The Gospel Flood

Genesis 6:16 - 22
Verse 16:  “Door” – This is essential for entering and exiting.  This door later becomes a symbol for salvation.

Verse 17:  God once again tells he will destroy the earth and up to this point there is only a general warning that destruction is coming.  God details how this is going to happen.

“I will bring…”  It is clear the flood is God’s doing.  It is not an act of nature but it is the sovereign act of God.  The result of the flood waters will be destruction of life.  The God who creates life is now going to take life as an act of judgment.  Everything thing that is living on the earth will perish.

Verse 18:  Noah and his family will be saved.  God will establish or confirm his covenant with Noah.  This implies that God and Noah are already in a covenant relationship.  This is the first mention of a covenant in the OT. Here the chief consequences of the covenant are mentioned: the deliverance of Noah, his family, and selected animals.[1]  Covenant – This suggests that God will maintain his relationship with Noah through the flood.  A covenant is an agreement.  In some cases it is a two sided agreement and in many cases with God it is a one sided decree or promise that he will make and keep.  We will talk more specifically about the covenant in chapter 9. 

We also see the basic unit of family in this passage… The family consists of Noah, his wife, his sons and his daughter in laws (and eventually or maybe including their children).

Verse 19:  Noah is instructed to bring into the ark all living things.  “Living things” speaks generally but God is more descriptive as there shall be one of every kind of living thing (birds, animals and creeping things) there should be one male and one female.  Noah’s job is to keep them alive.

Verse 20: “shall come to you…”  We are told in 19 that Noah is to bring the animals into the ark but in 20 it says “(they) shall come to you.”  It is suggested that the animals came to Noah spontaneously (they shall come to you) but Noah would round them up and bring them into the ark.

Verse 21:  Noah also needs to round up food.  One can only imagine the task of getting and storing enough food for everyone on the ark.

Verse 22:  “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.”  This solidifies the fact that Noah was a righteous man.  This is a strong passage to conclude with.  Men and women who are considered right with God throughout the Bible are obedient men and women.  We can learn a lot from Noah’s example.  God told him what to do and Noah did it.  It seems like a simple thing; right?  We can only imagine what life was like for Noah.  He is commanded to build this monstrosity of an ark, expect animals from all over to come so he can preserve them, gather enough food to feed everyone and everything and then enter the ark as the flood waters come.  The amount of faith and obedience Noah had is somewhat heroic.  This is what we can learn about Noah...

1.      Noah was simply human – There was nothing spectacular about Noah.  He was a man who walked with God. 

2.      Noah found favor with God – Because he walked with God he found favor with God.

3.      Noah is obedient to God – Everything Noah did was in obedience to God.  This tells us a lot about his faith.

4.      Noah is saved from judgment – God preserves and protects Noah from the judgment.  It is pretty common throughout the Bible that men and women who are in a right relationship with God are always protected by His divine judgment. 

The Gospel is found in the flood.

I mentioned yesterday that the Ark serves as a symbol of Jesus Christ.   Noah is told to enter the ark so he and his family saved.  Likewise we are called to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ so we may be saved from God’s eternal judgment.  Noah sought refuge in the ark and you and I are called to seek refuge in Christ. 

God establishes his covenant with Noah in this account and He establishes his covenant with us through Jesus Christ.  All who trust or have faith in Jesus Christ are given the promise of salvation (safety, redemption, preservation).  Amidst all the evil and wickedness that surrounds us today we can firmly hold on to the hope and promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

[1] Wenham, G. J. (1998). Vol. 1: Genesis 1–15. Word Biblical Commentary (175). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.