Obedience and faith in covenant relationship

The Earth Before The Flood So you think we have it bad today? How about these words about the time of Noah? “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5 (NAS)

Can You Imagine Living in that World? A world with NO righteousness? A world with NO pity? With NO remorse? With NO knowledge of the will of God? In the entire populated world at the time there was only one man and his family who found grace with God.

God’s Covenant With Noah Genesis 6:18 -- "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.” Noah is not “asked” but “told” – God establishes covenants with His righteous people. The covenant is dependent upon obedience from Noah.

Terms of the Covenant Deal with absolute obedience – build an ark for safety Exact size specified: 300x50x30 cubits (500x83x50ft) if the standard cubit of about 20 inches was used. Exact design specified: three decks, pitched inside and out, door in the side, window at the top, three decks Exact materials specified: gopher wood (unknown for certain what type of wood this was) NIV chooses “cypress” based on an assumption that the word for “gopher” should have been “pitch” meaning a resinous wood.

Obedience Results in Righteousness Righteousness results in salvation 6:22 – “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.”

Complete Obedience and Trust Noah does everything according to God’s commandments: Genesis 7:5 -- Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him. Think about Noah’s interesting situation: Possible that he had never seen rain. He stands alone in his obedience. When times are hard, do we ever find ourselves thinking, “God is asking too much.”

A Matter of Obedience and Faith How long did it take to build the ark? Genesis 5:32 -- Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 7:11 -- In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

What Else Did Noah Do? 1 Peter 3:18 -- For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

2 Peter 2:5 – “…and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly….” Building the ark took 100 years or less. God was patient while the ark was built. The Holy Spirit preached while the ark was built. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Yet not one additional soul was saved for all the preaching done during the building of the ark.

God’s Covenant With All Creation When the flood subsided (a bit more than a year later) God entered an “everlasting” covenant. Genesis 9:9 -- "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you….”

A Sign of Covenant Genesis 9:11-17 No global flood will ever again cut off life or destroy the earth. The rainbow is a sign of covenant between God and all living things – an everlasting covenant.

What Are The Covenant Terms? Man’s requirements Genesis 9:1ff Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth Submission of animals in fear of man Addition of living creatures as food for man Explanation of blood requirements God’s promise – Never destroy the earth again by a global flood.

The Re-emergence of Sin Genesis 9:21 Noah plants a vineyard and gets drunk. Ham sins against Noah and sin is once again in the earth. Sin has now been in the earth for thousands of years – yet God has never forgotten His promise or the covenant He has made with all living creatures.