The Global Flood – Oh Really? – Oh Yes!
The story of Noah’s Ark is in the theaters again. It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. It is the stuff that Hollywood thrives on, no matter how and how often they tell or mutilate the story. Millions of dollars will come floating in on the flood waters, as believers and unbelievers pay to sail with ole Noah on his zoo ark. It is a story that simply cannot be submerged or drowned. It keeps popping up like a giant air balloon that cannot remain below the flood’s surface. You see, the flood is like the entire Word of God:
“NO MATTER HOW THE HEATHEN TRY TO PUSH THE BIBLE
INTO THE OBITUARY COLUMN, IT JUST KEEPS ON
POPPING UP INTO THE HEADLINES.”
I. THE FLOOD
Once more we hear the AWESOME, HOPEFUL, AND YET TERRIFYING Word of the Lord through Moses in Genesis 7:7,17,20,21,23,24,
“Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark
because of the water of the flood.”
“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and
lifted up the ark, so that it arose above the earth.”
“The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.”
“And all flesh that moved upon the face of the earth perished, birds and cattle and
beasts and everyswarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.”
“Thus He (God) blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land,
from man to animals to creeping things and to the birds of the sky, and they
were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together
with those that were with him in the ark.”
“And the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”
This of course begs the question, “Why was God so horribly fiercely angered that He would do such a thing?” Well, He wasn’t just having a down day? The reason is stated for us in Genesis 6:5-6,
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and
that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
“And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth,
and he was grieved in His heart.”
Now do we see it? Fact is:
“THAT MAN’S SINS WERE AS NUMEROUS AS HIS THOUGHTS, AND MAN’S
THOUGHTS WERE AS NUMEROUS AS HIS SINS – CONSTANTLY DIRTY
THINKERS AND DIRTY DOERS AND DIRTY TALKERS.”
Of course, it goes without saying, that whatever fills the heart and mind will come out of the mouth. One cannot even imagine, or can we, the cursing, the dirty-joke telling, the vileness that spewed out of society’s mouth. It was a river of filth in thought, word, and deed. Oh how we need to heed the words of James 1:27,
“…and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
In other words:
“EVERY THOUGHT IN MAN’S HEART – DEED OF HIS HANDS – WORD OF HIS
MOUTH WERE ROTTEN TO THE CORE, AND THE LORD DECIDED HE
HAD TO CLEANSE THE ROT WITH GLOBAL FLOOD WATERS.”
All men and all beasts, from dogs to deer, except those in the ark, perished. God had to do it. He had no other choice. It was really bad. It was undiluted evil. It was evil concentrate. Dirty old men were not the exception, they were the rule. We read Genesis 6:11,
“Now the earth was corrupt (sexual immorality) in the sight of God,
and the earth was filled with violence (murder).”
It had reached the point of no return. The earth had been in a wreck, and it was spiritually and morally totaled. No restoration possible. The stench had reached Heaven for years. The entire earth smelled like a global garbage dump, and the wind was always in the wrong direction. God could not stand the smell any longer. God would have to cosmic-cleanse it and start all over again.
You see, it was most likely a world society in which a dog license was respected more than a marriage license, and people kept their dogs much longer than they kept their spouses. Sound familiar? In fact, they had in many cases several dogs, but they couldn’t live with one husband or one wife. And those that they didn’t divorce they killed. It was the society you might say that was going to the dogs, and even the dogs had bad attitudes. Why does this sound so familiar I wonder?
I am reminded of the words of the Lord to abominably wicked Jerusalem, and He says then in Ezekiel 16:43,
“…you have ENRAGED Me by all these things, and I will bring
your conduct down on your head.”
So in Noah’s day, the enraged Lord brought the torrential flood rains down upon the heads of all men and beasts, and drowned them all. And we are told that just before Jesus Christ comes again to take His own to Himself and judge the wicked world, it will be exactly as it was in the days of Noah. ( Matthew 24:37) The first time it was with water, but the next time it will be with fire. Listen:
“IF THE JUDGMENT BY WATER IS A FABLE, THEN THE JUDGMENT
BY FIRE IS A FARCE.”
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II. FLOOD AWARENESS EVERYWHERE
Somehow, the Holy Spirit has saturated the cosmos with a flood-awareness no matter where you go. It is indelibly etched in secular as well as religious history. It is a high-water mark that can’t be removed. As noted Archaeologist Dr. Jerry Bowen states, “ The story is recorded not only in the book of Genesis in the Bible, but the Koran, plus other sources such as the book of Jasher, the epic of Gilgamesh.” The flood awareness is as global as was the flood itself.”
Dr. A.J. Monty White writes, “The reason for these flood stories is not difficult to understand. When we turn to the history book of the universe, the Bible, we learn that Noah’s descendants stayed together for approximately 100 years, until God confused their languages at Babel. ( Genesis 11:1-9). As these people moved away from Babel, their descendants formed nations based primarily on the languages they shared in common. Through those languages, the story of the Flood was shared, until it became embedded in their cultural history.”
Hawaiians have a flood story that tells of a time when, long after the death of the first man, the world became a wicked, terrible place. Only one good man was left, and his name was Nu-u. He made a great canoe with a house on it and filled it with animals. In this story, the waters came up over all the earth and killed all the people; only Nu-u and his family were saved.
India tradition holds that a long time ago lived a man named Manu. Manu, while washing himself, saved a small fish from the jaws of a large fish. The fish told Manu, “If you care for me until I am full grown I will save you from terrible things to come.” Manu asked what kind of terrible things. The fish told Manu that a great flood would soon come and destroy everything on the earth. The fish instructed Manu to build a large ship since the flood was going to happen very soon. As the rains started Manu tied a rope from the ship to the ghasha. The fish guided the ship as the waters rose. The whole earth was covered by water. When the waters began subsiding the ghasha led Manu’s ship to a mountaintop.
Another flood story is from China. It records that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three daughters escaped a great flood and were the only people alive on earth. After the great flood, they repopulated the world.
As the story of the Flood was verbally passed from one generation to the next, some aspects would have been lost or altered. However, as seen in the given examples, each story shares remarkable similarities to the account of Noah in the Bible. This is true even in some of the details, such as the name Nu-u in the Hawaiian flood story. “Nu-u” is very similar to “Noah.” It is amazing how things change from mouth to ear down the line.
Native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth. Old world missionaries reported their amazement at finding remote tribes already possessing legends with tremendous similarities to the Bible’s accounts of the worldwide flood. H.S. Bellamy in “Moons, Myths and Men,” estimates that altogether there are over 500 Flood legends worldwide. Ancient civilizations such as (China, Babylonia, Wales, Russia, India, America, Hawaii, Scandinavia, Sumatra, Peru, and Polynesia) all have their own versions of a giant flood.
The Holy Spirit records it i the Old Testament, but will not let us forget it in the New Testament thousands of years later, as we read in II Peter 2:5,
“and (God) 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.”
The flood consciousness not only fills earth and the sky, but it fills Heaven. A rainbow surrounds God’s throne in Heaven ( Revelation 4:3) as a constant reminder of His promise to Noah never to flood the whole earth again. The concept of a global flood is often ridiculed not only by secularists, but also by Christians who doubt its historicity. But God promised not to send another flood like the one He sent in Noah’s day. If it was just an extremely disastrous local flood, God would have broken His promise many times, because there have been innumerable catastrophic local floods.
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III. HARD WORK – HARD PREACHING
The sky was turning gray, and Noah thought to himself, “It looks like rain.” And so, with one, big last push, he got that reluctant second elephant up into the ark. Whew! 120 years is a long time to work on one construction job! No small cruiser this boat! It was 515 feet 6 inches long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. He didn’t go the county library looking for plans and instructions for ark building. The design was unfolded to him by God. In himself, he was an amateur, but God enabled him to become a pro. I can hear him chatting after work, and see him drawing on scrap paper at lunchtime, ever moving on to something bigger and stronger than anyone, perhaps himself included, could ever imagine.
And then to become an ANIMAL RESCUER for every species on earth was no ride in the park, Jurassic Park, that is. Yet somehow, the jungle beast prepared to spring, never did. God rendered them all benign. My, my, God expects some fairly challenging things from His servants. And then having to turn the Ark into an animal shelter, and become a zoo keeper that would make San Diego Zoo look like kids play.
Noah sat down by the door of the ark and wiped the sweat from his forehead. At last he was finished with all that God had asked him to do. Noah was 600 years old when he completed the massive undertaking. He was 480 years old when he began and picked up his hammer. IT IS FINISHED! Where have I heard that before?
Seven days went by, one for each day it took to make the world, and now God was about to power wash the dirty world clean. And then the flood came:
“Now it’s time for you and your family to get into the ark!”
the Lord said to Noah. So Noah and his wife, and his three sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, all got into the ark. Then the Lord himself reached down from heaven and shut the door.
Water poured from the sky and rushed up from the ground. It rained. And rained! And rained! Forty days and forty nights the water crashed down from above and surged up from below. The Great Flood had come. Lightning flashed. Thunder crashed. The winds blew huge waves across the water. The water lifted the giant wooden boat from the ground. It lifted it above Noah’s house. It lifted it above the trees in his backyard. The ark tossed in the storm above Noah’s neighbor’s house, above the whole town, and everyone who lived there. It rained so hard and thick and fast, that Noah’s ark floated above even the highest mountains. There was no dry ground left at all.
And everything that breathed on the earth died. What terrible things happen when people sin themselves into incurable sinfulness. Evangelist Noah preached for 120 years to call people out of their wickedness back to God. God’s mercies were new with every morning. Mercy now was at an end for Noah’s generation. God will not keep back his anger forever.
***
Preaching was harder than ark-building for Noah, for no one repented. Only his family turned to God, he and seven others numbered eight. He could see progress as he built the big boat named SALVATION ONE , but he could see no progress in civilization. His altar calls fell on hard hearts and deaf ears. He tried hard, but his message was not seeker friendly. He preached hard righteousness, not soft religion. We read in II Peter 2:5,
“And (God) 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.”
The WORLD OF THE UNGODLY! As wicked as the world was, Noah’s righteous preaching must have been like the constant falling of grains of sand upon their eyeballs. Pungent , sharp, relentless, and the only way to fight back and fight off the pain of what was left of conscience, was to call him things like an EXTREMIST AND FANATIC, if not just plain MAD. After all, on top of his constant preaching against sin, he was building a boat, or whatever it was, in a wilderness with no water in sight.
Listen:
“WHENEVER A SOCIETY REACHES THE POINT OF COMPLETE REBELLION
AGAINST GOD AND GODLINESS, CHARGES OF EXTREMISM AND
FANATICISM WILL INTENSIFY AGAINST THE GODLY.”
Hear it:
“TO MOCKINGLY DENY THAT THERE IS A GOD TO JUDGE THE WORLD,
IS ALWAYS THE DEFENSE OF THOSE WHO KNOW THAT IF
THERE IS A JUDGMENTTHEY WILL BE CONDEMNED.”
And again:
“TO DENY AND SCORN THE REALITY OF HELL IS ALWAYS THE DEFENSE OF
THOSE WHO KNOW THAT IF THERE IS A HELL, THEY WILL
SURELY GO THERE.”
Listen to me now:
“PEOPLE ARE SKEPTICS NOT BECAUSE THEY HAVE BETTER INTELLECTS,
BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE MORE HARDENED HEARTS AND
REBELLIOUS WILLS.”
And again:
“MEN ARE MOCKERS NOT BECAUSE THEY REASON BETTER,
BUT BECAUSE THEY SIN WORSE.”
I have no doubt that Noah held his crying wife tightly on more than one occasion. The taunting and mocking she had endured that final day was the worst yet. The scoffers had recently become more brazen, ridiculing Noah and his family wherever they went, especially at the Ark’s construction site. I can’t prove this, but I see tears of emotion running down her face. Who could process all of this without tears? Fewer and fewer came the arms of embrace from friends and neighbors. Human nature doesn’t change over the years. I wonder whether she kept a diary? Anyway it would have been filled with too much personal pathos to share it with others. I am sure it would have been filled with hard and painful facts, and not light philosophy and historical color.
Preaching was hard for Noah, real hard. I know the feeling. I’ve been there. Noah built a MEGA ARK, but he didn’t come close to building a MEGA CHURCH. Not even a MINI-CHURCH by today’s standards. Where 2 or 3, 7 or 8 are gathered in His Name, there God will be in the midst of them. God was with them on the Ark – that made 9 plus all the animals. That was the sum total of his century-plus worth of preaching. All the while, the chasm grew to separate them from the unrighteous and the unbelieving.
***
I have absolutely no idea how many people perished in the flood. But we do know that there were 1500 years from Creation to the flood. So how much did the human race grow in 1500 years? Some Biblical scholars and numerologists estimate 50,000,000. (It is too painful to even think about. God is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance and life. Was there faith on the earth then? Will there be faith when the Son of Man comes?) Only God knows how many perished forever, but surely it was several million at the least. Noah’s preaching and building never made a dent in the heads and hearts of the people. We know that, because we read in Matthew 24:39,
“ And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away;
so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”
It was a trip that no one would forget! This was no Carnival cruise. I doubt very much that Noah felt a moment of desire, and said to Mrs. Noah, “Feeling romantic tonight? Look at the stars.” There were none to be seen, as the storm from above and below raged on and on. Sleep came only through exhaustion, but how could it be peaceful? There were no quiet nights docked in Cozumel or Belize. No one knew where they were going, or how it would end, if it ever would. Each night they retired to the edge of nowhere.
When the voyage started, it began too fast and so frightening. The waiting and working and preaching came to a sudden end, and the boat sailed away without any one but THE NOAH EIGHT. When it came to an end, it was a world unlike any they had ever known. There was no going back! Everything and everyone had been washed away. Things would never be the same again. But that was the whole point. For them, it was to be a new rain-bowed heaven and a refreshed earth wherein dwelt righteousness. Little did Noah know that his preaching and ark building would lead to this!
*******
IV. OH REALLY? – OH YES!
The flood could not drown Noah, so the world continues to try to drown him in a sea of doubts and objections. To them, it is nothing more than water over the dam, as they tell us to get real. How many animals did the Ark actually carry, and how did Noah get all those animals on the Ark? How could eight people possibly care for so many thousands of animals, and how could such a small crew deal with tons of manure on a daily basis? How could the koala, which only eats fresh Eucalyptus leaves, be maintained on the Ark for an entire year? Add a thousand and one other similar questions to these. For centuries, skeptics have argued against the veracity of the account of Noah’s Ark and the global Flood, gloating over its supposed impossibility.
In recent years, such arguments have come thick and fast from modern anti-creationists who have largely parroted the critics of the Ark. Even as the anti-Genesis 1 critics turn the Creation story into nothing more than an allegory, so they too dry up the global flood notion as nothing more than fictional with a good moral if you like flood stories. This is true of professors both in colleges and seminaries.
Before we go on, and before we get all over the critics, I must ask, “Would you and I have gone with Noah? Would you and I have picked up a hammer to help? Would you and I have turned from our sins to God?” This was not only on dry land, but in terribly DRY NON-SPIRITUAL AND IMMORAL TIMES. It was a world, much like our own, the kind in which they taught that everything was SECULAR, not SPIRITUAL.
***
Oh really? Oh Yes! I joyfully yield to the awesome work and expertise of Dr. Jerry Bowen, a noted Biblical Archaeologist whose lifetime of Biblical study and archaeology more than answers the naysayers. He writes:
“There have been numerous programs aired on the network channels in recent years denying the concept of a global flood. History Channel, the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel all seem to be saying the same thing, (they must be right?) there is no evidence indicating a global flood. Due to their secular philosophy which has its basis in the theory of evolution, the Biblical record could not be correct, so there was no global catastrophe they say.”
“Yet if a person will take the time to look around the evidence is abundant, though the pundits are motivated to proclaim their own religious view as correct. One of the ways to promote a false concept is to suppress information that would indicate something contrary, keep folks in the dark. This has been very effective while controlling public media and educational facilities, until recently as those in the spotlight have lost their strangle hold on the general public, with information being uploaded to the internet, providing easy access to virtually anyone. At least now folks are exposed to both sides of the equation.”
“The very fact that nearly 80% of the planet today is covered or was once covered with water, not only oceans, but inland lakes, seas, ponds, rivers, swamps, deserts, glaciers, ice sheets etc., is a major consideration verifying the event of a global flood.”
“There is also evidence abounding that not only the low lying areas were once covered, but the mountain chains as well. Marine fossils are routinely found in highland areas, even on mountain tops. A ninety foot baleen whale skeleton was discovered in the diatomaceous earth cliffs in Lompoc California, unearthed in nearly perfect condition in a vertical position. The position of the fossil remains should have raised all kinds of red flags, completely eliminating the possibility of slow hydrologic layering. It would take more than a major catastrophic event to produce such circumstances, a global flood would suffice.”
“The top five thousand feet of Mount Everest is called the death zone, besides finding deceased climbers, the many they can’t get down, you will find under the snow and ice sedimentary rock, rock which is produced from dried out layers of dirt. You might say of course the dirt was wet, and snow melt must have occurred. But what about all those millions of petrified clams buried in the same rock there. Clams don’t make very good climbers, and Everest is quite a distance from the beach, these clams are petrified in the closed position, meaning they were buried suddenly. At some point in history the evidence reveals Everest was underwater due to a catastrophic event, and this is a perfect example of evidence that is not made readily available because it does not fit with the evolutionary theory.”
“Scripture records during this catastrophe the windows of heaven were open, (the 40 days/nights of rain), and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, ( Gen.7:11). Most of the water now on the surface originated from the underground aquifers, our modern oceans and even the polar ice packs are a post flood phenomena. This flooding of the surface reduced vegetation so significantly that these changes dramatically altered the oxygen level of our atmosphere, dropping from 35-40% to our current level of nearly 21%. Also, ocean development plus other factors dramatically reduced available habitation of the planet with our current percentage at just 3% usage, as compared to more than likely 80% before the flood. The pre-flood environment was likened to what we today call hyperbarics, greater pressure in the presence of greater oxygen, the entire planet was prolific for growth and splendor with the inhabitance living over nine centuries.” (End of Bowen Quote)
***
Holy Clam Shells! Bald Eagles can fly at 10,000 feet. Mt. Everest climbs to over 29,000 feet, with airplanes flying near the summit at 35,000 feet. Put that in your evolutionary clam bake and chew on it. If that doesn’t make the liberal left-politicians and theologians clam up, nothing will. I am reminded again of the powerful words of Romans 3:4,
“Rather, let God be found true and every man a liar.”
What an extraordinary statement that we have barely gotten the slightest gist of. Look at what is being said! Come on now, don’t turn away, but have the guts to face it. That’s it, focus! Roll it around on your mind’s tongue. Let it simmer and stew some more. Now you’re getting it. It is this:
“EVERY MAN APART FROM THE GOD OF TRUTH IS AN OUT AND
OUT PATHOLOGICAL LIAR.”
God is absolute pure truth without a speck of error! When it comes to the God of the Word and the Word of God, nothing is ever SO TO SPEAK, or APPROXIMATELY, or YOU MIGHT SAY. God doesn’t lie, cannot lie, not even little white ones. Apart from God, man cannot speak truth, not even little white ones. In fact:
“MAN APART FROM GOD IS DUMBER THAN THE ROCKS THAT
THE CLAMS ARE BURIED IN ON MT. EVEREST.”
Oh Really? Oh yes! Hear me:
“IF IT IS IN GOD’S BOOK, YOU CAN AND MUST BOOK IT IN YOURS.”
The global flood account in Genesis is true, not because of a sky-high clam field on Mt. Everest, but because God cannot lie, nor does He have the slightest capacity to lie. Man apart from God not only lies, but he only has the capacity to lie.
Book it! God destroyed an ungodly world with a global flood, and saved one family, Mr. and Mrs. Noah, their sons, and sons’ wives. Book it! God destroyed two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, and singled out one family who believed God and rescued them, well, all but one who became very salty in the end. Hear it:
“WHEN GOD COMES IN JUDGMENT, HE ALWAYS SAVES HIS OWN. HE HAS
DONE IT MANY TIMES BEFORE, AND THEN CLIMATICALLY ONCE AND
FOR ALL, HE WILL DO IT AGAIN.”
Book it! The hour of judgment will come as a total surprise. Just be prepared to be surprised. They didn’t know! Do we? We read in I Thessalonians 5:2,
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just
like a thief in the night.”
But Noah’s generation did not know after 120 years of being warned. People, even religious people laugh at those who think it will be at 2 a.m. tomorrow. Mark 13:32,
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels
which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
The ARK IS READY – IT IS FINISHED. This ark called “SALVATION TWO” will make Noah’s Ark look like a dinghy. We do not know when the boat will leave. I know this:
“THAT JESUS IS COMING UNANNOUNCED SO AS TO CATCH US IN
CHARACTER AND IN A CHARACTERISTIC UNPOSED ACT.”
Book it! As it was in the days of Noah! Things have looked bad before, but not since ole Noah have they looked this bad. There is a finality now about the world that has eerily become an echo. The thief is very close and prowling. Now we can sense in our very bones that the nightmare of this world is near its end. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. Oh really? Oh Yes!
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V. THE MOUNT ARARAT LANDING
Fast forward now! We read in Genesis 7:25 and Genesis 8:1-5,
“And the water prevailed upon the earth 150 days.”
“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were
with him in the ark; and 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 (God turned the faucets off with His pinky), and the
rain from the sky was restrained.”
“and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of 150
days the water decreased.”
“And in the 7th month on the 17th day of the month, THE ARK RESTED UPON
MOUNT ARARAT.”
“And the water decreased steadily until the 10th month; on the first day
of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.”
States Dr. Bowen:
“It has been approximately 4,300 years since the time of the flood; for those eight souls that landed on Doomsday Mountain in what is now called eastern Turkey, it must have been an incredible shock when the door finally opened and they stepped out to observe the barrenness of a once lush fertile landscape.”
“Noah and His family would have lived in the mountains close to the ship for perhaps decades. Noah’s first consideration was not some selfish desire or need, but a thank offering to the Lord. With most of the animals vacating the ship it would now be used for temporary shelter and storage. They would eventually plant and build starting life over in this strange new world. Eventually as the flood waters receded they would move to lower ground, and spread out exploring new territories and opportunities.” (End of Bowen quote.)
So we read about the first thing Noah did Genesis 8:20-21,
“ 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.”
“And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma….”
1. FIRST – NOAH’S PRIORITY
Come Noah, after all, the Ark is a mess inside. You’ve got some able-bodied people, assign clean-up crews, and then turn the boat into a real house for everyone. The world’s first BOAT HOUSE, after all, it is yours and you deserve it Captain Noah. And celebrate the successful voyage with a real feast. I mean, you worked and preached your back and head off for 120 years. You’ve been cooped up for 150 days, and you’ve got a whole lot of SELF-TIME COMING TO YOU. Come on man, YOU DESERVE A BREAK TODAY. Now cash in on the GOOD LIFE AND HANG LOOSE BROTHER. ITS PARTY TIME! Oh Hallelujah!
No, Noah did not make God wait. He put the Lord first before anyone and everything else. A GREAT THANK OFFERING TO THE GOD OF HIS SALVATION IS NOAH’S BURNING DESIRE AND TOP PRIORITY. God gets the PRE-EMINENCE. We read in Colossians 1:18 about our Lord,
“….so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything .”
Pre-eminence! The prefix PRE means BEFORE and ABOVE ALL OTHERS. Everyone and everything else in our lives is secondary and lower and must wait.
2. SECOND – NOAH’S COSTLY SACRIFICE
Of every clean animal and bird he offered a burnt offering to the Lord. This was a very costly offering unto God. Listen:
“COSTLY SACRIFICES TO THE GOD OF OUR SALVATION ALONE ARE
PLEASING TO HIM, BUT SACRIFICES THAT COST US LITTLE ARE
DISPLEASING TO HIM.”
It reminds us of David in II Samuel 24:24,
“…for I will not offering burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”
What a statement! If I give Him tidbits and leftovers of prayer and offerings and praise and fellowship that cost little time, energy, and money, it shows that my heart is not in it. Hear it:
“IN THE SERVICE AND WORSHIP OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, A HEART
WITHOUT A SACRIFICE IS STINGY, AND A SACRIFICE WITHOUT
A HEART WILL ALWAYS BE CHEAP.”
3. THIRD – NOAH’S SOOTHING SACRIFICE
We read in Genesis 8:21,
“And the Lord smelled the SOOTHING AROMA.”
Remember now that the Lord had been vexed, pained by the wickedness of man. In fact, He was so grieved by the entire human race, that He was sorry that He even created man. But now, for the first time in years, the PUTRID SMELL OF THE EARTH’S ROTTING LANDFILL OF SEXUAL IMMORALIIY AND VIOLENCE WAS GONE. The earth has been washed and now dry cleaned by the miracle wind sent by God. Its surface had been drastically altered and now aired out.
So then, Holy God smelled the sweet, sacrificial aroma of love, devotion, and gratitude of Noah and his family, and it SOOTHED HIS VEXED AND PAINED HEART. I can hear the Father say to the Son and Holy Spirit,
“DO YOU SMELL IT, THE STENCH OF UNGODLINESS IS GONE AND
THE AROMA OF GODLINESS FILLS THE AIR. GET A GOOD
WHIFF OF THIS. IT IS WONDERFUL.”
4. NOAH’S BLOODY SACRIFICE
I can scarce live into Noah’s mind. Not even close through the entire horror from beginning to end. When you march to a totally different DRUMMER and CADENCE than all the rest of humanity, everyone thinks you are out of step, and that you lost your senses. Maybe at times Noah might have thought that he indeed had lost his mind. When you walk with God, the way at the time often doesn’t make sense. Only later can you see that it was the perfect way, but even then, what an incredible way it was.
It was Dr. Richard Restak, professor of clinical neurology at Georgetown University Medical School who observed:
“THE MOMENT YOU UNDERTAKE A NEW PROJECT, YOUR KNOWLEDGE
BEGINS TO ENHANCE.”
Oh what Noah must have learned about God in this understatedly bitter-sweet experience! How could one’s mind begin to drink in the love, the wrath, the holiness, the judgment, and the salvation of God on display? It was too overwhelming, and a man’s mind can only be stretched so far. But one thing he now knew as never before:
“IT WASN’T HIS GOODNESS OR MERIT THAT SAVED HIM, BUT IT WAS
THE BLOOD OF SACRIFICETHAT ALONE COVERED
HIS SINFULNESS?”
After what he saw and lived through, there was no way for him to fool himself about any self-righteousness or self-merit. How could anyone measure up to God’s awful holiness, and escape God’s terrible wrath against sin that he had witnessed in 3D – DEATH – DEATH – AND MORE DEATH?
The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22,
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”
It is written in scarlet red throughout the Bible, all the way to its perfect fulfillment in the BLOOD SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST. So the first thing he does when his feet hit the ground is to get himself and his family under the blood sacrifice. There is no other safe place to be but to keep himself, his wife, and his family under the blood. There is no more taking the blood sacrifice lightly. Not after this! Never again! Not ever!
Noah could have built a monument to the ARK’S SAFE LANDING AND TO THE EIGHT THAT SAILED WITH HER. A plaque perhaps memorializing the ship and its crew. But no, the blood sacrifice had consumed him, and without the blood pointing forward to the Lamb of God, the Ark of Salvation would have sailed off without him, without you, and without me too. I think I can feel now more than ever what Noah felt in this overwhelming moment. He has to build an altar, nothing else made sense.
Let’s put it this way, allow the pun:
“IF WE WOULD HAVE THE SAILED THE GLOBAL OCEAN WITH NOAH, AND
WITNESSED THE DESTRUCTION, WE WOULDN’T EVER AGAIN WATER
DOWN THE BLOOD EITHER. IT WOULD BE FIRST AND FOREMOST
ON OUR MINDS AND IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER.”
***
So you are telling us that the ark landed on top of a mountain called ARARAT, and Noah, his family, and the animals were all safe and sound? OH REALLY? OH YES! Read on!
Archaeologist Dr. Jerry Bowen writes, “When the Bible uses the phrase, “the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat”, (Gen. 8:4), it is not referring to a specific peak as many have assumed. Christian tradition over the centuries has prevented a legitimate search as it drew explorers to the most unlikely of sites, an eventual strata-volcano, (Mount Ararat). The Hebrew words actually are translated, the region of Urartu. The region or kingdom of Urartu encompassed eastern Turkey, western Iran, plus parts of Armenia, this region would be just outside the extremity of post-flood snowfall. This would narrow the search considerably if the landing site and remains were to be preserved for future generations.”
“In the region of Urartu about 16 miles southeast from Ararat is a boat shaped formation setting at the 6,500’ elevation. This was not the original landing site, as the remains slid to its present location about 1 ½ miles further up the ridge. As one surveys the original site, what becomes very obvious is the horseshoe mountain terrain that would have been the perfect mooring for the Ark. The ship would need protection from the furious or great winds that helped dry up the earth, this wind God would also use to bury the antediluvian world, as it moved the soft sediment covering the vast amount of uprooted trees, and animal and human carcasses. All of this buried organic material would become our natural gas pocket, coal seams, and oil deposits. This location would become the cradle of the post flood civilization; humanity was provided a second chance, a new start, a rebooting of society, but just what have we done with it?”
“One of the most amazing samples that places the formation uniquely in the category of a man-made structure is the laminated deck timber. This was actually dug up by the Turkish Military at the request of the Governor of the Agri Province. Even though it was filmed by their local media reporters, people today still do not believe it happened, this is clear evidence of the power of tradition. Tradition will not allow for any other location other than Mount Ararat, so no amount of evidence would suffice and that situation is truly a denial of Christian faith.”
“What God is providing here is a tool for believers to use in their missionary endeavors, how sad to turn a blind eye to such divine assistance. We know by faith that the story took place and here we have right in front of us the confirmation of that event, confirmation that we don’t need, but someone does and we have a responsibility to set pride and ego aside for the sake of millions of others in the valley of indecision.” (End of Bowen quote.)
Oh really? Oh yes! The same academicians and so-called intellectually elite who explain away, play with, innovate, and new-model the Bible’s six day creation account, also mythologize and fairy-tailize the global flood and Noah’s big boat. They think that they are smarter than God, and so they tamper with, explain away, step on, and trample underfoot the sacred Scriptures and the Christian Faith. History already shows that Noah was many times smarter than these demon-inspired manipulators and corrupters of the Word of God. Let every sober, humble, and devoted Christian spurn all of the rampant tampering with and tamperers of the Word of God from this time forth and forevermore.
*******
VI. JESUS – THE ARK OF SALVATION
Noah’s ark is a beautiful type of Christ as the only Ark of our salvation. The world that then existed perished, being flooded with the waters of Divine Judgment. The waves and billows of the Flood are typical of the wrath of God to come. Without Christ, we are lost, and the wrath of God abides on us ( John 3:36). Only in Him we are safe from the waters of judgment, for Scripture tells us “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” ( Rom. 8:1). Christ alone saves us and shelters us from judgment.
I so appreciate how Brother Bowen sees it:
“I start with the standard statement that the Ark was a symbol of Salvation, not just because eight people were saved from the flood waters, but the entire construction of the ship pointed to Christ; the first aspect mentioned is not material but a process; “make thee an Ark of Gopher wood”, this is not a type of wood but the processing of cypress through lamination. This became an illustration that God’s plan would be multifaceted, which was later illustrated through the Sanctuary Service. Scripture records also details of three decks – a representation of the Godhead, Father Son, and Holy Ghost all inclusive in His plan to save us. There is just one door in the ship, symbolic of the precise requirement for Salvation, Christ being the only way to Salvation.”
“It is also relevant that the door is placed on the starboard side as opposed to the port side; this would be on the right side of the ship. Christ being the door the only entrance to Salvation means simply that if not for Him and all the aspects of His ministry Salvation would not be possible; He sits now on the right hand of the Father interceding in our behalf, (Luke 22:69). One of the other considerations is not apparent until the sub-surface radar came into play (the ark sight) which revealed 72 deck support cross timbers down each side for a total of 144. I see this as relevant as this was not a feature highlighted in the original description but only made known during the time of the development of the 144,000 of Revelation.” (End of Bowen quote.)
How this all grips my heart even more than my head! I have not a speck of doubt that, as never before, Noah’s faith went from his head to his heart too. I don’t care how smart you are, and more than likely you and I are not as smart as Noah was. I don’t even care if you can recite the story of the global flood from Genesis 6 and 7 verse by verse and word for word. If your faith is not a faith of the heart, you haven’t in your life come to the point that you desperately needed to sail with Noah in the Ark (Christ.) Listen, let’s get something straight:
“YOU CAN HAVE A HEAD/MIND FOR GOD THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE,
AND NEVER HAVE A HEART FOR GOD.”
He wants you to love Him first with ALL YOUR HEART, and then with ALL YOUR MIND. God is not a book of stories or doctrines, God is PERSONAL, INTIMATE, LOVING. He wants your heart – YOUR WHOLE HEART – ALL YOUR LOVE.
***
No, the church is the not the Ark. It never has been and never will be. Jesus is the ark, not the Catholic Church, not the Methodist Church, not the Presbyterian Church, not the Assembly of God Church, not any church. I can’t tell you how often I have asked someone if they are a Christian, and I get the answer, “I’m Catholic,” or “I’m Methodist, etc.
There are many churches today that leak like a sieve. You are no more safe in them than you are in the waters of judgment. The lady said, “I have been a Christian for over 40 years. A church going, daily Bible-reading, Christ-redeemed lover and believer in God! But lately I am finding that my church is more of a hindrance to my faith than a help. It is common knowledge that my church has become a haven for practicing homosexuals and lesbians. I am single, and I have had many overtures from gay women towards me at work. So much so that I have begun to wonder, seeing my church endorses the gay life style. I have even been flattered, smitten, and even lately infatuated by some of these women, and even aroused by their attention. I have begun to question my sexual identity.
See how the devil works! That denomination and church is not THE SAFE ARK OF CHRIST, it is already A SUNKEN TITANIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA OF JUDGMENT filled with dead men’s skulls and bones. But you tell me that they go to church faithfully! They pray faithfully! They give offerings faithfully. They do good works faithfully! Hear me, of course they do, that is how they try to make up for their sinful lives. Listen:
“THAT IS PENANCE – NOT REPENTANCE.”
How do I repent? I am talking to the religious sinners. I am talking to church going double-lifers/hypocrites. I am talking to the morally bankrupt. I am talking to the adulterer. I am talking to the alcoholic. I am talking to the marijuana, cocaine, speed addict. I am talking to the pornographer. I am talking to the fornicator. I am talking to the pervert. I am talking to the serial divorcer. I am talking to the child molester. I am talking to the wife beater. I am talking to the curser. I am talking to the murderer. I am talking to the abortionist. I am talking to the liar. I am talking to Noah’s generation today, for as it was then, so it is now.
How do you REPENT? You change your mind! You turn your back on your sin, and you walk in the righteousness that Noah has been preaching to you for 120 years. You do an about face, you have been walking with the devil, and now you ditch him. You face and ask Jesus to forgive you and you throw yourself into His arms of mercy. THAT IS GETTING INTO THE ONLY ARK OF SAFETY. You do it now, for He is here, and the ARK IS GOING TO SAIL AWAY OH GLORY AT ANY MOMENT. The uncovering of Noah’s Ark today, your day, this day, is the call of the Word of God that “SALVATION TWO” is going to depart very soon:
“AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH, SO IT WILL BE WHEN
THE SON OF MAN COMES.” Amen!
