Through the Flood (Genesis 8:1-22)

 

Through the Flood

Genesis 8:1-22

January 19, 2014

 

Most of you are familiar with David’s 23rd Psalm.

(It was probably one of the first you ever memorized)

 

Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

 

And of course we are thankful that God is in fact a Shepherd.

We are but sheep.

• Sheep aren’t the brightest

• Sheep aren’t the toughest

• Sheep aren’t the most resilient

 

If sheep are to survive from danger, predator, and their own stupidity,

They need a shepherd.

 

Such a shepherd we have.

• He guides us in life to green pastures and quiet waters.

• He guides us in death through the valley of the shadow of death.

 

And in life and death David says, I will not fear “for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

 

God will always be with me to protect me with His rod

And to gather me back to Him with His staff.

 

Because of David’s supreme confidence in his Shepherd

He knew there was no reason to fear anything that would come upon him.

 

After Genesis 8 we will be able to put Noah in that same category.

 

Many times we study passages of Scripture that depict judgment.

• Whether it be the flood of chapter 7

• Or Sodom and Gomorrah

• Or the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians

• Or even the coming judgment

 

We have seen the Bible depict judgment.

 

However, when talking about the judgment we said a few weeks ago that,

Like Noah, we have an ark which carries us safely through.

 

1 Peter 3:18-22 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”

 

Two weeks ago we talked about the reality that

Christ carries us through the judgment.

 

• We die with Him and we rise with Him.

• He went down into death and came out the other side, and now He is our ark.

• We are saved through the judgment by Him.

 

He is the One, as David said, “Even though I walk through the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;”

 

Now you and I know that death is an intimidating thing.

• Some fear the cause of death (how bad will it hurt?)

• Some fear the consequence of death (judgment)

• Some simply fear the confusion of death (what will it be like?)

 

Sure we know that in Christ we have eternal life.

 

We know what Jesus said to Martha:

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

We know the promise that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

 

But still, it is the unknown that causes some concern.

• What will it be like as we travel through the judgment?

• What will it be like as we travel through the valley of the shadow of death?

 

We sing:

“Guide me O Thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land

I am weak, but Thou are mighty; Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow

Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through

When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside

Bear me through the swelling current, Land me safe on Canaan’s side

 

Our minds are filled with curiosity about what this passage is like.

But our minds should never be filled with anxiety; God is with us

 

Well, few stories remind us of that like this one.

Here in Genesis 8 we find Noah in the middle of the judgment.

He wasn’t destroyed at the beginning of it,

But he certainly hasn’t completed it either.

Noah and his family are currently in the middle of the judgment.

 

And here we see God walking with Noah through the judgment.

 

THROUGH THIS STORY WE ARE REMINDED:

• God guides us in life

• God walks with us even through the judgment.

 

We survive the judgment because God provides for our salvation

And secures safe passage through.

 

I just want you to see how God shepherds His people

Through the judgment.

 

We see that in 4 ways.

#1 GOD’S PROPENSITY TO REMEMBER

Genesis 8:1-3

 

It is really to our own misfortune that we can so quickly

Read over a verse like this just to get to the rest of the story.

 

Verse 1 says, “But God remembered Noah”

 

That may seem like an insignificant statement to you,

But I promise it wasn’t to Noah.

 

Sure the heavy rains had stopped,

But following the heavy rains was 5 months of floating.

 

Genesis 7:24 “The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”

 

Now put yourself in Noah’s shoes.

 

Certainly you are grateful that God spared you from the flood,

And I would imagine while the rain fell for 40 days

Noah and his family thanked God.

 

Then the rain stopped.

 

And you know how we are, we expect instant results.

So the rain stopped, everyone is certainly dead by now,

The judgment is complete, time to let us out of the ark.

 

But what followed was 110 days of just sitting there.

 

I don’t know if Noah ever felt abandoned by the Lord,

But I do know humanity today.

 

And it wouldn’t take even close to 5 months to cause most of us

To start wondering what happened to God.

 

See, often times in our trials, we come to grips with the initial tragedy.

Like Noah we understand that we live in a sin infested world

And so sometimes bad things happen.

 

We get that.

What we have trouble with is understanding

Why God just seems to let the bad things continue.

 

So send your flood, kill everyone (shouldn’t take more than a couple of days)

And then let us off the ark to get on with our lives.

 

And that is where we falter.

We have no understanding for why God allows things

To endure as long as He does.

 

And we find ourselves in the middle of our trials

And all we seem to be able to do is wonder where God is,

And why He is letting it go on as long as He does.

 

TURN TO: PSALMS 77:1-10

 

Here is a Psalm of Asaph

(I really like Asaph, because he reminds me so much of me – remember he also wrote the 73rd Psalm were he spoke of being tempted by riches)

 

Well here he is in the midst of a trial, we don’t know what,

But as far as he is concerned it is a bad one.

 

But he is a man of faith, so what does he do?

• (VERSE 1) – He knew to cry to God and he starts out with faith that God will hear him.

 

• You will even notice that this crying out to God continued through the day and through the night, see (VERSE 2)

 

• But God wasn’t responding as quickly as he would like and so by verse 3 he is actually starting to get a little put out with God (VERSE 3)

 

• And by verse 4 he has started to quit asking. He can’t sleep, but he doesn’t even know what to pray. (VERSE 4)

 

• And in verse 5 he starts his complaint. And see if this complaint sounds like you (VERSES 5-10)

 

It certainly sounds like me.

“Well great! I am the first person to suffer since God changed His policy about helping those who suffer.”

 

Now you can read on and see that Asaph calmed himself by remembering God’s deeds from of old and he saw how God never failed His people.

 

But you get the point.

When we walk in the middle of the judgment

We often feel as though God has abandoned us.

 

God told Noah a flood was coming,

But He didn’t tell Noah when it would stop.

 

And for 5 months Noah has been floating in the middle of this judgment.

 

If Noah is on his own, he is in big trouble

• Where could he go?

• Where would he replenish supplies?

 

If God forgets Noah, his judgment will be just as certain as those who died in the flood; slower, but just as certain.

 

BUT:

• God did not forget

• God did not forsake

• GOD REMEMBERED

 

And God didn’t just remember Noah, and every living thing upon that ark.

 

AND WE SEE THAT GOD REMEMBERS HIS PEOPLE

 

Certainly Moses would want his congregation to pick up on this fact.

 

How many times did they accuse God of forgetting?

 

Exodus 16:3 “The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

 

Exodus 17:1-3 “Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

 

Forty years in the wilderness certainly caused Israel

To doubt God from time to time.

 

Moses here reminds Israel of God’s propensity to remember His people.

 

“Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with Me.”

 

Hebrews 13:5-6 ” He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

 

God remembers His people as they walk (or float) through the judgment.

 

And here God remembers and begins to relieve the judgment.

 

“God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain form the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.”

 

Yes Noah was still in the middle of the judgment,

But now he could see that God had remembered him

And was working for him.

 

That is one way God shepherds His people through the judgment

And other trials, He remembers them.

 

#2 GOD’S PROVISION OF REST

Genesis 8:4-12

 

We talked about this a few weeks ago as well,

But the word “rest” has been a very important word to Moses

And to the congregation he was preaching to.

 

As Moses wrote this book, rest is exactly what they were looking for.

 

Exodus 33:14 “And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

 

That was after the golden calf incident and Moses was afraid that God would no longer go with them. There God promised rest.

 

Deuteronomy 12:10 “When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,”

 

Moses and his people were on a quest for rest,

And Moses has been very adamant about

Reminding his people were it comes from.

 

• We saw God rest in Genesis 2

• Then we saw rest taken away when the curse arrived

• We saw Noah’s dad Lamech pleading for rest

And now you can rest assured that rest is precisely what Noah wanted.

Well, fear not, God provided it, in the middle of their storm.

 

God begins to remove the water from the earth and the first thing we see:

(4) “In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark RESTED upon the mountains of Ararat.”

 

5 months to the day, from when the floods broke out

And the ark rested on the mountain.

 

And then 2 ½ months later the mountains became visible.

(5) “The waters decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible also.”

 

And then after nine months on the ark, Noah began looking for land.

(READ 8:6-12)

 

Noah first sent out a Raven, but the Raven just flew,

Waiting for the earth to dry up. It did not return to Noah.

 

So next Noah sent out a dove, but you notice what it said in verse 9, “but the dove found no resting place” so she returned.

 

• Noah would wait 7 days and try again, and this time the dove came with an olive leaf.

 

• Noah would wait 7 more days and this time the dove did not return.

The dove found rest.

 

(Interesting that Noah didn’t send the ark every day, God was him and he was patient.)

 

BUT HERE WE FIND GOD GIVING REST

He is carrying them safely through the judgment.

 

DID GOD NOT PROMISE THE SAME TO ISRAEL?

Did He not promise to walk with them and then give them rest?

 

David said that God guided him to “green pastures” and “still waters”.

 

• There was a rest on the other side of judgment for Noah.

• There was rest on the other side of the wilderness for Israel.

• There is rest for you as well.

 

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”

 

I was thinking about this recently.

You all remember the story of Jesus sleeping in the boat.

Matthew 8:24-26 “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

 

And of course we’ve all heard the song “Some times He calms the storm, other times He calms His child.”

 

And since Jesus rebuked them for their fear,

It would seem that Jesus had a better plan.

 

Wouldn’t it have been something if instead of panicking, Peter had just decided to lay down and sleep too?

 

That is the kind of rest we are talking about.

There is rest in the middle of the storm.

There is peace that surpasses all comprehension

 

AND THIS REST IS AVAILABLE BECAUSE GOD IS PRESENT.

 

When I was a kid, I was the master at sleeping in the pickup.

It didn’t matter if it was a 3 hour drive or a 3 minute drive. I had learned that the trip goes faster if you sleep through it. (And because I had a propensity to talk, my parents never discouraged this practice)

 

But why is a child able to sleep in the car?

Because someone else is driving.

 

There is no need to panic, just rest – God is there.

That is how He shepherds His people.

He is with them and He guides them to rest.

 

Recently we studied the book of Acts and I was particularly struck about Paul’s voyage to Rome.

 

• We don’t have time to read it, but you remember

• They sailed late

• They were in a super storm (at least 2 weeks)

• They lost all hope

• They even threw all their food and tackle into the sea

• And wished for daybreak

 

• When the sun rose they saw a beach and went for it.

That beach proved to be their salvation.

It was the Island Malta and they didn’t even know it existed.

 

God provided rest in a way they could not imagine.

THAT IS HOW HE SHEPHERDS

The ark rested

The bird rested

Noah and his family would soon rest as well.

 

God’s Propensity to Remember

God’s Provision of Rest

#3 GOD’S PLAN OF RESTORATION

Genesis 8:13-19

 

You have to love this part of the story, I’m sure Noah did.

 

But roughly 11 months after the flood came,

Noah was able to remove the covering from the ark, and he could see that “the surface of the ground was dried up.”

 

It looked dry out.

 

Incidentally, you should see a miracle there as well.

I told you last week that the place where you are sitting

Was over 26,000 feet below water.

 

And not only did God do that in 40 days,

But He removed all that water in a mere 6 months, that too is impressive.

 

But Noah looks out and the surface is dry.

 

Why didn’t Noah get out?

(many of us would have)

 

Because God didn’t tell him to yet.

The earth’s surface was dry, but it wasn’t yet ready for Noah.

 

(14-17) “In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. “Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

 

Exactly one year and 10 days from the time of the flood waters,

Noah once again stepped out of the ark.

 

But Noah didn’t step off to find a ruined earth,

Noah found a washed and renewed earth.

(The dove had an olive branch)

 

Noah found a new earth, a clean earth,

And God was willing to do it all over again.

 

God specifically told Noah to be fruitful and multiply.

 

If you were God wouldn’t you be just a tad bit leery of humanity?

 

And yet

“be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

 

And that is what they stepped out to do.

 

Noah had been carried safely through the judgment by God.

And God is giving all of humanity a second chance.

 

WE CALL THAT MERCY

• God knew the sinfulness of man

• God knew the propensity of man

 

And yet God gave man a second chance anyway.

 

Because that is how God shepherds His people.

 

David knew that God would be with Him through life and death, and the whole time David was sure of this one thing:

 

Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

 

Please understand that when you walk through the judgment,

Not only is God with you, and not only can God take care of things,

BUT GOD IS MERCIFUL TO DO SO.

 

God is not a vengeful God

God is not a cruel God

He is a merciful God

 

It was mercy not only to deliver Noah,

But also to give this world a second chance.

God is a merciful Shepherd.

 

His Propensity to Remember, His Provision of Rest, His Plan of Restoration

#4 GOD’S PROMISE TO RELENT

Genesis 8:20-22

 

If you haven’t been convinced that God is merciful so far in this story,

These three verses should do it for you.

 

Now first you need to see the worship of Noah.

 

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

 

Now that is really fascinating.

Noah didn’t start by building a house, he started by building an altar.

 

Noah was a recipient of the mercy of God,

And any time you receive the mercy of God it should motivate worship.

 

Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

When you receive mercy, the only proper response

Is to present all that you are to God.

 

In fact it is a wicked person indeed who would claim God’s mercy

And then refuse to submit to Him in worship.

 

Noah was no such person.

He was a worshipper.

 

And let me also point out the generosity of Noah.

He didn’t sacrifice cattle from his vast herds, or birds from his enormous supply.

 

How many clean animals did he have?

He took them in the ark by 7’s, and now he is sacrificing some of them to the Lord.

 

That is a massive sacrifice

That ranks up there with the alabaster vile of perfume.

 

And as you will see the fragrance was just as special

(21) “The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

 

How can you not love God with a statement like that?

 

God did judge sin – He had to.

But God knew the judgment did not change a thing in regard to humanity.

 

They were sinful before the flood, they will be sinful after the flood.

 

BUT INSTEAD OF JUDGMENT, GOD CHOOSES SALVATION.

 

(22) “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”

 

WHAT A SHEPHERD WE HAVE!

He is always justified in judging the world,

But instead He is mercifully choosing to save it.

 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

Certainly you remember the story of when Jesus and His disciples passed through Samaria and the Samaritans refused to house them.

 

Luke 9:54-56 “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.”

 

God is merciful.

And when the Lord is your shepherd you shall not want.

 

The journey Moses is taking us on is a remarkable one.

• We know that sin kills

• We know that sin brings judgment

• And yet we see that we have a Shepherd who will gladly save us through the judgment.

• He is provided an ark in His Son Jesus Christ

 

And as we are carried through that valley, there is no need to fear.

• He is with us

• He provides rest

• He has a plan to restore

• And all throughout He is merciful as He promises to relent

 

What more could the children of Israel need to know on their journey?

 

And what more could you need to know?

• God is a great Shepherd and you can trust Him.

• You can trust Him for the judgment

• You can trust Him in your various trials

 

BUT YOU MUST TRUST HIM

 

And when He comes through for you – and He will.

THEN YOU MUST WORSHIP HIM FOR NOT DEALING WITH YOU AS YOU DESERVE.

This is what God desired from Noah

This is what God desired from Israel

And this is what God desires from you.

 

This morning, give Him that worship.

Trust Him and worship Him.

 

Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”