Noah's Ark
Pastor Gene's wife Heather brings our message today on the account of Noah. Do we know the whole story?
Sermon Transcript
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good morning if you're new here welcome my name is heather i'm pastor jean's wife i take care of a lot of the administration here at the church and we joke here when you see jean in shorts and me in a collared shirt you know it's my turn to come up here and talk so um i was a little under the weather this week for those of you who prayed for me thank you it was not covid but something else got me pretty good which doesn't happen often so so glad to be up here well this morning to be here with you and we are in our series as you see the rest of the story the bible unredacted where we are going through the story of noah today and for many years a lot of people have theorized scientists have their eyes what has happened to the dinosaurs how were they killed meteor climate change either way we thank them for filling up our gas tanks and our oil heaters up north because they need it real bad right now but according to the bible they miss the boat i can't help it i know i have to do a cartoon or a movie or something i'm sorry i know it's totally corny but you know that's probably where the saying came from all right so one of the many things we are focusing on in this series is what the bible says not what we think it says or what we are told that it says what it actually says and many of us have grown up on that golden books version i know i did of noah's ark movies the what is it the gerard butler can't remember the main the actor evan almighty there are a lot of depictions of stories over time that show us what we think the bible says versus what it actually says in the bible years ago i decided you know what i'm just going to read this thing from the beginning for myself and i got to noah and almost immediately i had this saying where i go hey like four-year-old and i noticed there were details that were in there that didn't line up with what i was told in church or what it says versus what it actually says so today and kind of the point of this entire series is to go through those details of what it actually says in the bible the rest of the story so i'm going to be working through some of those details where i went hey when i read through noah for myself for the first time in detail i'm kind of a detailed numbers person so bear with me why do the administration so in the beginning of the story it tells us how god is displeased with man some read in the beginning of chapter 6 of genesis 6 that the sons of god called the nephilites were taking women on the earth of their as their own there were children that came from those relationships and they were called nephilims not to be confused with ephems and woozles from winnie the and the sci-fi nerd inside of me was amazed that those offspring became gods of ancient civilizations now i grew up reading ancient myths from greece and from egypt and the history nerd inside of me was fascinated to find out that in fact angels were creating superhumans genesis 6 4 in those days and for some time after giant nephilites lived on the earth for whenever the sons of god had intercourse with women they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times so i was like that's a pretty cool detail no one told me about before so moving on regardless of this interaction god is thoroughly disappointed in his creations but especially man as they are evil and looking at everyone noah seems to be the only one who is worthy of saving and so god goes to noah some of the details we know and gives him very specific instructions to build an ark because he is going to flood the earth and kill all creations on earth okay so while noah is building the boat god does give humans another chance to come into repentance which we see in first peter 3 20. those who disobeyed god long ago when god waited patiently while noah was building his boat only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood the eight people noah his wife his three sons and their wives we'll get into them a little later so let's call this the first ikea nightmare assembly instruction manual luckily for noah he didn't have any extra parts for assembling the ark and which most of us i think do which make up the majority of our junk drawers in our homes that one drawer like nope not today and close it back up if you can even open it i can now i finally clean mine out but reluctantly it doesn't exactly say how long noah had to make the ark but it must have been terribly cumbersome and asking help from anyone was definitely not going to go over well because when it came time to get on the boat and they weren't invited definitely would have been some unrest nanoa was obedient regardless of god's ask he built the ark as per instructed genesis 6 14-16 build a large boat from cyprus wood and waterproof it with tar inside and out then construct decks installs throughout its interior make the boat 450 feet long 75 feet wide 45 feet high leave an 18 inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat put the door on the side obviously and build three decks inside the boat lower middle and upper now there are many details we definitely know two of every kind of animal walked in two by two into the yard that's what we see in our sunday school murals but god actually commanded to bring two of every kind of animal not only that there's another detail that gets lost along the way he gives instructions to bring seven pairs of animals that are to be food and sacrifice clean and unclean animals and seven pairs of every kind of bird as well what is interesting about this is that prior to noah humans didn't consume animals nor based on what it says did they eat any of the animals while on the ark either which leads to the question what happened to the animals that eat other animals i don't know that's detail that kind of gets lost in the mix i can't answer that for you noah had to deal with it so noah was to bring enough food to feed him and his family and the other animals to survive during the flood so again the logistics he didn't even ask which is surprising we look at noah in the details about the animals we have to go to two different translations to get information about the types of animals that he brought that were in seven pairs versus only one pair of each so another version says clean and unclean animals where the nlt says animals to eat and sacrifice so the book of noah was written retrospectively which is very interesting because prior to noah there have been no specifications to any humans as to what a clean and unclean animal is because they're not eating animals genesis 5 7 5. so noah did everything as the lord commanded him if only life were so easy noah was 600 years old i don't know if i'd ever want to live that long when the flood came and what is interesting is that when you read the lord actually closed them into the ark when the time came this prefigures the truth told in first john 2 9. the flood began and the waters came from underground waters erupting and from the rain so it's an interesting detail it's not just rain waters everyone focuses on the details of it just raining 40 days and 40 nights but waters are erupting from the earth as well so from below and above because you have to imagine they're flooding the whole earth for 40 days and 40 nights and it also says the flood started the 17th day of the second month so that kind of puts us almost in the anniversary because we're on the 21st day of the second month so although our calendars are obviously very different we're kind of on the anniversary of the flood interesting little note so they were not just on the ark for 40 days and 40 nights like we would believe they were on the ark for almost an entire year at the new year following that february the waters had finally almost dried up and by the second month they were able to leave the ark making it a whole year adventure not just 40 days and 40 nights what is interesting to note is that there are two different birds that are sent out to test whether or not the waters had receded so after 150 days like i said i'm a numbers person on the boat is settled on the mountain the boat on the top of erep and another two and a half months went by before other mountain peaks were finally visible then another 40 days goes by and noah first releases a raven that flies back and forth until the flood waters had receded he also as we know very common detail sent out the dove which is considered to be a symbol of the holy spirit the dove went out and came back which indicates there was no land in which to land on so he came back noah waited another seven days and he released the dove again this time the dove brought back a fresh olive leaf in his beak and it said that that olive leaf was a token of man's reconciliation to god and foreshadowed the fulfillment of grace another interesting note is that noah's name means rest or comfort which i'm sure everyone on that boat including animals needed to rely upon for that entire year and the flood itself is considered to be a precursor to baptisms as seen in first peter 3 19 so he went and preached to the spirits in prison those who disobeyed god long ago when god waited patiently while noah was building his boat only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood and that water is a picture of baptism which now saves you not by removing dirt from your body but as a response to god from a clean conscience it is effective because of the resurrection of jesus christ now christ has gone to heaven he is seated in the peace of honor next to god and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority so the flood waters washed the earth cleansing it after it had been defiled by cain murdering abel if you remember last week as we're going through the bible chronologically gene told us about the story of cain and abel where the blood had cried out from the earth when abel was murdered and the land was then cursed from the spilled blood of cain's brother abel so these floodwaters would have washed away what was cursed and cleansed the land in which cain tarnished with his jealousy and envious behavior finally after almost an entire year and once off the boat the flood waters finally dried up noah made a sacrifice to the lord genesis 8 21-22 and the lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself i will never again curse the ground because of the human race even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood i will never again destroy all living things as long as the earth remains there will be planting at harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night it is at this point as well that god gives man domain over all animals of the world they're finally told they are allowed to eat the animals but without the lifeblood in it again showing its rep probably retrospective because before then it lines up with the laws that are given to the jews later on so this is when god also confirms his covenant to never destroy living creatures with the flood again and every time we know this part of the story there's a rainbow in the sky it's a symbol to remind us of that covenant and the name of this covenant that noah had made with god is called the noahide covenant or the noahide laws now that is the theological information that gene is going to go into in bible study on wednesday for you guys now noah's sons were japheth ham and shem as i said i was going to mention them later we get to the end of the story and it's very interesting noah makes himself a vineyard and wine he gets drunk passes out naked again another detail you don't tell in sunday school him father of canaan came in and saw his father's nakedness and ran out and told his brothers his two older brothers took a blanket and went into the tent backwards covering up noah to avoid setting their eyes on their father's nakedness in his situation when noah woke up from his stupor he learned what ham his youngest son had done then he cursed canaan the son of ham because canaan did something may canaan be cursed may he be the lowest of servants to his relatives and this is going to follow the canaanites throughout history from that point onwards once again pointing out the stories written retrospectively we know that all of the other tribes look down upon the canaanites and in the story of noah obviously we have some wonderful examples and applications regarding patience being on a boat with every animal in the world and only six other humans to talk to for a year and whose obedience to god not questioning him not once in the story did noah question god about anything how to build the boat you know could it be 20 inches instead how about 500 feet really are all the animals gonna fit in why god do you have to kill everyone just not us egg like can we make a few exceptions when you know can you give me a little more time to build this boat how about maybe like half a year he never questions it even god do we really need to bring cockroaches spiders and snakes onto the boat like if it were me i i would definitely go god um really can't you just like leave them out like especially in southwest florida they're some of those creatures we could do without no none of this he did not question the lord at all and did exactly as he was commanded and how often do we question things that are just the way they're supposed to be god definitely knows better than we do and we're always questioning him when we should trust him and know that god has got it noah's obedience is a stark contrast from adam and cain who are obviously not obedient to god and then became cursed and it was his obedience and righteousness that saved him and his family from the floodwaters so a lot can be learned from the rest of the story in the details that we thought we knew are in fact more detailed and that there is more to the story than that beautiful sunday school mural all along so we have a man who walks righteously with the lord and above all others in a world gone wrong god sets aside and is spared along with his family noah is seen as obedient and patient now his obedience from there on out in the stories and i know in my own personal experience is completely unattainable as someone willing to spend we don't know how many years building the ark as per the specifications without question then at 600 years old spends a year on an arc with his family and all the animals in the world including the icky ones i have to say i've driven cross-country those of you have heard my story two cars two younger brothers and two dogs which took a week fairly complicated experience in itself i definitely don't think i would have made it for an entire year on that arc so it's a good thing there weren't children on that arc because i think after the second day into the are we there yet it might have broken noah's righteousness which is why only adults were probably allowed on that ark in the first place guys are over 100 years old i think you're good no more are we there yet and then the question begs to differ how did they manage all the animals so that's another detail for another time that's not in there but taking directions and being obedient is obviously very difficult for some of us most of us as humans to follow which is why most of us have those extra pieces in our junk drawers we think we know a better way then we're instructed to get things done you know do i really need that screw to put together this bench ah i can use duct tape later no big deal we don't respect or listen to the directions that have been given to us for a reason and i know as americans totally get it it is in i used to be history teacher those of you who are new it is in our nature and in our culture to question authority and rebel that is the foundation of our nation and it seems in our modern day society we have taken that defiance to which at that particular time was justified and within certain improper guidelines when our founding father set up our country to now just being defiant without reason and for the sake of an adrenaline rush however that exact defiance and rebellious nature is the exact opposite nature we are supposed to have as christians one where we should be acting with the fruits of spirit love patience kindness when we are obedient to the rules we usually have much better lives when we stay in the guard rails now imagine if everyone decided to do 65 in a 45 run red lights and stop signs were only a suggestion like living in naples during season yeah that's exactly what it's like when you drive down here if everyone just followed the rules of the road for one day i think that would be a miracle in itself just it still boggles my mind everyone drives safe but imagine how many less accidents we would have if everyone just followed those simple rules for our safety for the same reason we're given guidelines to live by in our lives it is for the benefit that we listen we have to learn to put aside our american mindset and put on our christian mindset and be obedient to the rule of law especially god's law but also man and i know i totally get it i'm a recovering addict those of you who don't know my story questioning authority speeding gossiping breaking a few rules here or there comes with an adrenaline rush it feels good but it's often short-lived and can often have irreversible consequences as a result obedience isn't something to rebel against it is honestly something that should be embraced i know we are allowed to live our lives have fun but within safe parameters because where does anger and fear get us but in more trouble more arguments and more division we have a saying one of our members here said holster the fingers just put them down we learn how to approach things in life with obedience and discipline and love less seems to go wrong in our lives we have less drama an eternal life rather than the short-lived adrenaline and addiction-based lifestyle tempting us here on earth we're given a separate set of rules and guidelines to live by to be healthy so just like in our junk drawers and our homes how often do we skip steps and not follow those instructions end up with those extra parts what are those washers for in the first place the little circle things that are flat who needs them anyway you know those extra screws allen wrenches i lost track of how many of those i have so how much of junk do we accumulate over the years skipping steps is it really worth living life looking over your shoulder wouldn't it be so great to live without being fearful not worrying about getting pulled over because you're doing that 65 and 45 and running with red lights in naples you can get there safely we prefer you here alive living life without unnecessary and often self-imposed drama when we skip steps choose our own instructions it's up to us to choose our heart we could live our life in sin and fear creating harder circumstances or a life with love and peace with jesus christ inside of us is it harder to live our life with our consequences of our sins or to live life healthfully and in order for any program any assembly of any project your favorite recipe i know in my recovery program if you skip steps it just doesn't work no matter what the instruction manual is whether it's your kid with a lego set on christmas morning or whether it's the ikea set for the bench on your front door step or recipe they're all there for a reason for me i know i used to live my life in fear and anger oh that was my fuel loved it oh my gosh anger fear spite but the problem with that fuel for me it ran out really really fast and guess how i had to get more of it more fear more anger more spite more i'll prove him wrong as opposed to coming to christ letting him inside of me letting go of my anger allows me to have a different horsepower in my life my higher power which is jesus christ and that fuel for me it never runs out whenever i need it it is always there it is an endless fuel tank unlike our anger and fear that causes more problems so we have to remember we are only as sick as our secrets we need to clear out the clutter clean out that drunk drawer metaphorically and sometimes physically it's usually nice i took a picture and sent it to my friend when i finally did it she used to house it she's like oh congratulations yeah it should have been done like it should never happen and for us is it really fun always living life looking over our shoulder i know for me it's not it's just so much healthier and clean knowing i'm living within the guard rails with you know i got to keep myself in mind i'm not perfect ever and there's a rhyme and reason to all the directions that need to be followed because we end up always taking a longer path to the destination we want to get to and sometimes when we take those shortcuts or details detours we might not even get to the destination we intended to go to in the first place the is anyone really going to know you know duct tape can't fix everything in our lives we don't use all the necessary parts a recipe without all of its ingredients turns out not to be desired imagine making chocolate chip cookies or a cake without sugar that is definitely not the recipe intended even when you do a recipe every ingredient has to be put in in a certain order it does not come out the way that it's supposed to and for me i know before i came to christ and i was saved it was drowning in defiance and disobedience i lived my life in fear and anger i didn't need to be physically drowning like all those people during the flood i was drowning in my own sin refusing help so imagine what would have happened if noah decided to be disobedient decided to leave a few parts out imagine if peter when he stepped off that boat walked on water fell in because of his fear didn't reach his hand out and accept christ's help you don't have to drown don't miss the boat there's a lot that we can learn from the story while we are working through the rest of the story we get to read the bible for ourselves see what it actually says not what you were told in a story a mural or a movie because a lot of details get lost in the mix so we are going to continue to work through the rest of the stories continue to break down those details and reveal the rest of the story thanks