Noah and his family had to begin by believing what God told them:
FIRST
that mankind was wicked and God would soon destroy them.
Fact of evil….
Pandemic of Sinfulness – unrecognized…
2 sides to everything
ILLUS – mom / daughter troubles
ILLUS – adam ( his team )
Lack of information of other
Lack of interested in others
– media
– higher Ed..
– water cooler talk
SECOND
that there IS a means to escape the destruction.
John 3:16
Educate ourselves
Stand!!!
Sometimes A L O N E !!!!
THRID
that means of escape is designed by the Lord and ONLY that means is available.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Other faith “ options “
FOURTH
Noah would have to act in order for his deliverance to come about.
Faith come to life…. step by step
ILLUS – Ark Encounter
FIFTH
trust , in spite of current circumstances
Current opinion vs. Christian world view
Trials and difficulty
So it took great FAITH on Noah’s part to take God at His word when the current circumstances didn’t seem to indicate how such a thing could possibly take place.
And it took EFFORT it was not simply a passive acknowledgment or intellectual acquiescence.
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In Hebrew the Ark is called a tevah; it is the same term used for the basket that baby Moses would placed in centuries later. A tevah is a box-like craft that is not the same thing as a boat or a ship. It is simply a device that floats, rudderless, and without a crew to operate it. The idea is that a tevah is guided only by God’s hand and providence and mankind is but a passenger.
Notice that the entire sphere of animated life on land and in the air is to be brought on board; everything from lizards to birds. The entire matrix of life is to be saved as the catalyst for new life. Each species, or family, is represented by one male and one female. This is the basic Biblical family unit.
We also see something else important: the basic divinely ideal family unit is defined and it is to consist of ONE male and ONE female; not ONE male and several females. So even in the narrative of Noah’s Ark we get the God-principle not only of marriage being a permanent bonding of male and female, but also of marriage being exclusive and monogamous.
And, it wouldn’t be the last Ark of refuge that God would prepare. This was a very exclusive invitation that was issued; only those whom God chose could come in. This invitation even included an RSVP……Noach had to respond, he had to act. Sitting and doing nothing was death. What was the dividing line between those who received the invitation and those who were denied….those who were chosen and those who were not? One had to be
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Lesson 7 – Genesis 6 & 7
tzaddik……Hebrew for righteous. And, God says that Noach was the only righteous man left on earth.
1. BUT NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD (VI, 8)
Grace:
Abraham trusted God, and so God says He will consider that trust as the reason to GIVE the designation of righteous to Abraham. That is EXACTLY what happens when we trust in Jesus. The word we used for this is grace. Noah didn’t earn his righteousness and we don’t earn ours; he and we simply received grace. That part of the equation has NEVER been any different from the beginning of the world until today.
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