SURVIVAL AMIDST A GODLESS GENERATION

Genesis 6:9-22
Bob Bonner
August 29, 2004

It never fails! You plan an outdoor wedding; assured by the weatherman 10 days in advance and every day in between that you can expect warm temperatures and “partly cloudy” skies. And then, just as the preacher asks, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” three inches of “partly cloudy” washes away the wedding party!

Placing our faith in an uncertain source, like a weatherman, is often unwise. Contrast that with what we are going to look at in a moment, God’s forecast to Noah, “I will cause it to rain upon the earth.” (7:4) “Behold, I, even I am bringing a flood...” (6:17) “I will destroy man whom I created” (6:7) “I will remember my covenant.” (9:15). No uncertainty there! These were promises you could stake your life on...and for Noah and his family, that is precisely what they did.

“Faith” is not, as one four-year-old boy suggested, “believing what you know isn’t true.” Rather, faith is believing what God says is true, even though you can’t verify it yourself at the time.

This morning, we are going to look at God’s instructions to Noah in preparation for The Flood of all floods. In addition, we are going to see what role faith plays in surviving spiritually in the midst of a godless generation, as well as what is necessary to escape God’s judgment aimed at the wicked.

As we consider The Flood, typically there are several questions that historically come to mind and initiate a great deal of discussion. Questions like, “Did the flood really happen? Was it local or universal? Was there really a man named Noah, and did he build an Ark? Could the Ark really hold all of the animals? Where did all of the water come from?” These are all legitimate questions, which I believe can be answered from science and scripture.

Although we will try to briefly answer some of these questions, let’s us understand that it is not the emphasis of these scriptures nor is it the intent of these chapters to try and answer such questions. And if we make it our priority to invest our time solely to answer such questions we could miss the emphasis or purpose for which God recorded these events of history in His Word.

In Genesis 6-9, the Flood is not the center of the attention. The center of attention is one man and the survival of his family. Although these chapters record a historic world disaster, these chapters also make up the biography of a godly Dad, who led his godly family out of a world of wickedness. The overriding question of this chapter is “Why did Noah and his family survive?”

This is a very pertinent question for us today, for we are living in a day in which things are not much different than in Noah’s day. When you speak with young people today, one of their greatest fears about getting married and having a family is, can they make it? Can they stay together with all of the temptations of the world? Can they raise godly children? If not, should we even have children? As we work through the last half of Genesis 6, we will learn just what it takes to survive living in the midst of a godless society, one which believes that God is irrelevant.

If we stand back and look at Genesis 6:9-12, there appears to be a stark contrast at the beginning of our passage. In verses 9-10, we see the righteous walk with God; and in verses 11-12, the wicked corrupt the earth.

Let’s read Genesis 6:9-10, and begin our study by looking at those who were considered righteous. “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

Before we take a closer look at Noah, I’d like to make a quick observation. When we were studying the lineage of Cain’s family line and Seth’s family line in chapters 4 and 5, there was an obvious pattern. The pattern was to mention the father first and then the name of the first born son, which would be followed by the mentioning of his first born son or the grandson of the previous father. In chapter 5, in Seth’s family line, there were a couple of other additions to this pattern. One was to list the ages of the fathers as well as the fact that they “had others sons and daughters.” This is true of every generation of Seth’s family line, except Noah’s. When we come to Noah, there is an obvious change. Rather than mentioning just one son, and the fact that there were other sons and daughters, we read in 5:32 about three named sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Why the change in pattern? Are we to believe that Noah only had three sons, after having lived 950 years? Why such a drastic change in the pattern set through chapter 5?

Here’s my thought on it: I don’t believe that Noah only had three children. I believe he had more, but they are not mentioned, because they were not godly. They would be children who would die in the flood. To highlight how wicked Seth’s line had become, God only gives us the names of three believing children of Noah, and even they, we learn later, struggled with the godlessness of their culture.

Now, let’s take a closer look at Noah. There is an obvious pattern to Noah’s life that is typical of those men and women in the Bible who love God and make great impacts on their culture for Christ, while living in the midst of evil. The pattern for Noah’s life begins back in verse 8 and moves forward through verse 9. In verse 8 we read, “But Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord.” Now what does that mean? We have to look to the New Testament for an answer to that question. So, if you will, look with me at Ephesians 2:8. As we read this verse, it begins with the words, “For by grace...” the same word translated in Hebrew as favor. The idea behind favor or grace is that of a “gift”, something that you did not earn or deserve, but something that God gives to you. In other words, what God gave to Noah, and what God gives to every true believer is a gift. What is that gift? The rest of Ephesians 2:8 reads, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” It is obvious from the rest of scripture that God has never been obligated to save one human being He has created, because we are the one’s who have turned away from God. Hence, salvation is not something I can earn or work for, it is only something I can receive as a gift. That’s what the first part of this verse states. But then, it tells us what the vehicle is that carries us to salvation. That vehicle, this text says, is “through faith.” But where does that ability to believe and trust God come from? Is it something that is birthed in every person? No, for we are told in the rest of the verse, “and that [and grammatically, the word “that” can only refer to one thing, “faith”] “...and that “faith” does not come from yourselves, [but] it [the salvation] is a gift (grace) of God.”

Hence, the ability for me and you to have faith is a gift God has given to us to be able to believe, when everything else in the world says don’t believe. And when it says of Noah, that he found “grace” or “favor” in the eyes of the Lord,” it means that if God hadn’t mercifully chosen to give Noah the faith to trust Him, Noah would have walked right along side the rest of the world and rejected God. But instead, because of God’s gift of faith, Noah believed and was saved.

What does knowing this, that our ability to believe God does not originate with us, produce in our hearts? Back in Ephesians 2:9, Paul tells us. He writes, “Not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” In other words, Noah knew that his salvation and faith was all about God, who had rescued him, not because Noah was such a good and moral person, but that God, for some reason had chosen to save him. Therefore, Noah remained humble toward his fellow man, to whom he was called to preach, not self-righteous, because he knew that he did not deserve to escape the judgment of God. Hence, I imagine that when he preached, his message was spoken with a seasoning of urgency and mercy, not arrogance.

Verse 9, continues to show us that because of understanding what God had done for him, Noah had only one logical response, to live as a godly or “righteous man”. God did not save or choose to rescue Noah because Noah was good. Noah was good, because God had chosen to save Noah. God, in the end, is the one who transformed Noah’s life and made Noah good. And that which lead to Noah being “blameless in his time,” which is another expression for being a man of genuine integrity or what you see is what you get, came as a result of Noah obeying God. In the end, Noah’s life is summed up as being one who “walked with God”, not just on Sunday, but seven days a week. God was his intimate friend and he walked in obedience with God, not in conflict or in a counter direction to God. In fact, he so walked against his godless generation, that God, according to 2 Peter 2:5 and Hebrews 11:7 made him a preacher of righteousness to his generation, not just by his words, but by his lifestyle.

In contrast to Noah, we read in verses 11-12 about the wicked generation in which he lived. We read, “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.”

Three times in these verses, God declares that Noah’s generation was “corrupt.” That was their character. And out of their character came their lifestyle, which he describes as “violence.” That term “violence” refers to the murder, rape, robbery at knife point kind of activities. It refers to human actions that are born out of a low sense of value for human life. People in Noah’s culture killed others, just because they felt like it. Much like the drive-by shootings and the tragic murder of that young Christian couple, the camp counselors, that took place last week on the Oregon coast.

As a result of this violent culture, God resolves to do something. He resolves to take action. In verse 13 we read of God’s decision. We read, “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.’” In the Hebrew, there is a unique play on words here. The word for “destroy” and the word for “corruption” have the same root word meaning. The idea behind these words is one of “ruination and devastation.” Just as the human race has ruined and destroyed God’s intention and plan for creation, so will God do to those destroyers.

Immediately following verse 13, and God’s decision to take action and judge the world, we immediately read about an act of mercy. God gives Noah an escape plan from which Noah and his family will be saved from the flood. His plan is for Noah to build God’s Ark, following God’s directions and using the materials that God will provide. We read this about the Ark: “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.”

For centuries, people have tried to teach that this was a mythical event, a mere legend. But it is not, and I say that for three reasons: First, the instructions given here are two precise, too explicit and too matter-of-fact for this to be a mythical tale. There is nothing vague about God’s instructions.

Secondly, the story of the flood and an ark is also supported by flood legends from primitive peoples all over the earth.

Thirdly, seven other Biblical writers, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Peter, Matthew, Luke, the author of 1 Chronicles and Hebrews, all speak of Noah and the flood as though it were a real and universal event, not just a local legend or flood. Jesus, Himself, speaks of Noah and the flood as though they were real.

A couple of comments about the Ark itself. The first has to do with a description of the roof and window of the Ark. Typical pictures of the Ark show only one window in the Ark that is one cubit below the roof line. That mistaken picture of the Ark comes from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew word for window. Without going into a lot of detail, allow me to simply say, that this word translated window, really has two translations: “roof” and “window”. It is a reference to an opening that goes all around the Ark; it is from top to bottom one cubit tall. The roof of the Ark was probably made of some kind of tent type of material that could be easily removed. Hence, the air ventilation throughout the Ark was excellent. You could have slept and ate your meals with no discomfort caused by the smell of the animals, sweaty bodies or excrement.

In addition, much has been correctly written about the Ark being an illustration or a type of Jesus Christ. Just as Noah was saved through the Ark, we are saved by resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Just as God provided small rooms aboard the Ark for rest and comfort, we find our rest and comfort in Christ. Just as there is only one doorway to get onto the Ark, Jesus is the only way to salvation and having an eternal relationship with God.

It interests me that, different from the window, sides, length and height of the boat, there are no dimensions for the door of the Ark. We don’t know how high or wide that door was. I believe that those dimensions were not included here for a reason. Since there are no dimensions given, all who wished to enter the Ark could gain entrance. No matter how great a sinner one may be, there is always room for that man or woman to come through the door, Jesus Christ, to be saved. There is no sin, except refusing to walk on board, except trusting Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior that prevents one from being saved. No matter how awful your life has been, God wants to forgive you, save you, and transform your life into something grand, if you will only submit your life to Him.

With verse 17, we find the first mention of The Flood. By the way, the word used here for flood is not used anywhere else in the Bible. There are other words used for flood, but this word for “flood” refers to a catastrophic flood like no other. Hence, it is called “the” flood. In the New Testament, the term used in referring to this flood is the word from which we get our word “catastrophic.” We read in verse 17, “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth...” This is God’s way of emphatically pointing to himself as being the sole cause for this flood. This flood couldn’t be blamed on mother nature. He is the author of it. We continue to read that the purpose of this God designed flood was “to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.”

As to whether this was a local or universal flood, there is little doubt in my mind that this was universal. I say little doubt, because there are a few Biblical scholars and scientists who say that it may have been local. However, the Biblical evidence presented by the majority of Biblical scholars and secular geologists suggest other wise. I will not soon forget my visit to Bolivia and spending time with Eric Bender on top of a mountain that was over 10,000 feet high. On top of the mountain, while looking at the awe inspiring view, Eric challenged me to dig right where I was in the soil. I thought that challenge a peculiar one, until a few inches under the dirt I found something. I pulled it up, and guess what I held in my hand? A sea shell! A 7,000 + year old sea shell! How does a salt water sea shell get buried on top of a 10,000 foot mountain? And not just one, but literally thousands of these sea shells are up there? It had to be the result of a geologically catastrophic event, like the Flood.

But since water seeks its own level, and the obvious fact that Bolivia is a long distance from Mt. Ararat or the middle east, the only conclusion I can come up with is that one large body of water had to cover the entire planet, i.e. a universal flood was the cause of sea shells being on the top of all the mountains in South America.

From verses 18-21, God presents us with His covenant, His agreement with Noah. The details of this covenant and His responsibilities versus Noah’s responsibilities that are the foundation of this covenant are not spelled out in detail here, but later in 9:9-17. In verse 18, we read about the role of the people in this covenant. In verses 19-20, that which concerns the animals; and in verse 21, that which concerned the food while on board the Ark. Let’s read these verses.

“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.”

“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. “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.” Notice, Noah didn’t have to go search for the animals that were to be placed on the Ark. God said He would send the animals to Noah to put on board. They would seek him out, not the other way around.

“As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”

After God resolves to take action and explains to Noah what His plan is, Noah, in verse 22, resolves to obey God completely. We read, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.” Notice the emphasis of this verse. Twice, we are told that Noah did what God told him to do. And not just partly, but all, whole heartedly, Noah did in obedience to God. Three other times, in chapter 7, this same theme about Noah is repeated: He did all that God had told him to do.

Noah obviously had a strong faith in God’s word. Although extremely difficult and demanding and unpleasant or discouraging at times, Noah never questioned or complained or whined about how unfair life was. He simply obeyed.

Let’s take a moment to stop and think about what we have just read, and see if we can’t answer the question, “So what? What does this passage have to do with me today, and how I am living?”

One obvious application has to do with the realization that sometimes obeying God’s directions doesn’t make any sense at all. Take Noah, for example: As a result of walking with God in the midst of a godless and God-mocking generation, Noah was asked to:

• · preach for 120 years to those around him about their corruption; their need to be saved, and that their only hope to survive was to get on the Ark. That would not make you the most popular person in the world.
• · preach about a flood, something which had never before happened in the history of the earth.
• · spend 120 years building an Ark, miles from any major body of water.
• · gather together the first zoo and spend six months as a zookeeper in an enclosed boat until God told him he could get off!
• Yet, that obedience leads to his survival, his family’s survival and a new start for the human race.

Hence, one obvious lesson we can learn from Noah is to learn to obey God, even when it doesn’t make sense.

Has God ever placed you in a position where you were to be misunderstood, gossiped about, or suffered some other unjust or unpleasant experience, and then told you to do nothing about it, while everything inside you is screaming, “No way! That’s unfair. If I don’t take action, the wicked will get away with it.” Think of a command or principle of Scripture that God has given you that doesn’t seem to make sense to you, and right now, in your Bible write it down next to Genesis 6:22, along with today’s date. One that comes to mind is don’t sacrifice the well being of your child, family, or marriage on the alter of being your child’s friend.

After you write it down, compare what you find hard to obey with what Noah obeyed. Which is harder to obey? What God told Noah to do, or what you are facing right now? Noah obeyed God, and Noah left his “whys” to God; will you?

Now quickly, I want to show you six characteristics necessary for your spiritual survival while living in the midst of our wicked generation.

The first characteristic for survival is for you to recognize that if you understand anything about what these verses say today, it is because of God’s grace, not because you are superior in your intellect to any one else. It is because God wants you to know Him and for you to entrust your entire life to Him. Your faith, your ability to trust God, is a gift from God, not something which you can boast about.

Secondly, like Noah, when you put your trust in Jesus Christ, by faith, God makes you forever righteous in His sight. It is what the Biblical word justification is all about.

So first, you must realize that God is the one who is drawing you to Himself, giving you the information you need to be able to know and walk with Him. Secondly, if you put your trust in Jesus, and receive Christ to be your savior and Lord, then God will make you righteous, fully approved, forgiven and forever accepted by Him. After you have been saved, God’s acceptance and approval and the maintenance of your stance before God, is never dependent upon what you do, but upon what Christ has already done.

Thirdly, the characteristic of Noah’s life that enabled him to impact his society, while he lived amid its wickedness, was that Noah lived above moral reproach. He was “blameless”. What “blameless” does not mean is that Noah never did anything wrong, but that when he did, he took responsibility for it and made it right. So much so, that when others looked at weird ol’ Noah, there was one thing they couldn’t say about him: They would never be able to correctly say he was a self-righteous phony, but a real person, who although he made mistakes, he was a man of integrity, who had chosen to walk with God, and took responsibility for the mistakes he made along the way.

Fourth, in order for Noah or for me to survive the evil of my world, I must choose not to follow after the crowd, but to walk closely with God, making the priorities that He has shown me in His word my priorities.

And obviously, that characteristic demands that Noah had to have had a strong belief in the rightness of God’s word. Do you read God’s word regularly? If you don’t, how can you know His rightness? How can you discern the difference between worldly philosophies and God’s approach to life? If you don’t read God’s word, and make it the back drop of everything you do rather than your own tradition or heritage, how will you know if your actions are God’s or not? We must be continually in God’s word, believing it and obeying it to survive in this world and to walk with God.

And lastly, as we have already touched upon, to impact this world and survive so you do not allow this world to get a grip on your heart, you must be committed to completely obeying God, not just when it is convenient, but even when it is difficult.

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