s go back for a moment to the number of animals being 6,744 kinds. Let me illustrate why that number is smaller. When we think, for example, of cows, we may think of many of the 1000 breeds of cows that exist in the world today. And so, cows could take up a bit of space on the ark if there were one of every breed. But many of the cows we know today were especially breed for specific reasons; for climate, or milk production, or their hides. Also associated with what we refer to cows today are other animals which have cross-bred with cows; the zebu, the bison, and the yak for example. So, would Noah’s ark have had every breed of cow? No, Noah’s ark could have had only 7 “mutt” cows/bulls which had the genetic material to produce the varieties we know today. Remember that “of the clean animals” he was to take 7 each. So, if he had gathered of every kind of cow that we know today, there would be thousands of cows onboard, but if he gathered “mutt” cows, there could have been as few as seven.
Think about it. How many human beings entered the ark? Only 8 persons. And those eight left the ark after the flood and produced all the races and ethnicities we know today; Africans, orientals, Hispanics, indigenous peoples, and the generic “white” races. So, there wouldn’t need to be as many animals on the ark, only enough animal specimens to carry the genetic material for all we know today.
How did 8 people care for all those animals? Well, we don’t know the details. Much of it probably came down to God’s help with the design of the ark, and the design of these animals. Some may have gone into hibernation. But the ark encounter constructed a proposed solution to the problem. It’s possible to build a zoo system that distributes food, and washes away waste with a lot less effort. Just imagine a system that uses gravity to drop food from above to multiple cages.
Okay, so maybe the boat could have been built, the animals gathered and cared for.
But that’s a big boat. How did forty days of rain flood the entire earth and float that barge? In other words, the question is; “would forty days of rain be enough to cover all our mountains?”
I read a response to that question online. They said,
No, there is not enough water stored in clouds and ice. There may be almost enough stored in minerals in the mantle, but that's not yet verified. Even then, given that you'd need to add about 3-5 km of water across the globe, there isn't enough water. Furthermore, that amount of water does not fall in 40 days and nights. We are talking about filling the average depth of the Atlantic ocean with rainfall over the span of a month all across Earth. A 600 year old man is not the only impossible thing in that description
– ACuriousJim
Well, that answer does not take all the conditions of the pre-flood earth into consideration. The first thing to note is that it wasn’t just the rain that flooded the earth. And the flood lasted long past the 40 days of rain. The ecosystem of the earth is described as significantly different than it is today. The Bible describes three sources of water; “11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”
There were subterranean waters, and stores of water in the atmosphere, and rain.