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.
6 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.
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