Good morning,
This week our Old Testament Foundation Stone is the Flood. God shows His judgment and His mercy. He judged the men and women who chose to act wickedly and He showed mercy to a man who chose to do righteously.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Genesis 6:8, 9, 22)
INTRO: In the beginning GOD…
MAN’S SIN AND GOD’S JUDGEMENT
GOD’S HEART GRIEVED DETERMINES TO DESTROY MAN
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (Gen 6:5-7, 6:17)
GOD COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Gen 6:14-16)
NOAH’S OBEDIENCE
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Gen 6:14-22)
GOD’S ARK OF MERCY
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. (Gen 6:18-21)
We determined last week that man sins. We learned that man’s sin requires judgment.
This week we see God applying His judgment on His creation because they chose to act wickedly and do evil. How would you feel if you poured your life into someone and then they turned their back on you? This is what happened with God. This was His creation. It was a perfect creation prior to sin being entered into the world. God’s standard is to live righteously.
Noah chose to do righteously in the midst of all this wickedness. Can you imagine the ridicule he took while building the ark? Yet he obeyed and followed God’s precise instructions.
God extended mercy to Noah and his family for their obedience. Only eight people were saved. We are their descendants.
The challenge for us is to live lives pleasing to God. That means reading and obeying His word, the Bible. Reading it everyday and doing what it says to do, will put us on the road to living a righteous life.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001