Noah and The Ark

O.T.#21  "Noah and The Ark"
April 9, 2013
Genesis 6-Part 2
But with thee will I establish my covenant...  Genesis 6:18a KJV

LET IT GLOW

I don't live near an ocean nor a lake. I have only been on a small ship a few times. (Of course, that is fine with me because I am afraid of water that's over my head.) I have seen pictures of the Titantic and have walked around on a replica. How huge it was. My mind can't comprehend its actual size, nor can I picture that of the ark Noah and his sons built. (1 1/2 football fields) Before we get into that, let's check out the builder.

Noah was the great grandson of Enoch, who walked with God and was translated instead of dying. Chapter 6 tells us about the evil, corrupt, and violent men upon the earth during Noah's time. In our last lesson, we saw that Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (verse 8) Grace means to bend or stoop. God bent down to Noah and showed him grace, by warning him of the coming judgment by flooding all the earth.

What else do we know about Noah? Look at verses 9 and 14. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (verse 9)

• He was a just man. Just means lawful, righteous (man). He was in right relationship with God.
• He was perfect in his generations. Perfect refers to integrity, truth, without blemish, complete, full, whole. It conveys the idea of maturity or completeness. This is how Noah lived among the wicked people that God wanted to destroy, and did. He stood alone for God.
• He was instructed by God to build an ark. The word ark means box. Noah was given the details for making the barge-like vessel.
• He obeyed God, though it took 120 years to complete. His family was saved as a result of Noah's obedience.
• He walked with God.

Noah was saved by grace through faith in the coming Savior (Eph. 2:8-9) as we are.
Remember that it had never rained before, only midst rose up from the ground to water it.

We see the great faith of Noah to:
*believe the unbelievable; flood everything and killing everything;
*to do the incredible; build an ark in the middle of nowhere (verses 14-16); saving his family;
*accept God's Word at face value; God was going to destroy both man and earth (verse 13);
*obey God by standing up of God and His Word, by standing against the ridicule and mockery of the
  world; capture and bring all the animals by two's into the ark, which had to be a male and female.

Do I walk with God, listening and obeying Him? Are my ways just and perfect? How strong is my faith in God and His Word? What about you, sister?

LET IT GROW

Here's some interesting information about the ark:

• 450' long, 75' wide, 45' high (a boat that was 1 1/2 football fields in size);
• 3 stories, decks tall;
• a barge-like vessel, that floated, not sailed across the water;
• had a window at the top;
• had a door on its side;
• held 2 of each animal, male and female; (could have been 17,000 to 1,000,000);
• housed 8 people;
• held enough food for the animals and people;
• withstood water-40 days of rain and 150 days of prevailing on the earth;
• made of pitch and gopher wood.

Just as the ark was safety and salvation for Noah and his family, so Jesus is our ark of salvation in which our soul is saved and safe.

Verse 18 is the first mention of the covenant God established. It was made with Noah and his family. Covenant is in the sense of cutting; a compact (made by passing between two pieces of flesh). The pledged covenant is actually explained in 9:9-17 of Genesis. It was a one-time act, as the rainbow reminds us. God has kept his promise.

How strong is my faith and trust in God's Word? When I see a beautiful rainbow in the sky, do I remember God's faithfulness? Do I have enough faith to do a gigantic job for God?

LET IT GO

Believe the unbelievable; do the incredible; accept God's Word; obey God.

Walk by faith in God.

Trust Jesus to be my Ark.