Genesis 6:1 - When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they married any of them they chose. 3 The Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever for he is mortal, his days will be a hundred and twenty years. 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. There were the heroes of old, men of renown. (NIV)
Good Evening, my dear brothers and sisters. A once in a year Sunday evening message as I want to get started on a new subject on our journey on Monday. So climb on board the sleigh, I have the top up for today we are going to see it rain for the very first time... As we take off, please pray for David who will be having surgery on Monday and give a shout of praise for our daughter Danelle who came through surgery last week with no bad news. Now, on Dasher, on Dancer, and come on Rudy as we need the light, no, never mind we have the light of the Lord leading us... amen... move out now.
As we see in these scriptures that men were increasing in number, and up to that time man was living a long, long time. Adam made more children after Cain and Abel, and in fact lived 800 years after Seth was born, and he fathered other sons and daughters and died at the age of 930. Others also lived those long lives, and if you would take time to read Genesis Chapter 5 you would find out some of these ages. I mean some of these folks were nearly a thousand years old, almost as old as my wife.
Now we see that the daughters of men were beautiful and the men saw this and they married any of them they chose. This made the Lord somewhat angry and He said His spirit will not contend with man forever for he is mortal... And God set their age at one hundred and twenty. And please note today, have you heard of anyone over the age of 120, I have not. The Nephilims were there and Nephilim means men of great size and strength and they were heroes of old, men of renown. But God saw that they were sinners, or fallen ones. Now I want to point out some of the same things today. I think it amazing just how a lot of things are still the same, including the same old sins. It seems that today a lot of men and even women make heroes out of those who sin... Sports figures come to my mind in a hurry. Let's look at a few of them... How about the juice, while all of us who watched the trial think that man was guilty of murder, he walked and some to this day think he is a hero... And there is the Tiger, old Tiger Woods, who is back on the golf course and in the limelight each time he plays. Now I could name more and more of them, in fact, what about Jerry Sandusky? But you get the idea, and folks I could name a few in
Genesis 6:5 - The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth. Men and animals and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air, for I am grieved that I have made them.(NIV) NIV, brothers and sisters, is the New International Version of the Bible.
So let's take a look at the scriptures that God gave me for today. And folks, although I am following creation and going forward in Genesis, I have prayed, and just this morning if God wants me to change direction, I will follow His lead. In Genesis 6:5 we see that our Lord God saw man's wickedness and of course all the sins that were going on. God also noticed and believed that man was not going to change and that man's thoughts were just evil. Now I ask you, has much changed today? Has man really changed today? Are not men and women still being evil? I want you to think about it. Look around you, read the paper, is not evil taking over the world, taking over the
Now let's look at Genesis 6:6. The Lord was Grieved that He had made man! God was upset, He was upset that He had made man. All else in creation was working, and folks, still is, but man was evil, and folks, may I say, still is. Think about this, our creator, our loving Lord, was that upset that He made us. Were you ever that upset with a child of yours that you wished you had not made them?
As I see it, God made one big mistake in creation, one really big mistake... What, am I saying God made a mistake? Well, yes, but He did make it for what should have been good. The mistake God made was giving man free will, letting His children do what they wanted to do on their own. No strings attached so to speak... We were not Howdy Doody, folks, God did and does not control us like a puppet. Anyway, God was grieved and upset, for man had failed. The Bible said "His heart was filled with Pain." How often has your heart been filled with pain because of the actions of a loved one, one or more of your children? How often have you sat bedside with them when their actions have caused them pain, which also has given you great pain?
So we see in Geneses 6:7, So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, who I have created, from the face of the earth." Now folks, if you are upset with your children, please do not follow the lead of our Lord on this one... If you feel that way, GET HELP FOR YOURSELF.
How upset God must have been to say He was going to wipe mankind from the face of the earth. I want you to really think about that today as we start to look at how God is going to do it, and who He might save. I also want you to think about this also, it is going to happen again, we just do not know when. I said that it will happen again, it is just a matter of time! Please do not dwell on the when part but what you can do to help people get through it and there is only one way to be saved from it. And the word Saved should give that clue for you.
Genesis 6:8 - But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is fill with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. (NIV)
Wow, God is angry, and we talked about that yesterday. But one man, Noah, was found to be in favor of God. As you can see "Noah walked with God," brothers and sisters, I just brought it out how if we are truly a Christian we are walking with Jesus. So I ask you this question, if this was to happen today, meaning God is going to destroy man and earth, would God find favor in you? While none of us would be found blameless in the eyes of God, unless we are saved by the blood of Jesus, would you fit that picture? Folks, we need to be walking with God all the time, not just on Sunday for a few hours. In verse 10 the Bible tells us that Noah had three sons, one of them a "Ham" (ok, I must joke a little). Three sons, and of course Noah, and his wife and Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives were about to get the job of their lives... Let's go back to the Word of God and take a look at this job.
Genesis 6:14 - So make yourself an Ark of cypress wood: Make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the Ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. (NIV)
My study Bible translates the measurements into feet, if I go to the King James Bible I find the size in Cubits but since I would need to ask God, what's a cubit, I just thought the New International Version of the Bible would tell it best. Ok, God really handed them a job, but thank God, God is not like most of us as when we decide we want something most of it want it done yesterday. So think of it, God would come to us and tell us to build this Ark. 450 feet long, brothers and sisters, have you been to a football game, picture it, this Ark would be longer than the football field including the end zones and it would about half as wide and it would be about four stories high. So God walks up to you and tells you, I have found favor in you and I want you to build me this Ark, this really big boat and He gives you all the sizes and directions and you might say... "you've got to be kidding!" I don't think we could ever build it today, well, till we would get all the permits and waivers it would take years just for the paperwork. And think about when you call Lowes or Home Depot and asked for that much lumber and then would say, make it cypress wood, oh, and then you ask for that pitch, or tar. Think of the job, but more so I want you to think of this, would God really be able to find favor in you. I think this is a good time today to just stop and pray for God to clean us. Let's go to Him and ask in the name of Jesus to be washed clean. If we do this and then really repent of our sins and walk with God, when the end comes and it is coming, God will find favor in us. Don't worry, we will not need to build that really big boat, but we have our orders also and that is to Go into all the world and preach and teach the Good News (Mark 16:15). Ready? Let's get back in favor of God.
Let's take a look at the scriptures of today and see how it looks to us. See what God might give me today. Again we see God talking to Noah, talking to Noah as He talked to Adam and Eve, and to Cain and Abel, and as He talks to us. My question once again is do we listen, do we really listen for God to talk to us? Trust me when I say God does talk to each and every one of us, He does not pick and choose. He talks to all of us regardless of age, of sex, of race, of religion, He talks to those who cannot hear. When God speaks we all need to listen, and folks, listen with your heart and your mind and brain. Most often you will not hear Him with Your ears.
Now as he talks to Noah, He is laying out what I would call Noah's marching orders, what He wants Noah to do. Yesterday we looked at the size of the Ark that God commanded Noah to build, and that alone would have scared off most all people. Think about it, you are married, you have three sons and they all are married, and that's it for your help, well except for one helper, and that was? God of course! Brothers and Sisters, the older I get the smarter I am getting, for I have figured out that if I want to get ANYTHING done I need to get God in on it from the start. How about you, do you start projects, big or small, by asking God to work with you? If you don't, why not ask him early on, as in the start of each day to be with you in all things, and when you start something at work, pray about it first... Ok, lets move on...
God said: "I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark --- you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you." Now we touched on the family, but I want you to look at one word here, "Covenant." In other words, God made Noah a promise, a very big promise and I ask you today, do you know what that promise is and the reminder that God is using to this day to remind Him of the promise to Noah and his family?
Then God told Noah who to bring on board and I want you to notice that God commanded Noah to bring on two of each kind, ONE MALE AND ONE FEMALE... Folks, here it is again, God did not order couples of two males or two females, not in the people (Noah and his family and his son) nor in the animals. Couples were then and still should be now, one male and one female. The only time in the Bible where you will find a male married to a male is when we get to heaven and we are all married to Christ... As Neil Enloe wrote in a song... "Next time I get married, I'm going to be the bride." Ok, moving on...
Now listen to this from Genesis 6:20 - Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to to be kept alive. (NIV) Please note that the birds, animals and creatures are all going to come to Noah. Noah does not need to go and trap them, or hunt them down and bring them in, they just lined up when the Ark was done... Now folks, some will not believe that, but I do, and why... BECAUSE IT IS IN MY BIBLE!!
Can you just picture your neighbors if you built a really big boat, an Ark, in your yard and then the animals would come and line up? The neighbors drive by your hunk of ground and see this, and yes, they see a Lion and his mate, and two big old bears. Now I would be doing it and my neighbors might just say, well, old Dan is at it again and this time he crossed the line. But I have neighbors who know the Lord and would be just well might have been called on by God to do this project if it were to have happened today instead of back then... I could see it, "Art, I want you to build an Ark and bring Elaine with you." While we know an Ark will never be needed again, I am just pointing out this... Are you like Noah and Mrs. Noah and my dear, dear neighbors like Art and Elaine who I am sure would answer the call for God. In fact it was just about three years ago when they did answer the call, but things aside and went to the "Check Republic" (I am sure I messed that spelling up) on a mission trip. That is answering the call... HAVE YOU BEEN CALLED BY GOD? DID YOU ANSWER THE CALL? Ok, enough for today, tomorrow we get in the Ark, bring on the animals, and close the door, and then and then and The Rains Came...
Genesis 7:1 - The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, and a male and its mate, and two off every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made. 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. (NIV)
Genesis 7:11 - In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. (NIV)
And The Rains Came, and came and came. Genesis 7:17 - For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. (NIV)
Ok, let's review the scriptures of today. First I notice that once again The Lord was talking to Noah. Brothers and Sisters, I can't tell you this too often, The Lord talked to Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel, and to Noah and his family. Now He also must have talked to the animals because they came to the Ark, Noah did not need to go and fetch them. Then The Lord "commanded" Noah "Go into the ark."
And of course God told Noah again whom to take on board, and while most people think he only loaded his family and two of each animal, and bird, a male and female, but God also told Noah to take seven of the clean animals, a male and his mate... God also ordered on board seven of the birds, making sure there were males and females... Why seven of the animals and birds? And notice it said seven of the clean animals. Why? Food, my dear friends, food. Noah and his family had to eat and so did the animals.
Now here is something that really stands out to me... Noah, now six hundred years old, did everything the Lord commanded of him. The Lord commanded and Noah did it all, EVERYTHING THE LORD COMMANDED OF HIM. The Lord has commanded things of us, but gave us free will to do as we please and a lot of times we have pleased ourselves and sort of forgot those commands of our Lord God. "Sort of forgot?" No, we have been out and out sinners! What would have happened if Noah did not listen to God and obey His orders? The earth might not have ever been again. But Noah listened and all that God wanted on the Ark were on, the door was closed, and the Flood covered the earth, and all mankind was wiped out except those in the Ark...
Today we end with the biggest boat of that time floated on the surface of the water... All on board safe, THANKS FOR TO GOD. The others on earth, gone, and why? Because of their sin!!
Dear Father in Heaven. We thank You for Noah and his family and the examples they showed by their love of You. You gave them a command to build an Ark and it was not easy... You gave us a command to take the Good News to all the world, and I pray that I can uphold this end of the command. Father be with those we have been praying for, and Lord, as we dig in for our big push to help others with food, we need Your help... Thanks for standing shoulder to shoulder with our Ministry team and all the others who come to help. Please multiply the food that is coming in, and thanks for it, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Now go forth and share your blessings... This has been a Journey extra. Love ya, Pastor Dan.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment