1 Dear Friend, this is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor Jeremy Tan from the pulpit of Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. We are committed to expository preaching because we believe it is the most effective way to expose, explain and expound the Holy Scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Through careful systematic and sequential exposition, the preacher is able to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and Christians are blessed with a regular, well-balanced diet of God s Word. Expository preaching also helps us to have a high view of Scripture. We wish to extend a warm welcome to you to join us in our church services for a time of uplifting worship and helpful Bible study, which will bring rejoicing and refreshment to your soul. Do visit our church website at www.amazingracebc.org or write to us at amazingracebc@gmail.com. NOAH AND THE ARK Genesis 6:9 22 In the days of Noah, the sons of God married the daughters of men. In our view, the sons of God are the descendants of Seth who were enticed by the beauty of the daughters of men, which are the woman of Cain. Their mixed marriages defiled and polluted the seed of the woman, through which the promised deliverer would come. The union of the Sethites and Cainites produced a race of ungodly people that provoked God to grief and judgment. It is possible that the men of Seth were demon-possessed to marry the Cainite women, or they were simply tempted by their beauty. Whatever the reason, the consistent principle throughout the Scriptures is that sheep cannot convert goats, but goats can certainly lead the sheep astray. For example, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, became foolish and idolatrous because of his foreign wives. Likewise, the Cainites prevailed over against the Sethites. In Jeremiah 13:23 the prophet asked the rhetorical questions, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? The skin and the spots point to an underlying spiritual truth. Left to humanity, spiritual change is impossible. Only God can convict and convert lost sinners to become believers in Christ. Spiritual regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit. According to Genesis 6:6, the great wickedness of man caused pain to God; God was grieved, and He repented for creating man. The word repented is an anthropomorphic term that describes God s acute reaction to sin. God hates sin. Then in Genesis 6:7, God put into motion His plan of judgment. He set forth a limit of 120 years before unleashing judgment on the earth. But in Genesis 6:8, God graciously provided salvation to Noah and his family. God would judge the wicked unbelievers through the Flood, but He would save the seed of the woman from perishing. By saving Noah, God is keeping His promise of a deliverer for His people.
2 The four chapters in Genesis 6-9 are about Noah. In this section, we have an outline of six main points that take us through Genesis 6:9-22. But before we study the text, let us look at some noteworthy parallels in the life of Noah with Adam and Moses. First, Noah is depicted as Adam redivivus (revised). He is the sole survivor and successor to Adam; both walk with God; both are the recipients of the promissory blessing; both are caretakers of the lower creatures; both father three sons; both are workers of the soil; both sin through the fruit of a tree; and both father a wicked son who is under a curse. (Kenneth Mathews, quoted by R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, p. 132). With Moses, the parallels are three-fold. First, the Hebrew word translated ark is the same word used for the basket in which Moses mother placed him. In fact, the King James translation use the word ark for the basket (Exodus 2:3, 5). Just as the great ark was covered in pitch to preserve Noah and his family, the little ark was covered in pitch to preserve the baby Moses. Another parallel between Noah and Moses is that the Flood drowned all those outside the ark, and the Red Sea drowned the Egyptian army. Third, God gave detailed instructions for the building of both the ark and the tabernacle, and also for the classification of clean and unclean animals. Now let us learn about Noah and the ark, beginning with I. The Character of Noah. Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. The book of Genesis is divided into sections by a toledot. The toledot is a Hebrew word translated as, These are the generations of. There are eleven toledots that divide the book into ten sections (Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2). Genesis 6:9 is the beginning of the next major section in the book. This is the longest section; it begins here, and ends in Genesis 9. The theme of this section is not the Flood, as cataclysmic as it was; nor is it the extent of the judgment, worldwide as it was. Rather, the focus is about God s gracious salvation of Noah, and Noah s faithful obedience to God. Noah s name means comfort or rest. Lamech named his son according to his faith in God to provide a deliverer, and a final rest for His people, from the curse of sin. Perhaps Noah would be that deliverer, but not yet. Noah was the last in the line of the Sethites. When he was born, six of his ancestors were still living. They are Enos (the son of Seth), Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Noah s father, Lamech. I did not mention Enoch because God had translated him to Heaven before Noah was born. Noah grew up in a household of faith, and his extended family were people who believed and worshipped God. Genesis 6:9 points out three marks of Noah s character. First, he was a just man. This word also means righteous. According to 2 Peter 2:5 Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Noah was just like Enoch, his great-grandfather. He preached righteousness and practiced it. Noah walked the talk.
3 Next, Noah was perfect in his generations. Being perfect does not mean that he was sinless. Noah started well, but after the Flood he did not cover himself with glory, so to speak, when he became drunk. But being perfect means to be mature or complete in faith. The third characteristic of Noah is that he walked with God. To walk with God means more than living for the Lord. Just as his great-grandfather, Enoch, walked with God, Noah lived to please God. He lived in close communion with the Lord. As the patriarchs died one after another, Noah found the circle of the faithful becoming smaller and smaller. Nevertheless by faith, Noah endured the wickedness of the world until he stood alone with God on the eve of judgment. How did Noah become a just and perfect man who walked with God? The answer is God s grace. Noah did not earn God s grace because of his character. Instead, it was God s grace that made Noah into the man he was. It was God s grace that changed Noah s life. Genesis 6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Note that the order of the sons is not as it is listed in this verse. Genesis 10:21 indicates that Japheth was the eldest, then Shem, and Ham was the youngest (Genesis 9:24). Whatever we might think of Noah s sons before the Flood, the Bible does not hint at their attitude in the same way as the sons-in-law of Lot. When Lot went to his sons-in-law to warn them about God s judgment that would fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah, they thought he was jesting; Lot s warnings did not seem serious and urgent to them (Genesis 19:14). They did not believe him at all. But for the sons of Noah, it is likely that they helped their father to build the ark. Of course, all of them followed their father into the safety of the ark. II. The Corruption of the Earth. Genesis 6:11-12 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. In Genesis 6:5, we read about the great wickedness of man. Here Moses adds some details to man s great wickedness. Violence filled the earth. There was crime and increasing lawlessness. This was a time when the wicked terrorized the world. Likewise in our time, there are terrorists that occupy land in the Middle East and they act with barbarity and cruelty against the people, and elsewhere bombs are detonated that caused chaos and the loss of lives. The world in Noah s day was also corrupt. The word translated corrupt describes a world spoiled, and disfigured by sin (Genesis: A Commentary, Bruce A. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, p. 134). Next Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the The statement, The end of all flesh is come before me, reminds us of God s declaration in Genesis 6:3 that there are only 120 years before the time of judgment. III. The Command to Noah.
4 Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. The material used to build the ark is gopher wood, which is either cedar or cypress wood, and it is sealed with pitch, both within and on the exterior of the vessel, to make it water-proof. Inside are compartments or stalls for the different animals, storage space for food, and living quarters for Noah and his family. Next, God gives to Noah the details of the construction. Genesis 6:15-16 15 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. 16 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. According to a conservative estimate of a cubit, the dimensions of the ark are 450 feet in length, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high; or 137m long, 22m broad, and 13m deep. Let me give you comparisons of the ark with some familiar large-sized vessels. The ark is longer than the largest passenger aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380, which is 240 feet or 73m. The ark is just under half the length of the Titanic, which is 882 feet or 268.83m. The gross tonnage of the Titanic is 43.153 tons, whereas the ark, which is smaller, had a gross tonnage of 13.960. The gross tonnage is a ship s overall internal volume. In other words, the ark had about one-fourth the holding capacity of the Titanic. There are three decks inside the ark, one window, and one door. One window is surely insufficient for proper ventilation, so it is commonly believed that the window is an opening under the eave that ran around the entire vessel. The three decks inside the ark have a capacity equivalent to more than 500 railroad stock cars. The vessel could hold more than 125,000 sheep-sized animals. However, doubts are raised about Noah s expertise in shipbuilding. No one had ever built a ship, at least one as large as the ark. So how did Noah get the skills and ability to build it? But should we be surprised at Noah s ability? God designed the ark, and Noah followed God s instructions! Furthermore, the ark was more like a great barge than a typical sea-going vessel. There was no need for a bridge on board the ark because it was not built to go anywhere; it was only designed to float. So God gave Noah the plan for the ark. There was more than enough work to keep Noah and his sons occupied for the next hundred-odd years. Keep in mind that every part of the ark was handmade; Noah had no equipment that are used in modern shipbuilding. This was tough, labourious work. Next, God gave Noah the promise of salvation. This brings us to our next point IV. The Covenant with Noah. Genesis 6:17-18 17 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
5 is in the earth shall die. 18 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. In the middle of these verses about Noah and the ark, Moses introduces a word of great theological importance. It is the term covenant. This is the first time the word is used in the Bible, but after this it is used frequently. This term is used 253 times in the Old Testament and 20 times in the New Testament. A biblical covenant is a promise of God to people with whom He is dealing in a special way. There are several important features in God s covenant with people. First, God s covenant is unilateral. In a contract between two parties, both sides must agree to the terms. But with God, He does not bargain or compromise on the terms. God decides the terms of His covenant. God decided the means of salvation for Noah, and He decided who should be saved by the means. Noah did not choose God; God chose Noah and his family, eight persons in all. God s choosing of Noah and his family is nothing but the doctrine of sovereign election. Without God s choice, Noah and his family would be condemned with the rest of the world. The world does not like God s arrangement. They think that when God chooses, it must be arbitrary, autocratic, and that God is unloving and unreasonable. There are people who read and believe the Bible, and they even think of God in those terms! But God s people must not think as the world does. We ought to rejoice because God s terms are never unfair but always perfect. The second feature of God s covenant is that it is eternal. God knows his plan from the beginning, announces it clearly, and then does exactly what he has promised. (James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, p. 336). Notice in later chapters the eternal covenant that God made with Noah. Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 9:12-16 12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. The third feature of God s covenant is that it is established by grace. It is good that God makes a covenant according to His grace. If the fulfilment of God s covenant depends on something we must do, we are sure to fail. God s promises are all according to His grace. There is nothing in us, and nothing we can do, to merit any good thing from God. V. The Cargo in the Ark.
6 The crew on board the vessel are eight souls in all: Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. Now we are informed about the cargo. Genesis 6:19-20 19 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. 20 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. In Genesis 7:2, we are informed that Noah was commanded to bring into the ark clean animals by sevens, but only a pair for the unclean animals. Genesis 6:21 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. Noah s family, along with the many land animals and birds of the sky, stayed in the ark during the Flood until the waters subsided enough for them to disembark. How did Noah gather all the animals and birds? He did not travel the world to catch all the different species. Instead, the animals and birds were all gathered to Noah in the same way that God brought all the animals to Adam to be named (Genesis 2:19-20). We do not know the number of species that God brought to Noah, but undoubtedly there were many. VI. The Commitment of Noah. Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. In Genesis 6:9 we have the character of Noah described. He was a just and perfect man who walked with God. According to Amos 3:3 the question is asked, Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Noah walked in agreement with God because he did all that God commanded him. Noah s obedience reveals his commitment to God. Be clear about this: walking with God is not a stroll in the park! Walking with God will take you and your family in the direction that goes against the world. Walking with God is counter-cultural and will cause you the loss of friendships and fellowship. The time may come when walking with God means just you and the Lord! John Calvin fleshed out for us the meaning of Noah s commitment to God. First, the prodigious size of the ark might have overwhelmed all his senses, so as to prevent him from raising a finger to begin the work. Let the reader reflect on the multitude of trees to be felled, on the great labour of conveying them, and the difficulty of joining them together. The matter was also long deferred; for the holy man was required to be engaged more than a hundred years in most troublesome labour. Nor can we suppose him to have been so stupid, as not to reflect upon obstacles of this kind. (Hughes, p. 137). Let us think about the troublesome labour that confronted Noah. Besides the tough work of building the great ark, Noah had to ignore discouragement, and he had to endure the abuse and taunting of the unbelievers. He and his family were the laughingstock of the world. Perhaps his sons questioned the worth of his commitment to obey God. Is it worth all the trouble to build the ark? Noah even had to face the threats of violence, for there was violence in the earth. It is by no stretch of the imagination to believe that Noah s life was threatened
7 for preaching righteousness to people who were rebels against God. There are people who reject God and they refuse to believe God s Word, yet they are angry to be discriminated or excluded from the Gospel of salvation. What kept Noah going? Noah s only sustenance was his unyielding belief in God s bare word. God told him to build the ark, and he would complete the task. Compared with Noah, we have the complete Word of God. Noah only had the plan to build the ship, and the promise of salvation from God. But we have all the promises of God in the Bible that are meant for us. According to 2 Corinthians 1:20, all the promises of God are yea, and Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every promise is fulfilled in Christ. Conclusion We end our study in Hebrews 11, the great Hall of Faith in the Bible, where Noah is mentioned. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith, Noah obeyed God. By faith, he believed God s warning of judgment to come, the scale of which the world had never seen before, and he went to work on the ark. Every day that Noah walked with God and worked on the ark, the unbelievers condemned themselves by their refusal to heed the warning of judgment. According to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:16, the Gospel preached or presented is like the aroma of life to those who believe, but for those who do not believe it is the aroma of death. Whenever the Gospel is preached, a Gospel tract is given to someone, and there is the sharing of the Good News of salvation through Christ with another person, God is giving sinners the opportunity to repent and to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. By not believing, they condemn themselves. If you are not saved, this is your opportunity from God to believe. The commitment of Noah to God s plan for the ark and the promise of salvation may be illustrated by the commitment of Charles Haddon Spurgeon to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Spurgeon first began to preach in London in 1855, there were quarters that ridiculed him for his preaching of the Gospel. Although many people came to hear him, there were others who said that his popularity would be short-lived. Up like a rocket, down like a stick, they predicted. But Spurgeon ignored them and persevered with his preaching. He believed that even when he stood alone, he stood on the ground of God s Word that cannot be shaken. He said, I am quite willing to be eaten by dogs for the next fifty years but the more distant future shall vindicate me. Today after more than 150 years, Charles Spurgeon is remembered and he stands taller than those who criticized and mocked him. We must be prepared to stand alone with God. We ought to be like Athanasius of Alexandria (A.D. 296-373), who stood alone for the doctrine of the deity of Christ. Athanasius well-known motto is Contra Mundum. Merriam-Webster defines this Latin phrase as against the world: in defiance of all general opinion. It was Athanasius against the world!
8 We find in Hebrews 11 Noah and all the faithful people of God standing alone. What about you and me? Are we prepared to stand alone, and to persevere in our faith to believe God at His Word, no matter how many others may dispute and disagree with us? 1 Peter 1:24-25 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Are you a believer in Christ? God saves sinners through His Son Jesus Christ. Come now to Christ in faith, and God will save your soul! Permission: We share our materials with you as a blessing from the ministry of our church. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Amazing Grace Baptist Church. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: Copyright: Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. Website: www.amazingracebc.org. Used by permission as granted on website.