Presentation 16

Presentation 16

The story of Noah and the flood is one that some people say they feel less comfortable with as they grow up. We live in age when men reduce those things that are alien to their own experience, or which their human reason finds difficult to accept, to the realm of myth. This is the response of some with regard to the virgin birth, deity of Christ, miracles, the resurrection, Adam and Eve and the biblical narrative of Noah and the flood.

Men and women will never benefit from the contents of the Bible unless they can be persuaded of the reasonableness and trustworthiness of its contents. Nothing of value can be gleaned from the story of Noah unless we are convinced of its historicity.

Introduction

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It is not the purpose of this study to replicate the exhaustive treatment of this subject in the manner found in much Christian literature. But brief comment will be given to a few points in passing.

1. Geological Evidence: Flood geology and fossils. There are great fossil cemeteries in the world where millions of organisms can be found crushed together and buried by sediment. Scientists recognise that phenomena such as these must be attributed to very rapid burial. Since most of these graveyards are to be found in water laid sediments [e.g. Grand Canyon USA] they certainly point towards a great deluge.

Is the Flood a Historical Fact?

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2. Archaeological Evidence: Stories of a great flood are to be found in many ancient civilisations: Babylon, Greece, Phoenicia, and China. Similar stories are found in the traditions of the North American Indians and Pre-Columbian Indians.

If, as Christians claim, the Bible forms a faithful and inspired record of what happened it is not unreasonable to expect something as cataclysmic as a great flood would be found, albeit in an embellished or distorted form, in other civilisations outside of the biblical tradition.

Is the Flood a Historical Fact?

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3. Marine scientific evidence: The biblical record provides us with the dimensions of the ark. The volume of the vessel is calculated at almost 1.5 million cubic feet. Until the C20th there is no record of a ship this large being built. It is therefore interesting to discover that the dimensions given would indeed produce one of the most stable crafts for such a large cubic capacity. Naval architects in John Brown’s shipyard constructed a scale model of the ark and were impressed by its stability and buoyancy .

A scientific paper claims that the ark’s dimensions made it almost impossible to capsize. Furthermore, it has been calculated that there was more than enough space to carry the 18,000 species of land animals alive today as well as those, which fossil record makes clear are now extinct in addition to the food necessary to feed them.

Is the Flood a Historical Fact?

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4. Biblical evidence: Of course we do not believe the Bible because of scientific evidence. Our faith is not rooted in the findings of science but in the revelation of God. This brings us to the most compelling evidence of all that of the Bible itself. The Bible treats the flood as fact. Jesus and apostles treat Noah, the ark and the flood not as myth but as fact. Cf. Matt 24.36-41, 1Peter 3.20 2Peter 2.5, 3.3-7.

If we choose to disbelieve that then we need to be clear about what we are saying. We are saying, Jesus and the apostles were wrong!

Is the Flood a Historical Fact?

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If Jesus and the apostles cannot be trusted here, how can we trust them when they speak of God's love and forgiveness? How can we be sure that Jesus’ death on the cross can accomplish our salvation as he claimed? We cannot be selective about what parts of Jesus’ teaching we will or won’t believe! And it will simply not do to argue, as some have, that Jesus spoke as he did in order not to shatter the mythical understanding of his audience.

You see the warnings of Jesus about a future great judgement carry no weight at all, if Noah and the flood are simply mythical events.

Is the Flood a Historical Fact?

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As we read through this chapter it becomes clear that the judgement of God was inevitable and this is so for a number of reasons. First; there was the loss of the salting influence of the god-fearing upon society. We read of the mingling of two lines in v2 ‘the sons of God’ and the ‘daughters of men’. This verse has been understood and interpreted in two different ways in the Christian tradition.

1.A reference to a sexual union between fallen angels human beings with disastrous consequences. 2.The intermixing of the line of faith- those of Seth’s descent with the line of unbelief, the descendants of Cain. The Hebrew term ‘sons of God’ in the OT can either refer to angelic beings or to men and women of faith.

The Inevitability of the Flood

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However, we choose to understand the inter-marriage described in v2, what is clear is that whenever the people of God lose their distinctiveness, they fail to enforce a restraining influence upon society. This is one of the reasons that the Jews were instructed not to intermarry with heathen tribes [Deut 7.3] when they entered the promised land.

This is also why in the N.T. Christians are instructed not to be ‘unequally yoked with unbelievers’ 2Cor.6.14. It is not simply that the unbeliever can have a contaminating influence on the believer eroding his or her faith and moral standards but for the welfare of society as a whole.

This challenges us to ask, ‘Do we, by our distinctiveness arrest the corruption of society?’

The Inevitability of the Flood

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Secondly, we read that this intermarriage produced heroes, ‘men of renown’ v4. Men with a reputation, Yes! But not a reputation for godliness. Rather a reputation for violence, destruction and oppression. They belong to the "might is right brigade". Do the kind of heroes acclaimed by various sections of society today concern you?

When the salting influence of God's righteousness is removed then society throws up some very strange heroes. They can be power crazed megalomaniacs like Hitler or Saddam Hussein or, drug crazed pop-stars or limelight crazed athletes or, sex crazed film stars or, petulant footballers; these have to a greater or lesser extent been the heroes promoted by many in society.

The Inevitability of the Flood

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As you relax and watch a film on T.V., do you ever find yourself asking, ‘Why are my sympathies with this particular character, who is clearly a lawbreaker.’ Why do I want the bank robber to escape, or the man who has deceived his wife to prosper? Why do I want this man of violence to knock a few heads together’?

Fewer and fewer screen heroes are men of integrity and justice, or temperate men of self-control. Why then does today’s society run after other heroes? Could it be because, as Christians, we do not have a sufficiently salting influence upon society?

The Inevitability of the Flood

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Thirdly, when godliness decreases wickedness gains momentum, violence breeds violence and there is and no restraining voice. This is precisely what we find happening in chapter 6. So much so that in v6 we find God grieving over the creation he once pronounced good! To convey the revulsion found in the being of God, the writer wrestles with the limitations of human language for as God views the disintegration of man the crown of his creation, “his heart was filled with pain.”

The wickedness of men was not due to carelessness or a sudden falling into temptation but something planned and premeditated by men of whom we read, “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” v5.

The Inevitability of the Flood

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Fourthly, we must not see the decision of God to wipe the slate clean and start again as a fit of rage or temper. Many human responses are produced in the heat of anger and regretted as we cool down. Do not think of the judgement of God in those terms. God’s judgement operates against the backdrop of mercy. When mercy is refused men bring judgement upon themselves.

Tamerlane the great Mongol conqueror would first approach a besieged city with a white flag, a symbol of his mercy. If the city opened its gates to him their lives were spared. If they spurned his offer of mercy a red flag was then raised and his forces knew that the inhabitants were to be destroyed. God to first approaches men with the white flag of mercy, only when that is spurned does judgement fall.

The Inevitability of the Flood

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How had God displayed his mercy to a society that had become intoxicated with wickedness? First, notice God’s longsuffering nature. He had borne with this wickedness for hundreds of years. Noah was a ‘preacher of righteousness’ 2Pet.2.5 and Methuselah, whose name promised coming judgement, was in the mercy of God kept alive longer than any other human being. Hundreds of years of God’s mercy were extended to wicked men. We are less longsuffering than God!

We constantly ask, “Why doesn't God step in and deal with evil now?” Why? because God gives men time either to change or pass the limit of his mercy. But when God does not immediately judge wickedness, men often foolishly conclude that God is either soft or powerless. He is neither!

Mercy in the Midst of Judgement

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Secondly, God by his Spirit had striven with these men convicting them of the heinousness of their sin. He had pleaded with them to forsake their wickedness but all to no avail. And so something very terrible happens cfv3 "My Spirit will not contend with man forever". When men repeatedly resist the constant pleading of the Holy Spirit then God withdraws his mercy.

Jesus instructed his disciples to shake the dust off their feet in those communities that had stubbornly refused God's offer of mercy cf. Lk.9.5. W. P. Nicholson the famous Irish evangelist did precisely that in towns, where he had met hardened resistance to his ministry. God’s offer of mercy does not last forever!

Mercy in the Midst of Judgement

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Thirdly, God also reduced the span of human life at this point to 120 years v3. Earlier generations lived to a considerable age but now this reduction in life expectancy would shorten the potential for evil that any one man could generate. After the flood people’s lifespan was considerably reduced. [Incidentally, civilisations with flood myths also speak of mankind living to a great age prior to the flood]. Some have sought to provide a genetic explanation for this reduction in life-span.

•The increasing effect of disease and decay from the time of the fall. •A transformation in the stratosphere occasioned by the manner in which the flood took place. The harmful rays of the sun, which have a degenerative effect on human cells, were no longer filtered out.

Mercy in the Midst of Judgement

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Finally, we find that God in his mercy found a man who would exercise living faith. In history's darkest hour God had prepared a man, Noah v8 through whom he would continue to work out his purposes of grace! What was different about Noah?

He believed God, when he told him judgement was coming and that he was responsible for constructing the one means of deliverance.

Picture Noah supervising the construction of the ark, a structure much longer than a football Pitch. Crowds would gather tolaugh at Noah's folly! For them he was no more than a source of entertainment.

Mercy in the Midst of Judgement

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In 2 Pet 2.5 we read that Noah was ‘a preacher of righteousness’. Why is this significant? Even at that late date God was warning the people through Noah of impending judgement and pointing to a shelter, an ark, and saying, ‘Here is God's mercy. If you begin to take God seriously and turn from your wickedness, God will deliver you. WON'T YOU BELIEVE GOD'S WORD?’

If judgement was inevitable then it was no less true that God’s mercy was available. The crowd chose! They refused God’s offer of mercy and the white flag was lowered!

Mercy in the Midst of Judgement

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God’s provision of an ark as a place of safety, a shelter from his judgement provides us with a wonderful picture of the provision that he has made for all mankind living in every era of human history. The cross of Christ is that place of safety. The Bible tells us that Jesus’ death made an atonement for the sins of his people.

The Hebrew word for ‘atonement’ carries the idea of a shelter, a place of absolute safety and security from the judgement of a holy and righteous God. Are you standing under the shelter of Christ’s cross? Don’t be like those of Noah’s day who stood on the outside and ridiculed. The day came when the door of mercy was closed to them! Enter into God’s secure provision before the door closes on you!

Conclusion

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