The Story of Noah - Before the Flood

The Beginning: HisStory in Genesis 1-11

Lesson Seven: The Story of Noah – Before the Flood – Genesis 6:8-7:24

I. Noah Found Favor with God – Genesis 6:8-10

Genesis 5:29 – Noah’s name means rest or comfort. As a “type” of Christ, Noah represents the rest and comfort we have when we place our faith in God through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Looking back at the Creation account, we see that Adam and Eve’s first full day was a day of rest. They forfeited God’s rest when they rebelled and chose to sin. God offered the Israelites rest in the Promised Land. They were not allowed to enter because of their unbelief – Hebrews 4:9-13.

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:9-13).

Those alive during the time of Jesus would have heard Him say, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew11:28).

A. Favor – grace.

“In his day, Enos, the grandson of Adam, was still alive and did not die until Noah was over eighty” (John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, p. 82).

B. Righteous–justified by faith.

C. Blameless – in a morally corrupt world.

D. Walked with God – just as Enoch had.

“’Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by
their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,’ declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 14:14).

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;...” (2 Peter 2:4-5).

II. The Corruption of Mankind – Genesis 6:11-13

Corrupt – “to spoil, ruin, pervert, rotten, annihilate” – Strong’s Concordance

III. Instructions for the Ark – Genesis 6:14-22

“Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). Just as Moses did – Exodus 39-40 (16 times).

The Ark was made of gopher wood and covered with “pitch” – “The Hebrew word here is not the common one for ‘pitch’ which is ‘zepheth,’ but is ‘kapher,’ which is translated seventy times in the Old Testament ‘to make atonement’” (Arthur Pink, Gleanings in Genesis, p. 108).

The Ark had one door – just as the Tabernacle had one door. Jesus said, “I am the door” (John 10:9). He also said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

The Ark was the length of one and a half football fields. It was as tall as a four-story building. It had three floors or stories.

IV. Entering the Ark – Genesis 7:1-10

The Ark was God’s provision for the salvation of Noah and his family, just as Christ is God’s provision for the salvation of all who believe in Him.

There are three arks mentioned in Scripture:

The ark of Noah secured those within it from the outpoured wrath of God. The ark of bulrushes (Exodus 2:3) protected the young child Moses from the murderous designs of Pharoah, who was a type of Satan. The ark of the covenant sheltered the two tablets of stone on which were inscribed the holy law of God. Each ark speaks of Christ and putting the three together we learn that the believer is sheltered from God’s wrath, Satan’s assaults and the condemnation of the law – the only three things in all the universe which can threaten or harm us (Arthur Pink, Gleanings in Genesis, p. 104).

God invited Noah to enter – Genesis 7:1. “Come, enter, lead in”. God does not coerce, He invites.

V. The Flood – Genesis 7:11-24

Enoch named his son, Methuselah, which means: “’when he is dead it shall be sent,’ i.e. the deluge (Newberry). A divine revelation then was memorialized in this name. The world was to last as long as this son of Enoch lived” (Arthur Pink, Gleanings in Genesis, p. 88). Methuselah died the year of the flood.

The animals were drawn by God to the Ark. It is interesting how animals can sense danger. They came in pairs and entered the ark directed by God. We saw God call the animals once before in Genesis 2 when Adam named them. They came in pairs then as well. It was at that moment that Adam recognized he did not have a counterpart.

The Lord closed the door – the water was on the earth for 150 days. There is an end to God’s patience and His endurance of our sin.

There is evidence of a worldwide flood in the fossil strata found around the world. We also have flood stories in every civilization. Jesus testified of a global flood in Matthew 24:37-39.

Jesus is coming back! He will usher in a day of wrath like the world has never seen. He has given us His Word and His witnesses who proclaim the truth. Have you entered the Door to salvation, and are you ready?

“Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (Matthew 24:42-44).

Resources:

• Knowing Faith Podcast – The Flood
• Jen Wilkin, J. T. English, and Kyle Worley - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/knowing-faith/id1274228164?i=1000498263637
• The Bible Project - https://bibleproject.com