God Offers New Opportunities - Genesis 8 and 9

There are four separate ideas or attitudes that prevail in most minds on January first of each year. First, I have set new goals for my life and vow that I will strive to successfully complete them. Second, I have made my new years resolutions; they are honorable and worthwhile but will slip into history having made little difference in the way I conduct my life. Third, I live one day at a time and do what comes naturally; making resolutions would make little or no difference. And fourth, my success during this New Year depends on the opportunities God gives me, my ability to recognize them when they arrive and my positive resolution to do His will. Is there one or more of these that you can sincerely espouse?

Noah was afforded magnanimous opportunities to serve God and all mankind by and through his simple obedience. By way of the flood, Noah became the first born and the father of all residents living on earth after the flood. Through Noah, we [his offspring] have earned the right to share in the opportunities that God makes available to his people daily; this lesson today is to encourage us to take advantage of those opportunities and deal with them as God would have us do.

This is the last lesson for our consideration during the last week of this year 2007, and it is imperative that we review what we have been taught so far in our study of Genesis. We have observed the entry of man on earth through the perfect creation of God—and God said “It is good.” Then there was a winged serpent, probably beautiful to the eye, and with unusual believability that led woman and man to sin and then crawled away on his belly in the dust, there to live evermore. Sin and the results of sin grew to such magnitude that God was made to repent that he had made man. Sin was so rampant that God had no choice but to destroy the existing world and provide for a new start.

God planned the flood and chose Noah to be the future father of mankind. God’s instructions came down; Noah obeyed God and built the ark, loaded it as directed by God and every living thing survived the flood. Here are some important lessons we should have learned from this miraculous event.

1. Majorities mean nothing to God. During the flood only one man knew enough to get in out of the rain.
2. It tells us to be sure we don’t miss the boat, and
3. We should realize that we are all in the same boat.
4. Remember to plan ahead; as Noah did…it was not raining when he started building the ark.
5. Stay fit and set on ready. When you are 600 years old God may call on you to do something really important.
6. Don’t be detracted by your critics; just do what has to be done.
7. Be careful and practice safety; travel in pairs.
8. Always remember that two heads are better than one.
9. Never get in too big of a hurry; both snails and cheetahs were on time.
10. Don’t let stress kill you; learn to float while you regroup.
11. Always remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
12. No matter what storm surrounds you; there is a rainbow waiting.

God spoke to Noah through voice mail and explained how to build it; he spoke to him while he rode out the storm; and then again after he left the ark and told him exactly the conditions under which he was to live… [He speaks to us through his written word] with the same kind of instructions. His spoken word is the content of the covenant; while the rainbow was the sign of the covenant. Far too many remember and recognize the ‘sign’ but do not know the content; and this is the reason sin was soon prevalent in the world following the flood and still remains the problem today.

This ends the few remarks regarding the review of Noah and the ark; and now we will begin a study of today’s lesson in chapters eight and nine. I learn things that are new to me each time I study God’s word and today there is no exception. There are important dates discussed in 7: 1-11, 8:4, and 8: 14. According to the scripture, the ark rested on Mount Ararat on the 17th day of the 7th month. Did you know that on that very same day later in history that:
…The Israelites crossed the red Sea and walked away on dry land? And
…Christ arose from the dead and walked again on this land after passing through the valley of the shadow of death, his burial and resurrection. To me this is not just a coincidence. I am made to wonder if there is some connection intended here. Why did these three important events all occur on the same date? If you have the answer, I would be interested in hearing your explanation.

Dr. Fuller, an English scholar writes regarding the reason for sending a raven out to explore for dry land. He says that this could be a picture of a man who has never accepted Christ as his Lord getting out of the church. He wasn’t happy in the church because he didn’t belong there in the first place; therefore he never wants to return. The raven was able to find dead bodies floating that made it possible for him to feel at home…be satisfied…he had returned to his old way of life and was not interested in returning to the ark of safety.

One might wonder where the dove found an olive branch since the earth had been covered with water for many days. History records that the Olive tree lives under water. In some of the lakes that are under water during rainy season, they dry up when rain ceases and the olive tree that was inundated will start sprouting green leaves in the tops of the trees when the water starts down. Pliny in his book on Natural History said that the olive tree grew under water in the Red Sea…that is in salt water so it must be a very hardy plant and this would explain why the dove was able to find the new branch growing so soon.

The sign of the covenant is the rainbow. Most children that have had any Bible teaching will have been told about the rainbow, and even the child knows that it is a sign that the earth will never again be destroyed by water. But that is just a part of the covenant. There is more. A covenant is an agreement between two or more people—in this case both God and Noah who in this case is representing the whole world after the flood.

Noah built an alter and offered up ‘blood’ sacrifices on the alter using every clean beast and every clean bird. This is the first instance of a blood offering that later on became a part of the Jewish law. There is no evidence that God told him to do this however it follows later commands exactly. In an acceptable sacrifice thee must be death, blood, and an alter and this all points to the later sacrifice of Christ for his people. It is also very interesting to find that this is the first time in the Bible that the word “alter” is used.

In 9:1 and following we find that there is more to the covenant. God blessed Noah and his family, and told them to replenish the earth. This is a renewal of the covenant that God made with Adam…he was told to do the same. Noah came before God a sinner, and he offered a sacrifice for his sins and God told him that he would subdue the earth. God told him that every beast and bird would fear him because of his dominion over them. This is a renewal of what happened with Adam.

In Genesis 1: 29 God told Adam that every seed, plant, animal etc. would be for his food. Here in 9: 3, God told Noah the same thing. “Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; and the herbs have I given you all.” These animals were designated as clean or unclean. Then in the Mosaic Law the specific animals were named and described as ones having certain kinds of hooves and chewing their cud, etc. You will note there is one exception to this being exactly as it was with Adam…Adam was to live on vegetables, and herbs and not animals. But meat is now sanctioned by God for him to eat. In this covenant with Noah he is now given first place as head over the earth to subdue it and use it as directed by God.

There is at least one more notable difference regarding this covenant with Noah and especially the one with Moses. Remember that there is a new world in the making and Noah has been placed over the world and that includes all nations that will follow both Jew and gentile. When God instructed Moses to write, he was only representing the Israelite nation, the ones that God designated as “My people.”

Earlier in this lesson I implied that most people think of the rainbow as being the sign that God will never destroy the world by water again. I hope you see now that the sign of the rainbow covers far more ground than the flooding of the earth. I told you that people know the sign [rainbow] but do not know the stipulation of the covenant. Let us review the total covenant. It is a two way agreement. Noah represents both Jew and Gentile after the flood. Briefly, here is his responsibility.

1. He must come as a sinner and offer a blood sacrifice.
2. He can now eat meat but he can eat NO blood.
3. He must not murder.
4. Civil government must take charge of the murderer and punishment is death.
5. He was to replenish the earth
6. He was to exercise dominion over the beasts, creeping things.

Briefly, here is God’s responsibility
1. God blessed Noah
2. When Noah is sincere, God must accept him and his sacrifice and forgive his sins. This is very important. Remember Noah must have faith and believe.
3. God must never cause another flood that destroys the world.
4. The law of nature must remain true. 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Note: This is especially important to a farmer. What if…you would plant your crops in April and May expecting growing time to be warm and with moisture—only to wake up on July first to find a temperature of 32, with six inches of snow on the ground? What if your child would be born with eyes in the back of their head? Or one ear on top of the head. Folks the law of nature must remain true. What bothers me most…is that I see the Gay world trying to mess it up.
5. One more Vandiverism here please. What if we didn’t have the rainbow? Every time there was a bad storm cloud, and the prediction was for a lot of rain…we would all be worried to death that this might be the beginning of another forty-day-flood, covering the mountains and destroying the earth.