Introduction:

        1. Around 1500 years have passed since Gen 3 when sin came into the  world and mankind fell

        2. I am convinced that there was a literal flood that covered the whole earth

                a. This is a historical event, not a mythical story

                b. Every major civilization has a flood legend

                c. The details differ from civilization to civilization and much has been  distorted over time, but there is still that seed of truth about the flood

                d. Geologists have discovered thick sedimentary formations that cover thousands of miles which require a catastrophic flood

        3. It is common to find marine fossils at the tops of mountains

        4. Some object that there is not enough water in the entire hydrologic cycle to cover the earth and mountains

                a. Don’t forget about the vapor canopy that surrounded the earth

                b. Remember that it had never rained before the flood and a mist came up from under the ground

                c. Water above the earth and water under the earth combined to cover the earth – 7:11

                  Ge 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second  month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

                d. Just because there is not enough water in the system now does not mean that there never was.

        5. Some object there is no way to get 2 of every kind of animal on the ark

                a. There was enough room on the ark for the animals plus room left over for a sauna, a walking track and a basketball court

                b. The ark was big – really big

                     1. Length was 450 feet – Width was 75 ft  -  height was 45 ft

                     2. The total floor space in the ark was 100,000 sq ft.

                     3. The volume was 1,396,000 cubic feet

                     4. It had a cargo capacity of 15,000 tons

        6. Some US Navy architects studied the dimensions and plan of the ark

                a. They concluded that the dimensions were perfect for a vessel which was designed to withstand the flood

                b. They said that it would have been an enormously stable vessel not being overturned in the most massive seas

        7. There were big animals on the ark and small – suppose that the average animal was the size of a sheep

                a. Suppose 18,000 kinds of animals were taken on the ark – double it because 2 of each kind was taken

                b. You only use up 60% of the capacity of the ark

                c. Noah did not have to gather these animals, they came to Noah

                    1. Remember that God put instincts into animals

                    2. Raise a bird indoors so that it never sees the outside then release it and it migrates thousands of mi going where it is supposed to go

                    3. If God could do that, couldn’t He gather the animals to Noah?

                    4. If God could put a guidance system in a bird, don’t you think He could cause the animals to come to the ark?

        8. People can choose to reject the Biblical account of the flood, but it is  not because it is not possible.

                a. There is ample evidence that it really happened

                b. There is geological evidence

                c. There is scientific evidence

        9. Let’s leave the technical matters now and look at the times of Noah and the spiritual significance of the ark

I.    The Assessment of Society

A.  Days of Apostasy – 6:1-5

1.     Apostasy means to “fall away”

a)    In the 1500 years since creation all of society had fallen away from God

b)    They had the light of creation and the light of conscience, yet they departed from God

c)    They had the testimony of Adam

(1)   Adam lived 930 yrs

(2)   Adam and Noah’s father overlapped 54 yrs.

(3)   Think of how popular Adam would have been

d)    They had the preaching of Noah for 120 yrs

(1)   I get upset when I preach for 40 minutes and people don’t listen to me

(2)   Imagine Noah preaching for 120 yrs and no one listening to him

2.     Evil Marriages – vs 1-2 ß

a)    Some believe that these verses speak of fallen angels taking possession of human bodies and impregnating human women

b)    Result was offspring that had huge size / superhuman ability

c)    Vs 2 mentions the “sons of God”

(1)   In the OT this phrase is exclusively used of angels – Job 1:6 ß

(2)   These fallen angels were the one’s spoken of in 2Pet 2:4-5  ß

(3)   The context of the above passage is certainly Noah’s day

(4)   Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

d)    Satan was trying to corrupt the seed of the woman from which would come the Messiah who would crush Satan’s head

e)    Dr. Donald Barnhouse speculated that this might be the source of the legends of mythology

(1)   The legend of Hercules

(2)   Other heroes who were part human and part God

f)      Others believe that these verses speak of a godly line from Seth and an ungodly line from Cain

(1)   Some continued to worship God and look for the coming redeemer – the sons of God

(2)   Others chose not to follow God, but decided to do their own thing

(3)   The sons of God began intermarrying the daughters of men  caused the sons of God to become corrupt

3.     Evil Might – vs 3-4 ß

a)     “Giants”- bully, a tyrant

b)    This indicates cruelty in might

c)    They were not giants in stature, but giants in wickedness

d)    They were the caesars, Hitlers, Stalins, Mao of their days

4.     Evil Minds – vs 5  (see next point)

B.  Days of Anarchy – 6:5,6, 11 ß

1.     Evil began to permeate all of society

a)    Wickedness of man was great

b)    Every imagination of his thoughts was evil - Only evil continually

c)    Earth was filled with violence

2.     Think of the evil and wickedness of those days

3.     As the return of the Lord draws nearer, we will see things getting worse and worse

4.     People have a tendency to de-emphasize the importance of one's thoughts.

a)    But we are what we think.

b)    Our thought life is the foundation of our conduct.

c)    So much in our society is aimed at corrupting the thoughts of man—TV, Hollywood, filthy magazines, etc.

d)    If a person's thought life is corrupted, it will corrupt everything else about the person.

C.  Days of Apathy – Matt 24:37-38

        37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

1.     There was just a “who cares” kind of attitude

2.     There was apathy – there was no fear of God

3.     They were going through the normal activities of life

II.  The Ark of Salvation

A.  Symbolism of the Ark

1.     The Pitch That Covered the Ark – 6:14

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

a)    Pitch was waterproof, kept water from getting into the ark

b)    Remember the water was God’s judgment

c)    The word translated “pitch” here is translated “atonement” in other places

d)    Le 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

e)    This is basically saying that the blood is pitch for the soul – the blood keeps God’s judgment out as the pitch keeps the water out

f)      The blood of Jesus is our pitch – it delivers us from the judgment of God

2.     The Planning of the Ark – 6:14

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

a)    The ark was planned, every detail was planned

b)    The dimensions were planned, the type of wood was planned

c)    The ark pictures Jesus and there were many preparations for him

                  Re 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

d)    Before the world was created, God already had in His mind the cross – sin did not take God by surprise

e)    The ark only had one door – Jesus said, “I am the door…”

3.     The Passover and the Ark – Gen 8:4

           4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

a)    17^th day of the 7^th month was 3 days after Passover.

b)    3 days after the Passover the ark rested and was victorious over the judgment of God

c)    When was Jesus victorious over the grave? 3 days after Passover – up from the grave He arose

B.  Salvation Through the Ark

1.     The ark is the only way anyone could be saved from the flood

2.     Noah and his family were saved because they were safe in the ark

3.     Everyone outside of the ark perished in the flood

4.     The only way to escape the ultimate judgment of God is to be safe in Christ

a)    Salvation is by grace – listen to Gen 6:8 and Eph 2:8 ß

                           Ge 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

b)    God did not owe Noah salvation, He extended His grace to them

c)    Gen 6:9 says that Noah was perfect, but that does not mean that he was sinless

(1)   He approached God Abel’s way

(2)   He approached God the blood sprinkled way

d)    Noah had believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness – he stood perfect before God

5.     Our salvation today is by grace, it is not by works

a)    Salvation is by grace alone or works alone

b)    You cannot mix grace and works

6.     Heb 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.

a)    Noah was a man of faith

b)    God told Noah that it was going to rain, Noah had never seen rain but he believed what God said and acted

C.  Security of the Ark – 7:1-2  ß

1.     God said, “Noah, come on it” and Noah went in

2.     What a picture of salvation

3.     God calls us and saves us

4.     God was in the ark – He did not say, “Noah, go into the ark”

5.     Noah was as safe as God

6.     When you are saved you are in Christ Jesus – 2 Cor 5:17

            17 Therefore if any man be in Christ…

7.     Someone says, “Noah could have chosen to step out off the ark”

a)    No he couldn’t

b)    Ge 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

8.     True salvation is sure and secure

a)    Noah and his family were not holding on to a railing hoping to hold out secure till the end

b)    They may have fallen in the ark, but they didn’t fall out

Conclusion –

        1. Are you in the ark?

        2. Only those who are in Christ are safe and will make it to heaven.

        3. Do you see the wickedness of the world in which we live?

        4. It should not surprise you – the days just before the Lord comes back will be days like Noah’s day

        5. Boy, do we see it today.

Local or Universal Flood

1.        To say that Gen 6-9 describes a river overflow is misleading and exaggerated to say the least

2.        A downpour of 40 days and the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven being opened would not result in a local flood.

3.        The Bible uses certain words for the flood that don't apply to local floods - mabbul and kataklysmos

4.        The construction, outfitting and stocking of the ark would have been an absurd waste of time and money if the flood had just been local. God could have just warned Noah to flee to higher ground like He warned Lot in Sodom.

5.        The waters "prevailed". This wouldn't be said of a local flood. Job 12:15 - "…the waters overturned the earth."

6.        The water covered the mountains by at least 15 cubits.  A 17,000 flood is not a local flood.

7.        Every man died in Noah's flood. In a local flood, most people escape and survive.

8.        The extreme duration of the flood indicates that it was universal not local even after 4 months of receding waters, the dove could not find a dry spot.

9.        God's promise never to send such a flood again, has been broken many times if this flood were local.