Wickedness, The Flood and The Covenant

Transcript

GRS 2-3
11/21/2004
Wickedness, the Flood and the Covenant
Genesis 6-9
Gil Rugh

I want to continue our study in the Book of Genesis, so if you turn to Genesis Chapter 6, it reminds you what we are doing is an overview. I don’t want to be superficial, but obviously as we cover several Chapters at a time, we won’t be getting down into the details. I think it’s important that we get an overall grasp of what God has provided in His word. And so we want to moves through these Chapters and at least get in our minds what is taking place. What takes place in the Book of Genesis lays the foundation for all the rest of scripture, that becomes especially so in these opening Chapters of Genesis. As we come to Chapter 6, we come to a Chapter that is somewhat controversial because of some material covered in it. We are getting to the section that deals with the flood in the days of Noah. That’s going to cover Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, all related to events about the flood that took place in the days of Noah. In Chapter 6 He is going to present the cause of the flood in the first 12 verses, and then He is going to deal with matters preparing for the flood as Noah has given instruction on building the ark gathering the animals and so one. What this Chapter does is, it shows how utterly, totally, completely corrupted the human race had become. The fall of man into sin recorded in the Chapter 3 of Genesis has had devastating effects on the entire human race. I meant to write down some of the fugues, some of estimated going through what we have in the genealogies and that up to this point that the human race could have number in the billions. I know we sometimes think of the ark and we think of few thousand people scattered around the earth in destroy. But some of those estimates we are two and three billion people, I don’t want to behold to that because I neglected to write them down and that comes to my reading that went back a few weeks. But where I do have some kind of concept of the extent of what is taking place here and the seriousness of the situation that will result in the destruction of the human race. But even in judgment, there will be grace. And in this Chapter, we will have the first appearance of the word grace in the Bible. In this Chapter we will have the first appearance of word covenant in the Bible, the most devastating judgment that the word has never seen down to this present day. Yes… going to take place, but even in that devastating judgment, there will be grace.

The Chapter begins “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, they took wives for themselves whomever they chose.” And the Lord said “my spirits shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days will be one hundred and twenty years”. And that one hundred and twenty years does not mean that’s the extent that the life will be, means one hundred and twenty years way from the flood and the destruction of mankind. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of man. They bore children to them. They were the mighty man who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man and so one. Most of you are aware there is a discussion over the identity of the sons of God in verse 2. And I just want to walk over the two basic views. The first view is that they are angels and the reason for this view and then will do the second view and the reason for it. One reason is that some people take the sons of God to refer to angels and that this becomes fallen angels and then Married and produced an offspring, a corrupted offspring. They are often identified with the Nephilim. First reason is the title sons of God is used of angels in the Old Testament. Job Chapter 1 verse 6, Chapter 2 verse 1, Chapter 38 verse 7, Daniel Chapter 3 verse 25, all those passages are referring to the sons of God referring to angels. On Job, the opening Chapters, they came a day when sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came among them. Sons of God there obviously referring to angels. Second reason for this view, it would fit to New Testament. Second Peter Chapter 2 verse 4; Jude verse 6 where we talk about angels, you did not keep their first state, where brought on to the judgment of God. Third reason for this view the contrast between the daughters of men and sons of God. I mean it doesn’t mean all the women were evil and the men were good. The men were the sons of God, the women were, I guess corrupt because the sons of God saw the daughters of men. So the contrast there seen to be drawing a distinction. The Nephilim were the result of this union, in this view. The Nephilim, the giants, the men of renown, man of awesome and strength. Last reason this would provide the explanation where mythology is permeated with the idea of supernatural beings cohabitating with human beings and producing a mixed seed. Those who will hold this view that these are angels, we will say it was attempt of Satan to corrupt human race to make an unfit for the coming of Messiah; that would be another reason I haven’t listed there. The second view, most popular view, these are the only two, but these are the dominant views. These are Sethites, the sons of God or the descendants of Seth. Back in Chapter 4 verses 16 to 24 give us the line of Cain. Verse 16 of Chapter 4 Genesis then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Verse 17 Cain had relations with his wife, she gave birth to Enoch. That’s not the Enoch who walked with God in the Chapter 5 because that Enoch was in the line of Seth. But then you have here the different children in the line of Cain. Verse 18, to Enoch was born Erath, then the Earth become the father and so one we go. Then Adam verse 25 of Genesis had relations with his wife and so from Chapter 4 verse 25 to Chapter verse 32, you have the line of Seth. You note back in Chapter 4 verse 25 where Adam and his wife conceived Seth. Verse 26 says Seth had a son name Enosh, then men began to call on the name of the Lord. The indication seems to be here that the line of Seth is the godly line .The line of Cain is un-godly people. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. There is no indication Cain ever experienced true salvation and New Testament was indicated that also in the way he refers to Cain.

The second reason for taking this to refer to normal human beings godly, the Godly line of Seth, is the expression in Chapter 6 verse 2, they took wives for themselves. It is the normal expression in the Old Testament for marital union. It’s not used to refer to adultery, fornication, or wrongful sexual union, it’s used to refer to normal marital union with a man and woman. Third reason for the view that these would be the line of Seth and so the godly line, there is no other reference to angels in context, mean angels come in here rather abruptly if the sons of God or angels, nothing else in the context refers to angles. We will see more about that in a moment. Matthew Chapter 22 verse 30 says in the resurrection we will be like the angels who neither marry nor are given in marriage. So if these are angels, they would have to take to themselves human form. And we have deal with issue, could angels, do they have the ability to produce? In this mixed race I am not saying they don’t, but that is an issue that has to be dealt with. This causes some to say what happened is demonic beings took possession of human bodies. But that would not account for then something of supernatural race being developed, the Nephilim because there has to be more than human seed involved to bring that kind of corruption. So Matthew 22:30 indicates that angels don’t marry or given in marriage. Now some would say well, that refers to the angels in heaven don’t do that, that’s the one reason for this view any rate.

Number 5 in verse 2, the sons of God saw the daughters of man who are beautiful and they took wives for themselves whomever they chose. This would seem to fit with what is going to be a continual problem through the Old Testament and that is the indiscriminate marriage of God’s people with ungodly people. The corruption it brings on the end of the Book of Nehemiah, the end of the Book of Ezra, both deal with this kind of problem in Israel’s history as Israel will come on the seen later. And very strongly to me is the sixth point here, men are punished and the whole context seemed to indicate that the men, human beings here are responsible for their action and all the emphases in this passage is on the judgment brought on human beings for the sin. So you cannot have the human beings who are being passive in these relationships that the demons came in the form of man and took these women for wives and produced children because the whole context indicates the responsibility of human beings.

Verse 5 talks about the wickedness of man was great on the earth. So it’s going to brought out verse 7 man. Down in verse 11, the earth was corrupt, it was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way. Its human beings who are responsible for their condition here, in accountable to God doesn’t say that demons had corrupted men. But men, they had corrupted themselves before God and were accountable. Verse 13, the end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. There are no know indication in the context here that demons are responsible for this, all the responsibility as it’s recoded here at least is on man .There are good commentators, good Bible students on both sides of this issue. I have held both views.

The view I would say I would prefer know is that these are men, I don’t think the second Peter reference is a particular problem, there is little more issue to be dealt within the Jude reference to fallen angels, but I think that could be answered as well. So far my preference in views here, I would prefer the view seems to fit the flow of context the way Chapter 4:26 ends. When you start the line of Seth, it’s then that men began to call on the name of the Lord. All of the Chapter 5 develops the line of Seth. But there is a corruption in the mixture of what was to be a godly line as now the inner marriage with the line of Cain basically takes place and so people really turned away from the Lord. You think if the easements of Samuel have done the mathematics on this we are talking two billion or more people and there is only going to be one family that is found righteous on all the earth. It’s an awesome situation that it would be reduced that there is family; Noah and his immediate family will be only ones that have not be totally and completely corrupted by sin. We mention the Nephilim. Here we mention verse 3, first my spirit will not always strive with man, I take it this mean that it is the spirit who was restraining things on the earth as bad as they are getting. It’s the spirit’s work of restraining that kept judgment from coming even sooner than it did. That would fit second Thessalonians. Chapter 2:7 where regarding the coming judgment, the God will pour out on the earth as is recorded in the Book of Revelation. Chapters 6 to 19 second Thessalonians 2:7 says that there is a restraining work going on and I think it is the restrainer in Thessalonians is the Holy Spirit . And when the Holy Spirit is removed in his restringing ministries, then all the events that bring the horrible judgment of God on the earth will take place. So we have a similar situation here. My spirit will not always strive with man and it in his striving, he is holding back with judgment of God as well .Now that’s going to change. 120 years of flood will come on the earth. In verse 4, the Nephilim, there is one other reference to the Nephilim and that will be when the spies go into the promise land. Turnover to numbers Chapter 13 verse 33, the spies went into spy out the land, most of them bring back a bad report, which is going to end up in the 40 years of wilderness wandering. But in numbers Chapter 13 verse 33, the spies report there also we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim. So understand the Nephilim were destroyed in the flood and Noah’s family evidently this line of Nephilim and mighty man, the genetic force continue and these Nephilim turn up. Indication even in Genesis 6 was that the Nephilim were in the world before the sons of God went into the daughters of men. We became like grasshoppers in our own sight. So where we and they sight. These are men of gigantic stature. We say well the purpose of the flood was to wipe out the Nephilim, which were the corrupted mixture of angelic and human people. Well that’s not so, because the Nephilim are identified a number of years later and even their family line in the line of Anak is mentioned. Verse 5 says the flood is caused by the overwhelming wickedness of mankind. The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. I want you to notes up because it will come up later, remember that statement because we are going to find out after the flood, that has not changed, because what will happen when Noah and his family get on the ark, you know what they take with them? Their sin nature. You know, what happens when they get off the Ark and have children, they pass on the sin nature. Noah be characteristic of the children they have, every intent of the thoughts of their heart will be evil continually. God will refer to that, we will come to that later, but this is the case of flood. Now on verse 11, the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, the earth was filled with violence. We wonder what’s going on in the world around us, men are sinners. Their hearts and minds are filled with evil that result in violence. Watch the news. We don’t have any doubt about this, do we? The most awful kind of violence, doesn’t matter where there is men, women, or children. God looked on the earth, behold it was corrupt. Verse 12, for all flesh had corrupted their way up on the earth. It’s an awful situation. You will note contrast. God announces judgment. He says in verse 7, I will blood out man whom I have created from the face of land. Man, animals, creeping things, birds, I am sorry, I have made them, they are going to be destroyed. But Noah found favor, He might want to circle that. It’s the first use of the word grace in the Bible. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We are going to show his grace to Noah. Now, we are going to have the records of Noah, the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time, Noah walked with God, he was a redeemed man, doesn’t mean that Noah wasn’t a sinner .

Remember the Book of Job, Job is identified as the most righteous man of his time, but he wasn’t a man who never sinned. But he was a righteous man, a godly man. Noah is a man who walks with the Lord. So verses 13 and following give you the preparation for the flood. God is going to destroy the world and He is going to use a flood to do it. So God said to Noah “the End of all flesh has come before me, the earth is filled with violence because of them, I am about to destroy the earth, make yourself an ark.

Verse 15, he gives the dimensions of the ark. Its 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high. 450 feet long, that’s a football field and a half. Those are the dimensions of the ark. The ark would have had, it would have been like a big barge, in spite of the great pictures we have though, that rather small ship shaped, not being in ship shape, but in ark shaped like our modern ships. This was a huge barge. It’s been developed out by others. They would have had carrying capacity of 522 box cars. So # something more familiar with 522 boxcars would have been the carrying capacity of the ark. It’s estimated that between 150 and 200 boxcars would be adequate to carry two of all air-breathing animals today. People say, oh, you couldn’t have an ark big enough to carry all the animals that would have to carry. Well, the carrying capacity of the ark was 522 boxcars, it would neither less than 200 boxcars, lesson than half, they carry two of all air-breathing animals today. Now remember, you don’t have to carry or bring two of every kind, just two of each of the species and within them they would have had the genetic capably to produce. So you didn’t have to bring two German shepherds and collies and two poodles, just bring two dogs and that would be plenty for me. So you had plenty for all the animals they would have had to be brought on, you have plenty for all the food they would have had be, and then you know what do they do? Well, God could have put them in a hibernating sleep or whatever, so that would have limited some of the problems on the ark of feeding them, getting rid of waste and so on. I don’t have all the details, I don’t think it was a big problem for God. I don’t know how he got all these all these animals. You imagine, there is only him and his three sons and their wives, These wives, you think they are running turning around out there, setting traps, trying to catch these animals. How amaze we watch now, you watch on TV and animals what migrate and you only know you the gees going by and you think can’t they know where to go. And you know, the summons swim up and go to all that trouble to get to the responding grounds and all these things take place, why? God built it in. So no big deal. God begins the move on the animals He wants on the ark and they all begin to migrate to Noah. I don’t know, I wasn’t there, all I know was what it says. I believe that’s what happened because God said that’s what happened and he was there and I wasn’t. So I am sure his account is right. We sit and figure it out, that’s we can do as well, there is enough room that takes care of that problem. The others are miner. And we say, how could Noah build an ark? You know we get influenced by the caveman mentality, but look back in Chapter 4. These are the descendants of Cain .They need descendants of Cain.

Verse 21, one of the children here Jubal, he was the father of all those who play lyre and pipe. So skilled musicians. And you have Zillah, Tubal–cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron in verse 22. You know, we don’t think a caveman here, they were skilled people, though Noah got 120 years to do it and he has instructions from God what to do, I take it, how to go about it, dimensions given. And then verse 16, there is a window in the ark and he is instructed how to set it, where to do it. There are multiple decks here, there decks in verse 16. Verse 17, God says I am going to bring a flood on the earth, it will destroy all flesh. Verse18, but I will establish my covenant with you. There is the first use of the word covenant. And people talk about the Adamic covenant ,covenant in the garden of Eden, but you understand the word covenant was not used until we get to Genesis Chapter 6 and I think we have to tickles with the Bible calls a covenant. The content of this covenant will be developed in Chapter 9. In verses 19 to 22 Noah is the take two of all the air-breathing animals, he didn’t have to take the fish that they will get by finding in the water but he had to take all the air-breathing animals and birds. Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 7 says that Noah did all this by faith. Hebrews 11:7, by faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen, what was it not yet seen? And there is indication and again some creation research area and so on if developed this that it seems that there probably had not been rain on the earth to this point. Noah never experienced a flood. May what God said in the Garden of Eden a midst went up and watered the earth. Now Noah is warned of a coming devastating flood and he needs to build this huge barge to save himself from the flood. Well, that would fit the Hebrews 11:7 by faith Noah being warned by God of things not yet seen, in reverence, prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and become an heir of the righteousness which is according the faith. In Genesis 2:6 tells us at the Garden of Eden, the midst went up from the earth and watered the whole earth. So probably at this point there hadn’t been rains. Alright, Chapter 7 the flood, then the Lord said to Noah “enter the ark, you and all your households, for you alone I have seen to be righteousness before me in this time’. It’s an awesome verse. When even if the estimations and calculations are too large, when you get two or three billion people. Here the number is smaller than that. We are talking about a dump founding situation. The earth have been multiply to multiply millions of people and the Lord said “Noah, it’s only you and your family that are righteous before Me. You see the total corruption of sin. Even Noah’s salvation is the result of the grace of God. Without the grace of God working, no flesh would ever be saved. The flood is a clear testimony to that.

Second Peter 2:5 calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. For 120 years, Noah and his sons are building this huge barge and he is warning the world of judgment to come. After 120 years of preaching, they don’t have any converts, just him and his family. Amazing! You see that even the preaching of the word of God apart from the grace of God using that word will produce no salvation. We just don’t grasp how totally completely sinful we really are. That Noah, a man of God, a preacher of righteousness after 120 years, don’t try to about that. I have been the Pastor of here for 35 years. And I think if I had a ministry of 120 years and nobody responded, nobody got saved. But do you think Noah was a failure? No why, he did what God told him to do. He is one of the examples of the men of faith in Hebrews 11. You know, he wouldn’t be in a preachers hall of fame. I mean here is a man who preached for 120 years and didn’t get a one result, while he got results, he condemned the world. Nobody got saved, but he condemned the world. So yeah, he was successful, we are reminded that we do what God calls us to do or faithful to Him, that’s what brings blessing to our life.

Distinction is made between clean and unclean animals already. We are not into the Mosaic law, we are long way from there, but he is to take verse 2 of every clean animal by sevens, a male and a female. Well if I add right, you take a male and female and you end up with seven. I think if you take a male and female, you may be getting an even number, if we are talking about seven pairs here, what we have is some extra animals for sacrifice because when we get off the arc, you are going to sacrifice. We only took two, get off the ark and sacrifice to me, you know what, you have certain species that are extinct immediately, why take them on the ark. So you take two extras, they will be sacrifice made at the end of the flood. The flood is carefully dated for us down in verse 11 even though it’s hard for us to find the day because it doesn’t say August 16 4001 BC or whatever, it is said in the 600 year of Noah’s life in the second month on the 17th day of the month. A very precise, even though we have to figure it out with chronologies and putting together the genealogies and that try to get time and we can’t get down to the day. In God’s plan, it was an exact day and a point of time it happens.

On the same day, verse 11 “all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened”. The picture here seems to the be, some of you read the Genesis flood by Whitcomb and Morris and some of their other writings, some others also have presented the idea that the earth was probably surrounded by a canopy of water and that gave its tropical environment. And so you have this midst coming up watering the earth and you have this canopy that gives a uniform temperature around the earth, which accounts why they find tropical vegetation’s under the ice caps and things like that. But now God causes that canopy of water above the earth to collapse and all the water swirled in the ocean basins and so on and under the earth to come gushing up and there was torrential rains coming down and the earth will be covered with water.

Verse 13 indicates that Noah and his son were monogamous. There are eight people getting on the ark here, Noah and his wife and Shem, Ham and Japheth and the three wives of his sons, not the 33 wives, the three wives. In fact the first godly man indicated in scripture to have more one than wife is going to be Abraham later in scripture. So here at least at this point this righteous man and his sons each have a wife and the eight of them get on the ark.

The Lord, in verse 16, closes the door behind them. God caring for them. They are settled in now. They are going to beyond this ark for over a year, 371 days. Long stay in a closed up barge with a lot of animals. What about the flood? Was the flood universal? Was it local? I don’t think there is any doubt the flood was universal. I have listed several reasons why the flood was universal. It was 23 feet above the highest mountain. And I have a hard time seeing the flood looking like just a big squire block of water in certain place of the earth. It said to have been 23 feet.

Verse 20 of Chapter 7, 15 cubits, it’s about 23 feet. A cubit is about 18 inches, above the highest mountain. As I mentioned its duration, it lasts for 371 days. The geology of the flood in verse 11of Chapter 7, we have the great deep, the fondants of the great deep bursting open. That seems to go back to Genesis 1:2 with the waters under the earth, as God stored them up and divided, the waters show above the earth and the waters below the earth, so the underground reservoirs of the water, the God stored up there. The breaking up of the fondants of deep, that could continue for five months. It was until 150 days had passed that they were stopped. So you got that waters continually gushing up. Well, it’s torrential rains coming down and it’s not until after a 150 days.

Verse 2 of Chapter 8. The fondants of the deep and floodgates of the sky were closed and the rain was restrained. The size of the ark bringing all these animals on it would indicate a universal flood. Why you need the ark to put the animals on it if the flood is on to going to take place in a limited space on earth. Then there will be animal spared, then you have a problem, what about the people. All the people congregated and partly not understanding how vast the population of humans and animals had become. And why would Noah, you need to get on the ark and it’s just going to be a local flood, why didn’t God just say pack up and move to a new spot? But then, how you are going to destroy everyone.

Second Peter 3:6 refers to the destruction of the world with the flood. The reference here to the destruction of all life in Genesis would indicate that as well. And God promises in Chapter 9:11 that I will establish my covenant with you and all flesh never again be cut off by the water of the flood; neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. Well, there have been a lot of local foods. It will just a local flood. Well it’s just a matter of unbelief. What the flood did was destroyed the whole earth, the entire world is covered with water and the geography of the world would have been greatly altered, as the great reservoirs of water under the earth burst up, they would also have been part of driving up great mountains and so on . See how the flood destroying all mankind. There is the animals that have put on the ark to preserve the various species that God had created. There is Noah and his family. Eight human beings, millions perhaps billions of peoples destroyed. Awesome situation.

Chapter 8 comes. One writer noted three things accomplished in the judgment of the flood, it separated the righteous from the wicked. It destroyed the wicked that became a means of the salvation of righteous, preserving them from judgment. I want to say it is Chapter 8:1, but God remembered Noah that way of talking in the Old Testament always refers to God’s faithful love and intervention on behalf of his people. And it doesn’t mean, forgot about Noah, he is on the barge, send some of his angels down to do for Noah, its all part of the plan. You remember him in the sense now he acts again to complete his plan and preserving Noah. The ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat. In verse 4, the mountain # Ararat and Ararat is a country as well as a mountain range. So even though we have mountain called Ararat, everybody is looking for the ark there, it may not be there. That may not be the place it was stopped. It came on the mountains of Ararat, which were in the country of Ararat and so it’s going to be on the variety of places.

Verse 21, Noah and his family have brought their sin natures with them through the flood. I mean Noah was born a descendant of Adam and Eve as what is his wife and their children. So when they get down the ark and came through the judgment, they didn’t leave their sin natures on the pre-flood side. So we read in verse 21, the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Here in verse 20 Noah built an altar and offers two of every clean animals, every clean birds and offers sacrifice, that’s why you have the extra clean animals brought on the ark. Then God promised I will never again curse the ground on account of man. I know this, why won’t He? For the intent of man’s heart is evil from his use. I realize there is no hope the man will improve himself. The degeneracy will just continue. It is going to happen very quickly even among Noah’s family in the event that you are aware following the flood. Once you know, the God destroyed the world because every intent of man’s heart was evil continually we were in chapter 6, but we know it is of the ark, we reminded it .That aspect of man’s character has no change. Noah is redeemed by God’s grace, been preserved by God’s grace, but he passes on his fallen nature. So we get our fallen nature from Adam through Noah, yes thus the whole human race. Because only Noah in his line came through the flood, but that was enough to bring the sin nature with them and so we will see our world degenerating you remember that the world descended in sin and violence until God intervened in judgment where are we going now. We are not going to the ultimate judgment God will bring on an unbelieving world that he will establish the kingdom of his son and even a perfect world under a perfect king. We will like to keep those born with a sin nature from seeking the overthrow of the king of kings, after a 1000 years in the perfect environment under the reign of the son of God we will have the rebellion of sinful beings .God promises you will never curse the ground in verse 21. In the context, we are talking about he is not going to destroy the earth by the flood again and the ultimate destruction of this earth will take place by fire in the final judgment. That’s when we get to a new heavens and a new earth, which will be the dwelling place of the redeemed and the purification takes place. In the chart, I don’t know, did you produce that chart on the chronology of the flood Robin? Their details are not going to go through on that if you want to know about the 371 days. I have some these. We will look at that later. Somebody has gone through and I took this out of a couple of books of Genesis flood being one, if you want to know how you get 371 days they have laid out, but we are not going to take time to go through it. You can look at this chart. I will make some of them available than in Sound Words for those of you who get into more of the details. And to just say about the covenant to wrap up the flood. We will go into Chapter 10. Through chapter 10, you let me just say something about the covenant with Noah in Chapter 9. You have a covenant established in the first 17 verses, then you have curse on Cain in the last part Chapter. This covenant is established by God, it ensures the stability of nature and guarantees the order of the world. The Noah covenants as it known because it is made with Noah, but it is made with Noah as the representative of the human race .So when he talks about this covenant, verse 9 of chapter 9, he will say I myself do establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that is with you. Verse11, I established my covenant with you and all flesh and their begin cutoff by the water of the flood. They will all be a universal flood again. By the concern with global warming and that the earth will never be destroyed by flood again and this is the sign of covenant verse 12, I am making between you and me and every living creature that is with you for all successive generations. Then in the end of Verse 16, the rainbow in the cloud to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. God said in Noah verse 17, this is the sign of covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. So this is universal covenant.

Some of covenants are made just with the redeemed, but this is the covenant God makes with mankind. See the rainbow is a reminder God will never again destroy the earth by the flood. There are certain provisions or features of this covenant, let me just remind you of them. We will look at the all verses because we are about out of time here. It guarantees the preservation of life, the stability of nature verse 22 while the earth remains see time and harvest cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not see and that has established an order and we will maintain it. The populating of the world in verse 1 of chapter 19 fruit for multiply and fill the earth sometimes. These verses have been taken to say that there should be no birth control and I think we are free to determine the size of our family, but I don’t think this verse or the verse in Genesis chapter 1 that says be fruitful multiply you understand. When those instructions were given initially in Genesis 1 there were only two people on the whole earth and when they are given again in chapter 9 verse1 there were only eight people. So that does not speak to the issue of size of families that is another issue I am not saying that there may be other things to come into play as we talk about the issues of birth control and size of family I am saying is this verses not addressing that. But it does establish, there is God’s intention that we have families and children are part of God’s indentation as a result of the marriage relationship and we get concerned about overpopulation, but God is not concerned about that.

Fourthly it establishes power over the animal world verse 2 the fear of you and the tear of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky and so on. Well that tells you something about the kind of world that Adam and Eve had the face were never put out of the garden. Evidently, up until this point, there was no fear of man on the animals. They were to rule over them, but it would have been a frightening world that animal lived. Because now sin would come in and so their destructive things going on in creation, but now God establishes a fear. So we will see some animals could kill human beings, but they have a fear of them, that’s built in by God as part of the Noah covenant.

Verse 3 I don’t want get in the vegetarian, anti-vegetarian, pro-vegetarian movement but you have to just note in the Noah covenant. Meat is provided up until this time man was vegetarian. I was reading at the diet book I read them, I didn’t follow them. Somehow I don’t lose weight, I read lots of diet books, but I still don’t lose weight, maybe I should try doing what they say, but this not I have been saying, talking about how our mouths are constructed and our teeth we were intended to be vegetarians .Though his diet was vegetarian. When I went into Genesis chapter 9:3 and I read every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you, I give it all to you just as I gave the Green plant. So the animal rights movements are anti-biblical. All right, so it you want to go have steak, have steak. If you don’t want to have steak, you don’t have to. Don’t give me any diet books. I have more than I know what to do with.

Number 6, the sacredness of human life is established. This is an issue of capital punishment established by God as part of Noah covenant. And the foundation of reason that’s primarily have do with you and me it has to do with God. When you murder someone you have struck at the image of God in that person, that is the capital offence, Verse 6, you ever shed man’s blood by man is blood shall be shared for in the image of God He made man. The side of reference and respect for God was placed is in image of man. If you murder someone, you have to give your life for, with someone it does not make sense. You know we killed because they killed someone were just multiplying the problem, Noah following the God said that’s the penalty. You give your life for the murdered one. Keep in mind, this is part of the Noah Covenant that is universal from mankind that is one of the reasons why I believe in capital punishment is biblical. It is established by God. If you don’t appreciate the fact that God created us in His image, you lose the prime reason for capital punishment. So there is no wonder those who reject God have all kind of reasons why they don’t think capital punishment should be done. They don’t appreciate that is the real sin committed here is you have struck at the image of God and for that you must give your life and so capital punishment is not murder.

As you are carrying out the instruction of God, Verses 12 to 17 just make clear and I redo these verses that this covenant is made with the whole human race. You have the curse of Canaan and we will tie that in to the next section of Genesis. As a result of the sin that took place with Ham, one of Ham’s children Canaan is cursed. Ham whole line of the descendants is not cursed. Ham sins and his son Canaan in there is curse be carried out through Ham’s line of Canaan but not all Ham’s descendants, but we will talk about that. See the sovereign hand of the God that worked. See all these things taking place on the world, the flood of Noah, which is the prime thing we will look at is used when you come to the New Testament. People scoff at the judgment of God their willingly, willfully ignorant of God did in the flood. You are serious about the judgment he serious about the destruction of the wicked, the flood in the days of Noah is evidence of that. He will wipe out every single wicked person. Even if that means billions of peoples die and only eight people will save. Every wicked person will be destroyed, but in judgment there is grace. When we come to the salvation in God’s grace, he is provided for us than we escaped the judgment.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord for your word, thank you for its richness its fullness, even if we brought sketch some of the true set of providing your word. We are in Ah. View of the God will rule overall accomplishing your purpose s wonder of wonders, we have experience that same, that same favor that Noah and his family experienced. Because of that grace, the righteousness that we have received from you and Christ, we too will be spared from judgment to come. We praise that you are a God of grace that we would remind ourselves you are a God of judgment as well. We praise you Christ name. Amen.