| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Genesis Chapter
Seven
Genesis 7
Chapter Contents
Noah, and his family and the living creatures, enter the
ark, and the flood begins. (1-12) Noah shut in the ark. (13-16) The increase of
the flood for forty days. (17-20) All flesh is destroyed by the flood. (21-24)
Commentary on Genesis 7:1-12
The call to Noah is very kind, like that of a tender
father to his children to come in-doors when he sees night or a storm coming.
Noah did not go into the ark till God bade him, though he knew it was to be his
place of refuge. It is very comfortable to see God going before us in every
step we take. Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and now he
was himself kept alive in it. What we do in obedience to the command of God,
and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, first or last.
This call to Noah reminds us of the call the gospel gives to poor sinners.
Christ is an ark, in whom alone we can be safe, when death and judgment
approach. The word says, "Come;" ministers say, "Come;" the
Spirit says, "Come, come into the Ark." Noah was accounted righteous,
not for his own righteousness, but as an heir of the righteousness which is by
faith, Hebrews 11:7. He believed the revelation of a
saviour, and sought and expected salvation through Him alone. Thus was he
justified by faith, and received that Spirit whose fruit is in all goodness;
but if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. After the
hundred and twenty years, God granted seven days' longer space for repentance.
But these seven days were trifled away, like all the rest. It shall be but
seven days. They had only one week more, one sabbath more to improve, and to
consider the things that belonged to their peace. But it is common for those
who have been careless of their souls during the years of their health, when
they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days,
the few days of their sickness, when they see death approaching; their hearts
being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. As Noah prepared the ark by faith
in the warning given that the flood would come, so he went into it, by faith in
this warning that it would come quickly. And on the day Noah was securely fixed
in the ark, the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The earth had
within it those waters, which, at God's command, sprang up and flooded it; and
thus our bodies have in themselves those humours, which, when God pleases,
become the seeds and springs of mortal diseases. The windows of heaven were
opened, and the waters which were above the firmament, that is, in the air,
were poured out upon the earth. The rain comes down in drops; but such rains
fell then, as were never known before or since. It rained without stop or
abatement, forty days and forty nights, upon the whole earth at once. As there
was a peculiar exercise of the almighty power of God in causing the flood, it
is vain and presumptuous to attempt explaining the method of it, by human
wisdom.
Commentary on Genesis 7:13-16
The ravenous creatures were made mild and manageable;
yet, when this occasion was over, they were of the same kind as before; for the
ark did not alter their natures. Hypocrites in the church, who outwardly
conform to the laws of that ark, are yet unchanged; and it will appear, one
time or other, what kind they are after. God continued his care of Noah. God
shut the door, to secure him and keep him safe in the ark; also to keep all
others for ever out. In what manner this was done, God has not been pleased to
make known. There is much of our gospel duty and privilege to be seen in Noah's
safety in the ark. The apostle makes it a type of christian baptism, 1 Peter 3:20,21. Observe then, it is our great
duty, in obedience to the gospel call, by a lively faith in Christ, to come
into that way of salvation which God has provided for poor sinners. Those that
come into the ark, should bring as many as they can with them, by good
instructions, by persuasions, and by good examples. There is room enough in
Christ for all comers. God put Adam into paradise, but did not shut him in, so
he threw himself out; but when God put Noah into the ark, and so when he brings
a soul to Christ, the salvation is sure: it is not in our own keeping, but in
the Mediator's hand. But the door of mercy will shortly be shut against those
that now make light of it. Knock now, and it shall be opened, Luke 13:25.
Commentary on Genesis 7:17-20
The flood was increasing forty days. The waters rose so
high, that the tops of the highest mountains were overflowed more than twenty
feet. There is no place on earth so high as to set men out of the reach of
God's judgments. God's hand will find out all his enemies, Psalm 21:8. When the flood thus increased,
Noah's ark was lifted up, and the waters which broke down every thing else,
bore up the ark. That which to unbelievers betokens death unto death, to the
faithful betokens life unto life.
Commentary on Genesis 7:21-24
All the men, women, and children, that were in the world,
excepting those in the ark, died. We may easily imagine what terror seized
them. Our Saviour tells us, that till the very day that the flood came, they
were eating and drinking, Luke 17:26,27; they were deaf and blind to all
Divine warnings. In this posture death surprised them. They were convinced of
their folly when it was too late. We may suppose they tried all ways and means
possible to save themselves, but all in vain. And those that are not found in
Christ, the Ark, are certainly undone, undone for ever. Let us pause, and
consider this tremendous judgment! Who can stand before the Lord when he is
angry? The sin of sinners will be their ruin, first or last, if not repented
of. The righteous God knows how to bring ruin upon the world of the ungodly, 2 Peter 2:5. How tremendous will be the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men! Happy they who are part of Christ's
family, and safe with him as such; they may look forward without dismay, and
rejoice that they shall triumph, when fire shall burn up the earth, and all
that therein is. We are apt to suppose some favourable distinctions in our own
case or character; but if we neglect, refuse, or abuse the salvation of Christ,
we shall, notwithstanding such fancied advantages, be destroyed in the common
ruin of an unbelieving world.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Genesis》
Genesis 7
Verse 1
[1] And
the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee
have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
Here is a gracious invitation of Noah and his
family into a place of safety, now the flood of waters was coming.
For thee have I seen righteous before me in
this generation — Those are righteous indeed that are
righteous before God; that have not only the form of godliness by which they
appear righteous before men, who may easily be imposed upon; but the power of
it, by which they approve themselves to God, who searcheth the heart.
Verse 2
[2] Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his
female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Here are necessary orders given concerning
the brute creatures that they were to be preserved alive with Noah in the ark.
He must carefully preserve every species, that no tribe, no, not the least
considerable, might entirely perish out of the creation. Observe in this: (1.)
God's care for man. Doth God take care for oxen? 1 Corinthians 9:9, or was it not rather for
man's sake that this care was taken? (2.) Even the unclean beasts were
preserved alive in the ark, that were least valuable. For God's tender mercies
are over all his works, and not only over those that are of most use. (3.) Yet
more of the clean were preserved than of the unclean. 1. Because the clean were
most for the service of man; and therefore in favour to him, more of them were
preserved and are still propagated. Thanks be to God there are not herds of
lions as there are of oxen, nor flocks of tigers as there are of sheep. 2.
Because the clean were for sacrifice to God; and therefore, in honour to him,
more of them were preserved, three couple for breed, and the odd seventh for
sacrifice, Genesis 8:20.
Verse 4
[4] For
yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty
nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the
face of the earth.
Yet seven days and I will cause it to rain — It shall be seven days yet before I do it, After the 120 years were
expired, God grants them a reprieve of seven days longer, both to shew how slow
he is to anger, and to give them some farther space for repentance. But all in
vain; these seven days were trifled away after all the rest, they continued
secure until the day that the flood came. While Noah told them of the judgment
at a distance, they were tempted to put off their repentance: but now he is
ordered to tell them that it is at the door; that they have but one week more
to turn them in, to see if that will now at last awaken them to consider the
things that belong to their peace. But it is common for those that have been
careless for their souls during the years of their health, when they have
looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the seven
days of their sickness, when they see it approaching, their hearts being
hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Verse 7
[7] And
Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into
the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
And Noah went in with his sons, and his wife,
and his sons wives — And the brute creatures readily went in
with him. The same hand that at first brought them to Adam to be named, now
brought them to Noah to be preserved.
Verse 11
[11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
The six hundredth year of Noah's life, was
1656 years from the creation.
In the second month, the seventeenth day of
the month — Which is reckoned to be about the
beginning of November; so that Noah had had a harvest just before, from which
to victual his ark.
The same day the fountains of the great deep
were broken up — There needed no new creation of waters;
God has laid up the deep in store-houses, Psalms 33:7, and now he broke up those stores.
God had, in the creation, set bars and doors to the waters of the sea, that
they might not return to cover the earth, Psalms 104:9; Job 38:9-11, and now he only removed these
ancient mounds and fences, and the waters of the sea returned to cover the
earth, as they had done at first, Genesis 1:9. And the windows of heaven were
opened - And the waters which were above the firmament were poured out upon the
world; those treasures which God has reserved against the time of trouble, the
day of battle and war, Job 38:22,23. The rain, which ordinarily
descends in drops, then came down in streams. We read, Job 26:8. That God binds up the waters in his
thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them; but now the bond was
loosed, the cloud was rent, and such rains descended as were never known before
or since.
Verse 12
[12] And
the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
It rained without intermission or abatement,
forty days and forty nights - And that upon the whole earth at once.
Verse 14
[14]
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every
fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
And every beast after his kind — According to the phrase used in the history of the creation, Genesis 1:21,24,25, to intimate, that just as
many species as were created at first were saved now, and no more.
Verse 20
[20]
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
The mountains were covered — Therefore there were mountains before the flood.
Verse 21
[21] And
all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
All flesh died, all in whose nostrils was the
breath of life, of all that was on the dry land, every living substance — And why so? Man only had done wickedly, and justly is God's hand against
him, but these sheep what have they done? I answer, 1. We are sure God did them
no wrong. He is the sovereign Lord of all life, for he is the sole fountain and
author of it. He that made them as he pleased, might unmake them when he
pleased, and who shall say unto him, What dost thou? 2. God did admirably serve
the purposes of his own glory by their destruction, as well as by their
creation. Herein his holiness and justice were greatly magnified: by this it
appears that he hates sin, and is highly displeased with sinners, when even the
inferior creatures, because they are the servants of man, and part of his
possession, and because they have been abused to be the servants of sin, are
destroyed with him. It was likewise an instance of God's wisdom. As the
creatures were made for man when he was made, so they were multiplied for him
when he was multiplied; and therefore, now mankind was reduced to so small a
number, it was fit that the beasts should proportionable be reduced, otherwise
they would have had the dominion, and would have replenished the earth, and the
remnant of mankind that was left would have been overpowered by them.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Genesis》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-3
And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the
ark
The ark completed; or, the termination of definite moral service
I.
THE
TERMINATION OF AS ARDUOUS TASK.
1. This termination would be a relief to his physical energies.
2. This termination would be a relief to his mental anxieties.
3. This termination would inspire a sad but holy pride within his
heart. And so Christian service often reviews its work, its calm faith, its
patient energy, and its palpable result, with sacred joy, but when it is
associated with the judgments of heaven upon the ungodly, the joy merges into
grief and prayer. The best moral workman cannot stand unmoved by his ark, when
he contemplates the deluge soon to overtake the degenerate crowds around, whom
he would fain persuade to participate in the refuge he has built.
II. THE INDICATION
OF ABOUNDING MERCY (verse4).
1. This indication of mercy was unique. Its occasion was unique.
Neither before or since has the world been threatened with a like calamity. And
the compassion itself was alone in its beauty and meaning.
2. This indication of mercy was pathetic.
3. This indication of mercy was rejected. The people regarded not
the completion of the ark, they heeded not the mercy which would have saved
them at the eleventh hour.
III. THE SIGNAL FOR
A WONDROUS PHENOMENON (Genesis 7:8-9).
IV. THE PROPHECY
OF AN IMPORTANT FUTURE. LESSONS:
1. Let the good anticipate the time when all the fatigue and anxiety
of moral service shall be at an end.
2. Let them contemplate the joy of successful service for God.
3. Let them enter into all the meaning and phenomena of Christian
service. (J. S.Exell, M. A.)
God’s invitation to the families of the good
I. THAT THE
FAMILIES OF THE GOOD ARE EXPOSED TO MORAL DANGER.
1. This danger is imminent.
2. It is alarming.
3. It should be fully recognized.
4. It should be provided against.
II. THAT THE
FAMILIES OF THE GOOD ARE INVITED TO MORAL SAFETY.
1. They are invited to this safety after their own effort, in
harmony with the Divine purpose concerning them.
2. The purpose concerning them was--
III. THAT THE
FAMILIES OF THE GOOD SHOULD BE IMMEDIATE IN THEIR RESPONSE TO THE DIVINE REGARD
FOR THEIR SAFETY. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The house in the ark
I. AN EXHIBITION
OF DIVINE CARE.
II. A
MANIFESTATION OF PARENTAL LOVE.
III. THE IDEAL AND
JOY OF DOMESTIC LIFE. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The ark; a word to parents
I. THERE IS AN
AWFUL PERIL HANGING OVER YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN.
1. Divinely threatened.
2. Generally disbelieved.
3. Absolutely certain.
II. THERE IS
SALVATION PROVIDED FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN.
1. Divinely constituted.
2. All-sufficient.
3. Popularly neglected.
III. THERE IS A
SOLEMN OBLIGATION RESTING UPON YOU IN RELATION TO YOUR CHILDREN.
1. If you do not care for them, who do you expect will?
2. If you cannot induce them to come, who do you expect can? (Homilist.)
The deluge
I. THE GLORY OF
PURITY.
1. Uncontaminated in the midst of impurity.
2. Intrusted with the Divine intentions.
3. Employed in warning others of their danger.
4. Safe in the midst of dangers.
5. The true mark of distinction between man and man.
II. THE POWER OF
EVIL.
1. Rapid in its increase.
2. Complete mastery over the heart.
3. Terrific in its results.
III. THE SAVING
POWER OF GOD.
1. Employed wherever faith is found.
2. Employed in conjunction with man’s efforts.
3. Employed only in the ark. (Homilist.)
A whole family in heaven
I. GOD IN THE
SCRIPTURES DEALS WITH FAMILIES BOTH IN SAVING AND DESTROYING.
II. SPECIAL
OBLIGATION ON HEADS OF FAMILIES TO BRING THE HOUSEHOLD TO CHRIST.
III. UNSPEAKABLE
JOY OF THE FAMILY REUNION AFTER THE STORMS AND SEPARATIONS OF EARTH. What
greetings--memories--unalloyed fellowship--blissful employments. (The
Homiletic Review.)
A family sermon
I. THE CALL.
1. It was a call from the Lord.
2. A personal call.
3. Effectual.
4. A call to personal action.
“Come thou.” Noah must come, and he must come to the ark too. For
him there was only one way of salvation, any more than for anybody else. It was
of no use his coming near it, but he must come into it. Come, make the Lord
Jesus your refuge, your deliverance, and your habitation. Now it would have
been of no use for Noah to have gone on making preparations for his dwelling in
the ark: that he had done long enough. Neither would it have done for Noah to
go round the ark to survey it again. No longer look at Christ externally, nor
survey Him even with a grateful eye for what He has done for others, but come
now and commit yourself to Him. There stands the door, and you have to go
through it, and enter into the inner chambers, or you will find no safety.
Neither would it have been of any use for Noah to go up to the ark and stand
against the door and say, “I do not say that I am not going in, and I do not
even say that I am not in already; I have got one foot in, but I am a moderate
man, and like to be friendly with both sides. I am in and yet not in. If the
door was shut I do not know but that it would cut me in halves; but, anyhow, I
do not want to be altogether out, and I do not want to be quite in. I should
like to stand where I could hurry in as soon as I saw the water coming up; but,
still, while there is another opportunity of taking a walk on the dry land I
may as well avail myself of it. There is no hurry about it, is there? You see,
if a man keeps his finger on the latch of the door he can pop in as soon as
ever he sees the first drop of rain descending, or the water coming up anywhere
near him; but is there any reason for being so decided all at once? No, that would
not do for Noah. God said to him, “Come into the ark,” and he went in at once.
Noah must not hesitate, or linger, or halt, but in he must go: right in. Again,
Noah must come into the ark never to go out again. “Come thou,” saith God,
“into the ark.” He is not to make a visit, but he is to be shut in. As far as
that world was concerned, Noah was to be in the ark as long as it lasted. When
the new world came, then he walked out in joyful liberty. But you and I are in
Christ, not to be there for a time, but to abide in Him forever and ever.
II. THE OBEDIENCE
(Genesis 7:7).
1. Unquestioning.
2. Immediate.
3. Once for all. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Safety in the ark
I. THERE IS A
DELUGE OF WRATH COMING UPON SINNERS.
II. THERE IS AN
ARK PROVIDED FOR PRESERVATION.
III. GOD GRACIOUSLY
INVITES SINNERS TO COME INTO IT. (G. Burder.)
Noah and the ark
I. His INGRESS,
or entrance into it.
II. His PROGRESS,
or safe entertainment in it.
III. His EGRESS, or
joyful departure out of it. (C. Ness.)
The eve of the flood
1. God gave special notice to
Noah, saying, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen
righteous.” He who in well-doing commits himself into the hands of a faithful
Creator, needs not fear being overtaken by surprise. What have we to fear, when
He whom we serve hath the keys of hell and of death?
2. God gave him all his household with him. We are not informed
whether any of Noah’s family at present followed his example: it is certain
that all did not; yet all entered with him into the ark for his sake. This
indeed was but a specimen of the mercy which was to be exercised towards his
distant posterity on behalf of him, as we have seen in the former chapter. But
it is of importance to observe, that though temporal blessings may be given to
the ungodly children of a godly parent, yet without walking in his steps they
will not be partakers with him in those which are spiritual and eternal.
3. It is an affecting thought, that there should be no more than
Noah and his family to enter into the ark. Peter speaks of them as few; and few
they were, considering the vast numbers that were left behind. Noah had long
been a preacher of righteousness; and what--is there not one sinner brought to
repentance by his preaching? It should seem not one: or if there were any, they
were taken away from the evil to come. We are ready to think our ministry has
but little success; but his, as far as appears, was without any: yet like
Enoch, he pleased God.
4. The righteousness of Noah is repeated, as the reason of the
difference put between him and the world. This does not imply that the favour
shown to him is to be ascribed to his own merit; for whatever he was, he was by
grace, and all his righteousness was rewardable only out of respect to Him in
whom he believed; but being accepted for His sake, his works also were accepted
and honoured. (A. Fuller.)
The closed ark
We can conceive an angel anxious for the rescue of the world, but
unknowing of the exact time for the fulfilment of its doom, looking curiously
down each morning of the seven days, and saying, as the open door presented
itself first to his eager gaze, “Thank God, it is not yet shut”; and how, while
the evening shadows are closing down around the ark, the door still stands
inviting any to enter within who are willing, and is the last object of which
he loses sight, he again exclaims, “Thank God, it is yet open.” But conceive
his sorrow when the seventh day arrives, and when, as he looks, lo! the door is
shutting! The ark has folded itself up, as it were, for its plunge, and the
bystanders and the shore are being left behind; the day of grace is about to
close. No! one other offer yet, one other cry, one other half-opening of the
half-shut door, but in vain; and then the angel shrieks, and returns to heaven,
as he hears the thunder of the closing door, and as, alas! he perceives in the
blackening sky, that while the ark shuts, the windows of heaven open. (G.
Gilfillan.)
Christ not an insecure refuge
Some parts of the coast abound with caves. In one of these was
found the body of a poor Frenchman. He had been a prisoner and had escaped from
prison, and for a long time concealed himself there, probably in the hope of
escaping by some vessel which might pass. Many a weary day passed, however, and
he still remained a prisoner, till at last, not venturing to leave his retreat,
he perished from want. So it is with those who seek refuge in insufficient
places. “They make lies their refuge, and under falsehood hide themselves.”
Alas! how often they find out their mistake when it is too late. (G. S.
Bowes.)
The family in the ark
I should like to see every father in this room safe in the ark;
and then I should like to see each one of you fathers bring your children in.
There is no safety for them or for you outside. They will not come in unless
someone tell them of the danger of remaining outside. Who can tell them so well
as you? Who can teach them that sin biteth like a serpent, and that its fangs are
deadly, but you? They need your help, your prayers, and your influence. I would
say to each father as God said to Noah, “Come thou, and all thy house.” Come in
yourselves, and be sure not to forget to bring your children in with you. (D.
L. Moody.)
The whole family in the ark
“Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” You can’t spare any of
them. Think of which one you would like to spare. On a western lake in America
there was a father journeying with two daughters, and they were very poor.
Their appearance told the story without a word of explanation. A very
benevolent gentleman in that part came up to the father and said, “You seem to
be very poor.” “Oh!” said the other, “if there’s a man in this world poorer
than I am, God pity him, and pity me, and help us both.”--“Well,” said the
benevolent man, “I will take one of those children and bring her up and make
her very comfortable. I am a man of fortune, and you may find great relief in
this way.” “What,” said the poor man. “What!--would it be a relief to have my
hand chopped off my arm? Would it be a relief to have my heart torn out from my
breast? What do you mean, sir? God pity us.” Ah! no, he could not give up
either of them, and you cannot give up any of your family. Which one would you
give up? The eldest? Or would it be the youngest? Would it be the one that was
sick last winter? Would it be the husband? Would it be the wife? No, no. “Come
thou and all thy house into the ark.” Let us join hands anew and come into the
ark. Come father, come mother, come sister, come brother, come son, come
daughter. It is not the voice of a stormy blast, but the voice of an all-loving
God, who says, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” The Lord shut him
in. (T. de Witt Talmage.)
Entering into Christ as into an ark
When I was in Manchester, I went into the gallery one Sunday night
to have a talk with a few inquirers, and while I was talking a business man
came in and took his seat on the outskirts of the audience. I think at first he
had come merely to criticise, and that he was a little sceptical. At last I saw
he was in tears. I turned to him and said: “My friend, what is your
difficulty?” “Well,” he said: “Mr. Moody, the fact is, I cannot tell.” I said:
“Do you believe you are a sinner?” He said: “Yes, I know that.” I said: “Christ
is able to save you; “ and I used one illustration after another, but he did
not see it. At last I used the ark, and I said: “Was it Noah’s feelings that
saved him? Was it Noah’s righteousness that saved him, or was it the ark?” “Mr.
Moody,” said he, “I see it.” He got up and shook hands with me, and said:
“Goodnight. I have to go. I have to go away in the train tonight, but I was
determined to be saved before I went. I see it now.” I confess it seemed almost
too sudden for me, and I was almost afraid it could not live. A few days after,
he came and touched me on the shoulder, and said: “Do you know me?” I said: “I
know your face, but do not remember where I have seen you.” He said: “Do not
you remember the illustration of the ark?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “It has been
all light ever since. I understand it now. Christ is the ark; He saves me, and
I must get inside Him.” When I went down to Manchester again, and talked to the
young friends there, I found he was the brightest light among them. (D. L.
Moody.)
For thee have I seen
righteous before Me
True moral rectitude
I. TRUE MORAL
RECTITUDE MAINTAINED IN DEGENERATE TIMES. Sinful companions and degenerate
times are no excuse for faltering moral goodness. The goodness of Noah was--
1. Real.
2. Unique.
3. Stalwart.
II. TRUE MORAL
RECTITUDE OBSERVED BY GOD.
1. It is personally observed by God.
2. It was observed by God in its relation to the age in which the
good man lived. “In this generation.”
III. TRUE MORAL
RECTITUDE REWARDED BY GOD.
1. Rewarded by distinct commendation. God calls Noah a righteous
man.
2. Rewarded by domestic safety. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The illustrious one
I. THE CHARACTER
WHICH NOAH SUSTAINED. “Righteous.”
1. Few of the ancient worthies are more frequently or more honourably
mentioned than Noah (Ezekiel 14:14; Luke 17:26; Hebrews 11:7).
2. The faith of Noah was a lively, active faith; it produced
obedience to the Divine command.
3. He was a man of deep piety.
4. He was a genuine philanthropist (2 Peter 2:5).
II. THE TIME WHEN
HE SUSTAINED THIS CHARACTER. “In this generation.”
1. This generation was completely given up to infidelity and
iniquity.
2. In this generation it is probable that Noah would meet with
opposition and insult from all quarters.
III. THE
CONSEQUENCE OF HIS SUSTAINING SUCH A CHARACTER. “Come thou and all thy house
into the ark.”
1. While the flood was teeming upon the ungodly with dreadful
impetuosity, Noah was safe in the ark, instructing his family, and communing
with his God.
2. While the evil-doers were swept from the face of the earth and
their names buried in eternal oblivion, Noah came safely out of the ark, became
the father of a new race, and finally died in peace.
IV. APPLICATION.
1. Noah heard, believed, and obeyed God. Do we imitate him?
2. Noah was righteous in that generation of universal degeneracy,
when he had every difficulty, and no encouragements. Are we as righteous in
this generation, when we have but few obstacles and many advantages? (Benson
Bailey.)
Verse 4
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.
The Divine threat of destruction
I. VERY SOON TO
BE EXECUTED.
II. VERY MERCIFUL
IN ITS COMMENCEMENT.
III. VERY TERRIBLE
IN ITS DESTRUCTION. “And every living substance that I have made will I destroy
from off the face of the earth.”
1. The destruction was determined.
2. The destruction was universal.
3. The destruction was piteous.
IV. VERY
SIGNIFICANT IN ITS INDICATION. The Fatherhood of God is not incompatible with
the punishment of sinners. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Divine threatenings
1. That they will surely be
executed.
2. At the time announced.
3. In the manner predicted.
4. With the result indicated. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Verse 5
Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him
The obedience of Noah to the commands of God
I.
IT
WAS OBEDIENCE RENDERED UNDER THE MOST TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES.
II. IT WAS
OBEDIENCE RENDERED IN THE MOST ARDUOUS WORK.
III. IT WAS
OBEDIENCE RENDERED IN THE MOST HEROIC MANNER. (J. S.Exell, M. A.)
Safely kept by God
When Paul was in danger from the forty men who laid wait to kill
him, Providence shut him up in Caesarea, where he was free from the peril. When
Luther would probably have been slain by wicked Papists, he was taken by force
to a strong castle, where he was in good keeping till it was safe for him to go
abroad. Jesus, too, as a babe, was taken into Egypt for His preservation from
death.
The entrance of the animals into the ark
At last the allotted time is fully or nearly expired. Noah has
laid the last planks of the ark, which now stands up like a mountain, relieved
against the sky. But that sky is as yet serene and cloudless, and there seems
as little prospect of a deluge as there was a hundred and twenty years ago. The
general interest in the matter has languished and nearly expired, when it is
suddenly awakened into an intense glow by an extraordinary occurrence. The
people bad laughed at the immense size of the ark, at its many rooms, at the
quantity of food Noah had collected, and had asked, “Whence are the animals to
come that are to fill these corners and to consume these stores?” But now a
strange rumour flies abroad; it is, that a vast and motley throng of birds,
beasts, and creeping things are thronging from every quarter toward the ark.
There are cries, indeed, in contradiction to this “It cannot be, it is a mere
report got up by Noah”; but soon it forces itself as a fact upon the conviction
of all, and the most obstinately incredulous have to stand dumb beside; and
worse, have no power to obstruct the passage. It is a sight the sublimity of
which they are compelled to admire, even while they tremble thereat; being,
indeed, a repetition on a larger scale of the passage of the animals before
Adam. The lion and the lioness come, loth, it would seem in a degree, to
circumscribe their wild freedom and majesty, yet unable to resist the pressure
of the power above. The tiger and his mate, like fiends chained, but the chains
not seen; the rhinoceros, buffalo, and mammoth, causing the earth to groan
beneath their tread; panthers and leopards swiftly advancing; the slow-moving
bear and the “solemn” elephant; the bull, the stag, and the elk, with their
flashing horns; the horse, the glory of his nostrils terrible still, although
tamed somewhat in the shadow of his unseen rider, God; the antelope and the
wolf met together; the fox and the lamb embracing each other; the hyena,
horrible even in his transient tameness; besides fifty more forms of brutal
life, clean or unclean, beneath whose ranks you see thick streams of reptile
existence, from the serpent to the scorpion, from the boa constrictor to the
lizard, wriggling on their ark-ward way. And high overhead are flights of
birds, here all oracular of doom, winging their courses--the earnest eagle, the
gloom glowing raven, the reluctant vulture, the heavy kite, the fierce-eyed
falcon, the high-soaring hawk, the lark with her lyric melody, the dove with
her spotless plumage, the humming bird with her sparkling gem-like shape, the
nightingale with her sober plumage and melting song, the swallow with the
dark-light glance and shivered beauty of her wing, and a hundred more of those
skiey demons or angels now sweep past to their prepared nests in the ark, even
as spirits from a thousand deaths on a battlefield find their winged way to the
“land of souls”! Surely you might have expected that such a throng of nature’s
children, all subdued into one harmony, aiming at one mark, and animated by one
spirit, as by one supernatural soul, should have not only awed, but convinced
and converted the multitude who saw their passage. But it was not so. In what
way or through means of what sophistry they contrived to evade the impression
made by such a startling event, we cannot tell; but evade it they did--proving
that there have sometimes been hearts so hard and consciences so seared that
the most stupendous miracles have been unable to move them or melt them into
repentance. (G. Gilfillan.)
The ark open for all
On the morning when the ark door was opened you might have seen in
the sky a pair of eagles, a pair of sparrows, a pair of vultures, a pair of
ravens, a pair of humming birds, a pair of all kinds of birds that ever cut the
azure, that ever floated on wing, or whispered their song to the evening gales.
In they came. But, if you had watched down on the earth, you would have seen
come creeping along a pair of snails, a pair of snakes, and a pair of worms.
There ran along a pair of mice; there came a pair of lizards; and in there flew
a pair of locusts. There were pairs of creeping creatures, as well as pairs of
flying creatures. Do you see what I mean by that? There are some of you that
can fly so high in knowledge that I should never be able to scan your great and
extensive wisdom; and others of you so ignorant that you can hardly read your
Bibles. Never mind: the eagle must come down to the door, and you must go up to
it. There is only one entrance for you all; and, as God saved the birds that
flew, so He saved the reptiles that crawled. Are you a poor, ignorant, crawling
creature, that never was noticed--without intellect, without repute, without
fame, without honour? Come along, crawling One! God will not exclude you. (C.
H.Spurgeon.)
Verse 7
Because of the waters of the flood
Popular reasons for a religious life
There are many motives urging men to seek the safety of their
souls.
I. BECAUSE
RELIGION IS COMMANDED. Some men are good because God requires moral
rectitude from all His creatures, they feel it right to be pure. They wish to
be happy, and they find that the truest happiness is the outcome of goodness.
II. BECAUSE OTHERS
ARE RELIGIOUS. Multitudes are animated by a desire to cultivate a good life because
their comrades do. They enter the ark because of the crowds that are seen
wending their way to its door.
III. BECAUSE
RELIGION IS A SAFETY. We are told that Noah’s family went into the ark “because
of the waters of the flood.” Many only become religious when they see the
troubles of life coming upon them; they regard piety as a refuge from peril. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
Noah and the ark
I. THE WARNED
ACCEPTING ADMONITION. The warning we have corresponds with the warning Noah
had, in--
1. Its source;
2. Its medium;
3. Its subject;
4. Its design.
II. THE IMPERILLED
SEEKING REFUGE.
1. The urgently-needed refuge.
2. The divinely-appointed refuge.
3. The wisely-adapted refuge.
4. The only-existing refuge (Acts 4:12).
III. THE INVITED
TRUSTING PROMISE.
IV. THE OBEDIENT SECURING
SAFETY. (J. Poulter, B. A.)
The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened
The deluge; or, the judgments of God upon the sin of man
I.
THAT
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS IS IMPORTANT, AND SHOULD BE CAREFULLY
NOTED AND REMEMBERED.
1. The chronology of Divine retribution is important as a record of
history.
2. The chronology of Divine retribution is important as related to
the moral life and destinies of men.
3. The chronology of Divine retribution is important, as the
incidental parts of Scripture bear a relation to those of greater magnitude.
II. THAT GOD HATH
COMPLETE CONTROL OVER ALL THE AGENCIES OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE, AND CAN
READILY MAKE THEM SUBSERVE THE PURPOSE OF HIS WILL. “The same day were all the
fountains of the great deep broken up.”
1. The Divine Being can control the latent forces and the unknown
possibilities of the universe.
2. The Divine Being can control all the recognized and welcome
agencies of the material universe, so that they shall be destructive rather
than beneficial.
3. That the agencies of the material universe frequently cooperate
with the providence of God.
III. THAT THE
RETRIBUTIVE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE A SIGNAL FOR THE GOOD TO ENTER UPON THE SAFETY
PROVIDED FOR THEM. “In the self-same day entered Noah,” etc.
IV. THAT THE
DIVINE JUDGMENTS, THE AGENCIES OF RETRIBUTION, WHICH ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO THE
WICKED, ARE SOMETIMES EFFECTIVE TO THE SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE GOOD.
V. THAT IN THE
RETRIBUTIVE JUDGMENTS OF GOD WICKED MEN ARE PLACED WITHOUT ANY MEANS OF REFUGE
OR HOPE.
VI. THAT THE
MEASURE AND LIMITS OF THE RETRIBUTIVE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE DIVINELY DETERMINED
(Genesis 7:20; Genesis 7:24). LESSONS:
1. That the judgments of heaven are long predicted.
2. That they are commonly rejected.
3. That they are woefully certain.
4. That they are terribly severe.
5. They show the folly of sin. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
An important and eventful day
1. The fulfilment of the
promise.
2. The commencement of retribution.
3. The time of personal safety.
4. The occasion of family blessing. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The deluge
I. THE DELUGE
ITSELF.
1. Its reality.
2. The means by which it was effected. Some suppose it was effected
by a comet; others, that by one entire revolution of the earth, the sea was
moved out of its place, and covered the face of the earth, and that the bed of
the ancient sea became our new earth. There is one simple means by which it
might have been easily effected. Water is composed of two gases or airs, oxygen
and hydrogen--eighty-five parts of oxygen, and fifteen hydrogen. An electric
spark passing through decomposes them and converts them into water. So that
God, by the power of lightning, could change the whole atmosphere into water,
and thus the resources of the flood are at once provided. But read carefully
the account given by Moses Genesis 7:11, etc.).
3. Consider its universality extended to the whole earth.
4. Consider its terrific character.
II. THE PROCURING
CAUSE OF THE DELUGE.
1. Universal wickedness.
2. Impious rejection of Divine influences.
3. Final impenitency.
III. THE
DELIVERANCE OF NOAH AND HIS FAMILY. APPLICATION:
1. Learn how fearful is the wrath of God. See a world destroyed.
2. How dreadful is a state of carnal presumption and security. It is
a deadly opiate, destroyer of the soul.
3. The distinctions and rewards which await the righteous. (J.
Burns, D. D.)
Chaldean narrative of the deluge
In general we may say that we have two Chaldean accounts of the
flood. The one comes to us through Greek sources, from Berosus, a Chaldean
priest in the third century before Christ, who translated into Greek the
records of Babylon. This, as the less clear, we need not here notice more
particularly. But a great interest attaches to the far earlier cuneiform
inscriptions, first discovered and deciphered in 1872 by Mr. G. Smith, of the
British Museum, and since further investigated by the same scholar. These
inscriptions cover twelve tablets, of which as yet only part has been made
available. They may broadly be described as embodying the Babylonian account of
the flood, which, as the event took place in that locality, has a special
value. The narrative is supposed to date from two thousand to two thousand five
hundred years before Christ. The history of the flood is related by a hero,
preserved through it, to a monarch whom Mr. Smith calls Izdubar, but whom he
supposes to have been the Nimrod of Scripture. There are, as one might have
expected, frequent differences between the Babylonian and the Biblical account
of the flood. On the other hand, there are striking points of agreement between
them, which all the more confirm the Scriptural account, as showing that the
event had become a distinct part of the history of the district in which it had
taken place. There are frequent references to Ereeh, the city mentioned in Genesis 10:10; allusions to a race of
giants, who are described in fabulous terms; a mention of Lamech, the father of
Noah, though under a different name, and of the patriarch himself as a sage,
reverent and devout, who, when the Deity resolved to destroy by a flood the
world for its sin, built the ark. Sometimes the language comes so close to that
of the Bible that one almost seems to read disjointed or distorted quotations
from Scripture. We mention, as instances, the scorn which the building of the
ark is said to have called forth on the part of contemporaries; the pitching of
the ark without and within with pitch; the shutting of the door behind the
saved ones; the opening of the window, when the waters had abated; the going
and returning of the dove since “a resting place it did not find,” the sending
of the raven, which, feeding on corpses in the water, “did not return”; and,
finally, the building of an altar by Noah. We sum up the results of this
discovery in the words of Mr. Smith: “Not to pursue this parallel further, it
will be perceived that when the Chaldean account is compared with the Biblical
narrative, in their main features the two stories fairly agree; as to the
wickedness of the antediluvian world, the Divine anger and command to build the
ark, its stocking with birds and beasts, the coming of the deluge, the rain and
storm, the ark resting on a mountain, trial being made by birds sent out to see
if the waters had subsided, and the building of an altar after the flood. All
these main facts occur in the same order in both narratives, but when we come
to examine the details of these stages in the two accounts, there appear
numerous points of difference; as to the number of people who were saved, the
duration of the deluge, the place where the ark rested, the order of sending out
the birds, and other similar matters.” We conclude with another quotation from
the same work, which will show how much of the primitive knowledge of Divine
things, though mixed with terrible corruptions, was preserved among men at this
early period: “It appears that at that remote age the Babylonians had a
tradition of a flood which was a Divine punishment for the wickedness of the
world; and of a holy man, who built an ark, and escaped the destruction; who
was afterwards translated and dwelt with the gods. They believed in hell, a
place of torment under the earth, and heaven, a place of glory in the sky; and
their description of the two has, in several points, a striking likeness to
those in the Bible. They believed in a spirit or soul distinct from the body,
which was not destroyed on the death of the mortal frame; and they represent
this ghost as rising from the earth at the bidding of one of the gods, and
winging its way to heaven.”
Indian tradition
The seventh king of the Hindoos was Satyavrata, who reigned in
Dravira, a country washed by the waves of the sea. During his reign, an evil
demon (Hayagriva) furtively appropriated to himself the holy books (Vedas),
which the first Manu had received from Brahman; and the consequence was, that
the whole human race sank into a fearful degeneracy, with the exception of the
seven saints and the virtuous king, Satyavrata. The divine spirit, Vishnu, once
appeared to him in the shape of a fish, and addressed him thus: “In seven days,
all the creatures which have offended against me shall be destroyed by a
deluge; thou alone shalt be saved in a capacious vessel, miraculously
constructed. Take, therefore, all kinds of useful herbs, and of esculent grain
for food, and one pair of each animal; take also the seven holy men with thee,
and your wives. Go into the ark without fear; then thou shalt see God face to
face, and all thy questions shall be answered.” After seven days, incessant
torrents of rain descended, and the ocean gave forth its waves beyond the
wonted” shores. Satyavrata, trembling for his imminent destruction, yet piously
confiding in the promises of the god, and meditating on his attributes, saw a
huge boat floating to the shore on the waters. He entered it with the saints,
after having executed the divine instructions. Vishnu himself appeared, in the
shape of a vast horned fish, and tied the vessel with a great sea serpent, as
with a cable, to his huge horn. He drew it for many years, and landed it at
last, on the highest peak of Mount Himavan. The flood ceased; Vishnu slew the
demon and received the Vedas back; instructed Satyavrata in all heavenly
sciences, and appointed him the seventh Manu, under the name of Vaivaswata.
From this Manu the second population of the earth descended in a supernatural
manner, and hence man is called manudsha (born of Manu, Mensch).
The Hindoo legend concludes, moreover, with an episode resembling in almost
every particular that which resulted in the curse of Ham by his father Noah. (M.
M. Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Greek traditions
The whole human race was corrupted, violence and impiety
prevailed, oaths were broken, the sacredness of hospitality was shamelessly
violated, suppliants were abused or murdered, and the gods mocked and insulted.
Infamy and nefariousness were the delight of the degenerated tribes. Jupiter
resolved, therefore, to destroy the whole human race, as far as the earth
extends and Poseidon encircles it with the girdle of the waves. The earth
opened all her secret springs, the ocean sent forth its floods, and the skies poured
down their endless torrents. All creatures were immersed in the waves, and
perished. Deucalion alone, and his wife Pyrrha, both distinguished by their
piety, were, in a small boat which Deucalion had constructed by the advice of
his father Prometheus, carried to the lofty peaks of Mount Parnassus, which
alone stood out of the floods. They were saved. The waters subsided. The
surviving pair sacrificed to Jupiter the flight-giving, and consulted the gods,
who again, through them, populated the earth by an extraordinary miracle. This
tradition appears in a still more developed form in Lucian. There was a very
old temple in Hieropolis, which was universally asserted to have been built by
Deucalion the Scythian, when he had been rescued from the general deluge. For
it is related that enormous crimes, prevalent through the whole human race, had
provoked the wrath of Jupiter and caused the destruction of man. Deucalion
alone was found wise and pious. He built a large chest, and brought into it his
wives and children; and when he was about to enter it, boars, lions, serpents,
and all other animals came to him by pairs. Jupiter removed all hostile
propensities from their breasts, and they lived together in miraculous concord.
The waves carried the chest along till they subsided. After this an immense
gulf opened itself, which only closed after having totally absorbed the waters.
This wonderful incident happened in the territory of Hieropolis; and above this
gulf Deucalion erected that ancient temple, after having offered many
sacrifices on temporary altars. In commemoration of these events, twice every
year water is brought into the temple, not only by the priests, but by a large
concourse of strangers from Syria, Arabia, and the countries of the Jordan.
This water is fetched from the sea, and then poured out in the temple in such a
manner that it descends into the gulf. The same tradition assumed, indeed,
under different hands a different local character; Hyginus mentions the AEtna
in Sicily as the mountain where Deucalion grounded; the Phrygians relate that
the wise Anakos prophesied concerning the approaching flood; and some coins
struck under the Emperor Septimius Severus and some of his successors in
Apamea, and declared genuine by all authorities in numismatics, represent a
chest or ark floating on the waves and containing a man and a woman. On the ark
a bird is perched, and another is seen approaching, holding a twig with its
feet. The same human pair is figured on the dry land with uplifted hands; and
on several of those pieces even the name NO ( νω) is clearly
visible. A legend, perhaps as old as that of Deucalion, though neither so far
spread nor so developed, is that of Ogyges, who is mostly called a Boeotian
autochthon, and the first ruler of the territory of Thebes, called after him
Ogygia. In his time the waters of the lake Copais are said to have risen in so
unusual a degree that they at last covered the whole surface of the earth, and
that Ogyges himself directed his vessel on the waves through the air. Even the
dove of Noah bears an analogy to the dove which Deucalion is reported to have
dispatched from his ark, which returned the first time, thus indicating that
the stores of rain were not yet exhausted, but which did not come back the
second time, and thereby gave proof that the skies had resumed their usual
serenity. (M. M.Kalisch, Ph. D.)
The flood
The sky now at last blackens into pitchy gloom, and hoarse are the
thunders which seem to crash against the sides of the sky as if against iron
bars. The rain comes down in solid torrents, cleaving the thick air as with
wedges. Lightnings
“run
crossing evermore,
Till
like a red bewildered map the sky is scribbled o’er.”
Rivers rush down in fury, overflowing their banks, sweeping away
the crops, undermining the rocks, tearing up the woods, and rising above the
lesser hills, till they meet with the streams which have swollen aloft from
neighbouring valleys, and embrace in foam and wild commotion on the summit.
Oceans are stirred up from their depths, and distant seas on the top of aerial
mountains, each bringing the ruin of whole lands for a dowry. The inhabitants
of a city have fallen asleep, thinking that it is only a night of unusual
severity of storm, till in the morning they find themselves cut off on all
sides, and a hungry sea crying with the tongues of all its waters, “Give!
give!” and there is no escape for them; and climbing the highest towers and
idol temples only protracts for a little their doom; and soon the boom of the
waves, wantoning uncontrolled and alone in the market place, takes the place of
the hum of men. A gay marriage party, in order to enjoy themselves more, have
shut out the gloomy daylight, are dancing to the light of torches, and are
finding a luxury and a stimulus to greater gaiety in the lashing of the rain on
the roof and the sides of the dwelling, when suddenly the angry waters burst
in, and their joy is turned into the howl of expiring women and men. In another
place a funeral has reached the place of tombs amidst drenching rains and paths
rendered difficult by the storm, and the bearers are about to commit the corpse
to the earth, when, lo! the water bursts up through the grave, and the waves
gather on all sides around, and instead of one, forty are buried, and instead
of a silent sepulchre, there are shrieks and outcries of grief and of desperate
sorrow--the sorrow of multitudinous death. A village among the mountains
issurprised by the fierce and sudden uprise of the neighbouring stream, and the
inhabitants have just time to avoid its avenging path by betaking themselves to
the hills. From point to point they hurry, from the wooded steeps to the bald
crags, thence to the heathy sides of the larger hills, and thence to their
sky-striking summits; and to every point they are faithfully followed by the
bloodhound of the flood, too certain of coming up with his prey to be hurried
in his motions, and whose voice is heard, in an awful ascending gamut, climbing
steep after steep, here veiled amidst thick woodlands, there striking sharp and
shrill against craggy obstacles, and anon from hollow defiles, sounding low in
the accents of choked and restrained wrath, but always approaching nearer and
nearer, and from the anger echoed in which no escape is possible. Conceive
their emotions as, standing at last on the supreme summit, they listen to this
cry! Inch after inch rises the flood up the precipice, the cry swelling at
every step, till at last it approaches within a few feet of the top, where
hundreds are huddled together, and then
“Rises
from earth to sky the wild farewell;
Then
shriek the timid, and stand still the brave;
And
some leap overboard with dreadful yell,
As
eager to anticipate their grave,
And
the sea yawns around them like a hell.”
Husbands and wives clasped in each other’s arms sink into the
waves; mothers holding their babes high over the surge are sucked in, children
and all; the grey hairs of the patriarch meet with the tresses of the fair
virgin in the common grave of the waters, which sweep by one wild lash all the
tenants of the rock away, and roll across a shout of triumph to the hundred
surges, which on every side of the horizon have mounted their hills, and gained
their victories at once over the glory of nature and the life of man. From this
supposed peak, “Fancy with the speed of fire” flies to other regions of the
earth, and sees “all the high hills under the whole heaven covered; “ the
Grampian range surmounted; and Ben Nevis sunk fathoms and fathoms more under
the waves; the Pyrenees and the “infant kips” or Apennines lost to view; the
Cervin’s sharp and precipitous horn seen to pierce the blue-black ether no
more; the eye of Mont Blanc darkened; old “Taurus” blotted out; the fires of
Cotopaxi extinguished; the tremendous chasm of snow which yawns on the side of
Chimborazo filled up with a sea of water; the hell of Hecla’s burning entrails
slaked, and the mountains of the Himalayah overtopt; till at last, the waves
rolling over the summit of Mount Everest, and violating its last particle of
virgin snow, have accomplished their task, have drowned a world! (G.
Gilfillan.)
Flood traditions in America
It is a singular confirmation of the deluge as a great historical
event that it is found engraven in the memories of all the great nations of
antiquity; but it is still more striking to find it holding a place in the
traditions of the most widely spread races of America, and indeed of the world
at large. Thus Alfred Maury, a French writer of immense erudition, speaks of it
as “a very remarkable fact that we find in America traditions of the deluge
coming infinitely nearer those of the Bible and of the Chaldean religion than
the legends of any people of the old world.” The ancient inhabitants of Mexico
had many variations of the legend among their various tribes. In some, rude
paintings were found representing the deluge. Not a few believe that a vulture
was sent out of the ship, and that, like the raven of the Chaldean tablets, it
did not return, but fed on the dead bodies of the drowned. Other versions say
that a humming bird alone, out of many birds sent off, returned with a branch
covered with leaves in its beak. Among the Cree Indians of the present day in
the Arctic circle in North America, Sir John Richardson found similar traces of
the great tradition. “The Crees,” he says, “spoke of a universal deluge, caused
by an attempt of the fish to drown one who was a kind of demigod with whom they
had quarrelled. Having constructed a raft, he embarked with his family, and all
kinds of birds and beasts. After the flood had continued some time, he ordered
several waterfowls to dive to the bottom, but they were all drowned. A musk
rat, however, having been sent on the same errand, was more successful, and
returned with a mouthful of mud.” From other tribes in every part of America,
travellers have brought many variations of the same worldwide tradition, nor
are even the scattered islands of the great Southern Ocean without versions of
their own. In Tahiti, the natives used to tell of the god Ruahatu having told
two men “who were at sea fishing--Return to the shore, and tell men that the
earth will be covered with water, and all the world will perish. Tomorrow
morning go to the islet called Toamarama; it will be a place of safety for you
and your children. Then Ruahatu caused the sea to cover the lands. All were
covered, and all men perished except the two and their families.” In other
islands we find legends recording the building of an altar after the deluge;
the collection of pairs of all the domestic animals, to save them, while the
Fiji islanders give the number of the human beings saved as eight. Thus the
story of the deluge is a universal tradition among all branches of the human
family with the one exception, as Lenormant tells us, of the black. How else
could this arise but from the ineradicable remembrance of a real and terrible
event. It must, besides, have happened so early in the history of mankind that
the story of it could spread with the race from their original cradle, for the
similarity of the versions over the earth point to a common source. It is,
moreover, preserved in its fullest and least diluted form among the three great
races, which are the ancestors of the three great families of mankind--the
Aryans, from whom sprang the populations of India, Persia, and Europe; the
Turanians, and the Semitic stock, who were the progenitors of the Jew, the
Arab, and other related races, including the Cushite and Egyptian. These, it is
striking to note, were the specially civilized peoples of the early world, and
must have learned the story before they separated from their common home in
western Asia. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
The extent of the flood
Thoughtful men of all shades of religious opinion have come to the
conclusion that the Noachian deluge was only a local one, though sufficiently
extensive in its area to destroy all the then existing race of men. In support
of this view many arguments have been offered, of which a few may be briefly
stated. The stupendous greatness of the miracle involved in a universal deluge
seems a strong reason to doubt the likelihood of God having resorted to a
course wholly unnecessary to effect the end mainly in view--the judgment of
mankind for their sins. There could certainly be no apparent reason for
submerging the vast proportion of the world which was then uninhabited, or of
raising the waters above the tops of mountains to which no living creature
could approach. It is to be remembered, moreover, that the addition of such a
vast mass of water to the weight of the earth--eight times that contained in
the ocean beds--would have disarranged the whole solar system, and even the
other systems of worlds through the universe; for all are interbalanced with
each other in their various relations. Then this immeasurable volume of water,
after having served its brief use, must have been annihilated to restore the
harmony of the heavenly motions: the only instance in the whole economy of
nature of the annihilation of even a particle of matter. Nor could any part of
either the animal or vegetable worlds have survived a submersion of the planet
for a year; and hence everything, except what the ark contained, must have
perished; including even the fish; of which many species would die out if the
water were fresh, others, if it were brackish, and others, again, if it were
salt. Men of the soundest orthodoxy have further urged that physical evidences
still exist which prove that the deluge could only have been local. Thus
Professor Henslow supports De Candolle’s estimate of the age of some of the
baobab trees of Senegal as not less then 5,230 years, and of taxodium of Mexico
as from 4,000 to 6,000; periods which carry still living trees beyond that of
the flood. There is, moreover, in Auvergne, in France, a district covered with
extinct volcanoes, marked by cones of pumice stone, ashes, and such light
substances as could not have resisted the waters of the deluge. Yet they are
evidently more ancient than the time of Noah; for since they became extinct
rivers have cut channels for themselves through beds of columnar basalt, that
is, of intensely hard crystallized lava, of no less than 150 feet in thickness,
and have even eaten into the granite rocks beneath. And Auvergne is not the
only part where similar phenomena are seen. They are found in the Eifel country
of the Prussian Rhine province, in New Zealand, and elsewhere. Nor is the
peculiarity of some regions in their zoological characteristics less
convincing. Thus the fauna of Australia is entirely exceptional; as, for
example, in the strange fact that quadrupeds of all kinds are marsupial, that
is, provided with a pouch in which to carry their young. The fossil remains of
this great island continent show, moreover, that existing species are the
direct descendants of similar races of extreme antiquity, and that the surface
of Australia is the oldest land, of any considerable extent, yet discovered on
the globe--dating back at least to the Tertiary geological age; since which it
has not been disturbed to any great extent. But this carries us to a period
immensely more remote than Noah. Nor is it possible to conceive of an
assemblage of all the living creatures of the different regions of the earth at
any one spot. The unique fauna of Australia--survivors of a former geological
age--certainly could neither have reached the ark nor regained their home after
leaving it; for they are separated from the nearest continuous land by vast
breadths of ocean. The polar bear surely could not survive a journey from his
native icebergs to the sultry plains of Mesopotamia; nor could the animals of
South America have reached these except by travelling the whole length
northwards of North America and then, after miraculously crossing Behring
Straits, having pressed westwards across the whole breadth of Asia, a continent
larger than the moon. That even a deer should accomplish such a pedestrian feat
is inconceivable, but how could a sloth have done it--a creature which lives in
trees, never, if possible, descending to theground, and able to advance on it
only by the slowest and most painful motions? Or, how could tropical creatures
find supplies of food in passing through such a variety of climates, and over
vast spaces of hideous desert? Still more--how could any vessel, however large,
have held pairs and sevens of all the creatures on earth, with food for a year,
and how could the whole family of Noah have attended to them? There are at
least two thousand mammals; more than seven thousand kinds of birds, from the
gigantic ostrich to the humming bird; and over fifteen hundred kinds of
amphibious animals and reptiles; not to speak of 120,000 kinds of insects, and
an unknown multitude of varieties of ingusoria. Nor does this include the many
thousand kinds of mollusca, radiata, and fish. Even if the ark, as has been
supposed by one writer, was of 80,000 tons burden, such a freightage needs only
be mentioned to make it be felt impossible. Look which way we like, gigantic
difficulties meet us. Thus, Hugh Miller has noticed that it would have required
a continuous miracle to keep alive the fish for whom the deluge water was
unsuitable, while even spawn would perish if kept unhatched for a whole year,
as that of many fish must have been. Nor would the vegetable world have fared
better than the animal, for of the 100,000 known species of plants, very few
would survive a year’s submersion. That a terrible catastrophe like that of the
flood--apart from the all-sufficient statements of Scripture--is not outside
geological probability, is abundantly illustrated by recorded facts. The vast
chains of the Himalayah, the Caucasus, the Jura mountains, and the Alps, for
example, were all upheaved in the Pliocene period, which is one of the most
recent in geology. A subsidence or elevation of a district, as the case might
be, would cause a tremendous flood over vast regions. Nor are such movements of
the earth’s surface on a great scale unknown even now. Darwin repeatedly
instances cases of recent elevation and depression of the earth’s surface. On
one part of the island of St. Maria, in Chili, he found beds of putrid mussel
shells still adhering to the rocks, ten feet above high-water mark, where the
inhabitants had formerly dived at low-water spring tides for these shells.
Similar shells were met with by him at Valparaiso at the height of 1,300 feet.
And at another place a great bed of now-existing shells had been raised 350
feet above the level of the sea. No difficulty on geological grounds can
therefore be urged against such a catastrophe having happened in the early ages
of our race as would have swept the whole seat of human habitation with a
deluge in whose waters all mankind must have perished. The great cause, without
question, of the belief that the flood was universal has been the idea that the
words of Scripture taught this respecting that awful visitation. But it by no
means does so. The word translated “earth” in our English version has not only
the meaning of the world as a whole, but others much more limited. Thus it
often stands for Palestine alone, and even for the small district around a
town, or for a field or plot of land. Besides, we must not forget that such
words are always to be understood according to the meaning attached to them by
the age or people among whom they are used. But what ideas the ancient Hebrews
had of the world has been already shown, and the limited sense in which they used
the most general phrases--just as we ourselves often do when we wish to create
a vivid impression of wide extent or great number--is seen from the usage of
their descendants, in the New Testament. When St. Luke speaks of Jews dwelling
at Jerusalem out of “every nation under heaven,” it would surely be wrong to
press this to a literal exactness. When St. Paul says that the faith of the
obscure converts at Rome was spoken of throughout the whole world, he could not
have meant the whole round orb, but only the Roman Empire. And would anyone
think of taking in the modern geographical sense his declaration that already,
when he was writing to the Colossians, the gospel had been preached to every
creature under heaven? (C. Geikie, D. D.)
And the Lord shut him in
The door was shut
I.
IT
TEACHES US, AS GOD IS THE AUTHOR SO IS HE THE FINISHER OF OUR WORK. God
implants in the mother’s heart the desire to teach her children of Himself, but
He must apply the instruction. Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God must
give the increase. The seeker after salvation may pray, and read the Word, and
attend the means of grace, but God only can save the soul.
II. IT TEACHES
THAT THEY WHO DO HIS WILL SHALL NOT GO UNREWARDED. Noah built the ark, so God
insures his safety therein. Those who put their trust in God shall never be
confounded.
III. IT TEACHES
THAT THOSE WHO DO GOD’S WILL ARE PRESERVED FROM ALL DANGERS. The Lord shut him
in, so that he might not perpetrate any rash act. Had he possessed the power of
opening the door, he might have jeopardized the safety of the whole family by
bringing down the vengeance of God. Noah’s had been a critical position but for
this. Think of him as he hears the rush of waters; the shrieks of the drowning;
the cries of the young and old. If you had been in his position, with the
knowledge you could open the door and take some in, would you not have been
tempted to do so? But God shut him in, and when He shutteth no man can open. So
shall God fortify the soul at the great day of final judgment. Mothers,
fathers, children, shall see their relatives cast out, and yet be preserved
from one rash word or unbelieving act.
IV. IT TEACHES
THAT THOSE WHO DO GOD’S WILL MUST NOT EXPECT IMMEDIATE REWARD. Noah becomes a
prisoner, for five months he had no communication with God--for twelve months
he resided in the ark. But God remembered Noah, and brought him out into a
wealthy place.
V. IT TEACHES
THAT THE HAND WHICH SECURES THE SAINT DESTROYS THE SINNERS. (R. A. Griffin.)
Shut in, or shut out
I. SHUT IN.
1. Separated from the world. They were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage; but to Noah the dance and the viol, the feast and the
revel, called in vain. He could not now hoard up wealth, nor seek for fame
among the sons of men. He was shut out, too, from all their possessions; even
from his own farm he was now expatriated. Blessed is that man who, whatsoever
he hath, hath it as though he had it not; he sets no store by earthly things,
and does not lock up his soul in his iron safe. He is shut out from the things
which rust and corrupt, so that they are not his god nor his treasure.
2. Shut in by God.
3. Shut in with God. In Genesis 7:1 we read, “The Lord said unto
Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark”; and this clearly shows that
the Lord was in the ark already. Oh what a joy it is to know that when a soul
is buried to the world it lives with Christ. God is in Christ Jesus, and we are
in Christ Jesus, and thus we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son
Jesus.
4. Next, notice that Noah’s happiness was all the greater because he
was shut in the ark with all his family. This is a great joy, to have all your
household brought unto the faith of Christ.
5. Noah and his household were shut in, to be perfectly preserved,
and then to come forth into a new world.
II. SHUT OUT.
1. Who they were.
2. What they did.
3. What came of it. Door shut. No hope. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Noah’s ark
I. The first
thing we have to consider is THE ARK. And here we must inquire the
circumstances which gave rise to its being built. Sin was one cause; and the
love of God towards Noah and his family, and His intention to preserve them
from destruction.
1. Who commanded it to be built: God. And here we see marks of love,
favour, and a determination to preserve him and his family while He destroyed
the world.
2. Of what and how was it to be built? Of Gopher wood, to denote its
strength and durability. Its dimensions, reckoning eighteen inches to the
cubit, were 450 feet in length, 75 feet in breadth, 45 feet in height.
3. Its suitability. This is clearly seen by the number it held; for
all that God had appointed entered the ark.
4. The shape of the ark is supposed to have been that of a chest or
coffin. And, indeed, by the description here set down, the ark, in shape, was
like to a coffin for a man’s body, six times as long as it was broad, and ten
times as long as it was high; and so fit to figure out Christ’s death and
burial, and ours with Him, by the mortification of the old man, as the apostle
applies this type to baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21); whereby we are
become dead and buried with Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Romans 6:6).
We must now look at this ark spiritually; and here we are led at
once to see the Lord Jesus as set forth.
1. Christ, as the ark, is a place--to preserve life. He not only is
the preserver, but He is the author of natural and spiritual life, and He alone
can preserve that life, and Cause it to increase in the hearts of His people.
2. To support the soul. For the believer cannot live, in a spiritual
sense, upon anything short of Christ. All his spiritual food is in Him.
3. To warm and cheer the heart.
4. A place of safety. “For the name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous runneth into it, and are safe.” Again, He is spoken of as “a
hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water
in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
Again. In Christ the spiritual ark there is--
1. Pardon for every sin-convicted and repentant soul; for every
broken-hearted subject.
2. In Him there is peace, which flows to us through His blood; which
gives ease to the troubled soul, calms the agitated mind, and is “the
acceptable year of the Lord.”
3. In Him there is righteousness, which all His people enjoy--
II. THE PERSONS IN
IT. Noah and his family, and a portion of living creatures, while the rest were
drowned. So it will be again; the world will presently be destroyed by fire,
and only those who are in the spiritual Ark will be preserved. Who are the
persons in this spiritual Ark, which is the Lord Jesus Christ? Believers in all
ages of the world. They are made up of persons out of all countries, tribes,
people, tongues, nations, under heaven. And as to their number, I would refer
you to Revelation 7:9-10. The ark was open six
days, giving sufficient time for all to get in; and which sets forth the
spiritual Ark which has been open now nearly six thousand years. But we must
consider the creatures going into the ark spiritually.
1. There are many lion-hearted Christians, who are richly blessed
with grace and faith, and are great in the divine life; who press through
crowds, and ever-come every opposition, and enter fully and firmly into the
spiritual Ark, the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. There are many lamb-like ones, gentle in their movements, who
proceed by quiet steps, and whose progress is marked by nothing very
particular; whose natures naturally are tame, and in whose hearts the grace of
God does not shine so conspicuously, but equally effectual. Hence their
movements towards the ark are progressive, but yet silent and oftentimes
unobserved by others.
3. There are many who fly in the divine life, and, like the hare,
pass everyone on the road; they are born again today, in Christ on the morrow,
and many steps up the spiritual ladder, while others are only just brought
into, and still continue under the convicting operations of the Holy Ghost.
4. There are many weak ones, whose strength at times appears to
fails; they see others passing them, while they are so weak and feeble, that
their progress to themselves appears to be at an end; but yet, if these weak
ones will but look back, they will perceive they have already come a good
distance in the divine life.
5. There are many who can only walk in the divine life, but yet
their movements towards the Ark are characterized by their evenness, unbroken,
and yet firm step: there is nothing out of the ordinary way; the work in their
hearts is only to be seen in the path they take, the object they have in view,
and the way their faces are turned, which is towards the ark.
6. There are many who go to the Ark broken-hearted and weighed down
by their sins; their cry is, Unclean! unclean! Their face, their eyes, their
heart, their language, all bespeak the anguish of the soul, and the conflict
within. “The Lord is nigh them that are of a broken heart, and sayeth such as
be of a contrite spirit.”
7. There are some who are going to the Ark, but it is only by
sighing and groaning. If you look at one of these poor souls, you will hear
them say, “Lord, save, or I perish!” “God be merciful to me a sinner!” “Will
the Lord hear?” But yet the sighing of the prisoner comes up before God; their
cry is heard above; and He says to them, “Turn to the strong hold, ye prisoners
of hope; even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee.”
8. There are some who can only creep towards the Ark, like the
tortoise, and there are a great number of this class; and to enumerate the
doubts, the fears, misgivings, tremblings of soul, hard thoughts,
discouragements, diffidence, and distress, these souls pass through, would be
more than I can do; their pace is so slow towards the Ark, that they fear they
are making no progress; but they still are enabled to look that way, and
sometimes when they look back they are surprised that they have come on so far.
But hark! what is that I hear from one of them? “I fear the Ark is closed; I
fear all is over, and I am lost.” But the inquiry comes, Shall I get in? Will
the Ark door be left open until I am in?--Yes I yes! Let such souls mark for
their comfort and encouragement, and to spur them on still to persevere, that
the ark was not closed until the slowest creeping thing was in; so spiritually
the door of Christ, the Ark, shall not be closed so long as there is a soul on
the road.
III. WHO PUT HIM
IN? “And the Lord shut him in.” Not Noah, for if he had shut the door perhaps
he would have left something out; but God, who knew all about it, shut the door
Himself; therefore, what He does is well done. So it is spiritually; God puts
poor sinners into Christ, the Ark. How does He do it? By His Spirit, who shows
unto them--
1. Their state as sinners, which He causes them to feel in a
two-fold sense--in Adam and in themselves.
2. This teaching points out to them the greatness of their danger.
3. This teaching begets alarm and anxiety, for it breaks their
hearts, subdues their will, causes tears of genuine repentance to flow from
their hearts, and they cry out, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”
4. Then they see that He is the glorious Person who has “blotted out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.”
IV. THEIR GREAT
SAFETY. Being in the spiritual Ark by faith, they are safe--
1. From the wrath of God against sin; for God, having received at
the hands of the Lord Jesus a full satisfaction, He having made the great
atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Himself, has obtained for His people an
eternal redemption from the wrath of God, and the right to all the blessings
contained in this redemption.
2. From the malice and rage of Satan, who hates the Lord’s people,
and would destroy them if he could; but, blessed be God, they are kept by the
mighty power of God.
3. From a wicked world; for the Lord again addresses them, “No weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper, and the tongue that riseth up in
judgment against thee thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.”
4. They shall be safe when God shall overthrow the world by fire,
which will not be till all His people are in the Ark.
Lastly.
1. Learn for information that God has prepared an Ark, in the person
of His Son, for the saving of poor sinners.
2. Are we in it?
3. Are we running to it? The steps which lead to and into it are
conviction, repentance, and faith in Christ.
4. Happiness of getting into the ark.
5. Misery of being without when God shuts the door. (R. B. Isaac.)
The ark of refuge
I. A PLACE OF
SAFETY. The door that excludes the faithless and unbelieving, includes in the
safe refuge those who hear and obey God’s Psalms 27:5). Noah and his family were
safe, because they used God’s appointed way of salvation.
II. A POSITION OF
PEACE. Noah and his family knew that in God was their help.
III. A PLEDGE OF
HOPE. Expecting “new world,” where they should have full scope for their
energies, and new blessings from God their Saviour. God, who had safely shut
them in, and who had preserved them in peace from the universal ruin, would
assuredly perfect their salvation. Is it not so with us? (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
The shut door
In the life of the late Hugh Miller, we find the following passage
from Mr. Stewart, of Cromarty, whom Miller considered one of the very best and
ablest of Scotland’s ministers:--“Noah did not close the door. There are works
that God keeps for Himself. The burden is too heavy for the back of man. To
shut that door on a world about to perish would have been too great a
responsibility for a son of Adam. Another moment, and another, and another,
might have been granted by Noah, and the door might never have been shut, and
the ship that carried the life of the world might have been swamped. And so it is
in the ark of salvation. It is not the church nor the minister that shuts or
opens the door. These do God’s bidding; they preach righteousness, they offer
salvation, and it is God that shuts and opens the door. Oh! what a sigh and
shudder will pass through the listening universe when God will shut the door of
the heavenly ark upon the lost!”
Instruction derived from Noah’s ark
I. In God’s
dealings with Noah we see THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL FAVOUR. Noah,
in all that wicked generation, was one alone. He was one singled out from many.
In this singular dispensation of God, in His concern for the security of Noah
and those belonging to him, we see paternal care, a fatherly goodness--we see
provision made for objects certainly dear and highly valued. Now, to be the
subjects of so much paternal attention is no small mercy.
II. IT IS WELL TO
MARK SURROUNDING MISERY WHEN WE ARE PROTECTED AND SECURED. Have we not seen in
many instances pale disease and pinching poverty hovering all around, while we
have been protected, comforted, or even enriched! Look back and recount the
mercies of God; call to mind seasons of affliction, of trial, of distress;
when, as Noah from his ark, you have seen the descending torrents, witnessed
the inundation of woe by which others have perished. God said to you, tear not,
be still, my child, it shall not come nigh you. In epidemical diseases, in
burning fevers, has not this been literally the case? While we pity these
sufferers: while our hearts bleed over these unhappy, these devoted victims, we
may, with gratitude, exult in our own security, and give glory to God for
discriminating grace.
III. Where God is
the protector, as here in the case of Noah, ALL ATTEMPTS OF ENEMIES TO INJURE
OR DESTROY ARE PERFECTLY VAIN. When God shut Noah in the ark, He shut all his
enemies out; and presently distanced both the young and the old by the
descending rains and the separating waves.
IV. TO BE
REMEMBERED OF GOD, AND TO BE REGARDED BY HIM IN TIMES
OF PUBLIC CALAMITY, IS AN EXCEEDINGLY GREAT MERCY. (The
Evangelist.)
Verse 17
And the waters increased
Increased affliction
I.
THAT
AFFLICTION IS PROGRESSIVE IN ITS DEVELOPMENT AND SEVERITY.
II. THAT INCREASED
AFFLICTION IS THE CONTINUED AND EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT OF GOD. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
The judgment on an ungodly world
I. JUDGMENT
THREATENED.
II. JUDGMENT
DELAYED. God’s forbearance and long suffering. Every day brings judgment
nearer.
III. JUDGMENT
EXECUTED. God did as He said. This judgment was--
1. Terrible.
2. Unavoidable.
3. Universal.
LESSONS:--
1. Listen to God’s warnings.
2. Abuse not God’s long suffering.
3. Flee from the wrath to come. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
The destruction of the wicked.
1. Numbers, learning, wealth, combination, could not save. “Though
wickedness join hand in hand, it shall not go unpunished.”
2. Their destruction complete and universal. None escaped.
3. They were not without an offer of mercy. In 120 years longer,
after the warning was given, they were striven with. This was their day of
grace. By word and life, Noah preached to them.
4. At length “the flood came and took them all away.” Consternation,
when they saw the ark drifting away, and the water still rising. Despair. A too
late repentance. (J. C. Gray.)
Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark
The almost solitary preservation of a good man from imminent and
long-continued peril
I.
THEN
MORAL GOODNESS IS SOMETIMES A SAFEGUARD FROM THE IMMINENT PERILS OF LIFE.
II. THEN MORAL
GOODNESS IS SIGNALLY HONOURED AND REWARDED BY GOD.
III. THEN MORAL
GOODNESS MAY SOMETIMES BRING A MAN INTO THE MOST UNUSUAL AND EXCEPTIONAL
CIRCUMSTANCES. It may make a man lonely in his occupation and life mission,
even though he be surrounded by a crowded world; it may make him unique in his
character, and it may render him solitary in his preservation and safety. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
God destroys that He may save
A mariner in a storm would very fain save his goods, but to save
his ship he heaves them overboard, a tender-hearted mother corrects her child,
whereas the stripes are deeper in her heart than in its flesh. As it was said
of a judge who, being about to pass sentence of death upon an offender, said,
“I do that good which I would not.” Thus God, more loving than the careful
mariner, more tender than the indulgent mother, and more merciful than the
pitiful judge, is willingly unwilling that any sinner should die. He punisheth
no man as he is a man, but as he is a sinful man; He loves him, yet turns him
over to justice. It is God’s work to punish, but it is withal His strange work,
His strange and foreign act, not His good will and pleasure. (J. Spencer.)
Noah’s sojourn in the ark
Now, first of all, it was a great mercy to escape the wickedness
of a wicked world, to be delivered from the blasphemies, the daring excess of
iniquity which abounded openly on every side, to be rescued from sights and
sounds that only jarred upon a soul that thirsted for the living God; when the
door was closed, and the little Church and family of God were separated from
the sinners; when the rain descended and the world began to drown; when Noah
and his children felt themselves alone with God, there must have been an
inexpressible sensation of release. However awful the scene without, they were
able to live without disturbance, and to be at rest. And yet while in this,
their awful and most merciful severance from the world, we see some, though
lesser, trials. As that calm and holy house moved on from day to day, from
month to month, was there not with all its peace, with all its opportunity of
undisturbed intercourse with God, the loss of much that had rejoiced the soul?
As day rose on day, must not the sense of confinement and restraint have come
at times over the faithful Noah and his sons? Must there not have risen some
longings for the green meadows and the evening walk, the beauty of the fields
and the cheerful sights of God’s excellent works, that give great pleasure to
godly men? To be shut in that lonely house, and to see the spring and the
summer come round, the changing seasons without any change to them, all watery
and blank without, must have been a trial; and yet the very fact of such a
cutting off from the world and worldly things, of such loss and privation of
pleasures, innocent and allowed, likens this sojourn in the ark to a long and
holy fast--a lengthened Lent filling up the circle of a year. But still, we may
be sure that Noah looked upon it as a space of retirement, which was to be
carefully husbanded and spent for the profit of his soul. The very loss of
innocent delights, the very separation from the world, must have led Noah to
search for some proper duties and proper work, there providentially assigned,
and there to be fulfilled. We cannot but believe that the months were crowded
with constant meditations on the things of God, constant liftings up of soul,
and constant exercises of faith. No idle space was it to the man of God, and,
though inactive as regards the labours of the world, it was a season of
spiritual husbandry and of inward toil. And thus when Noah walked forth on that
sort of Easter time of the visible material world, he was doubtless all the
more prepared for future trials, with a still firmer trust in God, a still
sublimer faith, a deeper knowledge of the things of God, and with a larger
measure of spiritual strength. And now to turn from the stay of Noah in the ark
to ourselves, it is true that, while such a kind of retirement from the world
can never be given to us, and that such a length of retirement may never be
given, yet God does carry us away, at times, from active life, and shuts upon
us the door of our house, as it were the door of the ark. Often in the midst of
our life, our hand is forced from the plough, our feet from the crowded ways of
the world; and even of the guileless pleasures which good men may find in the
works of God, we are for a time deprived.
Surely, in our wiser and more thoughtful hours, we may thank God
for these forced seasons of retirement, forced upon us that we may escape the
pollutions of the world, study our Saviour’s will and word, give ourselves to
fervent and more frequent prayer, commune with our heart and in our chamber,
and be still--examine the tenor of our past lives, repent deeply, and at
length, of those things which we have done amiss and contrary to the motions of
the Spirit of grace, break off evil habits that have been formed, or are
beginning to be formed, and by dwelling on all the love and all the truths of
Jesus our Lord, be moved to consecrate ourselves afresh to Him, and to make our
sickness the beginning of a more holy life. (Bp. Armstrong.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》