Genesis 7
Peace be with you, listening
friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord of peace, who wants everyone
to understand and submit to the way of righteousness that He has established,
and have true peace with Him forever. We are happy to be able to return today
to present your program The Way of Righteousness.
In our last program we began to look at the
fascinating story of the prophet Noah who was born ten generations after Adam.
In a corrupt and depraved era, Noah walked with God. We saw how the
Lord was grieved in His heart because of the sins of Adam's
descendants. The Scriptures say that "man's
wickedness on the earth had become great, and every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil all the time." (Gen. 6:5) That is why
God, in His holy wrath, planned to wipe (unrepentant) sinners from off the face
of the earth.
However, God's grace was with Noah, because
Noah loved God and believed His word. Thus, one day God said
to Noah: I have purposed the death of all mankind because the earth is filled
with wickedness. I will bring a great flood upon the earth, to destroy
everything which lives under the heavens. As for you, you are to build a large
ark (boat) to be a refuge for you and your family.
For one hundred years, Noah and his family worked to
construct that large ark. But Noah did not limit his work merely to building
the ark. He also preached to the people around him, saying: Repent of your sins
then and return to God! God, the Righteous One, will judge the world!
Did the people of Noah's time repent of their sins and
believe the word which God announced to them through His prophet? What do you
think? Among the thousands and thousands of children of Adam who were upon the
earth, how many of them repented and believed God enough to enter the ark? The
Scriptures reply: "Only a few people, eight
in all, were saved…" (1 Pet. 3:20)
How many people believed
God? Only eight: Noah and his wife, their three
sons and their wives. All the others did not believe the word of God. Some
simply ignored Noah's preaching, while others mocked him. They thought he was
crazy because of the boat he was building in a place where there was no water.
The people may have mocked Noah like this: "Hey you guys! Come see this fellow
who is building a huge boat out here in the wilderness! Noah must be insane!
Floodwaters here in the desert? Impossible! Besides, God is good; He wouldn't
destroy the people He has created! You're crazy, Noah!" However, Noah
ignored their insults because he believed what God had said. He continued right
on constructing the ark and preaching, saying, "Repent! God is going to
judge the world in righteousness! Why do you refuse to believe the word of God?
Why do you want to perish?"
Finally the day came when Noah and his family finished
building the ark. In the last verse of the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis
we read: "Noah did everything just as
God commanded him." (Gen. 6:22) The boat was ready. Everything
was complete. Only one thing remained: Noah and his family needed to enter the
ark. One more time, we can hear Noah trying to convince the people:
"Listen to God! Repent and believe His word! The flood is soon to come!
Enter the ark while there is still time! The door is open! Whoever passes through
it will be saved. But if you refuse to enter, how will you escape the judgment
of God?" Thus, Noah earnestly warned the people. But
they would not listen.
Consequently, in chapter seven, the Scriptures say:
(Gen. 7) 1The
Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family,
because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2Take
with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of
every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3and also
seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive
throughout the earth. 4Seven days from now I will send rain on
the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the
earth every living creature I have made." 5And Noah did all
that the Lord commanded him.
Why did Noah and his family enter the ark? Because
they saw a cloudy sky? Because they smelled the coming rain? No! A clear sky is
all they saw when they entered the ark. Why then did they go in? There is only
one reason. They entered because they believed
what God had said.
Perhaps there were those outside who thought: "I also believe God, but I
am not going to go inside that ark! I believe in God, but I cannot accept
Noah's preaching!" What can we say about those people? We can say that they
did not really believe God, because they did not believe what God testified
through His prophet. They refused to repent of their sins and they refused to
accept the way of escape which God had provided for them through Noah. They may
have honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far, far from Him.
Thus, the Scriptures say:
"And Noah and his
sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of
the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures
that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark,
as God had commanded Noah…. Then the Lord shut him in." (Gen. 7:7-9,16)
Did you hear what God did after Noah and his family
entered the ark? The Scriptures say, "The Lord
shut them in!" The day of God's great anger had arrived.
God had been patient with the people of that generation for a long time, but
now His patience had run out! Only
His wrath remained. God had closed the door; and when God closes the door,
no one can open it.
Thus, God brought the floodwaters on the earth just as
He had promised. The sky began to darken; the wind began to blow. There were
clouds and thunder and lightning and earthquakes. Now the children of Adam were trembling
with fear.
When everything was peaceful, it had been so easy for them to challenge God
with insulting words and works. But now that the judgment of God had begun to
descend upon them, their mouths were shut! The hour for them to face God's
righteous judgment had arrived and there was no longer anywhere to hide!
A heavy rain fell, the deep springs of the earth
gushed forth water, the oceans and rivers overflowed, resulting in a great
flood. Torrents of water surged into every town and village. Those who were not
immediately swept away fled in terror, seeking higher ground. Those who had
mocked Noah and rejected the word of God, now knew that what God had said
through His prophet was the truth. However, this
knowledge was of no benefit to them because now the
opportunity to repent was gone; the period of salvation was past. Perhaps some
were calling to Noah, shouting out, "Noah! Noah! Open the door! Noah, help
us! Save us! We believe you Noah! You were right! We believe! We believe!" But
it was to late. God
had closed the door. The day of salvation was past. The day of judgment had
come. Praying, weeping, beating on the door, even knowing the truth--nothing
could change the mind of God. When God closes the door of
salvation, no one can open it.
Thus, the Scriptures tell us that for forty days there
was a continual downpour of rain and constant flooding until even the mountains
were covered. But the ark floated on top of the water.
"Every living thing
that moved on the earth perished. Every living thing on the face of the earth was
wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the
birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and
those with him in the ark." (Gen. 7:21,23)
Did God do what He had promised to do? Of course! Did
He judge those sinners who refused to repent? He surely did! He judged everyone
who was not in the ark, just as He had said He would do.
Fellow listeners, this is where we must stop today in
the story of Noah. God willing, in our next program, we will conclude this
story to see what happened to Noah and his family in the ark. However, before
we bid you farewell today, there is an important lesson God wants to teach us
through the story of the judgment of the great flood. It is this: God
has planned another day when He will judge the people of the world. And that coming Day of
Judgment will be even more terrible than the judgment which came upon Noah's
generation!
Listen to what one of God's prophets declares
concerning that final day of judgment. He writes:
"Then I saw a
great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled
from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great
and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was
opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they
had done as recorded in the books. If anyone's name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:11-12,15)
Listening friend, are you confident as you contemplate
that fearful day of judgment? Is your name written in the book of eternal life?
Have you passed through the door of salvation which God has opened? The Word of
God says: "Now is the time of God's
favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2) We saw how
God patiently appealed to the people of Noah's day to repent, believe and be
saved, but in the end, He closed the door of salvation. Whoever refused to
enter through the door of the ark faced God's fierce judgment.
Concerning that coming Day of
Judgment when
God will judge the world in righteousness, the Scriptures say: "The
day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying,
'Peace and safety', destruction will come on themsuddenly, as labor
pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape!" (1 Thes. 5:2,3) No one
shall escape in that day, except those who have passed through the door of
salvation which God has opened for the children of Adam.
Do you know about the Door that God has opened for
sinners? Do you know the way of escape that God has provided for you? Who
escaped the judgment of the flood in Noah's day? Only those who went through
the door of the ark! Similarly, concerning the coming judgment day, the Scriptures
clearly show us that God has provided only one door of
salvation for
the sinful children of Adam. Do you know about that door of salvation? Then
listen to these sure words spoken by the holy Mediator whom God sent into the
world. He said: "I am the [Door];
whoever enters through me will be saved!" (John 10:9) "I
tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has
eternal life and will not [come into judgment]!" (John 5:24)
Friends, this is where we must stop today, but, in
future programs, we will learn much more about this Savior whom God sent into
the world, the One who said, "I am the [Door]; whoever
enters through me will be saved!"
Thank you for listening. Next time, God willing, we
will conclude the story of the prophet Noah….
May God bless you and teach you as you think about
this weighty question found in His Word:
"How shall we
escape, if we ignore such a great salvation?" (Heb. 2:3)
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