Introduction: Do you feel pressure in your life? Does that pressure
come from obedience to God? Or, do
you just seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong
people around you? The
stories of Noah and Job show these kinds of problems have been with us for
a very long time. Although
both Noah and Job are excellent examples of grace under pressure, because
we devoted an entire week
to Job only three months ago, we will discuss only Noah’s story this week.
(A link to allow you to
review the recent study of Job is provided below.) Let’s “dive” into
Noah’s story!
- Humanity on the Skids
- Read Genesis 5:32. Genesis chapter 3 reveals the story about the
fall of man. Genesis chapter
4 tells us about how the first man born, Cain, killed the second man born,
Abel. A big gap in
time then takes place in recorded history (see the genealogies of chapter
5) until we come to
the story of a man named Noah. From God’s point of view, how are things
going with His
creation? - Let’s read on: Genesis 6:1-3. What do
these verses tell us about God’s view of His creation?
(They confirm God is unhappy with His creation.) - What does God mean when He says, “My Spirit will not contend
with man forever?”
(He is getting tired of “wrestling” with the conscience of humans.) - Do you feel that God’s Spirit is
wrestling with you? If so, do you think it is wise to
continue on this course? - When God says “his days will be 120
years,” does He mean that the life span of man
would now be shortened to 120? (According to Barnes’ Notes, “his days”
refers to “the
days of man, not the individual, but the race with whom the Lord still
strives.” So
mankind is being given a 120 year probation period!) - God’s Regret
- Let’s skip down a verse and read Genesis 6:5-7. Have you ever
regretting doing something?
Can you imagine that a perfect God could have the same feelings?
- Our text tells us that God’s heart was filled with pain. What do
you think caused that
pain? (Our sinful thinking.) - Is that the same today? Does our sinful thinking pain God?
- If you say, “yes,” tell my why you think God cares about our
sins and our
thoughts? - The animals are included in verse 7. Why do you think God
decided to wipe out the
animals too? Are animals capable of causing grief to God? (This is a
strange concept. It
seems that all of creation had “gone amuck.”) - Had God failed? If you look at the
Bible as a record of the battle between good and
evil, how would you judge the battle to be going? - Noah and God’s Intervention
- Read Genesis 6:8-13. A hero is found! Would you like to find favor
in God’s eyes? If so, what
is the formula? (Righteousness and “walking with God.”) - What does it mean to “walk” with God? Why not say “be with God,”
“think like God,”
“agree with God?” (The idea of walking is one of progress. It shows the
life that pleases
God is one that is moving towards God’s ideal.) - What part do our thoughts play in
“walking” with God? Remember that (v.5) told us
that God’s regret about the rest of mankind was that the “thoughts of the
heart” were
evil all the time. - The text also says that Noah was
“blameless among the people of his time.” I was
always taught that we were not to compare ourselves to others, but only
compare
ourselves to Jesus. Does this suggest that Noah was “pretty good” –
considering the evil
people of his generation? (I think the text is saying something else. It
highlights Noah’s
loyalty because the people who lived around him were so bad. It is
difficult to remain
untainted by our surroundings.) - Let’s go back to the “battle theme”
for a minute. How important is Noah to the battle
between good and evil? - How important is your loyalty to God in this battle today?
- Can one person, allied with God,
make a difference? - Going back to my previous question about the animals, does verse
13 give us a clue as
to why the animals were destroyed? (Yes, man had corrupted the animal
kingdom with
violence. God decided to wipe the slate clean.) - Verse 13 says God intended to destroy
the earth. What does that mean? Did He do
that? (This strongly suggests that the earth we know is the “destroyed
version” of the
earth God originally created. Since the other version was the “original
creation” it was
undoubtedly much better.) - What could be God’s motive for destroying the earth? Is there
a link between sin
and easy living? (There is an old saying (so old I do not remember it
correctly)
about idle hands being the Devil’s tools. If we look at the world around
us, we
see that the countries with the nicest climates have the least industry.
You
generally do not have heavy manufacturing in the middle of palm trees. It
seems
there is some weather-related/ hardship-related link to the activities of
humans.) - By making the world worse, is God
re-writing the rules of the battle between
good and evil? - Has your personal world worsened because of sin? (God is not
obliged to
bless us in our rebellion. The result of rebellion is often a less
pleasant life.
More difficult circumstances may end up being a tool that helps turn us to
God.) - Read Genesis 6:14, 17-19. What do we learn about God so far?(That
He loves those who
walk with Him, but He is willing to execute judgment (after a long
probation) on the wicked.) - Imagine you are Noah. Tell me your thoughts after you hear what
God said in this text? - Notice the reference to a covenant
(contract) between God and Noah. What is that
about? There are a number of covenants mentioned in the Bible, but let’s
look at
Ephesians 2:12-13. What is our current “deal” (covenant) with God? - Read Genesis 6:22 and Hebrews 11:7. What did Noah do?
- What does Hebrews suggest about Noah’s covenant with God?
- How do you think the people reacted
when they heard Noah’s “condemnation” of the
world? - Had the people ever seen a flood
before? How about rain? (The Bible is not clear on
this, but Genesis suggests that it had not rained before. If you look at
Genesis 2:4-6 it
appears that God had a subterranean watering system. The first time rain
is mentioned
as falling is in Genesis 7 in connection with the flood account.)
- If we are right that the people had not seen even rain before,
how do you think
the scientific community, the intellectuals, treated Noah? What about the
New
York Times? The Washington Post? The LA Times? What would they have
said? - Assuming Noah started building right
away, he had 120 years of harassment. Is
harassment just part of being a soldier in the battle between good and
evil? - Read Genesis 7:7-10. Why did God wait seven days to send the rain
after they boarded the
ark? - What would it feel like to be outside?
- What would it feel like to be
inside? - How would your answers to the forgoing two questions change
after it started
raining? - What is Noah thinking about his life after 120 years of
preaching and fidelity to God
and not a single convert outside his own family? - I deliberately skipped over a very
important point on this seven day delay. Read Genesis
7:1&4. Does this completely change things (the 7 day wait problem) in
your mind?
(Yes! God has shared with Noah the exact timing of events. He is not
simply sitting in
the ark, with the whole world howling and mocking outside, wondering when
(and if)
God is going to keep His word.) - What does this tell us about God? (This confirms Amos 3:7
which tells us:
“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His
servants the prophets.”) - Does this make you think you should look at Revelation
again? - Has God revealed the future to you
when you are suffering because of the
conflict between good and evil? - How is Noah’s life after the flood compared to before the
flood? - Would it feel good to know that all of your antagonists are
dead? - Would it be great to be one of only 8
people alive on the earth? (While I am sure Noah
was grateful he was no longer the subject of attacks and jokes, he no
doubt preferred
his antagonists converted, instead of killed. The entire structure of
civilization that he
had lived in for the first 600 years of his life ( Genesis 9:28-29) was now
gone. I would
think this would be difficult.) - Is there a lesson in Noah’s post-flood
situation for us today? (Evil “wounds” us – even
when we are not at fault. Bad things happen to good people today. God’s
solutions to
evil are temporary, interim solutions until He completely destroys our
earth and gives
the saints an earth made new. (See Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13 and
Revelation 21:1) - Job
- You may recall that just three months ago our entire study was
devoted to Job. (If you want to
review that study, go to www.GoBible.org and
locate the archived Bible studies of the week
under the topic of prayer, and then find the study on “Prayers of Despair:
Job.” Or, click on:
www.GoBible.org/study.php3?pid=116
) - Friend, do you want to be part of God’s
final solution to sin and suffering? He offers you a
spot in the “Ark.” Will you accept? - Next week: Wives as Advisers