Genesis 6:5-22

Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that God's ways are not our ways, and God's view of any given situation is not necessarily our view.

That's why He has admonished us in Proverbs  3:5 to "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Also, in 1 Samuel 16: 7, we are reminded that "--the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

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Last week we witnessed the downfall of the godly line of Seth.

At one time they had called "upon the name of the LORD," but through intermarriage, they had been gradually assimilated into­ the ungodly line of Cain.

Or, at least, that’s one interpretation of the verses found in Genesis 6:1-2:  "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2: That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

Separation had lost its meaning, and compromise was in vogue.

Of course the testimony for God had been completely lost.

However, from man's point of view, the outcome of this merger had been a total success.

In fact, V 4 tells us that "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

So we have quite a rosy picture here, but only because we are looking "on the outward appearance."

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However, this very same scene looks quite different when it is viewed through God’s eyes.

V 5-6 "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.
6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

Yes, this scene becomes shockingly different when it is observed through God’s eyes. 

And that's because He could clearly see that "the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

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So it really doesn't matter if you are mighty.

It doesn't even matter if you are a man of renown.

What really matters is what God sees when He looks at your heart.

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I purposely skipped V 3, but we will go back to it now.

"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

What does that mean?

Well, it tells us that the storm clouds were already gathering.

In spite of man’s seeming success, his time was running out.

Yes, judgment was coming, but by God's mercy, so was a period of grace.

During those 120 years, that wicked generation would be warned of the judgment ahead, and the fact that there was a place of refuge.

And both the warning and the refuge would be provided by God’s servant Noah.

Yes, 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness.”

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And what determined the length of this period of grace?

Well, God did, of course.  He personally set the time at 120 years.

But there was something else going on, and 1 Peter 3 tells us what it was.

1 Peter 3:20 "--- when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing ---.”

So Noah preached, and Noah built, and when the ark was finished, judgment came.

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And what about our age of grace?

We have a time limit, too, don't we?

And we also have a responsibility.

Just like Noah, we need to warn our friends and neighbours of the judgment ahead, and their place of refuge that is in Christ Jesus.

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V 6 "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

In V 5 we saw the heart of man, and it "was only evil continually."

In V 6 we see the heart of God, and it was a grieving heart.

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V 7  "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."

Take a good look at that little period at the end of V 7.

--- "for it repenteth me that I have made them---(period)."

That could have been the period that ended world history, had it not been for the grace of God, and the separation of one man.

V 8 "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

You will notice that Noah "found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

No, he didn't obtain God's grace by his own efforts.  He found it.

In fact, God’s grace cannot be obtained, for by its very definition, it is His unmerited favour.

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V 9-10 "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10: And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

You see, when the godly line of Seth intermarried with the ungodly line of Cain, their testimony had been nearly lost, but not completely lost.

In fact, if you read Chapter 5, which is a record of the godly line of Seth, you will find that Noah and his sons were part of that line.

Genesis 5:32  "And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

And in V 9 of Chapter 6, we are told that Noah was "perfect in his generations."

So, in spite of the fact that the rest of his relatives had intermingled with the ungodly line of Cain, he and his sons had not.

No, he was "perfect in his generations."

In a world that was sold out to Satan, "Noah walked with God," and his sons followed his example.

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V 11-12 "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."

Sounds like the six o'clock news, doesn't it?

Yes, we’re here again.

That's the bad news, but there is good news also. 

Matthew 24:37 says, "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 

Yes, Jesus is coming soon, and what a blessed hope that is.

But if He is coming soon, then we don't have much time left to preach the gospel.

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Genesis 6:13-14 "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 earth.
14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

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This week, and again in next week's lesson, we will be considering Noah’s Ark as it pictures our Lord Jesus Christ, our Ark of safety in a world under God's condemnation.

Then, in the next lesson, we will be looking at the actual physical properties of the ark and its ability to complete the job that God had designed it for.

However, before we get into that, let's take a look at the ark from Noah’s point of view.

Hebrews 11:7 says, "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."

Yes, Noah was a man of faith, and it’s a good job that he was, for every aspect of the ark was most unbelievable.

For instance, Hebrews 11 tells us that he was "warned of God of things not seen as yet.”

Of course the flood would have been one of those things.

And if he had waited to see it, there wouldn't have been any time left to build the ark.

But there was something else that he had never experienced previously.

He had never seen water falling out of the sky!

Genesis 2:6 tells us that "---there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."

And if that were still true in Noah's day, and I believe it was, it would be very hard to believe that there would ever be enough water to float a large ship, when the only known source of precipitation was mist.

But Noah wasn't mystified, was he? 

No, he simply accepted God's word by faith, and began building his giant ship on dry land.

Yes, the ark started out its voyage on dry land, and it ended it on dry land.

In fact, there's a very good possibility that its passengers never even saw the flood.

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So the ark required a lot of faith, but on the other hand, it provided the only vehicle of God's grace.

And Noah needed that vehicle of grace.

In V 7 God said, "-- I will destroy man whom I have created--.”

And since Noah was a man, he would have been included in that destruction.

Oh, he "--was a just man," all right, but he was only an average swimmer, and water is very undiscriminating.

Outside of God's grace, he would have drowned as quickly as anyone else.

No, Noah wasn't safe because he was a just man.

He was safe because he had "---found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

But there was no grace to be found in the sin-cursed earth around him.

It was under God's judgment, and faced total destruction.

No, the only place where God's grace could be found was in the ark.

In fact, in that place of refuge, God couldn't even see Noah's sin, or the sin of his family.

How could that be?

Well, the answer is found in V 14, where we find the first real indication that the ark is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

No doubt this pitch was some sort of tar applied to its joints to keep out the water.

But there’s more involved here than just tar.

You see, the original Hebrew word Kâphar  (Kaw-far), that is translated pitch in this verse, has another meaning.

It can also be translated "atonement," which, as you know, means "to cover," or it can be translated "to reconcile.”

So now we know why the grace of God could be extended to Noah and his family while they were in the ark.

Just as Adam and Eve had been covered by the skins of a sacrificial animal, so Noah and his family were covered by the pitch of atonement.

Yes, both practically and symbolically, the pitch kept out the flood waters of God's judgment.

And did you notice that the pitch was applied both "within and without"?

Again, that was both practical and symbolic. 

On the outside, it was for the eyes of God.

Because He could see that covering of atonement, He could extend His grace to all that were within. 

And the pitch on the inside of the ark was put there for the eyes of man.

Yes, Noah and his family could look at that pitch and take comfort in the fact that the flood waters of God's judgment would never touch them.

Wonderful truth, and a wonderful provision!

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Genesis 6:15  "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of --."

Noah wasn't the architect of the ark.

God provided the plans, and Noah merely followed them.

But He was more than just a contractor.

During those 120 years, Noah worked in a dual capacity.

He was a carpenter, and he was "a preacher of righteousness.”

And he was a preacher with a most unbelievable message.

However, he never watered it down.  No pun intended.

No, he confidently preached about a flood in a world that had never seen rain, and a very large ship built entirely on land.

I can almost hear their comments:

 

Hey, Noah!  Don't you think your building program is a little square?

Hey, Noah!  It’s going to take an awful lot of mist to float a ship like that!

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My friends, God had said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth --," and His word could not be broken.

However, in His grace, He provided a way of escape.  Whosoever will enter into this ark shall be saved.

 

Hey, Noah!  How many people have you persuaded to go into that box of yours?

Answer:  So far there are seven.

Did you hear that?  Old Noah has only had seven converts in nearly 120 years!  And aren't they your own family?

Answer:  Well, yes, they are.

Have you ever thought of changing your message to something, let us say, more geared to the needs of the people?  You'll never fill your ark with a story like that.

Answer:  Sir, it's not my job to fill the ark.  My job is to preach the word of God clearly, and to build the ark.

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And if Noah were here today, he'd say, Don't tinker with the message.  Just preach it, and God will fill the ‘ark.’

 

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

No, Noah didn't change the message, and Noah didn't change the ark.

V 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."

If we are right in assuming that a cubit is 18 inches, then the ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

And even if we are not right about its actual measurements, the ratio between these dimensions is definitely correct.

And it's a good thing Noah didn't tinker with the plans.

You see, these dimensions are very similar in their proportions to our modern-day ocean liners.

And someone has even taken the trouble to build a small model of the ark and test it in a wave tank.

Not surprisingly, it was found to be capable of withstanding tremendous waves.

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V 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."

As you might have noticed, this little window was finished "above," and there was no indication that there were any other windows in the side of the ark. 

That's why I said the passengers probably never saw the flood.

And certainly that would be a merciful arrangement.

Otherwise, their hearts would have been torn by the site of their neighbours in their last frantic moments of struggle, and the awful scene of death thereafter.

But more to the point, those in God's ark never saw the flood waters of His judgment.

And, in like manner, all those in Christ will never see judgment.

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

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So here we have a little 18-inch window in the top of the ark, and like any other window, you could see through it in both directions.

First of all, we will look out of the window.

We already know what they couldn't see, don't we?

They couldn't see the flood waters of judgment.

However, what Noah and his family could see, at least on a clear day, were the heavens above them, and that speaks of prayer.

And what should it be that fills the believer’s view from day to day?

Not the world around us that is reeling out of control and fast approaching judgment, but rather, our eyes should be fixed upon our Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, Colossians 3:1-2 admonishes us, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

So with our eyes fixed on that little window, we can have peace in our world gone mad.

Oh, the ride might be rough at times, but our destination is sure, and we can take comfort in the fact that all that touches us has touched Christ first.

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However, not all believers are looking out of that window. 

And even though they are safe in the Ark , not all of them are enjoying the ride.

So keep your eyes on the pitch, and keep your vision focused out of the window!

And, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

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So, now that we have looked out of the window, let's consider the view from the outside in.

That would be God's view, wouldn't it?

On that awful day of judgment, God looked down in anger upon a wicked generation that had ignored His warnings for 120 years.

His period of grace was over, and only judgment remained.

The flood waters were pouring down upon their heads, and swirling around their feet.

But as it descended upon them, it also beat upon the ark with the little 18-inch window in the top.

Through it, God could see Noah and his family, but not one drop of His judgment would fall upon them.

They were safe because they were in the ark, covered by the pitch of God's atonement.

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V 16 "---and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it."

Not surprisingly, there was a door in the side of the ark.

But what was surprising is the fact that there was only one door.

Wouldn't it be much handier for a vessel that was 450 feet long, and was three stories high, to have several doors in it?

I'm sure that very thought had crossed Noah's mind, but he hadn't made any changes.

You see, not only was the ark a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's place of refuge against His own righteous judgment, but the door itself was a picture of the only acceptable way into His presence.

And because there is only one way to come to God, there could only be one door.

Jesus made that point very clear when He said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved --."

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Oh, I'm sure there were many doors that had been firmly closed on that day when God’s flood overwhelmed the earth.

But they were man-made doors, and they were totally inadequate to shut out God’s judgment.

No, on the awful day when "the fountains of the great deep" were "broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened,"
there was only one door of safety, and that door was in the side of the ark.

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And maybe you have already noticed that the door of God’s provision had no dimensions, at least none that were set down in scripture.

We know the ark was 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 45 feet high.

We know the size of the window, but not the size of the door.

No, its dimensions were not given because there is no limit to Christ’s mercy: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

However, there was a limit to the time it would be open.

At the end of 120 years, the way into the ark would be closed. 

2 Corinthians 6:2 "(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"

Yes, when the day of judgment finally came, Genesis 7:16 tells us that "--the LORD shut him in."

For the believer, that speaks of security, but for the unbeliever, it represents disaster.  

And Noah and didn't shut the door.  God did.

And when God shut that door, Noah and his family were shut in as firmly as the lost were shut out.

And by the way, that door was never reopened in the "old world."

In fact, when Noah arrived in that new cleansed earth, Genesis 8:13 tells us that he had to cut a hole in the side of the ark to get out.

And, in like manner, it is through the riven side of Christ that we enter into the presence of God.

Hebrews 10:19-20  "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20: By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh --."

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Genesis 6:17-18 "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.
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."

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--- "But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark --.”

God had made a covenant with Noah, but it had one condition:  "thou shalt come into the ark --.”

And the new testament, or new covenant in Christ’s blood, only avails us if we are in Christ.

Outside of our Ark of safety, there is only judgment.

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V 19-22 "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.
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.
22: Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he."

Except for the clean animals, of which he took seven, there was only two of each kind taken into the ark.

And because they had come out of a vegetarian world, no extra animals were needed for food.

That means there would be no deaths in the ark.  All that went in would come out.

And at least as far as Noah's family was  concerned, there were no births or deaths.

And so it is for those who are in Christ.

Only those who have entered the door by faith will be found in Him.

No, there's no such thing as a second-generation Christian, or a believer that has lost his salvation.

There are no births or deaths in Christ.

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Next week we will see that God's flood- waters of judgment were inescapable.

And as they poured down upon the wicked, they beat upon the ark with equal ferocity.

And after that storm has passed, where do you think we will find the ark--bumping along on the bottom of the ocean?

Oh, no!

As the flood waters rose higher and higher, so did the ark, riding victoriously over sin and death.

And if you take a wee peek through the window, you will find that we rose with Him, safe in the arms of Jesus.