Genesis Ch6v9-Ch7v5 - God's Care For His People

This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time,

and he walked faithfully with God.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Jepheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.

God saw how corrupt the earth had become,

for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

So God said to Noah,

I am going to put an end to all people,

for the earth is filled with violence because of them.

I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

So make yourself an ark of cypress wood.

Make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

This is how you are to build it.

The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening,

one cubit high all around.

Put a door on the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens,

every creature that has breath of life in it.

Everything on earth will perish.

But 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.

You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures,

male and female, to keep them alive with you.

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 be kept alive.

You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten

and store it away as food for you and for them.

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

The Lord then said to Noah,

Go into the ark, you and your whole family,

because I have found you righteous in this generation.

Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal,

a male and its mate,

and one pair of every kind of unclean animal,

a male and its mate,

and also seven pairs of every kind of bird,

male and female,

to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.

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.

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks, Craig.

Let's just pray as we come to God's word

and ask him to bless all that's said,

and all that we're reading

and we hear from him.

Let's pray.

Lord, we know you're the one who speaks these words.

You're the one who has given us these words

to help us to understand who you are.

And I pray, Lord, that in this incredible passage

that we would see your care,

your goodness,

your grace,

and that we'd understand more of you today.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So we can't cover every aspect of this passage,

but just to come at it from a particular angle today

and help us to see God's care.

If you made the trip to Cove in East Cork,

you can visit a Titanic exhibition.

And you can be allocated a person randomly

who sailed on that ship from Cove.

And you can find out at the end,

did you survive or did you not?

And of course,

there's also an impressive exhibition in Belfast.

And you can learn about the various classes of people

on board and the characters who sailed on the great ship.

And you can find out about how the ship sank.

You can think with a morbid wonder, maybe,

what was it like on those lifeboats.

And you can learn about the characters and the aftermath.

And I think there was investigations in New York and London.

I'm not sure how many of you remember them.

But you can even stand in one area in Belfast.

And you can see this glass floor.

And you look through the bottom.

And you see the ship as it is now.

As though you've gone down.

And you see where it is on the floor, the wreckage.

But one of the things you'll notice is how plush this ship was.

It was a ship like no other.

In its time, it was beyond anything ever seen before.

And the wonder of the first class cabins.

It was a modern vessel.

And you think, you know, turn of the century.

It was 1912 after all.

Funny how we do that with dates, isn't it?

Funny how we say, oh, it's shocking.

This is 2024, actually, after all.

And we're not living in 1990, you know.

And probably arrogance.

When we might be embarrassed in five years

about how we were today.

It was a modern ship.

And it was 1912.

Another vessel that was built in the modern age at the time.

We read about in Genesis 6.

Noah was asked to build an ark.

And there was a great deal of detail about this ark.

It was full of instruction as to how to build this ark.

Chapter 6, verse 14.

It was to be made of cypress wood

and made waterproof with pitch.

This was standard in the ancient world,

but there was nothing standard

about this boat that was to be built.

It was something else again.

Completely out of the ordinary

and unique in that time.

Make rooms in it.

Verse 14.

It's just there, like we always say in Scripture.

Scripture often does that.

It says something matter of fact.

Matter of fact.

Make rooms in it.

Someone has written these words.

Prior to the invention of seaworthy vessels,

which could carry sailors and cargo

through the heavy seas of the Mediterranean,

most boats were made of skin or reeds

and were designed to sail through marshes

or along the river bank.

They were used for fishing or hunting

and would not have been more than 10 feet in length.

True sailing ships with a length of 170 feet

are first depicted in Old Kingdom Egyptian art

about 2500 BC

and are described in Ugaritic and Phoenician texts

1600 to 1200 BC.

Even this late,

they still generally navigated within sight of land

with trips to Greece, Cyprus,

as well as ports along the coasts of Egypt,

the Persian Gulf and Asia Minor.

Noah's boat was a boat like no other.

Again, the detail goes to the dimensions,

which are seemingly quite easy to determine

along with the shape.

450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet deep,

one and a half football pitches.

Don't get bogged down on what type of football.

Verse 16 talks of a roof.

It's a bit unclear in the translations.

The word roof appears only in the Hebrew Bible,

translated as window, skylight, vaulted roof,

peripheral window.

Then God explains what will happen in verse 17.

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth

to destroy all life under the heavens.

Every creature that has the breath of life in it,

everything on earth will perish.

And people say, what kind of God is this?

We might ask that question.

We won't answer every aspect of it.

But two things we saw right at the start,

God cares.

And we see also,

he is the Lord of the deluge.

The word for flood occurs 12 times in Genesis 6 to 11

and once outside that in Psalm 29 verse 10.

Psalms 29:10

The Lord is enthroned over the flood.

The Lord is enthroned forever.

And he's thinking of his people.

Verse 18.

Like he thinks of you and me in January 2024.

God cares for you.

God provides rescue in the form of his saviour.

And he carries you safe to shore,

as the kids' song says.

This is happening because of a promise.

I will establish my covenant with you.

And you will enter the ark.

You and your sons and wife

and your son's wife with you.

Not just Noah, but the family as well.

Part of the promise.

Maybe because they were all righteous like Noah.

Or maybe because he was righteous

and they benefited.

None of them were perfect.

But then we have the animals.

Even the animals.

Verse 19.

Two of every living creature,

male and female,

to keep them alive with you.

Two of every kind of bird,

every kind of animal,

of every kind of creature

that moves along the ground

will come to you

to be kept alive.

You are to take every kind of food

that is to be eaten

and store it away as food

for you and for them.

Chapter 7, verse 2

talks more specifically

of seven pairs

of every kind of clean animal,

a male and its mate,

and one pair of every kind

of unclean animal,

a male and its mate,

and also seven pairs

of every kind of bird,

male and female,

to keep their various kinds alive

throughout the earth.

It's interesting.

Clean and unclean,

even at this stage.

But again,

we move on in verse 6,

chapter 6, verse 21.

Every kind of food

is to be taken and stored.

And then chapter 7, verse 1,

the Lord says to Noah,

go into the ark.

Go into the ark.

You and your whole family,

because I have found you righteous

in this generation.

And Noah did

all that the Lord

commanded him.

So what are we to make

today of these

passages?

This account.

Just a few simple things.

Firstly,

Noah was a righteous man

and God cares

for his people.

Noah was a righteous man

and God cares

for his people.

What does it mean

to be righteous like this?

I wonder how I can be righteous

like Noah

this year.

Well,

Noah was a man

who didn't conform.

That's one thing.

He wasn't a Christian

just on a Sunday.

He was a Christian

every day

of the week

when you leave here

and how we live

today.

and Tuesday

and on through the week.

You could see

by his life

every day

there was a difference.

Is that what people

can see

in ourselves?

He was a man

who obeyed God

and it was visible.

There was a visible difference.

We need that again,

don't we,

to be reminded

New Year.

Is there a difference

in how I live my life?

Among the people

he's placed

around me.

The people

I come into contact with.

In the mission field

where he has me.

wherever that is.

He was a man

who obeyed God.

Chapter 6,

verse 9.

This is the account

of Noah

and his family.

Noah was a righteous man

blameless among

the people

at this time

and he walked

faithfully

with God

and his three sons.

Someone has said

Noah is described

in superlative

terms.

That doesn't mean

he's perfect.

He's a sinful man

but his righteousness

is shining through.

We are sinful people

but that our righteousness

would shine through.

He's standing out

from the crowd

and may that be

the prayer of your heart

this year

to be a Christian

living lives

of righteousness.

something that goes

against the flow

of what we are seeing

all around.

So often we conform.

So often we are Christians

who almost want to exhibit

that we conform.

You know,

we're no different.

We're no different after all.

Well, in a sense

you want to show

that you're sinful.

You want to show

that you're imperfect.

People might take you wrong.

They might think

there's something

special about you

and you want to show

that you're

I'm a sinner.

I need his grace.

But on the other hand

you want to also show

that you're different

and for that

to be visible

and seen.

I also think

sometimes we do

exude that

when we don't realise.

We don't realise

what people see

from a positive perspective.

Believe that God can

show people

that your life

is different

even when you don't

feel that way.

So Noah's world

we see in verse 11

of chapter 6

and we probably know

very well

the earth was corrupt

in God's eyes

and was full

of violence.

God saw

how corrupt

the earth

had become

but God

could see

that Noah

was righteous.

The world

we live in

is no easier

than the world

of that time.

Christians face

new dilemmas

today.

You face

new battles

new issues.

Kinsale

carried a line

mission fields

and to some people

you know

they look on

Christians

as a danger.

You know

you're bad

you're a Christian.

You believe

in one God

you believe

that Jesus

is the only way.

The things

you believe

are not accepted

are not acceptable.

It's difficult

days

to be a Christian.

We believe

we have an answer

to give to people

but we are living

in a world

that is corrupt

that does not

think

of him

does not

honour him

and we are

called

to do so.

He sees you.

He sees

everything

that you

go through

and he sees

everything

you do

for him.

He knows

you in the

workplace

or at home

today.

He knows

you in school.

He sees

you in college

and he sees

your righteousness.

I wonder

do you feel

awkward

as we talk

about this

righteousness?

Psalm 14

The Lord

looks down

from heaven

on all

mankind

to see

if there

are any

who

understand

any

who

seek

God.

All have

turned away.

All have

become

corrupt.

There is

no one

who does

good.

Not

even one.

Were you

wondering that?

Were you

thinking to

yourself

all this

talk of

being

righteous?

Noah being

righteous?

I need

to be

righteous.

And you are

thinking

I am not

very

righteous.

You think

to yourself

how can I

be righteous?

I know

what I am

actually like.

I know

what I am

really like.

All this

talk of

righteousness.

I don't

feel that

way at

all.

This is

where the

gospel comes

in.

This is

where the

rescue comes

in.

We know

that the

only righteousness

we have

is in

Jesus.

The only

righteousness

we can

have comes

from him.

Truth is

we are

not holy.

To stand

in God's

presence,

to serve

him,

we are

not

righteous

in our

own

righteousness.

Noah

wasn't

perfect

and he

didn't have

a righteousness

that came

from himself.

But by

grace

it is

possible

for God

to look

down on

those who

seek to

serve

him

and to

see

Christ's

righteousness.

To see

Christ in

us,

to see

Christ for

us,

to see

Christ

with us.

What does

that mean

for us

as believers

today here

in Carigoline

and in

Kinsale?

What did

it mean

for Noah?

well,

we talked

about the

features on

the boat

that Noah

was to

build and

one final

feature that

I didn't

mention.

The boat

had no

rudder

and it

had no

sail

and it

was not

designed

to be

navigated.

it

wasn't

a ship

with

Noah

as

captain.

It

wasn't

about him

navigating

this ship

through

the

ice

fields.

It's

not a

ship

that needs

to show

itself

to be

the best

or the

fastest

or the

greatest.

It

doesn't

need

satellite

tracking

to follow

it.

And do

you know

what it

didn't

have?

It

didn't

have

life

boats

because

it was

the

life

boat.

no man

or woman

will be

in charge

of this

boat

when the

doors

close.

It

will be

a boat

simply

left

in the

hands

of God.

You

and I

in the

gospel

this

year.

In

the

hands

of

God.

Noah

will

build.

Maybe

his sons

will help

him.

Maybe

people

will

mock

him.

We

don't

know

actually

all

the

facts

that

we

sometimes

assume

or

attribute

to

the

story.

But

when it's

finished

they'll

get on

board

and

they'll

sit

tight.

That's

the

gospel.

We have

very little

to put

our hope

in in

this

world.

No

hope

of

guiding

our

own

course.

And

knowing

exactly

how

that

will

turn

out.

We

can't

predict

the

years

ahead

never

mind

the

months

or

the

weeks

ahead.

Kingdoms

will

rise

and

kingdoms

will

fall.

Only

that we

get into

the

boat

God

has

for

us.

A

lifeboat.

The

gospel

of

Jesus.

And

he

will

take

us.

And

he

will

change

us.

And

he

will

guide

us.

He

will

direct

our

lives.

And

it's

all

grace.

And

the

righteousness

we

have

is

just

from

him.

But

it is

righteousness.

It's

the

righteousness

of

Jesus

who

hung

on the

cross

for

our

sins,

paid

the

price

that

we

should

have

paid,

that

we

couldn't

pay.

The

Father

who

gave

up

his

son

for

us

and

told

us

to

get

on

board

in

a

sense,

like

with

this

great

ship.

And

when

we

get

on

board,

sometimes

we

think

of

all

kinds

of

things.

We

think,

what

about

this?

What

about

that?

Even

what

about

other

people?

people.

And a

lot of

our

time as

Christians

is spent

caring about

other

people.

A lot

of our

ministry,

called

Kerry Project,

is about

other

people.

The way

we've

done

things,

we think

about

other

people,

we care

for other

people.

But

sometimes

you just

have to

be so

thankful

for what

God has

done in

your life,

that he

has saved,

that he's

rescued,

that he's

called you,

that he

has you,

that he

cares

for you.

Exactly

that verse

in 1

Peter.

5.

Let's

bow our

heads

and let's

pray.

Lord,

we give

you praise

and we

give you

thanks

for your

mercy

shown to

us in

Jesus.

We just

pray and

thank you

Lord that

we don't

deserve

any of

this but

we get

to enjoy

your grace

and your

freedom

and your

righteousness.

The way

you look

on us

because of

Jesus

when we

know and

love you.

I pray

Lord that

we would

know you

in our

hearts.

I pray

you'd

encourage us

that you

care.

You care

for every

person,

every

single

person.

I pray

Lord that

we would

understand

this

gospel

of Jesus

not an

old

religion

but a

gospel,

a good

news

of freedom

from sin.

We are

not

righteous

but in

your grace

because of

what Jesus

did.

We can

be seen

that way

when we

don't

deserve

it.

Thank you

Lord.

Help us

to be

grateful

this week

for all

you've

done in

our lives.

Forgive us

Lord for

our desire

to live

our own

way.

Forgive us

for the

times when

we are

cynical

about your

love.

When we

suffer

and we

blame you,

forgive us.

Cleanse us

Lord from

our heart

and our

suffering

that causes

us to

often live

as though we

don't have

you in

our lives.

Help us

not to live

as orphans

but to

live as

sons of

you.

Lord we

give you

praise and

thanks for

this great

mercy you've

shown us in

Jesus.

Thank you

for the

example of

that great

boat that

Noah built

his

obedience.

We pray

that we

would

follow and

we pray

Lord that

you would

lead us

this week.

In

Jesus name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you so

much Craig.

We're going

to sing our

last song

now.

Thank you

Thank you.