Noah’s flood has generated much debate and ridicule, see the story below. But the Lord teaches us about faith and deliverance through the flood narrative, be blessed.
Genesis 7:
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,
3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground."
5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,
9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,
14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.
15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
Genesis 8: The Flood Subsides
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
15 Then God said to Noah,
16 "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh---birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth---that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
God's Covenant with Noah
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
Genesis 9:
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it."
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
9 "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Noah's Descendants
18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.
21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers."
26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant."
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.
29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Things to think about…
1. After assembling the animals two by two onto the ark, the rain descended for 40 days over the entire earth. This is impossible to achieve by normal precipitation. Remember the waters above the earth were separated from the waters on the earth, Gen 1:7. The waters above the earth would have fallen over this 40 day period. This would have depleted the terrarium effect around the earth and started the process of freezing at the polar extremes on the earth. Note in Gen 7:11 that the fountains of the deep broke up. This is where continental drift occurred on a massive scale where the original joined ‘land’ broke up. The earth would look completely different after the flood. Whereas there was originally one land mass, now there were separate continents as we see today. It’s interesting that they all fit together like a jigsaw when arranged correctly.
2. It says all that had the breath of life were represented on the ark Gen 7:15 and all that moved on the earth…and all mankind who had the breath of life died, vs 21. They were blotted out from the earth, vs 23. These are very sobering words. The waters by covering the earth for 150 days made sure that this was the case. Note that water came from above and below the earth, Gen 7:11.
3. Look at Gen 8:1. Do you recall another time where it says that the Lord caused a wind to remove water in order to save God’s people? The Red Sea crossing of course, Ex 14.The canyons and valleys that we see in the world today would have been caused by the incredible water and sedimentary activity that resulted from Gen 8:3-14.
4. The raven was sent out once, but the dove was sent out twice. The first time she returned with an olive twig, the second time she did not return at all. Both times signified messages of good news. The dove representing the work of the Holy Spirit and peace is generally the result after a period of trial. Even when the dove does not return and God seems not to be answering, there is still an answer and a blessing. God is always doing an incredible work behind the scenes which we cannot see, but it is for our ultimate good. In this case, dry land and a place to rest.
5. The promise by the Lord by not destroying the earth in Gen 8:20-22 speaks of the period where there are seasons. We know one day these seasons will finish. Let’s pray that the Lord’s season of salvation continues right up to that point.
6. Look at the commandment for Noah in Gen 9:1. Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. This has certainly been achieved in many ways?
7. After the flood humans were no longer just vegetarians, but meat eaters, Gen 9:2,3. Many of you like me would rejoice at this, but why did the Lord give this commandment to eat meat after the flood and not before? The earth had certainly changed in many ways. We also see the life span of those who were born after the flood decrease dramatically.
8. Remember these laws were given for the entirety of mankind, long before the covenant with Abraham or the law of Moses. God requires that if a life is taken a life is required because man is made in the image of God, Gen 9:5,6. I believe there is still a case for capital punishment based on these verses. I believe this law is still binding upon humanity. Does the law of Christ and grace negate this law? No, our Lord is the One who will see justice done.
9. In Gen 9:9-17 we read the covenant given by God to Noah (and to us) that He would not flood the earth again. We know that the flood was global because the Lord has sent many devastating local floods that have killed people. Our own floods in 2011 were a testament to this. As such we can say that the Lord has not broken His promise. The Apostle Peter tells us the earth is reserved for judgement by fire at His coming, 2Pet 3:7. People do not believe there was a global flood, in the same way Peter says people will not believe in the burning up of the earth.
10. Remember Noah would never have seen a rainbow before because he would never have been exposed to direct sunlight, Gen 9:14. This was a sign of the Lord’s covenant, something we take for granted I believe.
11. In Gen 9:25-29 we see Noah curse Ham’s son – Canaan. We see how this outworks in scripture beginning with Gen 10. The Canaanites are displaced by Joshua as part of the Lord’s decree that the land would be given to Israel, but the Canaanites continued to be a thorn in the side of God’s people. Canaan is representative of the world, which is still a snare for Christians.
Vision Point
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Questions for Cell groups
Sunday’s sermon, “Jesus prays for His disciples” came from John 17:1-26 by Ps Jay.
1. Have you ever had anyone pray for you where their prayers for you have been answered? In John 17 Jesus prays for believers. What are some of the things He is praying for? Have any of these been answered in your life?
2. Jesus doesn’t pray for the world, but only those who would believe in Him, why? Doesn’t God love the world, Jn 3:16. Why wouldn’t Jesus pray for all people?
3. We are told that Jesus is praying for us right now. He is interceding for us before the Father, Rom 8:34 and Heb 7:25. If we are saved because of what He did on the cross, why does he need to still intercede for us?
4. Ask the Lord to give you focussed prayers, praying for His will in your life and in the life of the church. Give thanks for His salvation.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for those who heard the gospel on Sunday. Pray for Christ to grant them salvation.
2. Pray for Queensland that we do not see any more Corona virus cases due to these 2 individuals bringing it in from Victoria. Pray for Victoria and NSW as borders are closed, but virus cases continue to rise. Victoria has grown in numbers even while in lockdown.
3. Pray for our church services now meeting together and our streaming that both can continue to be done well every Sunday.
4. Continue to pray for our government for wisdom and economic management.
5. Sunday’s fb live messages and for Kids church. The message this week – “Look out for your bro” Gen 4 – Pr Jay.
6. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
7. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
Praise Points.
1. New visitors on Sunday. New folk have been following us on fb over quarantine, now attend our church.
2. Wonderful spirit of joy in our church. Thankyou Jesus.
3. Mallacoota fire relief donations. Praise God for the help we have been able to give.
4. Finances being maintained and donation to Café roof. Thankyou!
7. Praise God for worship and technical team – amazing individuals.
Announcements
1. One service at 9:30am Every Sunday morning. This service will also be live streamed. No kisses, hand-shakes or hugs are allowed. Hand sanitizer is to be used, tables will be wiped and chairs arranged for appropriate distancing. Families can of course sit together. CBC is allowed up to 50 people inside, then we will have an overflow into the café.
2. Cell groups – Ask for details as to how and what is required.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Kids Church will be run in the house when the message starts.
