Last week we began a new series of messages focused upon God’s offer of salvation to mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. This series is entitled, “COME TO THE DOOR.” The first message is based upon the passage of Genesis 7:1 – 24, one which I am calling, “Come into the Ark: God’s Shelter of Salvation.”
Genesis 7 depicts for us not only the occurrence of the universal flood which took place during the days of Noah, but also God’s last invitation that was extended to Noah’s generation. As we emphasized in last week’s column, the life truth which we can take away from this passage is this: even when the seas of sin abound and thrash all around us, there is a safe, secure shelter in God’s ark of salvation— Jesus Christ.
As I mentioned in last week’s article, there are three major principles for us to glean from Genesis 7. The first one focuses upon God’s declaration to man for redemption (v.1), which you can review from my previous column. The second one addresses God’s deliverance of the man of righteousness (vv.2 – 20). Let us take note of two aspects of this part of the narrative.
One involves Noah’s preparation for the Great Flood (vv.2 – 10), which describes for us his obedience to God leading up to that moment when God closed the door of the ark. The obedience which Noah gave to God was, first of all, complete (vv.2 – 3, 5). This speaks to Noah’s faithfulness unto the Lord. He built the ark as the Lord commanded and instructed him (cf. 6:13 – 22). He made provisions to take care of the animals and birds of the air while on the ark, in order “to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth” (v.3). And God took note of Noah’s faithful obedience (cf. 6:22 & 7:5)— “And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.”
The type of obedience which Noah gave to God may also be recognized as a consuming obedience (v.4). Here we can recognize something of Noah’s alertness to God’s coming judgment, and his brokenness over the sinfulness of man towards God. In 6:3 we read, And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” After 119 years and 51 weeks, God gave notice to Noah that He was about to move in a supernatural way. Noah was given an urgent realization that time was short for man and all the earth. One cannot help but believe that Noah was broken over the sinful condition of mankind, in general— but more specifically, over the lives of the people he knew and lived with as neighbors— knowing that the judgment of God was literally getting ready to rain down upon them. Cf. Isaiah 55:6 – 7.
Then, too, the kind of obedience which Noah gave unto the Lord may be described as that which was confident (v.7). Now we can see Noah’s restfulness in the Lord and His Word. Without question, Noah trusted God according to His Word, and in His ways.
The other aspect of this major truth addresses Noah’s preservation from the Great Flood (vv.11 – 20). What was that experience like for Noah and his family while on the ark? Well, we may not be able to give detailed specifics of what every day was like for them, but, Warren Wiersbe provides some clear understanding of the timeline regarding how long Noah and his family were on the ark in his writings on this passage. He writes…
The rain stopped after 40 days and 40 nights (cf. 7:12). However, the water continued to rise for another 110 days, and reached its peak after 150 days (cf. 7:24). At that time, the ark rested on a mountain peak of Ararat (cf. 8:4; its highest peak is 16,854 feet). It then took another 150 days for the waters to recede from the earth (cf.
8:3)… Two months and ten days later, Noah and his family left the ark and set the animals free (cf. 8:14 – 19). From the day that God shut them in, they had been in the ark a year and ten days (p.99) [Be Basic, p.99].
During that time, the Lord enabled Noah and his family to experience… 1) security within the ark (vv.11 – 15); 2) separation through the ark (v.16); and 3), the sufficiency of the ark (vv.17 – 20). Likewise, these are aspects of what we experience through our salvation in Jesus Christ. In Him we are safe and secure, because the enemy of our souls cannot snatch us from His almighty hand. In Him there is a sense of separation from this world through His sanctifying grace. In Him there is a lasting sense of sufficiency, because His grace and mercies are more than enough to sustain us through this life! It really is true: even when the seas of sin abound and thrash all around us, there is a safe, secure shelter in God’s ark of salvation— Jesus Christ. Cf. Romans 5:20 – 21.
Now we come to the third major principle we can glean from Genesis 7. It speaks to God’s destruction of the man of rebellion (vv.19 – 24). Now, keep something in mind at this point. We are not only examining this Old Testament text from a historical – literal context, but, we are understanding it as a theological typology as well. That is to say, we can recognize spiritual principles within the Old Testament which are fulfilled to a greater extent through the Lord Jesus Christ in a New Testament context.
Consider with me two points as we come to the conclusion of Genesis 7. One is that God prevailed in His judgment of sin (vv.19 – 23a, b). Man was unbelieving and corrupt, wicked and rebellious before God. Consequently, he reaped a judgment from the hand of God that was universal in reality (vv.19 – 22). What factors might help us understand that this flood described in Genesis 7 was, indeed, a universal event and not just a local event?
1) The clear language of the Bible clearly indicates that God intended to bring a universal judgment upon mankind and all the earth. Cf. Genesis 6:7 & 7:4, 21 – 23.
2) If the mountains were covered to such a height that the ark could float over the Ararat range (of modern day Turkey) and eventually settle down on a peak, then the entire planet must have been completely immersed. Remember, the highest peak of the Ararat mountains is 16,854 ft. in elevation. Cf. Genesis 7:18 – 20.
3) If this flood were only a local event, then why did God instruct Noah to build such an enormous vessel to save and preserve his family and the animals? Cf. Genesis 6:13 – 22. Over that 120-year period of time, Noah would have had ample time to have gathered his family and the animals together, and then traveled to a high enough region where the flood waters would not have been able to have reached them.
4) Following the Great Flood, and after Noah and his family departed from the ark, God made a covenant before Noah to never again destroy the earth and take away the life of mankind in such a manner (cf. Genesis 8:21 & 9:11). God then affirmed this covenant by giving the rainbow as a sign of His remembrance of His covenant to never destroy the earth again with a universal flood (cf. Genesis 9:12 – 17). Now, if the flood of Noah’s day was only a localized event, then God’s promise and the covenant sign of the rainbow mean absolutely nothing.
5) Both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Peter referred to the flood of Noah’s day in their teachings to illustrate future events that will, indeed, involve the whole world: the return of Christ (cf. Matthew 24:37 – 39 & Luke 17:26 – 27), and the worldwide judgment of fire (cf. 2 Peter 3:3 – 7). If the Great Flood was only a localized event for the area in which Noah and his family lived— and actually was not a universal flood— then Jesus’ and Peter’s references to the flood of Noah’s day would be false and misleading (Wiersbe, Be Basic, pp.99 – 101).
Revelation 20:11 – 15 clearly depicts through the reference of “The Great White Throne Judgment” that there is a universal judgment awaiting everyone who chooses their unbelief over the opportunity to follow Jesus in believing, repentant faith. Wiersbe describes this coming future judgment in this manner:
Hell (“the lake of fire”) is a witness to the righteous character of God. He must judge sin. Hell is also a witness to human responsibility, the fact that people are not robots or helpless victims but creatures able to make choices. God does not send people to hell; they send themselves by rejecting the Savior (cf. Matthew 25:41 & John 3:16 – 21) [The Wiersbe Study Bible, Notes from Revelation 20:11 – 15, p.1875].
Our final point is that we can acknowledge that God preserved His justified saints (vv.23c, 24). Outside of that ark, there was nothing but devastating destruction and judgment upon the earth. However, Noah and his family, and all the animals inside that ark, were safe and secure from that storm of judgment. Those eight individuals spent just over a year on that ark. God had saved them— preserved them— as He completed His work of judgment upon the earth, all because they had chosen to believe God and “come into His ark of salvation.”
Can you imagine what it was like for Noah’s generation after God had shut up the door of that ark? All those people had deliberately chosen to forfeit their opportunities to come into God’s ark of salvation due to their hearts of unbelief. The falling rain from the heavens, and the rising waters from the earth— and yes, I even believe that closed door of the ark— affirmed to those lost souls that there would be no more opportunities to declare their faith and trust in the One, true, and living God of the universe. They had missed out on— even wasted— God’s last invitation to them to turn to Him for the salvation which only He could provide.
Even today, God is still extending His offer of salvation from the storms and judgment of our personal sin. He does this through His Son, Jesus, because He has already paid the debt for our sin in full. He accomplished this through His sinless death when He was crucified on a Roman cross. And by means of His bodily resurrection, Jesus now possesses the keys to both Hades and Death. He alone possesses the absolute authority to fully and finally forgive us and cleanse us from all our sin.
But, a day will come when the last invitation to receive God’s salvation through Jesus Christ will be extended. And once the Lord has issued His last invitation to man to receive His gift of eternal life, all “second chances” with God will have been forfeited. The day will come when the words of Revelation 22:11 will be fulfilled, which says, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
Ironically, just a few days ago a number of small towns from southwest Virginia to east Tennessee to western North Carolina were overcome and devastated by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. I have even heard this storm referred to as a “1,000-year flood.” That storm system has left a pathway of destruction and death, with many families struggling to even know how to pick the pieces of their shattered lives. We all heard the weather forecasts in the days leading up to when Helene would make land on the gulf coast of Florida. We heard the dire warnings of the potential dangers of that system even as it began gaining more strength prior to making land. Many people heeded these warnings, and took the steps necessary to prepare for the storm as well as they possibly could, or, they evacuated from their homes to escape the potential dangers of it. Those steps of preparation that were taken helped to save many lives from the power of that incredible storm. And tragically, some people did not survive this storm because they did not acknowledge the warnings of the potential destructive power of Helene.
What if this moment were your last invitation— your final opportunity— to declare your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Lord, your life? How will you respond to Him and His offer of redemption from your sin? What will you choose to do with Jesus? Remember, what you choose to do with Jesus today may very well determine what one day Jesus must do with you. But, there is good news for you and me today: even when the seas of sin abound and thrash all around us, there is a safe, secure shelter in God’s ark of salvation— Jesus Christ. Hear God’s invitation to you today, and heed it. “Come into the Ark: God’s Shelter of Grace.”