Jump Start # 1801

Genesis 6:6 “The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

I went and saw the ark last Saturday. I can only imagine people saying this thousands of years ago as Noah was constructing the original ark. About an hour from where I live, a life sized replica of the ark has been built. It is amazing. I would recommend this as a must see. It’s expensive to go through, but so are amusement parks and the thoughts, faith and things you will learn is well worth the price. We read the words in Genesis, but it is hard to visualize how large the ark was. It took Noah 100 years to build it. When I saw the replica, I would have thought it took at least 500 years. It is massive. There are some liberties taken with the design and the interior. We are not told specifics. Modern engineers shaped the replica with a design that they thought made sense for floating and not spinning in circles. The interior has cages and storage and a system to feed the animals, collect fresh water and to deal with animal waste. Looking inside one thinks that God must have told Noah more details than just what Moses wrote centuries later. The ark exhibit deals with the kinds of animals, ice ages, flood legends and modern fairy tale concepts of the ark. It is impressive.

Our verse today, is the reason behind the flood. The flood wasn’t the result of weather systems or other unique and unusual conditions. The flood was the wrath of God against sinful man. The context tells us that the wickedness of man was great and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. Always bad. Always wicked. Always wrong.

Noah was different. Noah is said to be righteous, blameless and walking with God. Noah didn’t fit in the world he lived in. Years later, Lot experienced this concerning the city of Sodom. Lot is called righteous. What he heard and saw “Vexed” his soul. Square pegs in a round world, that’s Noah. That’s Lot. And in many ways, that’s us. We don’t fit in.

I wonder how our times compares to Noah’s. Are we to the point that every thought is evil continually? We have nothing other than a few statements centuries after the flood to show how wicked the world was. The daily news reminds us of how wicked out times are. Men want to marry men. Men want to go into women’s bathrooms. Drugs. Violence. Hatred. Prejudice. Lying. Abortion. Selfishness. Fewer and fewer are satisfied with God’s word and God’s ways. As one of our hymns begins, “Troublesome times are here…”

This week, we are going to send some time with Noah. There are many lessons for us.

Notice three things today:

1. Sin hurts God. God was grieved and God was sorry that He had made man. This was not turning out the way God wanted it to. He was hoping for a close, dependent and loving relationship with mankind. Instead, man turned his back on God. Man ignored God. Man did the very thing that God did not want. It’s easy to see what sin does to a person or even a family. We see the carnage left behind because of sin. Divorce. Empty lives. Innocent hurt. Addictions. Fear and worry. What we don’t see is what sin does to God. It breaks His heart. A person cannot say, “It’s my life, I can do what I want, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Wrong. Doing what you want, hurts God. It mars, tarnishes and destroys your relationship with God. Fellowship with God is broken because of sinful choices. To say my choices do not hurt anyone, is foolish and lacking Biblical understanding. Look what the sins in Noah’s day did to God. It upset Him so much that He was through with them. He had run out of patience with them.

God not only punished the sinners, but He wiped the creation clean. He started all over. Noah became the second Adam. When Noah left the ark, it was like Adam in the garden. God’s wrath not only killed the sinful world, it destroyed families. Don’t you think that there were babies around when Noah built the ark. There are always babies around. The ark exhibit estimates what the population may have been in Noah’s day. These estimates are based upon population growth rates. There are conservative estimates as well as very generous estimates. The number is staggering. Millions and millions of people. Children. Babies. Innocent animals. All wiped off the face of the earth. All mankind, except Noah, cast into eternity. The children were spared growing up and becoming sinful like their parents. The children would rest in the safety of the Savior. God was stopping the continuation of sin and the spread of sin through generations.

2. Noah remained blameless and righteous for a long time. The world didn’t change Noah. The world got worse, but Noah remained righteous. This wasn’t for a week or even a month. Noah was 500 years old when God revealed His plans for the ark and the flood. Plenty of time for Noah to blend in with the world, but he didn’t. Plenty of time for Noah to justify the wrongs of the world, but he didn’t. Toleration wasn’t the spirit of Noah. He was blameless. This is what God’s shepherds are to be today in the church. Noah was righteous. He was right with God. Noah walked with God. I expect Noah had family that didn’t make it on the ark. Did he have brothers, cousins, uncles, in-laws? None of them were on the ark. Noah was different than the world he lived in. He was probably viewed as the old fuddy-duddy who was against all fun. Noah wouldn’t party with his neighbors. Noah wouldn’t go to “church” with his friends. Noah stuck to God’s ways and he wouldn’t take a step away.

That’s amazing. It makes us wonder, would God have seen me that way? Am I living blamelessly and righteously today? Would God spare me or would He see that I am not that much different than the world around me? It’s a serious thought. Maybe it’s time we started living and walking with God. Don’t go along with all the junk that the world is engaged in today. Don’t laugh at things that are wrong. Don’t excuse sin. Don’t build bridges to tolerate sin. Live righteously. You’ll be different. Noah was. You may be mocked, laughed at and told that you are out of touch. But consider this, all these centuries later, we are writing about righteous Noah. We can’t name one of his neighbors. Noah is remembered in eternity. The rest, had a good time, they thought, but now are abandoned by God forever.

3. Noah didn’t give up on the world. Peter tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. While Noah built, he preached. To be a preacher implies there is an audience to hear you. People probably stopped by to see what this massive thing Noah was building. Noah used the opportunity to warn them about God and to seek God. Today, Noah’s preaching would be considered a failure. He didn’t fit the mode of church growth experts. Many churches wouldn’t hire Noah to be their preacher. He preached how long and only his kids listened? God saw Noah differently. He didn’t fail. He wasn’t out of touch. He was a man of God.

Hundreds of years later, when God was recalling righteous people, found in Ezekiel, three names come up. Daniel, Job and Noah. Righteous. Blameless. Walking with God.

We can’t give up on the world either. We must preach. We must warn. We must tell. No one will listen, some say. Think about Noah. No one will come, think about Noah. We must not give up.

Noah’s ark—what a great and powerful lesson for us.

Roger

Jump Start # 833

Genesis 6:6 “The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

Our verse today reveals what led up to the flood in which God destroyed all life except for what was in the ark.  The previous verse states that “the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Constantly thinking evil. Engaging in great evil. Only evil. Continually evil. God had enough. He was through with those people. He was starting over.

This verse tells us several things:

First, our actions and our thoughts affect God. Our rebellion breaks the heart of God. There is no such thing as, “what I am doing only affects me.” There is no such thing as, “What I am doing doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Yes it does. It affects God. The evil of those people made God regret that He made man. God grieved. We understand grief from death and funerals. There is another form of grief. It comes from great disappointment when others are not doing what they should. Parents can grieve the ungodly behavior of their children. The righteous can grieve the ungodly behavior of church members. Paul told the Corinthians that they should have mourned the conduct of the brother who was living immorally. We are connected to others and what we do has an impact upon others.

Second, some people are very bad. The expressions in Genesis illustrate the depth of brokenness of Noah’s world. Every intent was evil continually. Every. Always. Continually. This wasn’t a  moment of weakness. This was an every day thing. This was the direction that they had chosen.

Third, there is a direct connection between thinking evil continually and doing great evil. Our minds fuel our behavior. Evil thoughts become evil action. If you want to stop the evil, the thinking must change. Imagine the opposite. Instead of thinking evil continually, thinking righteously continually. Thinking of God. Meditating upon His word. Thinking of how to live to please God. Thinking of what good you can do today. Thinking, thinking, thinking. All that thinking translates into actions. Dreaming of evil. Talking about evil. Reading about evil. Hanging around evil. Watching evil. All this translates into doing great evil. It’s no surprise. I’m shocked at some parents who are amazed that their child is arrested or kicked out of school for doing something wrong. The child’s world has been evil. Nothing good. Nothing godly. Bent and twisted thinking has led to that action. Where are the prayers around the table? Where are the Bible studies? Where are the worship services? Where are the serving others? A world of selfish and evil thinking leads to selfish and evil actions.

Fourth, the presence of Noah reminds us that he chose a different path than everyone else. God spared Noah. Hebrews tells us that he operated “by faith.” It’s hard to imagine how difficult it would have been for Noah. No church to encourage. No godly friends to share good times with. Everyone he encountered every day, aside from his family, was evil. Evil continually. It’s hard to be honest when others are not. It’s hard to go by the rules when others are not. It’s hard to be kind when others are not. It’s hard to remain focused upon God when others have turned their backs to God. Noah did. Noah did not grieve God.

A person can be evil or righteous. Their choice. Parents have a lot to do with this but not 100%. I’ve seen behavior swing both directions regardless of what parents did. Much is what we are filling our minds and hearts with. Much has to do with who we hang around with. Much has to do with how serious we are with God.

Breaking God’s heart or pleasing God…making God angry or putting a smile on God’s face. Which will it be?

Roger