The Gospel in Genesis - Part 2

The Gospel in Genesis – Part 2
The Good News as Lived by Noah
Genesis 5:28–9:13

This is the second installment in a series where we’re examining examples of the Gospel message found in the book of Genesis. This time we’ll look at the account of the life of Noah, whose name means “rest.” You’ll be glad to know that we aren’t going to read every verse from Genesis 5:29 to Genesis 9:13. Instead I’ll highlight those portions of the account that most clearly show how Noah’s life presents the Gospel.

Genesis 5:28-29 (NASB)
28  Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.
29  Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed."

The Gospel is rife with the promise of rest. The first example we find in Scripture is when we are told in the first verses of Genesis chapter 2 that on the seventh day God rested from all His work. He then sanctified, or set apart that day. This gives us insight into the importance of rest, but we often assume that what we are to learn from this is not to do any work on the seventh day. It’s one of the ten commandments, after all.

It’s important to remember what covenant currently governs our relationship with God. I’ll teach about the Sabbath and spiritual rest one day, but for now, let’s remember a couple of important passages that deal with the topic of rest.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB)
28  "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
30  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Colossians 2:16-17 (NASB)
16  Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—
17  things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Hebrews 4:9-11 (NASB)
9  So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10  For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
11  Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

The context of this passage makes it clear that entering the Kingdom of God is what is being referred to when rest is discussed. We are told we should work at (diligently strive for) entering that rest—entering the Kingdom; accepting God’s gift of salvation; placing our trust only in Jesus for our reconciliation to God.

The passage talks about disobedience. We disobey when we refuse to change our minds about God and about our own ability to make ourselves righteous; when we refuse to accept His grace as our only hope of life. Again, one day I’ll discuss this in greater depth, but today is not that day.

Getting back to our text:
With regard to Lamech naming his son Noah, he said he did it in the hope that this son would provide rest from the hard work of getting the cursed earth to provide food. As is so often the case in the Bible, Noah’s name was an indication of his purpose.

Ryrie’s Study Note on Genesis 5:29 says
“shall give us rest.” I.e., by preserving a remnant in the ark. Christ would eventually come and give ultimate victory over the curse.

Ryrie has it right. Jesus came to accomplish what is foreshadowed here.
·       This is why Jesus said in Matthew “come to me… and you will find rest for your souls”, as we read earlier.
·       This is why we are not to allow anyone to judge us with regard to a Sabbath day, and so on as we saw in Colossians.
·       This is why, as we read in Hebrews, we are to “be diligent to enter that rest”, which “remains for the people of God.”

Now let’s jump ahead to Genesis Chapter six; beginning at verse nine.

Genesis 6:9-14 (NASB)
9  These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

This is an amazing statement in and of itself, but even more so in light of the fact that God says that every thought of mankind is only evil all the time. Why was Noah, out of all the evil people on earth, counted righteous and blameless?

Noah was a great grandson of Enoch. The Bible says of Enoch that he “walked with God.” You may remember that Enoch never saw physical death. Instead, God simply took him. We read more about Enoch in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11:



Hebrews 11:5-7 (NASB)
5  By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Noah is also listed here. He had faith in God, just as his great grandfather Enoch had before him.

7  By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

It’s about faith in God from first to last. In another installment in this series we’ll read about Abraham. Scripture tells us that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” We read in John that “whosoever believes in Him (that is Jesus) shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Later, in II Corinthians 5, we read that “He (Jesus) who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Nothing we do can ever make us righteous. It’s God’s grace that makes us righteous, and we receive that gift by faith. “It is by grace [we] have been saved, through faith, and that not of [ourselves], it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

So Noah, a righteous man, is living in a terribly fallen world—just as we are.

10  Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Hebrew word “shem” is actually pronounced “shame”, but its meaning is almost exactly the opposite of the English word that sounds like that. There are two components to the meaning of shem in Hebrew. The first, and the way it is generally rendered in the Bible, is “name.” The second component is something like “fame.”

Matthew Henry says, “Shem is put first because on him the covenant was entailed, as appears by chapter 9:26, where God is called the Lord God of Shem. To him, it is probable, the birth-right was given, and from him, it is certain, both Christ the head, and the church the body, were to descend. Therefore he is called Shem, which signifies a name, because in his posterity the name of God should always remain, till He should come out of his loins whose name is above every name; so that in putting Shem first Christ was, in effect, put first, who in all things must have the pre-eminence.

In this statement we see the full meaning of the name of Shem. Jesus, the shem that is above every shem. His name (who He is) and His fame (or glory, honor, beauty, etc.) is far above all rulers and authority and every name that can be named. (See Ephesians 1:18-23)

Colossians 1:15-18 underscore the concept:

Colossians 1:15-18 (NASB)
15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

We rejoin our text at verse 11 of Genesis chapter six and we’ll read through verse 18:

11  Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12  God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13  Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
14  "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
15  "This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16  "You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17  "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
18  "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Judgment is about to come, but God provides salvation for those who trust Him. “I am bringing a flood, but I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark.” Noah will be saved because he is righteous. Noah is righteous because he believes God.

Genesis 6:22 (NASB)
22  Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Because Noah believes God the result of that faith is demonstrated. Obedience is the way God’s people want to behave.

In verse one of chapter seven we see that Noah’s faith is credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis 7:1 (NASB)
1  Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.

Now let’s drop down in Genesis seven, and pick up the account at verse 11.

Genesis 7:11-17 (NASB)
11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
12  The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
13  On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,

Noah and his family escape the judgment. They are safe in the ark. This is a vibrant picture of salvation and regeneration. It immediately brings to mind Second Corinthians 5:17

17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

14  they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
15  So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
16  Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him.

It’s notable that God closed the door and sealed them in.

The salvation from judgment God promised Noah is “Yes, it’s done” in the ark. He who put Noah and his family in the ark is God, who also sealed them inside where they couldn’t fall out and drown.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NASB)
20  For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
21  Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
22  who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Everything God has promised is “yes, it’s done” in Jesus Christ. He who establishes you in Christ is God, who also sealed you and gave you the Spirit in your heart as a pledge.

17  Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

Genesis 7:23 (NASB)
23  Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

The judgment came to fruition, but Noah and his family remained safe.

Genesis 8:1-4 (NASB)
1  But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
2  Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
3  and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.

God remembered Noah. When God remembers His people it is not that they had been forgotten, but rather that His loving attention is turned toward them and He shows them favor. God redeems Noah out of the sinful world. He has just cleansed the world through baptism and now He places Noah into the new world to begin a new life.

4  In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.

1.       There are two very beautiful details here. The word Arar means “to curse”. Ararat means “the curse reversed: precipitation of curse.”

2.      The Jewish calendar was changed a couple of times between the days of Noah and the time of Jesus resurrection, but if you trace those changes back you’ll find that the day of the year on which the ark came to rest on Ararat was the same day of the year as the day Jesus rose from the dead. The picture here could hardly be more striking—or more encouraging.

Genesis 8:20-22 (NASB)
20  Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21  The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
22  "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."

Genesis 9:8-13 (NASB)
8  Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9  "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;
10  and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
11  "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."
12  God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13  I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

Every time we see a rainbow, we have cause to remember each of Father’s wonderful promises to us. Not only that, but we can remember that all His promises are “Yes, it’s done” in Jesus Christ, and that we are loved fully, accepted completely, and that we stand before Him righteous, holy, and blameless. Not only that, but we are sealed into our salvation securely by the Spirit of the Living God, Who lives in us.

What excellent news! What glad tidings of great joy! What an Awesome God!

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