The World That Perished
Book of Genesis Chapters 7 and 8
Last week we met Noah. Noah was the only man upon the face of the earth who our Creator saw was righteous.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The rest of the world had destroyed their relationship with our Creator!
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
We should keep these things in mind as we see the things that are happening in our nation today!
Noah began working on a ship called the Ark, the first ship ever built that would bring him and his family to safety.
For 120 years Noah had worked on this ship and raised a family and every seventh day Noah preached the truth of God and the coming flood.
To the world, Noah seemed only to be a lunatic!
In all the world only Noah believed the Word of God and his family remained true to him.
Gen 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
"We should open our eyes and see the Lord does not like violence"!
Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
The Lord loves righteousness. (Doing things according to the Word of God)
This ship was completed, and the time had passed, and God said to Noah: gather your family and come into the Ark.
*****Gen 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
We should ask ourselves, what are the desires of our heart?
Do we desire to have a relationship with the world, or do we desire to have a relationship with our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Everything God had asked of Noah was now completed and it was time to do what He said He would do.
God has a Master plan for all His creation, but in the midst of that plan we see how in the days of Noah, God had a precise plan and this plan was very complex, yet was carefully carried out.
We could say that this plan was a plan of destruction.
We could also say that this was a plan of salvation.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
God also preserved His animal kingdom in a way that only He knew how!
The big question is, are you going to enter into the Ark to be saved with Noah? Come on in Noah, bring all your family.
*****Gen 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Gen 7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
Before the Laws of Moses, we already see where some animals were called clean and many called unclean.
For those who do not realize it, animal sacrifice had been going on since God first sacrificed an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness.
Noah could not enter into the Ark without the sacrificial animals.
These are the same animals that would also be used for food once the Ark had landed so, there were 7 pairs of each.
There were only one pair of each of the unclean animals, animals not used for sacrifice nor for food.
Remembering that if God says it is OK to eat an animal, then it is OK.
Clean are those things washed in a prayer of thanksgiving!
Notice also, the importance of our feathered friends, the fowls of the air. They would be needed to help reseed the earth.
I am not a gardener, but I did plant three tomato plants this spring and after they produced fruit, I have not had to purchase more from the store.
As spring progressed, I received more than three more plants brought to me by the birds and they now are also producing fruit of varieties which I did not plant.
The birds have given me border grass, and 3 magnolia trees and some other plants. I do feed the birds and they bring me these things in return.
Birds are important.
In all these things, we can hardly doubt that it was Moses who wrote the Book of Genesis guided by the Holy Spirit!
It was only seven days until the rain would come and this is interesting that the door was not shut until the end of those seven days.
Also in these things we see the determination of God to reshape this earth and the destruction of all humans who allowed sin to dominate their lives.
*****Gen 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Notice God gave His final warning seven days before He would send the rains and other waters to cover the entire earth.
The 120 years had expired down to the last week.
We could ask ourselves, why would God be so patient if He knew none other than Noah and his family would board the Ark.
We must understand that The Bible is written to Christians and God wants us to understand His thoughts and His reasons.
The Hebrew words used said He would "wipe out" or "blot out" or "erase" every living creature from the face of the earth.
They would be wiped from His memory of them!
You see anyone, "anyone" could have joined Noah and his family if they had chosen to do so!
This was God's last act of "Grace" before He sends the rains.
Everyone left could have quoted you the words of Noah's sermons as he had repeated it over and over for 120 years.
Many of the aged had died, rejecting the Word of God.
Many of the newborn had grown up hearing the Word of God.
There is no telling how many of them had said "I wish that old fool would shut up" and probably laughed as Noah and his family entered the Ark.
The Ark was an Ark of "safety"!
Just like many today, they said that a loving God would never do such a thing as destroy His creations.
Those who rejected the Word of God were wrong then just as those who say the same things are wrong today!
What did Peter write to us by the Holy Spirit?
2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
\We do not have to be ignorant we can be victors!
The Lord will do just as He says He will do!
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
The biggest problem we have in the Church today is, that people are taught that only part of the Scriptures are actually the Word of God, but this is never the truth.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Every word given to the writers of the true Bible were given to them by the Holy Spirit who has preserved the Word of God for us!
We need only rightly divide the Bible knowing that we need to study all the Word of God!
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
What did Noah do? Noah did exactly what God told him to do!
Noah loved the Lord and Noah loved his family and would not take a chance on the life of those he loved.
Why would Fathers and Mothers even take the chance that the Word of God is not true for their children’s sake?
*****Gen 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
Gen 7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
This is the only thing the Lord has asked us to do!
We need to listen to what God says, for the safety of ourselves and our families.
Noah's children obeyed their father!
From chapter 6 through our chapter 7 we see that God had repeated Himself 4 times about this destruction.
In reality, if God says it one time it is enough, but throughout the Scriptures God repeats Himself over and over, so we should not have any doubt about His actions pertaining with sin nor His actions pertaining with salvation.
Noah was no spring chicken Noah was 600 years old when he entered into the Ark.
You God does not even leave out small tidbits of information for us to understand what He is saying.
God's relationship to us is very personal when we allow ourselves to just accept God and the Words, He has given to us!
Noah just obeyed God without questioning Him because it was not the time for questioning, it was time to do the work he would be doing for more than a year.
Those animals needed his attention for they must survive also. Their importance was real!
And the rains came, and the entire earth was covered.
*****Gen 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
Gen 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
In our studies of Chapter 1, we know that all the land was like one, very large island, surrounded by seas on all sides, so there was only one high hill at the time.
The earth did not go through her first serious changes, until they were caused by the flood waters as they exploded to the surface and then receded.
The water was at least 22 1/2 feet above the highest hill.
We will later find out that this highest hill was in Ararat Mountain range.
The highest mountain in Ararat today has two peaks one at 14,300 feet and the other 10,300 feet above sea level, but it was not like this before the flood.
Today, this place is called Noah's mountain named by the Persians.
The waters had to raise over this mountain to make sure the birds died also.
Today this cannot be denied because the remains of fish can be found in every mountain range, because the water levels dropped so fast and they were trapped on land.
What did God ask of Job?
Job 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
**Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Job 12:9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
Today those who seek these answers are called Paleontologist.
*****Gen 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
Gen 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. -
Gen 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Gen 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
But God said the proof of this flood is in the fossils and it is.
Just because many so-called, scientist reject what they find does not make what God says any less true.
It just makes those persons to look foolish!
Paleontology is the scientific study of life that existed prior to our day.
God says this is how it all happened, and it happened because of sin!
Today these things seem important, but to God, it was only those inside the Ark who were important.
You see God does not finish the flood story until Noah and his family are back on dry ground.
The flood waters remained at least 22 feet above the highest hill for 150 days.
You see God does care about our trials and tribulations and how they affect us!
All those who had rebelled against God were now in Hell the entire population of the earth at that time, except Noah and his family.
Noah and his family had plenty to do during this time as they were all shepherds to the remaining animals on the Ark.
And yes there were dinosaurs on the Ark. God had said there would be at least one pair of all land-based animals and the fowl, the birds.
Many may not realize it, but of all the dinosaur skeletons that have been found, 90 percent or more have been no larger than a chicken but we never hear about these smaller ones, only the gigantic ones who are made to be meat eaters when they were grass eaters.
We might ask, why all these animals, but we should take knowledge that wicked and evil men can change even the actions of animals!
We must also understand that what God has already done, teaches us about what God will do in the future, because God never changes.
So God remembered Noah and his family.
*****Gen 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
Gen 8:2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
Gen 8:3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
Psa 139:17 "Says" How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
When we are going through trials and temptations we are on the mind of God!
When we are not going through trials and temptations we are on the mind of God!
Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, "and thy thoughts which are to us-ward": they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
No matter what we are going through God is never far from us.
Jer 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you", saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, "and I will hearken unto you".
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
You see God remembered Noah and not just Noah, but every living thing aboard that Ark of safety.
Noah, his family and all these other living creatures had been on the Ark for 150 days, so God began to remove the flood waters.
This place called earth, went through some drastic changes for these next 150 days, the time it took for the waters to be restored to their locations.
On the second month of the Hebrew calendar on the seventeenth day the rains began.
On the seventh month and the seventeenth day the Ark came to rest upon the highest mountain called Ararat.
The waters continued to recede till the tenth month and the first day of the month.
Forty days later Noah opened the window and sent forth a raven.
Remember a raven will eat anything.
The Noah sent forth a dove which will not land on a dead creature and the dove returned.
Seven more days passed and again Noah sent the dove and the dove brought forth a leaf.
Seven days later Noah sent forth the dove and it did not return.
Again on the second month and the twenty seventh day the earth was dried, and God told Noah he could leave the Ark.
And the first thing Noah did was to build and altar of sacrifice.
*****Gen 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, "seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease".
We must understand that the worship of God as individuals, is necessary!
We should also understand that public worship is also necessary!
Psa 96:7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Psa 96:8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Psa 96:10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
Psa 76:11 Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
Noah may not have been given all those 613 commandments given to the Hebrew children, but he did know to worship.
The Ark had provided Noah and his family safety for more than a year while God had destroyed life on this earth.
Surely it was time to offer thankfulness!
What we as Christians know is, that as long as this place called earth endures, there will be seed time and harvest, there will be cold and heat, there will be Summer and Winter, and there will be Day and Night.
We hear so much about climate change that it is becoming like just foolish talk when we compare it to what God says.
What God says is the actual truth and there is far too much political talk about climate change which will end up being only a formula to raise taxes that will be used to waste. just like our government waste the tax monies today.
Noah's family were now to go forward and repopulate this earth and it would not happen without God's blessing.
So it was not time to build a house, it was time to worship.
So it was not time to celebrate because they had survived the flood, it was time to worship!
So it was not time to plan for survival on new land, it was time to worship!
Noah's first concern was not for his family, he must first thank God!
You see God made a serious promise to not just Noah, but to every human who has lived since that day, and those who will live after we are gone as long as time last!
Praise be to God!
Amen!
