In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[i] (Genesis 1:1, NLT) This phrase starts the Bible, and it forms the
foundation for all of our understanding of the world.
In the
first chapter of Genesis we learn that God created a man and a woman to whom he
gave the earth He had created. In
chapter 2, we learn more specifics about the man and the woman and their
circumstances.
The serpent
was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made . . .” (Genesis
3:1, NLT) This phrase starts the third chapter.
In chapter 3 we are introduced to our enemy, Satan, and to sin, the
curse and to grace.
These are
all beginnings.
Genesis is
a book of beginnings.
Until chapter
4 of Genesis there are only two people, Adam and Eve. These two people are all
that exists of the human race. There are
no ethnic groups. There are no borders,
divisions, schisms or factions. This changes very quickly as Adam and Eve’s
first born son kills their second born.
Chapters 4
and 5 list genealogies and give names and ages for people. We see how mankind is instantly divided as
Cain’s family is marked by violence and division.
We also see
the ages of people and are given the names of the line of Seth. If we stick just to the dates, names and
individuals given, we can calculate the flood started in year 1656 after
creation.
This next
thing is speculation, but it helps us to understand the setting at the time of
Noah. If we calculate the generations
and the child bearing ages and 3 to 5 children per family; as well as the
longevity indicated, we can calculate the population at the time of the flood
was anywhere from 1 to 40 billion people.[ii] We do not know actual mortality rates, birth
rates and such so fixing a number on the population is wildly speculative.
However, my point is that extremely large numbers are possible mathematically.
Genesis 6
starts with the statement that men began to multiply on the face of the earth. We
know from chapters 4 and 5 that cities were established. With cities established and population
multiplying, I tend to think of a significant worldwide population.
From
chapter 4 verse 22 we know that iron and bronze were being forged. We are given little information about the
world prior to the flood. We do not know what kind of technology they
developed, and how they lived their daily lives. However, we are told that the
sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their
wives. These unions produced children
who became giants, heroes and famous warriors. In this pre-flood world, there
were cities. There were iron tools. There were wars and fighting.
In chapter
6 verse 3 God says, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long
time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will
be no more than 120 years.” (NLT)
In this
pre-flood world, it was possible to have a direct relationship with God. We are
told in chapter 5 verse 24 that Enoch walked with God. The Law of Moses was not yet given. God’s relationship with man was still based
on the Garden of Eden standard where God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool
of the day. They also had the advantage of extremely long lives in which to
learn and perhaps find God.
In Acts
17:26-27, the Apostle Paul gives an interesting perspective. He says:
From one man he created all the
nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise
and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations
to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he
is not far from any one of us. (NLT)
After less
than two thousand years of men living long lives without law but with direct
access to God, the conclusion was:
The LORD observed the extent of
human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or
imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever
made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. (Genesis 6:5-6, NLT)
I would
like to believe that at least some people were good. But, the truth of the matter is: “Noah was a
righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he
walked in close fellowship with God.” (Genesis 6:9, NLT)
Did you
catch that: “The only blameless person living on the earth at the time?”
This is the
beginning of the story of God’s dealings with humanity. The age from creation to the flood represents
his first administration. It involved no
rules and an open invitation to walk with God.
From the
flood to Abraham was the second administration.
The rules were no meat with blood still in it and no murder. And, God promised never again to flood the
entire earth. The open invitation to walk with God was still there.
From
Abraham to Moses was the next administration.
We see a
pattern in the Bible of which the story of the flood is just the
beginning.
For
example, God sent Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. When they left Egypt they numbered anywhere
from 1 to 2 million people. How many of
them were able to enter the land of promise? Two people were allowed to enter,
Caleb and Joshua. Everyone else died in
the wilderness because of their wickedness. 2 out of a million are at least
better numbers than the 1 out of a billion of Noah’s day.
Each
administration shows that no matter how God deals with humanity: “everything
they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.” It broke God’s
heart at the time of the flood. It
breaks God’s heart today.
At the time
of the flood, there was only one godly man.
We are not to that point in this, the Church age. There are many who
love the Lord Jesus and who walk in close fellowship with God. However, the
days are evil. In many places in the
world, Christ followers are persecuted for their faith, and compared to the
total population of the world true followers of Christ are not in the majority.
The story
of Noah gives us a picture of how God dealt with the world when it was at its
worst.
First, given
that in such a short time after creation there was only one godly person, why
would God spare anybody or even start over?
However, God is not willing to destroy the godly along with the ungodly.
Genesis
says, “Noah found favor with the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8, NLT)
This is
remarkable to me. The word translated “favor” here in Genesis 6:8 is used in
other places to describe ladies who are outstanding because of their beauty and
grace. It carries the idea of being
pleasing to the eye. We know that God
looks on the heart. David was pleasing
to God because of his heart. We know that neither David nor Noah was
sinless. But because of their heart
toward God, they found favor in the eyes of the Lord. They were attractive to God.
This is
something that begins here in Genesis and is consistent throughout human
history. In a word, “. . . he offers his
friendship to the godly.” (Proverbs 3:32, NLT)
The world
was at its worst, but God would not destroy this one godly man.
Second, God
tells his plans to Noah, and tells him how to escape the coming judgment.
This also
is a consistent part of God’s character.
Psalm 25:14 says, “The LORD confides in those who fear him.”[iii]
(NIV)
What is
more, we know from 2 Peter 2:5 that Noah was a preacher. Over the 100 years he spent building the ark,
Noah was telling the people of his day of the coming judgment.
In the days
of Jonah, God warned Nineveh of his intention to judge them. They repented and were spared. I believe if
the people of Noah’s day would have repented, they too would have been
spared.
It is the
same today. Romans 10:13 tells us, “Everyone
who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” (NLT) God makes His appeal through us. We plead with men on behalf of God to be
reconciled to God. We tell of His
love. We tell how Jesus died to pay for
our sins. We tell of God’s willingness
to forgive all of our sins and even to adopt us as His own children. And yet, those who would spread this message
are often persecuted and even killed for sharing such good news.
There are
those who believe and are saved. In the
days of Noah, it was not so. For one
hundred years he preached without a single convert, not even one.
Third, God
confirmed His covenant with Noah.
This shows
once again a consistent part of God’s character.
Genesis
6:17 & 18 say:
Look! I am about to cover the earth
with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on
earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. (NLT)
God is a
covenant God. He makes promises that He
never breaks. His promises are so sure
that even if the mountains move and the stars disappear from the sky, His
promises will never fail.
One morning
this week I was driving west after having dropped Jonathan off at school. The rising sun was behind me, and a grey sky
of clouds and rain was in front of me.
As the sun shone against the clouds before me, a beautiful rainbow
arched its way across the whole sky. It
was stunning, and I was reminded of the promise that God made to Noah so many
years ago.
God made a
covenant with Abraham, and there is still a nation called Israel these
thousands of years later.
God made a covenant
with David, and Jesus Christ is the eternal descendant of David with the right
to sit on David’s throne.
Do you know
that God offers His covenant promises to you? 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no
matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through
him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (NIV)
There is a
promise of rest for the people of God.
There is a promise of freedom. There
is a promise of forgiveness. There is a promise of eternal life. There is a promise of a home in heaven, a
place in paradise. All these promises are there for the person who will but
call on the name of the Lord. We do not
earn these. We receive them by asking for them.
God has
promised to judge the world again. We
know it is coming. We know it will come
suddenly. Just like in the days of Noah,
Noah went into the boat he had built and the floods came. People were living in cities, forging bronze
and iron, marrying and having children until the day the flood came. It will be the same when Jesus returns with
one difference. There will be a seven
year pause, known as the tribulation, in which mankind will have one more
chance to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Why wait?
Call on Him
today.
[i]
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible: New Living
Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
[ii]
http://www.ldolphin.org/pickett.html
[iii]
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible
Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.