June 30, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Philippians 1-2

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

I am posting this study a day late, with the forced vacation that we are enjoying, we got back from the beach a little too late last night to work on the study.  It has been a great few days as our family has enjoyed much needed family time. 

Genesis 8:1-22 (NASB95)
¹ 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. ² Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; ³ and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. ⁴ In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. ⁶ Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; ⁷ and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; ⁹ but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. ¹⁰ So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. ¹¹ The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. ¹² Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again. ¹³ Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. ¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷ “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.” 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 their families from the ark. ²⁰ 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. 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. ²² “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”^[1]

I am going to post a few notes concerning this chapter.  Consider the length of time that Noah was in the ark.  The last chapter indicated that he was in the ark just over 5 months where the water was at maximum flood stage.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary has an excellent chart on this subject, it will not copy and paste, so I will give you the highlights,

·                        Noah entered ark, 7:7-9

·                        7 days: It began to rain: 7:10-11

·                        40 days: Heavy rain stopped: 7:12

·                        110 days: Water at flood stage, Ark came to rest on Mt Ararat: 7:24-8:4

·                        74 days: Water receded until tops of mountains were visible 8:5

·                        40 days: Raven sent out, dove sent out and returned: 8:6-9

·                        7 days : Dove sent out a second time, returns with olive leaf: 8:10

·                        7 days : Dove sent out and doesn't return. 8:12

·                        22 days: Water receeded(Remaining balance of the 150 days mentioned in 8:3.)

·                        Noah saw dry land, first month, first day: 8:13

·                        Land completely dry and Noah exited the Ark, second month, twenty-seventh day: 8:14-19

·                        Total time on the ark was 377 days, which translates into one year 17 days.

Consider that when you think about the righteousness of Noah, he was in the ark for a very long time.  Can you imagine what it was like when Noah exited the ark to find out that the entire world had changed.  The blanket of water that surrounded the earth was gone and for the first time he could see that the stars and the sun were more than just lights in the sky. 

Noah's first reaction was not to marvel at the new world, his first reaction was to offer a sacrifice to the Lord demonstrating that God was still first in his life.  He had spent an entire year cooped up in an ark which was covered, and emerged with the one thought on his mind of worship.  God had destroyed the entire world's population of people, animals and birds, Noah and his company were the only people alive on the planet. 

God's response was to accept the offering, and to vow never to destroy the earth by water again. What is interesting in God's response is that the heart of man did not change as a result of the flood.  God had wiped out the earth's population, and did not change the heart of man.  I have often wondered if that was because of the mutations of man which may have taken place when the "sons of God" mated with men, or if man had become so evil that redemption was not possible.  Whatever the cause, it was a new world, God started earth over with a new set of parents, Noah and his children, and an entirely new set of animals.

God hates sin, this should be an eyeopener for all of us.  If He hated sin so much that He was willing to exterminate the entire earth's population, then perhaps it is time that we take sin seriously in our own lives.  We stand as beacons of light in a dark world, yet how many of us consider our calling as followers of God seriously?  How many of us would consider God's calling enough to build a rediculous ship on dry ground and wait for animals to mysteriously walk aboard?  How many would believe enough to store up provisions which would feed an incredible herd of animals and a small group of people for over a year? Hebrews points at Noah as being one of the original in the area of faith, we can learn from him.  We can learn that when God instructs us to walk, not to question and to walk as we are led. 

It is up to us to follow the Lord, it is up to us to be beacons of light.  Praise God, we are the chosen ones of today, we are the Noah's of today who stand for righteousness in a dark and dying world.  Each one of us stand accountable before God, the knowledge that we have and what we do with it are directly dependant upon our belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Are we ready to acknowledge God continually, as Noah did by offering sacrifice upon exiting the ark, or do we take God for granted, moving forward and letting each day take care of its self?

Father, as we consider faith, build in each one of us a desire to follow You closely.  Cause us to take a careful look at ourselves and to see if we really believe what we preach and stand for.  Thank You Father for providing salvation for us in spite of our wicked hearts.

In Him,

Joe Turner.