Genesis 6:9–9:29

Then in Genesis 6:9 we read, "These are the generations of Noah." This gives the fitting ground for his escape from the flood, along with his three sons and their wives.

It is written: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." This comes before the statement, "Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:8-9). This is always God's order. No man can walk with God until he has tasted the grace of God. "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations." "Perfect" does not mean "sinless." His sad failure after he came out of the ark is proof enough (Genesis 9:21). But, as the margin suggests, Noah was an upright man who sought to walk before God in integrity.

Further, it is not correct to say that he was a just man, that is, justified before God. … The grace that justified him worked in him and through him practical righteousness before man. … The one (in Romans 4) is justification before God, the root of all. The other is the resulting fruit "shown" before man. Each is indispensable in its place; both are united in their season in every true believer. Practical righteousness is the effect, in no way the cause, of justification by faith. … We also know from Hebrews 11:7 that faith was the starting principle, through grace, of the conduct that marked him out in that day. By that faith he also condemned the world, as heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.

It is recorded in Genesis 5:22, "Enoch walked with God." … These two devout men lived in evil days, but they walked in separation from the evil, and in communion with God.

Noah is an example of the separate saint bearing testimony to the world… Peter tells us that he bore witness for God as a "preacher of righteousness". Lot is a picture of a large class of believers. They have no faith for the separate path, so they settle down in the world. They are saved in the end, but they are no testimony to God while they pass through it. Peter does tell us that Lot was a "righteous man". Yet, by living among the wicked, he tormented his righteous soul day after day. He knew nothing of a walk in peace and nearness to God.

Noah was righteous in his human relationships and blameless in his personal character, because "he walked with God." The earth's population had grown so large. It is deeply sad that only one man walked with God. In this he is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Yet he does show that a believer can walk in true, godly separation from an evil world, even with no one else to share that path. … In any case, a lonely path with God is far better than having many friends without God's presence.

That is how Scripture describes this man when he first appears in the record, at the ripe age of five hundred years. He then made the ark as God directed. God said to him, "I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation" (Genesis 7:1). He proved that he was righteous. He illustrated the obedience of faith.

In Genesis 6:10 we find the names of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Turn to Genesis 10:1 and 1 Chronicles 1:4, and each chapter gives the same names in the same order. Yet in the light of Genesis 9:24 and 10:21 we gather that the actual order of their birth was Japheth, Shem and Ham. But Shem was the one specially chosen in the sovereignty of God, so his name comes first.

A different order than the natural one is before us. The reason: the natural order — that is, birth order — constantly gives way when it crosses the order of grace and God's purpose of blessing.

A fresh start for the race began after the flood that judged a guilty world. God preserved Noah and his three sons from destruction. From them began conditions that continue today, and that will continue for their descendants until the Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven... So the history of man is comparatively recent, and so is his threefold separation into lands and languages, families and nations. This time the race does not begin with a single line. We have three heads with their wives — three great families to renew the history of man on earth.

The Lord commands Noah to enter the ark with his house on this ground: "For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Someone may object that all the members of the household were probably righteous before God too. But the later history of one of them — Ham — forbids that thought. So nothing can weaken the force of the statement: God delivered the family of Noah from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head.

The three sons of Noah, all married men, did not carry one infant into the ark. Eight adult persons passed through the flood. What a touch this is, showing God's thoughtful arranging, His planning tenderness! And it comes in such an unexpected place that it may well comfort many who are going through hard circumstances.

The fountain heads were three, first named in this order: Shem, Ham and Japheth. The first was the family in which God would establish His covenant on earth, and with which He would be in relationship. Then came the one who stood in hostility to God's family. Last came the Gentile Japheth, though he was the eldest and proudest.

Scripture again draws attention to the three heads of Noah's race, "Shem, and Ham, and Japheth," in the same order as before (Genesis 5:32, 6:10, 7:13). Now there is an ominous addition: "and Ham is the father of Canaan." The sad incident that follows explains this at once, and the solemn prophecy that closes the chapter explains it still more. That prophecy echoes through the whole Old Testament, and it will only be brought to completion in that kingdom which awaits the Anointed of Jehovah.

There are two forms in which sin, or the activity of man's will, shows itself — violence and corruption. This showed itself at the time of the flood. The earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. Satan is a liar and murderer. In man, corrupt desires are even a more abundant source of evil.

Corruption and self-will have been at work from earliest ages, and in fact were the two great evils let loose among the race in the period before the flood is Godward; violence manward.

Then comes man's most serious evil — his corruption before God. That corruption led to an earth filled with violence (v. 11). Violence is against other people, and people call that the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption, there would be no violence. … God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near, because the earth was filled with violence. Violence was the glaring proof of man's corruption (v. 13).

Genesis 6 tells us that the earth was corrupt in God's sight. It also tells us that "the earth was filled with violence." God had set up no government, and men gave free rein to their lawless desires. They took revenge on one another without restraint. Imagine a man among them condemning their terrible ungodliness and warning that the Lord was coming to judge them. Would they hear him without their anger rising to murderous heights?

Ever since sin entered the world through the fall of man, its degrading defilements have been spreading. … Notice: corruption had affected the earth itself, for man had also corrupted God's way. Material as well as moral corruption was present.

… For the divine nature, what mattered was the horror of an earth corrupt and full of violence. It stands in contrast with Noah — a righteous man, blameless among his generations, walking with God when all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man." Some would have us believe that this earth will be covered from pole to pole with a fair mantle of righteousness. They say this will happen before the Son of Man appears in the clouds of heaven. How was it in the days of Noah? Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "ALL flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." … "Righteousness" and "violence" are not very like each other.

These are the two great classes of sins that God had before Him when He said He would destroy the world by a flood. The world has not changed. If we are wronged or slandered, if we have personal grievances against others, what do we show? Is it a peaceful or a violent spirit? On the other hand, there is a moral corruption surrounding us, like the air we breathe.

In Genesis 1 God was alone, producing the fruit of His own handiwork, in wisdom, goodness, and skill, and then all was good and desirable... But now it is not God's hand presenting a perfect work to God's thoughts and affections. It is man, the rebel workman, spreading out a wide scene of corruption and violence, for the grief and regret of the mind of God. That is where the secret of the change lies. Man has been at work. Man has been shaping and furnishing the scene, and not the living, blessed God.

Note this: corruption had affected the earth itself, for man had also corrupted God's way. The corruption was material as well as moral... Ever since sin came in, corruption has thrived and grown. Sadly, its willing victims rush to spread its terrible influence, driven by the sinful desires of body and mind. They are themselves "slaves of corruption," as the Scripture says (2 Peter 2:19).

We have to admit, sadly, how corrupt this world is. It touches every area, so everything is falling apart — for the word "corrupt" carries the thought of "decay and pining away."

The passage then points to the most serious evil of man — his corruption before God — which led to an earth filled with violence (v. 11). Violence is of course against others, and people consider this the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption there would be no violence... God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near, because the earth was filled with violence. Violence was the clear proof of man's corruption (v. 13).

There must be the entire destruction of that which had corrupted God's way on the earth. "The mighty men, and men of renown," must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" must be set aside, as completely unfit for God. God said, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh." It was not the end of some flesh only. No, all of it was corrupt in the sight of the LORD — all beyond recovery.

There is nothing good at all in our sinful nature... But can diligent prayer and watchfulness improve it? No, never: it is completely incurable... True, in some we find nature polished, cultivated, and refined; in others, rough, rude and rugged. But it is the same sinful nature in both. We may not be able to bend a bar of iron, yet it can be hammered out until it is quite flexible. But it is the same iron still. Its appearance has changed, but its nature is the same.

Here, then, was a picture of the end of the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgement. What then? "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood." Here we have a picture of the new thing. That ark, floating quietly over the dark depth of waters, was a picture of Christ, and of the believer in Him... It all hinges upon this one question. "Am I in or out of Christ?"

How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?... Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "All flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." "The earth was corrupt in God's sight." Well then, "so will it be in the days of the Son of Man."

The most serious evil of man is his corruption before God, and it led to an earth filled with violence. Violence is of course against others, and people consider this the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption there would be no violence. But at this time "all flesh" had corrupted itself. God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near because violence filled the earth. Violence was the glaring proof of man's corruption. God would destroy the people along with the earth.

The mighty men and the men of renown must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" must be set aside as completely unfit for God. "The end of all flesh is come before me." This was not the end of some flesh only. No, all of it was corrupt in the sight of Jehovah — all of it beyond recovery. God had tried it and found it wanting. Then the Lord announces His remedy to Noah: "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood."

The end of man's time of testing has come before God. It is too late for man to ask for a new trial. He is guilty and under condemnation. It is too late for that poor young man, condemned to death, to talk of being tried again. He must be pardoned or executed. Such is man's condition. The prisoner may dream he is free, and hope to commit no more crimes — but he wakes for execution.

He dealt with him as a man deals with his friend, and as God deals with a chosen sinner. "The end of all flesh is come before Me," says the Lord to Noah, telling him what had been passing in His own heart. Later, on the day of the waters, He showed the same gracious friendship. When the ark was about to float on the scene of judgment, "the Lord shut him in." He did it with His own hand.

The flood of waters that came, covering everything, so that the end of all flesh came, is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death God passed judgment on all flesh and carried it out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the waters of judgment.

There can be no purifying of the flesh. God has only one way to deal with it. As He said in Genesis 6, "The end of all flesh is come before me." He deals with it either at the Cross, where faith submits to the sentence, for God, "by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, ... condemned sin in the flesh" — or else in the lake of fire.

The Lord, in this way, provided Noah with an answer to His own righteous and purposed judgment that was coming on the world before the Flood. "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood," said God to him. Noah did so, believing the word both of judgment and of deliverance, and he was safe.

Yet the grace of God would provide a refuge for those who realized their need of His grace. God instructed Noah to make a large ark of gopher wood. It was six times as long as it was wide, with three decks and rooms built in, not only for people but for animals too, and covered with pitch inside and out (v. 14). One door is mentioned, which may seem inadequate for so large a ship, but it pictures the truth that Christ alone is the door of salvation for mankind.

The ark is built of gopher wood. We do not know this "gopher," but the name is very close to the "copher" or "pitch" named afterward... Because of this, the gopher has long been thought to be the cypress, which could well have supplied the "pitch" for the ark's seams. The picture would then fit even better. There is no doubt that the gopher, like the acacia wood of the tabernacle ark, refers to Christ, and "copher" is the word used elsewhere for "atonement." It was not enough that the tree be cut down to provide a refuge from the waters of judgment. The seams also had to be sealed with the pitch the tree supplied. And so death by itself, even Christ's death, would not have been enough to make safe the soul that fled to Him for refuge.

Now there was one very interesting feature in that ark. It was covered "inside and out with pitch." That was not only to make it watertight. It would do that, of course. But it was also to teach us a great truth, even if Noah did not understand. The word "pitch" in our translation is the same word translated "atonement" seventy times in the Old Testament. Only in this one place is it translated "pitch." It means a covering — a covering God ordained and provided for the man who had found grace in His eyes. Wherever Noah looked inside the ark, he saw this covering. Wherever God looked outside the ark, He saw the covering. Atonement within, atonement without.

The waters of judgment fell upon the ark, but because it was covered, not one drop touched those inside... It is significant that the waters of judgment also covered the unbelievers, but there was no atonement in that covering.

Remember, the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark (Gen. 7:16), which was made judgment-proof outside and inside (Gen. 6:14). God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The Lord shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.

As a sinner there is nothing before you but judgment... But you may find a place of safety. You say, Where is it? You do not have to prepare an ark, because God has prepared one. Christ is the place of safety now. He bore all the judgment and the wrath, rose from the dead, and is now at God's right hand.

So Noah started his great work of preparing an ark to save his household. God was the Architect, so he had no need to worry about its design. His only concern must have been to carry out properly what God had designed. A single man receives a commission to build a gigantic ship, and apparently in the middle of dry land! It was an extraordinary command, and it must have called out faith of no ordinary kind in Noah.

Its proportions were to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. If the cubit is taken at 18 inches, its length would have been 450 feet, its breadth 75 feet and its height 45 feet. If the cubit used was 21 inches, the dimensions would be one-sixth larger.

In the whole history of the world up to about a century ago, every other ship ever constructed was a mere shell compared with this. Only in quite recent years have these dimensions been surpassed. But what God said, Noah did, and he proved that God's command was his enabling.

The objection is that the ark was not big enough to "take in all the creatures" — more exactly, the animal races belonging to the dry land. It has been proved, over and over again, that it was. It has been calculated that it was a vessel of more than forty-two thousand tons. That is eighteen times as much as the largest warship. One warship can stow, say, a thousand men, with provisions, for a much longer time than the flood lasted, besides an immense weight of guns, shot and so on. So it is clear the ark could easily have received the animals that could not live in the water.

The shape of the ark was not meant for sailing through storms and waves. But it suited exactly the purpose it was made for. Someone once built a freight ship in the same proportions, for use in quiet waters, and people declared it a great success.

Now it is of the greatest importance to stand firm and unbending in the faith. We are not dealing with poetry and its figures of speech. This is the language of sober history. It deals with facts, and with God's declaration about them… It is the plain and unvarnished statement of fact. The question is: are believers to accept the word of God without hesitation?

I do not suppose the men of the world thought it was built on the right lines. But he did not care one bit about that. God had given him the lines to build on (verses 14-16), so he did not care how they criticised his ark.

Noah's ship had no pump in it. Indeed it could not. Such a thing would have been a witness against it. It would mean that God's provision was not enough by itself. That could never be. He rested in the seaworthiness of his vessel because of God's appointment and approval of it — indeed, I may say, because of God's building of it. Faith kept his heart quiet about the judgment; hope filled it about the coming glory.

It was entirely of God. He devised the ark, and gave Noah its specifications. The storm might rage, both above it and around it, but the ark was never submerged. "The ark floated on the face of the waters." A type of Him who bore the storm of divine wrath on behalf of all His people. The greatness of His person made Him equal to so mighty a work.

Noah was the builder but God was the Designer of the ark. The door was in the side, so people could get in easily. The window was above, to let in light from heaven and to shut out any view of the flood waters soon to come. Its dimensions were large. The cubit is reckoned to have been 18 to 22 inches long. The ark was made only to float, not shaped like a ship for travel, so its capacity must have been very great.

This is not poetry with its figures of speech. It is the language of sober history, dealing with facts and with God's declaration about them. It is the plain, unvarnished statement of fact.

A window was to be made to the ark. Gen. 6:16. The word tsohar means "a place of light." It was probably set in the roof, and may have served for ventilation as well as for giving light. In Gen. 6:16, after speaking of the window, it says, "and finish it to a cubit above." Does this refer to the size of the window, or does the word "it" refer to the ark? It has been said that the word rendered "it" is feminine and cannot refer to "window," which is masculine. So the cubit may refer to the roof: the middle of the roof raised a cubit to give it a pitch.

It may be that the window "finished — to a cubit from the top" was an opening that encircled the whole ark, giving full ventilation, but able to be closed.

The Lord secured the door with His own all-powerful hand. He left Noah the window. From it Noah could look upward to the place from which all the judgement had come, and see that no judgement remained for him. The saved family could only look upward, because the window was "above." They could not see the waters of judgement, nor the death and desolation which those waters had caused.

The passengers in that wonderfully guided and protected vessel did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn scenes of the judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above its mountain-tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose. What a time for them — shut in by God, with God! And what a preparation for the new life they were to begin in the world beyond the flood!

One door is mentioned, which may seem too little for so large a ship, but it pictures the fact that Christ alone is the door of salvation for mankind.

Remember the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark, which was made judgment-proof outside and inside. God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The Lord shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.

It had rooms — varied ages, orders and families of salvation, but one Christ. It had three floors: that is, there is development in Christ — progress to higher and still higher levels. But clearly all who are "in Christ" have perfect salvation. That is no matter of degree or attainment. Salvation is as complete for the small timid animal creeping for refuge onto its lowest deck as for Noah on its topmost floor — no more and no less.

God gave warning of the flood well in advance, and there was no doubt of its coming. It would destroy every living thing on earth (v. 17). In the same way, God has given advance warning of another judgment. He has appointed a day when He will judge the world by the Man He has ordained, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31). Men may mock at this, but it will come just as surely as the flood came. It is not simply that God allowed it to come, but He insists, "I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth."

The flood was not one of God's hidden works of providence, like the kind we see in the story of Esther. That story is important in itself, and we learn much from it. But the flood was a judgment God inflicted, and prophecy made it known beforehand. It was also worldwide. That set it apart from other times God stepped in, however real and instructive those were, and made it fit to compare with the days of the Son of man.

Here we see the patience of God. He bore long with the sinners before the flood and gave them space to repent. Every day that Noah worked at the ark, every plank, every nail, every stroke of his hammer was a warning and a threat of the coming judgment. And more than that: God could do nothing until Noah was safe in the ark, after He Himself had shut him in.

"The Lord said, I will destroy man." Nothing less would do. What had corrupted God's way on the earth had to be destroyed completely. "The mighty men, and men of renown" had to be swept away too, with no exceptions. "All flesh" had to be set aside as wholly unfit for God. "The end of all flesh is come before me." This was not the end of some flesh only. No — all of it was corrupt in the sight of the Lord, all of it past saving.

I believe the flood covered the whole earth, wherever man was. There is no mistake about it. Some have questioned that, speaking in general terms, as if it only covered the inhabited earth. But Scripture says, "the mountains were covered," and "the tops of the mountains were seen," and so on. That sounds like the whole earth. Either way, you have to allow for a miracle... The flood's universality, complete universality, seems to me to be plainly meant, because it destroyed the world that existed then. God puts an end to the whole system of the world.

The flood that came, waters covering everything so that the end of all flesh arrived, is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death God passed judgment on all flesh and carried it out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

"I will establish my covenant with you" had been God's word to Noah, before the ark was made, or the waters had come (Gen. 6:18). Now the judgment is past, and the new earth is inherited. So God sets that covenant out in full, and pledges it again, to His elect (Gen. 9:8-17). And it is here that the word "covenant" is first used.

"Everything that is on the earth shall die," says the Lord to him, "but I will establish my covenant with you." So He discloses the secret: God would establish the earth according to His own purpose, in resurrection, stability, and beauty.

However, if God ordained judgment, He ordained salvation just as surely. God established a covenant with Noah to this effect: He would preserve Noah and his family by means of the ark. They were the only exception to the awesome destruction of man's civilization.

So God made His intention known to the man who believed Him. He would deliver Noah, his wife and his family in the way appointed. Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long time of waiting, continuous labour, and entire but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit. First, the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it at God's hand because of its wrongdoing. Second, he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world after the flood.

The same ark that lay open to him lay open to them also. Why? Was it because they had faith? No; but because he had, and they were connected with him. God gave him a blank cheque for himself and his family, and it fell to him to fill it up by bringing them in along with him.

God does not say, Go into the ark, but Come into the ark. He was "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:19), and when He invites them to Christ, He invites them to Himself. When the storm-threatened traveller comes to make the divine Ark his refuge and home, he finds that Another is there to welcome him. God has made it His own retreat and tent… The word is altered to 'go' in a current translation of Genesis. I cannot see any ground for this needless change. It is true that boh is sometimes rendered 'go', when the context seems to require it. But in the vast majority of cases where it is used, it means 'come'.

The ark had a window above — looking towards Heaven and not upon the earth and its judgment beneath. It had one door and only one, in the side. All of it applies wonderfully to Christ and salvation. The flood of waters came and covered everything, so that the end of all flesh came. That flood is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death, sentence was passed on all flesh and carried out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us. He has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

So in Genesis 6 it says that "the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence." It is not "Jehovah" now but "God." … What does He do then? He directs the ark to be made. For what end? The preservation of the creatures that needed the ark. So He orders that two of every kind should be taken into the ark. We can easily see how fitting this is. It is simply a measure for keeping the creature in being by God the Creator, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships. … Here, then, we only hear of pairs entering.

When Jehovah is stating His thoughts about Noah, and giving His directions about His relationship with man and the earth, He tells Noah to take clean animals by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as God had commanded. This ties the two names together in the text itself in a way that would make separating them difficult. The reason for distinguishing the clean animals (still two and two, male and female) is too obvious to cause the smallest difficulty. The twos refer, moreover, to male and female on a general principle. A person must be very hard pressed for a difficulty, or for a discovery, to find a contradiction here.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It involved a long wait, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit all the time. On the one hand, the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it from God's hand because of its sins. On the other, he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world that would come after the flood.

The animals, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, along with the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

Some of every sort are carried with Noah from the place of death into the ark of salvation. The "eight souls," as Peter calls them, but with them remnants of the animals of the earth, small and great, winged birds and creeping things — all are housed and redeemed together with Noah.

It has been proved, over and over again, that the ark was big enough. People have calculated that it was a vessel of more than forty-two thousand tons: four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five broad, and forty-five high. That is eighteen times as much as the largest warship. One warship can stow, say, a thousand men, with provisions, for a far longer time than the flood lasted, besides an immense weight of guns and shot. So it is clear that the ark could easily have received the animals that could not live in the water.

The ark is Christ, and the flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those preserved come through to a new world that emerges from the waters. There the sweet savour of accepted sacrifice secures lasting blessing.

Then what does He do? He directs the ark to be made. For what purpose? The preservation of the creatures that needed the ark. So He orders that two of every kind should be taken into the ark. We can easily see why this is fitting. It is simply a measure by God the Creator to keep the creature going, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships.

In the accounts where Elohim gives directions for saving the different kinds of creatures, He directs that two of every sort be taken, male and female, to keep them alive. Nothing could be simpler than the meaning of this. Jehovah then states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. He tells Noah to take clean animals by sevens, still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as Elohim had commanded.

From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the dumb creatures. The people must have thought it strange when those animals went in. They were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not then, and many will not now, so God says, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). These animals knew the call of their Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long wait, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things constantly before his spirit. One: the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it from God's hand because of its sins. The other: he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world that would come after the flood.

The animals, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, along with the birds of the air, hint that creation will share in the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance for groaning creation.

For plainly, the ark is Christ, and the flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those preserved come through to a new world which rises out of the waters. There the sweet aroma of accepted sacrifice secures lasting blessing.

All that the man of faith needs is to know that God has spoken; this imparts perfect certainty to his soul. "Thus says the Lord" settles everything. A single line of Sacred Scripture is a full answer to all the reasonings and all the imaginations of the human mind. When someone has the word of God as the basis of his convictions, he can stand calmly against the full tide of human opinion and prejudice. It was the word of God which sustained the heart of Noah during his long course of service. How could Noah have preached righteousness for 120 years if he had not had the word of God as the ground of his preaching? How could he have withstood the scoffs and sneers of an unbelieving world? How could he have kept on testifying of a judgment to come, when not a cloud appeared on the world's horizon? Impossible.

So Noah started on his great work of preparing an ark to save his household. God was the Architect, so Noah did not need to worry about its design. His only concern must have been to carry out rightly what God had designed. A single man receives a commission to build a gigantic ship, and that, it seems, in the middle of dry land! … But what God said, Noah did, and he proved that God's command was his enabling.

The great thing to notice in Noah, warned of the coming catastrophe, is his simple obedience to the voice of God. God gave the dimensions of the ark — the window, the door, and the different decks. Noah made every part of it exactly as God commanded.

In Hebrews 11 we find the principle of his walk. It was faith, not sight… It was faith working holy obedience — "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him." How simple, how blessed, and how opposite to the walk by sense and sight! That walk leads us in self-will to do the very thing God commanded not to be done.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long time of waiting, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit at all times. One was that the world was doomed, and that judgment would fall on it at God's hand because of its sins. The other was that he and his family would beyond doubt find shelter from it in the ark.

Faith here for a hundred and twenty years seemed to be a fool. Noah was building a ship for dry ground. His neighbours may well have mocked him. But he saw the thing that was invisible.

He had only to build an ark according to God's command. He would soon find he was building something for his own safety. Obedience was his blessing.

Noah's faith recognised that the world was a judged scene… Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. We do not have to prepare an ark. But we have to accept the shelter of the death of Christ, and the end of all flesh before God. Then we find how the power of God's salvation carries us through a judged scene.

It is no longer the faithful Creator merely, but special relationship, and ends of a higher and more intimate nature. So we have a quite new call to the patriarch as one who had found grace in the eyes of Jehovah and was righteous before Him.

"Come into the ark," He says, "for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." "Righteous" — is this about creation as such? It is not; it is about moral relationship... God is not just providing for the survival of the creature. He is providing, with marked completeness, for sacrifice.

But "Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah," that is, divine favour rested on him; righteous in himself, no doubt, but all through grace of course... In the next chapter God says of Noah, "You I have seen righteous before me in this generation." But the earth was completely filled with violence.

Only of Noah could God say, "You I have seen righteous before Me in this generation" (Gen. 7:1). Righteousness for men was not fully accomplished until the death and resurrection of Christ. Noah became an heir of that righteousness. The believer of today is not an heir of righteousness, for he has it.

God does not say, Go into the ark, but Come into the ark: He was "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:19), and when He invites them to Christ, He invites them to Himself. The traveller under threat of the storm comes to make the divine Ark his refuge and home. He discovers that Another is there to welcome him.

A good deal is sometimes made of the word "Come"... The verb may be either, as best suits the context. Where no emphasis of this kind is called for, either word may be used correctly, as here.

The first verse of Genesis 7 gives us the first instance of how God links a man's house with himself in His dealings with men on earth. Here "you and all your household" occurs for the first time. Salvation from judgment poured out on earth is before us here, but in Acts 16:31 the same principle holds good in regard to eternal salvation.

Someone may object that all the members of the household were probably "righteous" before God too. But the later history of one of them — Ham (Gen. 9:22-25) — forbids the thought. So the statement loses none of its force: God delivered Noah's family from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head. True, it was not salvation itself; but it was a picture of it (1 Peter 3:20-21).

Jehovah Himself had invited him in. We read in Genesis 7:1, "Come, you and all your household, into the ark." And when he had taken his place there, we read, "the LORD shut him in." Here was full and perfect security for all within. Jehovah kept the door... The Lord secured the door with His own almighty hand. He left Noah the window. From it Noah could look upward to the place where all the judgment had come from, and see that no judgment remained for him.

As to the "two of every sort" in chapter 7, and the "seven clean" in verses 2 and 3: the first were male and female, to keep them alive. When they were clean beasts, he took fourteen. I have no doubt the "clean" animals were the ones people usually offered in sacrifice. Who would offer a ravenous wild beast in sacrifice to God, but sheep or oxen? This difference between provision for the race and provision for sacrifice is tied to the different use of the two names: God (Elohim) and the LORD (Jehovah).

Is this only about keeping the creatures alive? No. It is the language of One who has special relationships with Noah and with his family… God is providing not merely for the creature to continue, but with marked completeness for sacrifice. So we see His perfect care to maintain His rights and His place as the One who governed morally.

And now we discover why the clean animals were taken into the ark in sevens and the unclean only in twos… But why the odd one in the seven? Because they were to be offered as a burnt offering at the very start of the renewed earth. The Lord knew the flood had made no change in human nature. Even in Noah and his family it was the same after the flood as before… so from the very start the new world could only continue on the basis of sacrifice.

So we find Jehovah directing Noah to take to him of all clean animals by sevens, but of those not clean two, a male and its female, to enter the ark. And on this Noah acted when after the deluge he built an altar as his first recorded act, and offered up burnt offerings of every clean beast and of all clean birds. For the tenure of the post-flood earth hung on sacrifice.

The first time we read of clean and unclean animals is when Noah went into the ark… We are not told how Noah told them apart. But it shows that in early days there was a distinction between clean and unclean. Those called 'clean' were doubtless clean for sacrifice, and not for food. Nothing is said of man eating animal food till after the flood, and then God gave "every moving thing" for food.

Noah knew well before the flood which creatures made an acceptable sacrifice (Gen. 7:2), though how he learned it was never recorded. But in the law we read God's own definition of clean beasts and clean birds, and we find moral teaching tied to the subject (Lev. 11). We must conclude that no man could have discovered by natural intuition which creatures God would count clean and which He would not.

It may have been instinct in man in a way at first, and that God put His positive sanction on it when He gave the law.

The LORD (Jehovah) is stating His thoughts about Noah and giving His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. So He tells Noah to take clean beasts by sevens, still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as God (Elohim) had commanded. The text itself ties the two names together in a way that would make separating them difficult… You would have to be very hard pressed for a difficulty, or for a discovery, to find a contradiction here.

As to the "two of every sort" in chapter 7, and "seven clean" in verses 2, 3, the first were male and female, to keep them alive; when they were clean beasts, he took fourteen. I have no doubt the "clean" were the ones people usually gave for sacrifices. Who would offer a ravenous wild beast in sacrifice to God, but sheep or oxen?

And now we discover why Noah took the clean animals into the ark in sevens and the unclean only in twos… But why the odd one in the seven? Because Noah was to offer them up as a burnt offering at the very start of the renewed earth. The Lord knew that the flood had made no change in human nature… and so from the very start the new world could only continue on the basis of sacrifice.

The first mention is this: "Two of every sort shall come to you, Noah, to keep them alive." That is God's (Elohim's) care of His creatures, to preserve every kind alive on the earth. But when we read of His taking "of every clean beast by sevens, his male and his female," it is God as Jehovah who speaks. And why? Because He is now arranging, as in relationship with man, for sacrifices — types of Christ.

It is God providing not for the perpetuation of the creature merely, but with marked completeness for sacrifice. As a result we have this perfect care over the maintenance of His rights and place as One who governed morally. "And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded."

Jehovah states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. So He tells Noah to take clean beasts by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as Elohim had commanded. That ties the two names together in the text itself, in a way that would make separating them difficult… The birds of the air, which went in by sevens, plainly mean clean ones too, as Genesis 8:20 shows.

As a general principle, the difference between clean and unclean was known in early days. So we find Jehovah directing Noah to take all clean animals by sevens. But of those not clean he was to take two, a male and its female, into the ark. Noah acted on this. After the flood, his first recorded act was to build an altar and offer up burnt offerings of every clean beast and of all clean birds. For the tenure of the post-flood earth hung on sacrifice.

Had there been only "two of every sort," offering some in sacrifice would have put an end to those particular kinds of creatures. So the "sevens" left plenty of room both for sacrifices and "to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth."

The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

God warned Noah about things not yet seen, both on the ground of a special relationship and on the ground of His nature. Genesis 7:4 then follows that general warning with precise details. Just as it was predicted, so it happened, right on time, as Scripture plainly states. No history could be more exact, or more full of detail in so few words.

At last the one hundred and twenty promised years ran out, and then God gave a guilty world seven extra days of grace... He did not promise these seven days, but He gave them. How like God. There is no promise of seven days of grace to you. Come to Jesus today.

Men saw the huge number of animals coming to the ark. Then they saw Noah's whole family go into this finished, giant vessel. By then, at least, they ought to have realized that this project did not come out of Noah's imagination... But God gave men another week to change their minds. Perhaps, as those few days passed, people grew more confident each day that nothing was going to happen, instead of getting seriously worried.

Genesis 2:6 shows that a mist rose from the earth itself and kept the plant life alive, with no water coming down from above. There were waters "above the firmament" (Genesis 1:7), but they had not yet come down as showers on the earth. Not until Genesis 7:4 do we read of rain. Some think that the watering of the earth by mist and not rain persisted until the time of the flood. It may have been so.

The flood came down for forty days, and that number shows a period of testing. God tested Israel forty days while He gave the law, and forty years in all in the wilderness. The Lord was tempted forty days. Spies searched Canaan for forty days. Jonah's warning call to Nineveh was forty days... But God's patience sometimes lengthens the time of testing. In that case forty is multiplied again by three, the divine number, bringing us to 120. That is the time through which the long-suffering of God waited while Noah preached. Notice that this testing, while it destroys all else, lifts the ark up on its surface (Gen. 7:18).

God never destroys without warning. So He gave a hundred and twenty years' notice of the coming ruin. Through those years men had the ministry of "Noah, a preacher of righteousness." In that scornful age the result was nothing: no one was saved but Noah and his household... Seven days after the hand of God shut the door of the ark, the blow fell, and the rain kept falling for forty days and forty nights without a break.

"They did not know." Had they not had plenty of testimony? Plenty. For a hundred and twenty years Noah, the "preacher of righteousness," pointed to the coming storm, which Enoch had predicted too. They had plenty of testimony, but they paid no attention to it. How dull their ears were! People were taken by surprise in Noah's day, and so will they be when He Himself returns to judge the earth as Son of Man.

Next, we see the LORD's thoughtful care. He gave notice of only seven days before the flood, so that Noah and his family could enjoy their deliverance, and the goodness of their Deliverer, with calmer hearts. The world of unbelievers had refused the warning that sounded through one hundred and twenty years. The seven days' notice was a fresh proof of gracious concern for those who believed.

God warned Noah of the coming catastrophe. The great thing to notice in him is his simple obedience to the voice of God. God gave the dimensions of the ark — the window, the door, and the different decks. Noah made everything according to what was commanded.

"Jehovah" is a relationship name, one specially revealed; it is not the Creator's name, the name of the divine Being... The earth (Genesis 6) was corrupt before God as such. Yet the writer always speaks of Jehovah and His dealings. And "God" deals with the earth as so corrupted; again, verse 22, as "God" commanded him, not Jehovah. Then in Genesis 7 Jehovah said to Noah, and as Jehovah (v. 5) commanded him; then as God commanded him (v. 9), and again as God commanded him, and Jehovah shut him in (v. 16).

When God spoke to Noah of judgment impending, there was no sign of it. It was "not seen as yet"; but the word of God made it a present reality to the heart that was enabled to mix that word with faith. Faith does not wait to see a thing before it believes.

Noah believed what he did not understand at first, and acted on his faith. Soon he got understanding. Faith understands because faith believes God. Where unbelief sees a difficulty, faith does not. Noah believed, acted, and then understood.

Noah's personal character was no exemption from the threatened flood. His life and safety depended solely on his obedience to the warning voice of God. Because he believed in God he listened to this special revelation... Noah was shut into the ark before God brought His word to pass. God shut him in. He made secure His own work of salvation before He laid His judgment on the works of men... He condemned the world by his obedience to the word of God. His testimony was a witness of their madness as they carried on in their old way, paying no attention.

He was an obedient servant; he did according to all that the LORD commanded him (Genesis 7:5)... Despite all this high favour and special experience, as soon as Noah was left to his own will, under Satan's influence he became a slave to lust... We do well to be watchful: "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." ... A Christian may have spent forty years with the highest privileges, in the best conditions for growth toward God. He is still not immune from failure.

When Noah was born, over a thousand years had passed since sin entered the world, at the lowest estimate. Six hundred years later the flood would sweep away the world of the ungodly. Divide those six hundred years into five equal parts. Four of the five passed with nothing put on record except the all-important fact that he was "a righteous man, blameless in his generation," and that he "walked with God."

Four-fifths of the period passed with little happening. Yet during those years this steady walk with God laid the foundation for the activity and the witness of the final fifth — the one hundred and twenty years just before the flood. That was the period when "God's patience waited … while the ark was being prepared" (1 Peter 3:20), and also of the witness Noah gave as "a herald of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5).

Is not this same care for His people seen in the long respite granted to the people before the flood? Here we see the longsuffering of God, who bore long with the sinners before the flood and gave them room for repentance. Every day that Noah worked at the ark, every plank, every nail, every stroke of his hammer, was a warning and a threat of the coming judgment. More than that, God could do nothing until Noah was safe in the ark, after He Himself had shut him in. Even then there was a respite of seven days (perfect forbearance).

The Lord God had fixed 120 years as the term of His longsuffering. Noah's preaching, as well as ark-building, was to be for that period. Such was the purpose of God. But Noah was told nothing of this appointed interval. The Lord kept back all mention of the 120 years.

The general statement that follows in verses 6-10 confirms the special force of these five verses all the more. There "God" appears rather than Jehovah, and so nothing of moral relationship in particular. Here we have Noah's age when the flood came — six hundred years — and the entrance of himself and all his house into the ark… He who enjoyed the favour of Jehovah had the earlier communication in grace. Nobody could fail to be aware of God's judgment when it came.

The theory of Elohistic and Jehovistic documents so fails to account for the use of the divine names, as well as the other features of the text… From verse 6 we have Noah's action in view of Elohim's word as such, where accordingly the entrance of the creatures, clean or unclean, two and two, is named as in Genesis 6; and all the more strikingly here, because in the earlier verses the clean by sevens had been commanded by Jehovah, as suited His dealings with His own.

In verse 11 God gives the date of the beginning of the flood in relation to the age of Noah. He gives not only the general time, but the exact day: the 17th day of the second month, in Noah's 600th year. The many dates, names and places recorded in Scripture are an invitation to anyone to check the accuracy of the word of God as he pleases.

Noah pictures the believer in general, as one who flees to Christ for refuge from the wrath to come… There is a sense in which the whole time of gospel witness matches Noah's days… It was the long stretch of undisturbed prosperity that made the builder of the ark look like a fool to those whose day was nearly over. In the same way we are warned that the Destroyer will appear when men begin to think that peace and safety are about to crown a world whose earlier generations have seen such strange changes.

When God spoke to Noah of judgment coming, there was no sign of it. It was "not seen as yet"; but the word of God made it a present reality to the heart that was able to mix that word with faith. Faith does not wait to see a thing before it believes, for "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

The last day came, however. Each of the four men and four women took the last decisive step that secured their preservation from destruction. That step came when each of them planted one foot on the ark and lifted the other off the earth under judgment. It was impossible to have one foot in and one foot out. It was either both feet in, or both feet out. This is a useful parable for gospel preachers today. Their action agreed with God's judgment against the world. It also expressed their faith in the way of salvation God had appointed.

The Lord commands Noah to enter the ark with his house on this ground: "for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Someone might object that all the members of the household were probably "righteous" before God too. The later history of one of them — Ham — forbids that thought. So nothing weakens the statement: God delivered the family of Noah from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head.

The three sons of Noah, all married men, did not carry one infant into the ark. Eight adult persons passed through the flood. What a touch this is, showing God's thoughtful planning, His arranging and tender care! It turns up in such an unexpected place, and it may well comfort many who face trials in their circumstances.

Noah's story was now nothing less than safety and deliverance. He held it with the fullest security and the clearest right, in an hour of most solemn judgment. And this is the salvation of the gospel… The One who decided within Himself to judge the world had also told His chosen ones the way of escape. It was the hand which was about to let the waters out that was now shutting Noah in. Could they then prevail against him? Just as impossible!

"They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26-27). There was nothing wrong in any of these things, looked at in themselves. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers of them. They could do every one of these things in the fear of the Lord, and to the glory of His holy name, if only they did them in faith.

He entered the ark before the flood, and God shut him in. He was as safe as God could make him. Even so, no one could yet call him saved: he was still to be brought safely through the water. The water was God's judgment, and it overwhelmed the world. Noah goes through it. He enters the ark in the old world, goes through the water, the judgment, and comes out in the new world. He could not be saved except by going through.

The first time we read of clean and unclean animals is when Noah went into the ark. God told him to take seven pairs of each of the clean beasts and clean birds, and only two of the unclean. We are told nothing about how Noah told them apart, but it shows that in early days there was a distinction between the clean and the unclean. Those called "clean" were surely clean for sacrifice, and not for food, since Scripture says nothing of man eating animal food until after the flood... When Noah came out of the ark, he offered some of every clean beast and every clean bird as burnt offerings.

In the accounts of Elohim's directions for saving the different kinds of creatures, the order is to take two of every sort, the male and the female, to keep them alive. Nothing could be simpler than the meaning of this. When Jehovah states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth, He tells Noah to take the clean beasts by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, just as Elohim had commanded.

In relation to His place as Creator, God preserved two of every sort. In relation to His own moral government, He would have seven taken into the ark — seven animals of each clean sort. Of the unclean, just enough would be there to preserve what He had made. So in the one case we have what was generally necessary. In the other we have what was special, and due to the relationship in which man stood with Jehovah.

Clean beasts are named as well as unclean, and birds, and reptiles, as all going in. Yet only two and two, male and female, are spoken of, "as God commanded Noah," because the point here is simply to keep each race alive, high or low.

Why the odd one in the seven? Because they were to be offered in sacrifice as a burnt offering at the very start of the renewed earth. The Lord knew that the flood had made no change in human nature. Even in Noah and his family it was the same after the flood as before it... and so from the outset the new world could only continue on the basis of sacrifice.

From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the animals that cannot speak. The people must have thought it strange when those beasts went in. They were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God... These animals knew the call of their Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention. Oh, sinner, what a state you are in! Just think — the very creatures stand as a testimony against you. They all came to a place of safety. Have you?

The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, along with the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. Later prophetic words, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance for groaning creation.

The general statement that follows in verses 6-10 confirms the special force of these five verses. There "God" appears rather than Jehovah, and so nothing about moral relationship in particular. And this is so true that the account names clean beasts as well as unclean, and birds, and reptiles, as going in too. Yet it speaks of only two and two, male and female, "as God commanded Noah," because the point is simply to keep each kind alive, high or low.

When Jehovah states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth, He tells Noah to take clean beasts by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as Elohim had commanded. So the text itself ties the two names together. The reason for treating the clean beasts differently — still two and two, male and female — is too obvious to raise the smallest difficulty.

Here God provides not merely for keeping the creature alive, but with marked completeness for sacrifice. So we see His perfect care to keep His own rights and place as the One who governed morally.

From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the animals. It must have looked strange to the people when those animals went in. They were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not obey then, and many still do not. These animals knew the call of the Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention. Oh, sinner, what a case yours is. Imagine — the very creatures being a testimony against you.

God also gave instructions about all that the ark was to hold: seven of the clean creatures and two of the rest, male and female, with enough food for all. Nothing was left to arrangement or imagination; God ordered it all from first to last. This is worth noting, for here we have the first illustration of salvation that the Bible gives us.

The ark had a window above — looking towards Heaven and not on the earth and its judgment beneath. It had one door and only one, in the side. All of this applies to Christ and salvation... He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

Noah preached all these years, and never got a convert, that I know of. Remember, a moment is coming when you will have heard the last word. So it was in Noah's day. In the end the one hundred and twenty promised years ran out. Then God gave a guilty world seven extra days of grace. He did not promise these seven days, but He gave them. How like God. If you want to be saved, you come to Jesus today. There is no promise of seven days of grace to you.

Then a respite of seven days is given before the flood would come. This shows again the longsuffering of God. Men saw the large number of animals coming to the ark. They saw Noah's whole family go into this finished, gigantic vessel. At least by then they should have realized that the project was not just something Noah had dreamed up, even though rain had never fallen before. But God gave men another week to change their minds. Perhaps, as those few days passed, people grew more confident each day that nothing would happen, instead of growing worried as they should have.

We see God's longsuffering here. He bore long with the sinners before the flood and gave them space for repentance. Every day that Noah worked at the ark, every plank, every nail, every stroke of his hammer, was a warning and a threat of the coming judgment. More than that, God could do nothing until Noah was safe in the ark, after He Himself had shut him in. Even then He waited seven more days. And if Noah had taken twice as long to be shut up safe in the ark, judgment would have waited just as long.

Once God had shut the door, no one could open it again. When the rain began to fall, others might be terrified enough to rush for shelter, but they could not get in. Once the door closed, it was too late. How solemn a lesson for those who neglect the salvation of their souls until too late!

So we have clear examples of God's ways in prophecy. There is the short, clearly marked interval of "seven days" in Genesis 7:10, when the blow was to fall. It came after a long and generous warning of "a hundred and twenty years" in Genesis 6:3. Both stand plainly in the record. Each is worthy of Him who alone could announce both with authority and fulfil both on time. If He executes judgment on a world that hardens itself in wickedness and refuses to believe His word, He also makes room to show His mercy. He shows it to those who keep His word in faith and obey Him, as Noah did, and so saved his household.

The man who enjoyed Jehovah's favour received the earlier word in grace. When the judgment came, no one could miss it.

The Lord next refers to the days of Noah. It will be the same in His own days, when He comes as the Son of Man… "They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them." Men forget too easily that a far more sweeping judgment awaits the world, on the pattern of these two acts of God — the flood in Noah's day, and the fire that fell on Sodom in Lot's day. The Lord waits, to save souls. Such is His longsuffering and grace, but He "is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness."

In verse 11 God gives the date when the flood began, in relation to Noah's age. He gives not only the general time, but the exact day: the 17th day of the second month, in Noah's 600th year. The many dates, names and places recorded in scripture invite anyone to check for himself how accurate the word of God is.

The term, "windows of heaven," is very expressive. It denotes an outpouring from God above; it may be in blessing, as Malachi 3:10 shows, but here it was in judgment... But also there was from beneath a breaking up of the established order. What exactly is signified, when we read of all the fountains of the great deep being broken up, it is impossible to say. The tremendous event had never happened before, and it will never happen again. For we read, "never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth" (Genesis 9:11). So we must be content to know this much: there were immense convulsions inside the earth, which produced a mighty upsurge of earth's waters to meet the waters coming down from above.

At the flood the expression the "windows of heaven" is in the sense of the "floodgates," as the margin note says. Gen. 7:11.

In Genesis 7:11 we read, "the windows of heaven were opened," a scene in which the wrath of heaven was poured out upon a world of violence and corruption. In Malachi 3:10 we read of God's desire and promise: to "open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." A flood of judgment, required by the holy character of God; but a flood of blessing, expressing the love of God's heart.

Scripture uses language found nowhere else. It shows that this was an extraordinary outbreak of waters, unheard of except in this one case, and never known in any other way... Does not the narrative speak of some outburst of water known on no other occasion? But let us be more exact about the fact. The passage speaks neither of clouds nor sea... It never says the water drained back into the sea, but that "the waters receded from the earth continually." It also declares that the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was held back. That is, the narrator does present it as having its source and its arrest in the extraordinary intervention of God — call it "miracle" or what you please.

And now the last day came. It was on the seventh day that Noah went in, and then God shut the door. Then the world saw what it had never seen before... And then what panic! To me it is a very striking thing that God has drawn a veil over what happened then. All Christ says is this, "and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away" (Matt. 24:39). They paid no attention. They did not care about their souls. Then the moment came, and judgment overwhelmed them. It is a solemn picture of the terrible judgment coming on a world without Christ.

Here we have clear examples of God's ways in prophecy. First, a short, exactly marked gap of "seven days" in Genesis 7:10, when the blow was to fall. But that came after a long warning of "a hundred and twenty years" in Genesis 6:3, when God's judgment would end man's days for the world of that time. Both stand undeniable in the record. Each is worthy of Him who alone could speak with authority, and He fulfilled both exactly on time. If He carries out judgment on a world that hardens itself in evil and will not believe His word, He also provides mercy for those who keep His word in faith and obey Him, as Noah did, saving his household.

"Rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (verse 12). Here for the first time in the Word we find the number forty. It is not the last time. Forty means endurance and testing. Moses was forty days on the mountain; his life was divided into three forties. Forty years Israel was in the wilderness. Elijah knew the forty days, and Ezekiel lay forty days on his right side, a typical action (Ezekiel 4). Jonah preached, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown"; and Christ was forty days in the wilderness to be tested.

The term "windows of heaven" is very expressive. It means an outpouring from God above. It may be in blessing, as Malachi 3:10 shows, but here it was in judgment. The devastating waters came down for forty days and forty nights.

This was no mere matter of the clouds or of the sea, as it usually is. The inspired writer speaks of sources that were completely different and had never been seen before. All the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens, as the phrase goes, were opened. Neither the one nor the other was according to the course of nature that God established before or since. This is exactly what makes a miracle clear and impressive. Everyone admits the regular working of the physical laws by which God orders the universe.

It is claimed that the sky above us would be full to saturation point if it held enough water to cover the earth just thirty feet deep... But to add to the awesome flood, the rain fell for forty days and forty nights (v. 12).

Verse 6 shows that a mist rising from the earth kept the plants alive, without water coming down from above. There were waters "above the expanse" (Genesis 1:7), but as yet they had not fallen as showers on the earth. Not until Genesis 7:4 do we read of rain. Some think that the watering of the earth by mist and not rain continued until the time of the flood. It may have been so.

The ark was borne up. And that which was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark. A happy and blessed thing for those in the ark.

Plainly, the ark is Christ. The flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, and that world perished in it. Those kept safe come through to a new world that rises out of the waters.

So tremendous an event is recorded with the utmost precision and solemnity. We are told of it to the year, month, and day, when the judgment was executed.

Verse 13 makes it plain that Noah and his family entered the ark on the very day that the storm broke. Noah had been a preacher of righteousness... Still to the very last day the door of the ark stood open, and nothing would have stopped a repentant man from entering, if such a man had been found.

Luke 17:26-27 tells us that life in Noah's day went on in its usual routine — eating, drinking, and marrying — until the day Noah entered the ark. On the morning of that day the sun rose as it always did. No cloud, heavy with rain, cast its shadow upon the scene, and yet sudden destruction overtook the world of that day. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Noah's faith was warned about things not yet seen. He believed God, against all the evidence of his senses, and resisted the reasoning of the men around him.

The three sons of Noah, all married men, did not carry one infant into the ark. Eight adult persons passed through the flood. What a touch this is, showing God's thoughtful arranging and planning tenderness! And occurring as it does in such an unexpected place, it may well come as a comfort to many who are tried in circumstances.

The Lord commands Noah to enter the ark with his house on this ground: "for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Someone might object that all the members of the household were probably "righteous" before God too. The later history of one of them — Ham — forbids that thought. So the statement loses none of its force: God delivered the family of Noah from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head... God's grace reached wider still: the sons' wives were included in His merciful purposes too, making up the eight persons Peter speaks of, who "were brought safely through water."

Shem comes first in the usual formula of "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" not because he was born first, but because of the spiritual purpose that gave him that position... Japheth, as the eldest, had the honour of birth. Ham has his own recognition, for rising early to political place and natural power. But the honour Godward was reserved for Shem, though he is named last elsewhere.

That ark, floating peacefully over the dark depth of waters, was a type of Christ, and of the believer in Him. The waves of judgment buried the old world and man with it. Only one object remained — the ark, the vessel of mercy and salvation, riding in safety and triumph over the waves... It all hinges upon this one question: "Am I in or out of Christ?"

He directs the ark to be made. For what end? The preservation of the creatures which needed the ark. So He orders that two of every kind be taken into the ark. It is simply God the Creator's way of keeping the creature alive, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships. So here we only hear of pairs which enter.

In relation to His place as Creator, God preserved two of every sort. In relation to His own moral government, He would have seven taken into the ark — seven animals of each clean sort. Of the unclean, just enough would be there to preserve what He had made. So in the one case we have what was needed in general. In the other we have what was special, and it came from the relationship in which man stood with Jehovah. This shows at once that these wonderful communications are not merely earlier and later legends, put together by a much later editor who tried to make something complete by stringing together what did not really fit. On the contrary, it is the Spirit of God who gives us the various sides of the truth. Each one falls under the name and style of God that suits the matter in hand.

I think there was a seven days' sermon. From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the animals. The people must have thought it strange when those beasts went in. They were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not obey then, and many still will not. These creatures knew the call of the Creator, and they went in safely, but man paid no attention. Oh, sinner, what a state you are in! Think of it — the very creatures are a testimony against you. They all came to a place of safety. Have you?

Some of every sort are carried with Noah from the place of death into the ark of salvation. There are the "eight souls," as Peter calls them. But with them go what is left of the beasts of the earth, small and great, winged birds and creeping things. All are housed and redeemed together with Noah.

The beasts, clean and unclean, went into the ark, and so did the birds of the air. This gives us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

Clearly, the ark is Christ. The flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those who are preserved come through to a new world that rises out of the waters. There the sweet savour of accepted sacrifice secures a lasting blessing.

From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the animals. The people must have thought it strange when those beasts went in. The animals were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not obey then, and many still do not. So God says, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). These creatures knew the call of the Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention.

Some of every sort are carried with Noah from the place of death into the ark of salvation. Peter speaks of the "eight souls." But with them go remnants of the beasts of the earth, small and great, winged birds and creeping things. All are housed and redeemed together with Noah.

What does He do then? He directs the ark to be made. For what end? The preservation of the creatures which required the ark. So He orders that two of every kind go into the ark. It is easy to see why this fits. It is simply God the Creator's way of continuing each creature, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships.

The words "in whose nostrils was the breath of life" included man and beast. All go together in that way of speaking. Then at the right time God takes Noah with his family, and all enter the ark, "and the LORD shut him in."

The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word and Romans 8:19-23 tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

All perished outside the ark: all must perish outside Christ. It did not matter how close a person was to the ark, he was either shut in or shut out. He might have helped to fell the trees or even build the ark, but once the door was shut he was shut out.

If the ark had not risen and floated above the waters, it would have been no use at all — if it had stayed under the waters, it would have been a huge coffin. Our blessed Jesus did sink down to the lowest depths; He died, the Just for the unjust. But He rose again for our justification, and so the ark floating in safety to Ararat is a true picture of the risen Christ.

Nothing shows the believer's perfect security in Christ better than these words: "the LORD shut him in." Who could open what God had shut? None. The family of Noah were as safe as God could make them. No power — angelic, human, or demonic — could burst open the door of the ark and let the waters in. The very same hand that had opened the windows of heaven and broken up the fountains of the great deep shut that door.

He knew that God had poured out "all" the judgment, and that those very waves had lifted him into a region of cloudless peace. He floated in peace on the very water that judged "all flesh." He was put beyond the reach of judgment; and put there, too, by God Himself.

"Male and female of all flesh went in as God (Elohim) had commanded him. And the LORD (Jehovah) shut him in" (verse 16). In this verse we have Elohim and Jehovah used. God, as Creator, had commanded Noah. Jehovah had announced the judgment, and the ark being prepared represented the patient and merciful Jehovah. And now, as the hour of mercy was past, Jehovah shut the door. He who had given an open door shut it at last.

Elohim is "God" in His sovereign dealing, as in creation. Jehovah is "the LORD," in His unfolding of special relationship... Take one verse (Gen. 7:16) to burst the bubble: "as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in." Two writers! because the name "Elohim" expresses care for the male and female animals, while the special concern as "Jehovah" shows in shutting Noah in.

"The LORD shut him in." The hand of the Lord gave its own strength and security to Noah's condition. It is not too bold to say that all within the door of the ark were as safe as the Lord Himself. The Lord returned, we may say, to His own heavens, to His throne which stands for ever. Noah remained on the earth, in the place and day of judgment. But Noah was as safe as the Lord.

Remember, the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark (Gen. 7:16), which was made judgment-proof outside and inside (Gen. 6:14). God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The LORD shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.

The decisive step for each was when they planted one foot on the ark, and lifted the other off the earth that was under judgment. It was either both feet in, or both feet out... Once inside the ark, "the LORD shut him in." When the Lord shuts, no man can open — not even Noah himself, had he wished to do so. The shut door secured salvation for the eight souls, and ensured destruction for the world of the ungodly.

Those who refused to enter the ark through the preaching of Noah could not get in after the door was shut. They might seek, and seek with all their heart, begging and pleading, as they saw the waters rising on the earth, but it was too late.

"Forty" appears to be the number of trial, or of endurance put to the test. So it was with Moses, Israel, Elijah, Jonah, and Ezekiel (for Judah). So too with the beating the law allowed for a wrongdoer, which was not to go past a set limit. So here, and so in the Lord's temptation.

The ark was borne up. And that which was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark. A happy and blessed thing for those in the ark.

Notice that this testing of things, while it destroys everything else, lifts the ark up on the face of the waters. Judgment vindicates and exalts Christ and all who are connected with Him.

The flood waters brought destruction on the ungodly world. They also lifted the ark, so that "it rose high above the earth." This may remind us that the salvation of God has a lifting effect at all times. Today above all, we are called to set our mind "on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Colossians 3:2).

The passengers in that vessel, so wonderfully guided and protected, did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above the world's mountain tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose. What a season for them — shut in by God, with God!

The water was the instrument of God's judgment in destruction. Those in the ark were saved through it, but only because they submitted to God's word and were secured by the ark. But the ark was a picture of Christ, not of the church, as some wrongly imagine. No church existed then; and even if it had, it could not have saved.

Those very waters of death destroyed all beneath them. Yet they carried safely on their surface this representative man, and those saved with him. We must only keep in mind that this is a figure of death and resurrection... Noah was taken from among the dead and placed on Ararat: Christ was taken from among the dead and has gone into heaven. All perished outside the ark: all must perish outside Christ.

It was for God now to carry out His word of judgment: whether or not He caused His wind to blow, the waters flowed. It was no question of His ordinary regulation according to the laws He impressed on creation. His word is final. Man must learn that He is, and that He punishes, even in this world where He sees fit, the wickedness that goes too far.

For forty days the flood poured out from beneath and from above, and it bore up the huge structure of the ark on the face of the waters. The waters rose so high that "all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered."

Did Noah have any anxiety about the billows of divine judgement? None whatever. How could he? He knew that "all" had been poured out, while he himself was raised, by those very outpoured billows, into a region of cloudless peace. He floated in peace on that very water by which "all flesh" was judged. He was put beyond the reach of judgement; and put there, too, by God Himself. God Himself had invited him in: "Go into the ark, you and all your household." Once he had taken his place there, we read, "And the LORD shut him in." Here was full and perfect security for all inside.

The deluge which came, a flood of waters covering everything, so that the end of all flesh came, is a type of the death of Christ. In His death judgment was passed and carried out on all flesh. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

Notice that this testing of things, while it destroys everything else, bears up the ark (Gen. 7:18) on its face. Judgment vindicates and exalts Christ and all who are connected with Him.

The flood waters, which brought destruction on the world of the ungodly, had the effect of lifting the ark high above the earth. This may serve to remind us that the salvation of God has an elevating effect at all times. Today above all, we are called to "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col. 3:2).

The door of the ark was in the side, but the window was above. It is nothing new to say that this is faith's outlook. The passengers in that wonderfully guided and protected vessel did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn scenes of the judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above its mountain tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose. What a time for them — shut in by God, with God! And what a preparation for beginning that new life which they were to start in the world beyond the flood!

Noah did not suspect the ark. He did not busy himself feeling its timbers, to see whether they were keeping the water out. He had no doubt about that. He had no pump in his ship, if I may use the figure; and I may say it, since, plain as it is, it glorifies Jesus in the security He gives the sinner.

Noah, and those with him, escaped the judgment by passing through the waters of judgment. Christ has passed through death and is risen. The believer is clear of judgment, because he has passed through the judgment in the Person of his substitute. Noah came into a new world, free of judgment. In the same way, Christ is risen and beyond judgment. This frees the believer's conscience from all dread of the judgment he deserves. He sees that he is as clear of all his sins before God, and of their judgment, as Christ Himself.

Language could hardly be clearer than Scripture is on this point. Words cannot be plainer than these in pointing to a worldwide flood. Scripture separates the world that then was from the earth that now is, and faith can easily accept God's statement. It was a miracle. Covering all the high hills in one district only, without the water flowing to other parts, would need just as great a miracle as covering the whole earth. God, the Creator of all things, could easily form the water needed to cover the whole earth, and afterwards disperse it into its elements.

I believe the flood was all over the earth, wherever man was... Suppose Mount Ararat, fifteen or sixteen thousand feet high, in northern Armenia, was covered. If the waters were not all around it, and far beyond it too, they would have run off and covered somewhere else. There had to be a miracle either way. To me the flood was completely universal, and Scripture plainly means it so, because the aim was to destroy the world that then was. God puts an end to the whole system of the world. This judgment of the earth and all that was on it was as complete as the coming judgment by fire will be. God says He will never do it again; the next time it will be by fire.

Many have argued that man alone was the guilty creature, so destroying all mankind would have fully met the case. That might have been so if God had pleased. But He has taken pains to tell us that He destroyed all cattle, beasts, and creeping things too; and we must believe Him. Man was the head of creation, so everything was caught up in the consequences of his sin. There had to be a new start, pictured in the death and resurrection of Noah in the ark.

What was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark. A happy and blessed thing for those in the ark. And who is safe now? Those who have believed Christ; those who have trusted Him in the simplicity of faith. I see those eight go into the ark, and by and by I see them come out on resurrection ground.

The passengers in that wonderfully guided and protected vessel did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above its mountain-tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose. What a time for them — shut in by God, with God!

God never destroys without warning. So a hundred and twenty years' notice was given of the coming ruin... The flood reached everywhere: "all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered" (Gen. 7:19). The ancient book of Job refers to this worldwide ruin twice (Job 12:15; Job 22:16). The Son of God confirmed it during His ministry, and so did the Spirit of God in the letters of Peter and to the Hebrews. It is sheer folly to doubt the fact.

Next we have the prevalence of the flood described in language that is both simple and impressive, yet entirely free from the realistic details of horror that modern writers enjoy. The effect was complete over everything that breathed on the dry land and over bird life.

It is useless for the writer of "the Genesis of the Earth" to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would barely touch the earth as a whole, or the people living on it. This is to overlook or disbelieve "the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4), where the ark rested as the waters were going down. Its chief peak stands 17,000 feet above the sea, and that may give some idea of the appalling fact. The account reaches beyond Ararat: if even its highest peak lay far under the water, what about the rest of the earth?

Scripture could hardly be more explicit on this point... The words could not be plainer: they mean a flood over the whole world. Scripture marks off the world that then was from the earth that now is, and faith finds it easy to accept God's statement. It was a miracle. Covering all the high hills of one district only, with no water flowing to other parts, would take just as great a miracle as flooding the whole earth. And God, the Creator of all things, could easily make the water needed to cover the whole earth, and scatter it back into its elements afterwards.

The ark was borne up. And what was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark. A happy and blessed thing for those in the ark.

The flood waters brought destruction on the world of the ungodly. Those same waters lifted the ark up above the earth. This can remind us that God's salvation always has a lifting effect. When the waters rose higher and higher over the earth, no flesh was in sight, and nothing was left but death. God had said that the end of all flesh had come before Him, and now that word came true. Everyone was either under the waters of judgment or inside the ark. The ark rode between the waters surging up from beneath and pouring down from above.

Many have argued that man alone was the guilty creature, so destroying all mankind would have been enough. God could have done it that way, if He had pleased. But He has taken care to tell us that all cattle, beasts, and creeping things died. We must believe Him. Man was the head of creation, and everything shared the consequences of his sin. So there had to be a new start, pictured by the death and resurrection of Noah in the ark.

The flood swept away the ungodly and brought judgment and death on the world. The waters carried the ark up, and it rested at last on the cleansed earth. So it taught the lesson of life for God's people on the other side of judgment and death. The new earth came up out of the waters of death. Noah and his family had been saved through those waters. They set their feet on dry land as people risen from the dead.

So divine judgment cleared the world before the flood of its many and open evils. That judgment stands as a witness and a warning of another judgment hanging over the inhabited earth. There were two witnesses then, first Enoch, then Noah. Both announced the judgment about to fall on the ungodly while they were still living here. So it will be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:30).

Was the flood universal? Scripture could hardly be clearer on this point… The words of Genesis could not be plainer: they mean a flood over the whole world. Scripture sets the world that then was apart from the earth that now is, and faith finds it easy to accept God's statement. It was a miracle. And it would take as great a miracle to cover all the high hills of one district only, without the water flowing to other parts, as to cover the whole earth. God, the Creator of all things, could easily form the water needed to cover the whole earth, and then disperse it into its elements again.

It was for God now to carry out His word of judgment: whether or not He caused His wind to blow, the waters flowed. This was not His usual running of the world by the laws He set in creation. His word is paramount. Man must learn that He is, and that He punishes, even in this world where He sees fit, the wrongdoing that goes too far. He is patient, but He gave this early lesson to the ungodly, which they can only forget or deny at their peril.

Yet animals, creeping things and birds are included in this awesome destruction, for man's sin has involved the rest of the earthly creation. People may say that when they sin it is only themselves they have damaged, but man's sin always affects others too, even unreasoning creatures.

It is childish and sinful to complain about the destruction of the lower creation. The fall of its head, man, had already subjected it to futility. And now that man's wickedness called aloud for divine judgment, the birds and beasts share his ruin on earth. Yet even in this the goodness and the wisdom of God secure the victory in due time. The creation fell with the first man. What joy to know from God's word that all its groaning waits for the triumph of the Second man, when the sons of God are revealed!

The ark is Christ. The flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those it preserves come through to a new world that rises out of the waters. There the sweet savour of accepted sacrifice secures a lasting blessing.

The water lifted the ark. And what was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark. A happy and blessed thing for those in the ark.

Those who did not believe God's warning became the witnesses of its truth. The flood came and swept them all away. The waters of Noah did go over the earth, as surely as they shall go over it no more. A still more terrible destruction awaits it, however long it may seem to linger. By His word He keeps the present heavens and earth in store. He has reserved them for fire, for a day of judgment and destruction of wicked men. The one is as certain as the other. But we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Those who deny the soul's survival quote Gen. 7:22 (margin) as proof that "spirit" belongs to beasts. That is a mistake. The same phrase turns up in 2 Sam. 22:16, translated there as "the blast of the breath," and again it points to the nostrils: "the blast of the breath of his nostrils." The Genesis passage means the action of the breath on the nostrils, so clearly seen in states of excitement and fear: "All in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of life... died."

"All in whose nostrils is the breath of life" included man and beast; language like this puts them all together. Then at the right time God takes Noah with his family, and all enter the ark, "and the LORD shut him in."

"A living soul" means anything that lives by blood and breath. I say this because it says, "whereinsoever was the breath of life, died"; all animals were living souls. Man was one, and the animal was one. But there was an essential difference: God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living soul. That soul might be parted from his body, and the body return to the dust.

The flood lasted a long time and in the end covered even the high mountains, so all human and animal life would die. Of course this did not affect the life in the seas.

No words could be plainer than Scripture's here: this was a worldwide flood. Scripture marks off the world that then was from the earth that now is, and faith finds it easy to accept God's statement. It was a miracle. To cover all the high hills of one district only, without the water flowing to other parts, would need as great a miracle as to cover the whole earth.

It was for God now to carry out His word of judgment: whether or not He caused His wind to blow, the waters flowed. His word decides everything. Man must learn that He is, and that He punishes, even in this world where He sees fit, the wrongdoing that goes too far. He is patient, but He gave this early lesson to the ungodly, which they can only forget or deny at their peril.

The terrible waters of judgment roared over the earth. But those same waters of death destroyed all beneath them. On their surface they carried this representative man in safety, and those saved with him... All perished outside the ark: all must perish outside Christ. He might have helped to fell the trees or even build the ark, but once the door was shut he was shut out.

So God's judgment cleared the world before the flood of its widespread and open evils. That judgment stands as a witness and a warning of another judgment that hangs over the earth we live in. There were two witnesses then, first Enoch, then Noah. Each had his own marks, and both agreed in announcing judgment about to fall on the ungodly while they were still living here. So it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:30).

No words could be plainer. They mean a flood over the whole world. The world that then was stands apart from the earth that now is, and faith finds it easy to accept God's statement. It was a miracle. It would take just as great a miracle to cover all the high hills in one district only, without the water flowing to other parts, as to cover the whole earth.

It is childish and sinful to complain about the destruction of the lower creation. The fall of man, its head, had already put it under futility. And now that man's wickedness called aloud for divine judgment, the birds and beasts share his ruin on earth. Yet even in this the goodness and the wisdom of God secure the victory in due time. For if the creation fell with the first man, what joy to know from God's word that all its groaning waits for the triumph of the Second man, when the sons of God are revealed!

It is interesting to see that, before the governmental act of judgement began, the chosen family and all with them were safely shut in the ark, the vessel of grace... God in grace saved Noah before God in government swept the earth with the broom of judgement. It is grace and government over again. Grace acts in salvation; government acts in judgement. We see God in both. Every atom of the ark bore the sweet mark of grace; every wave of the flood reflected the solemn decree of government.

Who can measure the delight with which the blessed God viewed the contents of that ark? They held vast promise for His praise — the spiritual family of the Ethiopian official, of Cornelius and of Saul of Tarsus. They held the thousands of burnt offerings, valued as pointing on to the unswerving devotion of Christ to the will of His God. Blessed indeed is that which "remained" despite the breakdown.

So nothing can weaken the force of the statement: God delivered the family of Noah from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of their head. It was not salvation itself, but it was a picture of salvation... So the grace of God brought the whole household out from under the judgment and set them on the new earth, because of the faith of Noah.

All perished outside the ark: all must perish outside Christ. It did not matter how near a person was to the ark, he was either shut in or shut out. He might have helped to fell the trees or even build the ark, but once the door was shut he was shut out.

So divine judgment purged the world before the flood of its many open evils. That judgment stands as a witness and a warning of another judgment, which hangs over the habitable earth. There were two witnesses then, first Enoch, then Noah... and both announced the judgment about to fall on the ungodly while they lived here below.

As to the flood itself, the account given (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is quite explicit, both as to its duration and its dimensions. The tremendous rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month, when the ark grounded on the mountains of Ararat. … On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for the occupants of the ark to go out from it — one year and 10 days having passed from the start.

Clearly including the forty days of rain, the waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days (compare v. 11 and Genesis 8:4).

The writer of "Genesis of the Earth" tries in vain to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would hardly touch the earth in general or those living on it. This overlooks or disbelieves "the mountains of Ararat" (Genesis 8:4), where the ark rested when the waters were going down. Its chief peak, 17,000 feet above the sea, may give some idea of the appalling fact.

It was for God now to carry out His word of judgment: whether or not He caused His wind to blow, the waters flowed. It was not a question of His ordinary regulation according to the laws He stamped on creation. His word is paramount. Man must learn that He is, and that He punishes, even in this world where He sees fit, the wrongdoing that goes too far. He is long-suffering, but He gave this early lesson to the ungodly, which they can only forget or deny at their peril.

And we read, "The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth" (Genesis 7:17). The ark was borne up. And that which was judgment to the world was safety for Noah. As the waters rose, what rose? This ark.

When "the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth," no flesh was visible, and nothing but death could be seen. God's word about "the end of all flesh" coming before Him came true. Now all were either covered in the waters of judgment, or in the ark. The ark rode between the waters surging from beneath and coming down from above.

The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. We can well imagine that they would feel that God had forgotten them. "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark." … Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat: there was still no land visible.

The flood of waters that came, covering all, so that the end of all flesh came, is a type of the death of Christ. In His death judgment was passed and carried out on all flesh. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

Peter says, you like to believe that there was no flood, and I will tell you why. Because if you admit the flood, you admit the judgment of God on wickedness. And if you admit that judgment once, then it is more than likely He will judge a second time.

"But God remembered Noah." The strange work of judgment is over. Now the saved family, and all who are with them, come into remembrance… The beams of the sun begin to act on a world that had passed through a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judgment and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.

But they were more than safe. They were remembered… The scene of death and judgment lay all around our patriarch. It was one vast, deep, mighty ruin… But He who had already shut His remnant in now remembers them. In that remembrance there was life for the present, and a rich inheritance ahead.

The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. We can well imagine that they felt God had forgotten them. "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark" — the wild beasts as well as the domesticated animals. But a flood covering even the mountains would need a long time to subside, even with the wind God sent to help… The sources the water came from were stopped, and the rain from heaven no longer fell. That in itself would be a welcome relief to the people in the ark… Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat. There was still no land in sight.

The next chapter (Genesis 8) shows God's remembrance of Noah and every living thing. Here it would not have served His purpose to say, "Jehovah remembered every living thing." That is because not every living thing stood in moral relationship with God. Noah undoubtedly was; but it is not always, nor here, the aim to draw attention to what was special.

This is the general care of Him who had created all. So every living thing and all the cattle are remembered along with Noah… This is simply God's usual way from chapters 7:17 to 8:19. From Genesis 8:20 we have special relationship, and the name Jehovah appears at once, with perfect fitness… The same writer was led to vary the name of God just as the change of subject required.

It will be so with another chosen remnant in coming days. A book of remembrance will be written before the same covenant God who was now keeping Noah in mind. It is for those who fear the Lord and think on His name (Malachi 3)… Just as now, because of this covenant-remembrance, the Lord causes a wind to pass over the earth, the waters go down, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat.

Next comes Noah's passage through the judgment of the old world into a new scene, accepted by God in the pleasing aroma of sacrifice. This is the type of where salvation puts us — "in Christ, a new creation: old things passed away, and all things become new."

The strange work of judgment is over. Now the saved family, and all who were with them, come into remembrance… The beams of the sun now begin to act on a world that had been baptised with a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judgment, and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.

But besides rain, it speaks of the fountains of the great deep being broken up, and the windows of heaven opened. It is never said that the water drained back into the sea. It says that "the waters returned from off the earth continually." And it declares that the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. So the account does present the flood as having both its source and its stopping in the extraordinary intervention of God — call it "miracle" or what you please.

Here we see how God destroyed the early population of the earth. He used the vast store of water He had provided above and below to overwhelm man and beast — apart from those preserved in the ark with Noah by His command. The language of Gen. 7:11 points to this huge overflow: "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth," "and the windows (or the floodgates) of heaven were opened." On the other hand, the language of Gen. 8:2 marks the point when the subsiding set in.

It is the general care of Him who had created all, and so God remembers every living thing and all the cattle along with Noah. We have not here specific relationship, where "Jehovah" (LORD) would be needed and in keeping. It was the same when the account described God's action in bringing on the flood; here it is His action in removing what He had inflicted, for His creatures that were preserved.

The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. It is easy to imagine them feeling that God had forgotten them… But the sources the water came from were stopped. If a tidal wave had come from the seas, it stopped exerting its power, and of course the rain from heaven no longer fell. This itself would be a welcome relief to the people in the ark. Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat: there was still no land visible.

Noah passed through the judgment of the old world into a new scene, accepted of God in the sweet savour of sacrifice. This is the type of where salvation puts us — "in Christ, a new creation: old things passed away, and all things become new."

The strange work of judgment is over. The saved family, and all who were with them, come into remembrance… The rays of the sun now begin to act on a world that had passed through a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is always ready to leave the place of judgment and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.

As to the flood itself, the account given (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is quite explicit, both as to its length and its size. The heavy rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month. Then the ark grounded on the mountains of Ararat. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains appeared. On the 1st day of the 1st month of a new year the waters had vanished from the face of the earth. On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for those in the ark to go out. One year and 10 days had passed since it began.

The writer of the "Genesis of the Earth" tries in vain to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would barely affect the earth in general or those living on it. This is to overlook or disbelieve "the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4), where the ark rested when the waters were going down. Its chief peak, being 17,000 feet above the sea, may give some idea of the appalling fact.

The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. We can easily imagine them feeling that God had forgotten them. "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark" — the wild beasts as well as the domestic ones. But a flood covering even the mountains would need a long time to go down, even with the wind God sent to help. Still, the sources the water came from were stopped.

The earth has been remembered, and is now taken up again, but through purifying judgments. Everything takes the sentence of death into itself. So it may stand as a new thing, in the strength and grace of Him who gives life to the dead. The earth itself was in the water, or under the water. The chosen remnant were saved from the hand of the avenger, as in the appointed city of refuge. And so everything appears again, as in resurrection.

His faith had been tried not a little, but the outlook was comforting even from the first… But though rightly exercised and comforted, he still waited for God's word before going out, just as he had gone in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the impatience of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. God gave the word in due time, as He always does to those who look up to Him.

God's judgment had done its full work. Then we read that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day (Gen. 8:4). This is no accident. The seventh month became the first at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 12:2). So the ark rested three days after the day set for the sacrifice of the Passover lamb — the very day of our Lord's resurrection. The Saviour's triumphant return from among the dead is the public proof that God's wrath about the sins of His people has spent itself, and that He has established rest and peace forever.

Noah means, as we have seen, "rest" or "comfort." His father Lamech gave him that name in faith that God would give His comfort through him, and that hope was well founded. In Gen. 8:4, the ark rested, literally "Noahed," upon the mountains of Ararat. In the 21st verse of the same chapter, "the Lord smelled a sweet savour," literally "a savour of rest," or Noah. In each case the root is the same. It shows how truly God answered the faith seen in his name. He gave rest while the scene around lay in ruins, and He declared that the sacrifice was the basis of it.

It is no use for the writer of the "Genesis of the Earth" to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would barely affect the earth in general or those living on it. This is to overlook or disbelieve "the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4), where the ark rested when the waters were going down. Its chief peak stands 17,000 feet above the sea. That may give some idea of the appalling fact.

The new world did not begin until God had executed judgment on the old, and the starting place was Ararat. This is the great question, I repeat: when did the new creation begin, and where is the source of righteousness and life? The New Testament makes it clear to my soul that this was so, and could only be so, when God raised Christ from the dead. The Old Testament makes it just as clear that Noah's world began when God raised him from the dead above the waters of the flood. I do not doubt the sons of Noah were safe, resting in the word of God, before this. But they were saved when the ark rested on Ararat.

The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. You can well imagine that they would feel God had forgotten them… Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat. There was still no land in sight (v. 4). Four and a half months later the tops of the mountains appeared (v. 5).

Then the waters go down, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4)… For forty days he has been on solid rock. It is divine security. I am not only in the place of safety, but I have the sense of security. How absolute and perfect is the salvation that God gives.

The account of the flood itself (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is very clear about both how long it lasted and how far it spread. The huge rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month. Then the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains were seen. On the 1st day of the 1st month of a new year the waters had vanished from the face of the earth. On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for those in the ark to leave it — one year and 10 days after it all began.

The five months of floating on a sea with no shore would seem endless to Noah and his family. It can well be imagined that they would feel God had forgotten them… But a flood that covered even the mountains would take a long time to go down, even with the wind God sent to help. Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only came to rest in the mountains of Ararat: there was still no land in sight (v. 4). Four and a half months later the tops of the mountains were seen (v. 5).

I believe the flood was all over the earth, wherever man was. There is no mistake. Some have questioned whether it covered the whole globe, speaking in general terms, as if it only covered the part where people lived. But Scripture says, "the mountains were covered," and "the tops of the mountains were seen," and so on. That sounds like the whole earth. You have to allow for a miracle in any case… Suppose Mount Ararat, fifteen or sixteen thousand feet high, in northern Armenia, stood covered. If the waters had not stood all around it, and far beyond it, they would have run off and covered somewhere else. There had to be a miracle either way.

The third section pictures the resurrection… It speaks of the ground of resurrection (the resurrection of Christ) on which faith now builds, beyond the reach of any flood. It is high ground and "holy ground," which is said to be the meaning of "Ararat"… The new beginning is in rest: the ark comes to rest on Ararat, and the new earth begins to be visible.

The old world perished. The new world began where the ark rested, upon the mountains of Ararat. God did not save the old world by Noah; old things passed away and all became new. It is so in Christ, old things passed away, and all things became new; and all things of God.

Another step was now taken by Noah after the tops of the mountains were seen. God had given the warning needed to save life, but He also put Noah's dependence and patience to a long test.

No doubt Noah became impatient to leave the ark once it had done its work… He worked for many years to build the ark, and now he is impatient to leave it, as soon as it has saved him. God has been vindicated, His truth witnessed to, Noah and his house saved; and now he wants to leave it before it is God's will. It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than it is to reach it.

The ark had a window in it. The door was in the keeping of the Lord, but the window was for Noah's use. He who had shut him in was the only one who could let him out — the times and the seasons were in His hand. The time of his journey, as a prisoner of hope, cannot be shortened. Even so, his hopes may be richly fed, and his spirit within him kept active. Noah may open the window, remove the covering, look out, and send out his messengers.

The door of the ark was in the side, but the window above. It is no new thing to say that this is faith's outlook. The passengers rode in a vessel that was wonderfully guided and protected. They did not need their eyes for steering, and they were not to look out on the solemn judgment taking effect around them. The waters were the grave of the world. They lifted the passengers above its mountain-tops up to the blue heavens, and the waters grew calmer as they rose. What a season for them — shut in by God, with God! And what a preparation for beginning that new life they were to start in the world beyond the flood.

Scripture shows plainly that "forty" stands for a period of trial, whether of days or years. Both the Old and New Testaments give examples. So it seems to have been here. And temptation must be borne, not dodged. We have the assurance that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able. He also promises that with the trial He will make the way of escape, so that we may be able to endure. So here, after waiting the proper time, Noah opened, not the light or roof, but the window of the ark, and sent out the raven.

The raven went out, back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. The unclean bird escaped, and no doubt found a resting-place on some floating carcass. It never sought the ark again. Not so the dove. She found no place to set her foot, so she returned to him in the ark. Noah sent her out again, and in the evening she came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her mouth. She is a sweet picture of the renewed mind, which, in the middle of all that ruin, seeks and finds its rest and portion in Christ.

The raven never returns. The earth may still be uncleansed, but the unclean nature can put up with it. The "present evil world" will do well enough for fallen, degraded man… But Noah will not trust her. Beautiful, godly discernment! The raven may stay outside; but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. Noah will not trust her, but sends out a clean creature after her.

Scripture shows plainly that "forty," whether of days or years, marks a time of trial. Both the Old and New Testaments give instances. So it seems to have been here. And temptation must be borne, not evaded. We have the assurance that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able. He will also, with the trial, make the way of escape, so that we may be able to endure it. So here, after waiting the proper time, Noah opened the window of the ark — not the light or roof. He sent out the raven, which kept going to and fro till the waters were dried up from the earth.

The ark had a window in it. The door was in the keeping of the Lord, but the window was for Noah's use. He who had shut him in alone could let him out — the times and the seasons were in His hand. The time of his journey, as a prisoner of hope, cannot be shortened. Yet God may richly nourish the hopes of such a prisoner, and exercise his spirit within him for blessing.

The word oreb comes from a root meaning "to be black." It appears to cover not only the common raven but other birds of the same family, such as the crow and the rook. We read of "every raven after its kind" as being unclean (Leviticus 11:15; Deuteronomy 14:14). When Noah sent the raven out from the ark, it could no doubt find food, because it can feed on carrion. The dove could not. Yet the raven went "to and fro" till the waters were dried up (Genesis 8:7).

The raven never returns. The earth may still be unpurged, but the unclean nature can put up with it. The "present evil world" will do well enough for fallen, degraded man. Indeed, to the unclean raven the ark was more a prison than a shelter.

But Noah will not trust her. What beautiful spiritual discernment! The raven may stay outside, but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. Noah will not trust her, but sends out a clean creature after her. And the news that clean bird brings is very different indeed. It is, in principle, the contest of Caleb and Joshua with the other spies.

As a type, this shows how little these Genesis life-stories forget or hide about what we really are, however sure we may be of our place in Christ Jesus. Saved out of the world, and no longer of it, we still carry the raven with us and may let it out. We have that in us which can settle down in a scene of death where the waters of judgment have not yet dried. Like the unclean bird, it uses the ark only as a base for pursuing the work it enjoys with more energy.

The raven soon found something to satisfy its taste and did not come back. The dove found nothing till dry land began to appear. The flesh in us is like the raven, and feeds on carrion. What is born of God is like the dove, feeding only on what is pure. The dove, we may remember, is in Scripture an emblem of the Spirit of God. Now just as the dove got the victory over the carrion, so whatever is born of God gets the victory over the world. It must do so; it is in its very nature to do so.

God remembered Noah and all that were alive with him in the ark. He stopped the waters and sent the wind, which started the process of drying up the waters. The window of the ark was in the roof and not in the side of it. So Noah must have had an imperfect knowledge of what was happening outside. That is why he acted as Genesis 8:6-12 records. A raven and a dove are birds of a different nature as to habits and food. The one feeding on carrion and other unclean things, the other a clean feeder. When first released there was plenty to attract the raven, but as yet nothing for the dove.

The raven never returns. The earth may still be unpurged, but the unclean nature can take up with it. The "present evil world" will do well enough for fallen, degraded man. In fact, the ark was more a place of captivity than of safety to the unclean raven. But Noah will not trust her. Beautiful spiritual insight! The raven may stay outside; but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. Noah will not trust her, but sends out a clean creature after her.

We may easily gather from Scripture that "forty" is used again and again, of days or years, for a period of trial. Both the Old and New Testaments give instances. So it seems to have been here... He also sent out the dove. In this case it is added, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground... The dove returned to Noah and to the ark, because water still covered the whole earth. This was conclusive. They must still wait.

The flood speaks of the judgment coming on all men for their sins. The ark speaks of Christ, the only shelter from that judgment. But His people, while they are still waiting in hope, can know nothing of what is theirs in Christ risen. So the Spirit — the dove — is given to make us know what is ours... On his first flight he finds nothing but a scene of desolation. Unlike the raven, who will feed on the refuse of what has been judged, he returns to the ark. The Spirit of God can find nothing in a world under judgment to rest upon, and returns, as it were, to Christ. It is as though He said to us, You will find nothing in all this world for your heart to rest upon; Christ is all.

Noah then sent out a dove. There was nothing to attract it. "The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot." This shows the condition of the world before Christ came. When He was here, the holy dove could remain on Him (John 1:32). But before that, there was no man on whom the Holy Spirit could rest. He came on certain men and gave them power for service. But there were none on whom He could rest.

If you have never had this rest, you are like Noah's dove. You are outside the ark, in a scene of judgment, without a spot for the sole of your foot to rest on. Safety, rest, peace and plenty were inside the ark; destruction, death, restlessness, and sorrow outside.

Forty is regularly used in Scripture, of days or years, for a period of testing... And we must endure temptation, not dodge it. So here, after waiting the right length of time, Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out the raven... The raven and the dove were each true to their habits. The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and came back to Noah and to the ark... This settled it. They still had to wait.

The raven never returns. The earth may not be cleansed yet, but the unclean nature can put up with it. The "present evil world" will do well enough for fallen, degraded man. In fact, to the unclean raven the ark was more a prison than a safe place; once she had escaped it, she never went back. But Noah will not trust her. What beautiful, holy discernment! The raven may stay outside; but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. Noah will not trust her, but sends out a clean creature after her. And the news she brings is very different indeed. Noah knows he can trust her, and well he may: her only sympathy is with the signs of peace and of a new creation.

"Arise, depart; for this is not your rest," says the Spirit through the Prophet. And why? Why is it not to be our rest? "It is polluted," he adds. He does not say it is sorrowful, it is disappointing, it is unsatisfying, but it is polluted... The dove outside the ark was not afraid of a trapper's net. She found no rest for the sole of her foot on ground that was still unclean.

The flood speaks of the judgment coming on all men for their sins; the ark, of Christ the only shelter from the judgment... His people, still shut in and waiting in hope, can know nothing of what is theirs in the risen Christ. So the Spirit is given — the dove — to make us know what is ours. The dove is sent out three times to make known the state of what was not visible. On his first flight he finds nothing but a scene of desolation. The raven will feed on the leftovers of what has been judged; the dove will not. He returns to the ark. The Spirit of God can find nothing in a world under judgment to rest on, and returns, as it were, to Christ. It is as though He said to us, You will find nothing in all this world for your heart to rest on; Christ is all.

In this scene the Holy Spirit is like the dove sent out from the ark. At last it has a spot where it can find a place to rest — to stay. The dove, you remember, went out more than once and came back each time, because she "found no rest for the sole of her foot". At last she found a resting-place and "returned not again any more" (Gen. 8:9, 12). The heavenly Dove, after 4,000 years of searching in vain for a sinless resting-place in man, has found One to rest on in the first chapter of John.

If you have never had it, you are, like Noah's dove, out of the ark, in a scene of judgment, without a spot for the sole of your foot to rest on. Safety, rest, peace and plenty were inside the ark; destruction, death, restlessness, and sorrow outside.

Noah now took another step, after the tops of the mountains appeared. God had given the warning needed to save life, but He exercised Noah's dependence and patience to the full.

But it is beautiful to notice how Noah can wait. Many days had passed before he opened the window of the ark. Many more passed while he tested the state of the renewed earth by the messengers he sent out again and again — and not in vain.

Noah had been a witness for God's mind, against the wilfulness of everyone around him. He worked for many years to prepare the ark. Now, as soon as it has given him salvation, he is impatient to leave it… The freed raven, going back and forth, is a fitting picture of the restlessness of our impatient spirits. The dove reads Noah a different lesson… The dove tells him first that he must have patience. How humbling to be rebuked by the weak, gentle tones of trusting love! The dove had a home in the ark — why should Noah not have one? The second time, the dove returns with the branch of peace. So not only must he submit; patience has done its perfect work, and he wants nothing.

The raven never returns. The earth may still be uncleansed, but the unclean nature can put up with it… But Noah will not trust her. What beautiful discernment! The raven may stay outside; but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. He sends out a clean creature after her… The dove returns by instinct. There was no rest for her in a place still under God's judgment and not yet cleansed. Noah knows he can trust her, and can leave the question to her to settle, so he sends her out a second and a third time.

There is surely nothing far-fetched in noticing how the unclean nature finds its satisfaction outside, where death reigns; while the clean returns to the shelter of the ark — first with no sign of life, then after seven days more with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak.

A sweet emblem of the renewed mind. In the middle of the surrounding desolation, it seeks and finds its rest and portion in Christ. And not only that: it also takes hold of the down payment of the inheritance, and gives the blessed proof that judgment has passed away and a renewed earth is coming fully into view. The carnal mind, by contrast, can rest in anything and everything except Christ.

The dove is sent out three times to make known the state of what was not visible. On his first flight he finds nothing but a scene of desolation. The raven will feed on the refuse of what God has judged; the dove, in contrast, returns to the ark. The Spirit of God can find nothing in a world under judgment to rest on, and returns, as it were, to Christ.

Next, the dove brings back something from the new earth — an olive leaf, a pledge of fruitfulness after the judgment. So the Spirit is for us the down payment of our inheritance — the foretaste and the pledge of what is to come. The olive leaf itself suggests the fruits of the Spirit — the olive produces oil — and these belong to the new creation.

The dove was a clean bird. Noah sent it out the first time, and it came back, because it found no place to set its foot. But when he sent it out the second time, it returned with proof of dry land... There is much more to learn from this event. For now we will stop here and stress one point: the olive leaf was a sure witness to Noah that the flood had gone down.

In the New Testament the dove becomes the picture of the Spirit of God... The second time, the dove came back with "a freshly plucked olive leaf." Here was the first evidence of life appearing above the waters of death. This leaf had not been drifting among the wreckage; it came from a living tree. Death entered by sin, and "so death spread to all men" (Rom. 5:12), as much after the flood as before it. The first evidence of real life rising up beyond the scene of death was when Christ rose from the dead.

The unclean bird made its escape, and found, no doubt, a resting place on some floating carcass. It never went back to the ark. Not so the dove... "in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf." A sweet picture of the renewed mind. Surrounded by desolation, that mind seeks and finds its rest and its portion in Christ. More than that, it takes hold of the pledge of the inheritance. And it gives blessed proof that judgment has passed away and that a renewed earth is coming into full view. The mind ruled by the flesh, on the other hand, can rest in anything and everything except Christ.

The raven may remain outside; but that is no proof to Noah that the earth is clean, or fit for the sole of his foot. Noah will not trust her, but sends out a clean creature after her. And the news she brings is different indeed... Her only sympathy is with the pledges of peace and of a new creation.

A leaf stands for profession or testimony ("So Noah knew," Gen. 8:11)... The leaves hold the mouths and lungs of the plant. They surround it like so many tongues, telling what tree it is and what fruit is (or should be) on it... Here the testimony given is of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit... The tree is a remarkable one, and its main feature is the oil (Judges 9:9). That is, what marks out the vessel of testimony is that it holds the Holy Spirit as the source of light... It is evergreen, and it will grow in the most barren and stony soil.

One thing that had been under the waters of judgment had risen above them. One spot was clear of the judgment, and from that spot the dove brought an olive leaf to Noah. There is today one spot that has emerged from under the judgment of God: it is Christ... "So Noah knew." Through the testimony that the Holy Spirit gives to the risen Christ, we too may know that Christ has borne our judgment and put our sins away forever.

Next, the dove brings back something from the new earth — an olive leaf, pledge of fruitfulness after the judgment. So the Spirit is for us the guarantee of our inheritance — the foretaste and the pledge of what is to come.

The result after another seven days is plainer still, if that is possible. This time the dove was sent out, and she could find rest for the sole of her foot on the renewed earth. She did not return to him again. The dove had strong wings to fly from anything out of keeping with her pure and gentle nature. Now she had a place that drew her, and Noah could only draw the right conclusion.

Noah, no doubt, became impatient to leave the ark after it had done its work. Nothing exposes our impatience or self-will as much as this… It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than to reach it… The freed raven, going back and forth, is a fitting picture of our restless, impatient spirits. The dove reads Noah a different lesson… The dove tells him first that he must have patience. The dove had a home in the ark; why should not Noah?… And when the dove goes out again, she may stay away. The discipline is over, and he is called into a new scene.

Noah sent out the dove, emblem of the Holy Spirit of God, three times. The first time it returned with nothing. There was nowhere to rest her foot, for the waters were everywhere. This shows the utter ruin of the first man and of the old creation bound up with him. Death covered them all. The second time she returned with the single olive leaf. At last the first piece of the renewed earth had appeared above the waters… The third time the dove found not just a leaf, but a resting place for her feet.

On the first flight the dove has nowhere to rest, so she returns. The Holy Spirit can only rest where the work of judgment is complete… The dove returns to Noah, but afterwards goes out from him and returns no more. This, I think, is how we should understand John 7:39. In Old Testament times the Holy Spirit visited the earth many times. But He could not yet be given until the ascension of Christ bore witness that the work of atonement was perfect. He is then given as a witness that peace has been made with God.

The dove, you remember, went out once and again, but returned, because she "found no place to set her foot." At last she found a resting place, and she "did not return to him anymore"… The heavenly Dove searched 4,000 years for a sinless resting place in man and found none. In the first chapter of John He has found One to rest on.

The third sending out of the dove carries our thoughts on to the world to come, the days of the glorious Kingdom still to dawn for this sin-spoiled earth. Judgment will have cleared that scene of everything offensive to God. It will then be a fitting home for the Holy Spirit. The renewed earth was a fitting home for the dove; she returned to the ark no more. And in coming days the Holy Spirit will not be given only to those who are "in Christ," but will be poured out upon all flesh.

Ten and a half months had now passed since Noah entered the ark. He removed the covering of the ark and found the face of the ground dry (v. 13). Of course it would be dry on the higher ground where the ark was. The lower areas needed more time for the waters to drain away. So verse 14 tells us that it was about two months later that the earth was dried. The total time comes to one year and ten days.

The door of the ark was in the side, but the window above. It is no new thing to say that this is faith's outlook. The passengers in that wonderfully guided and protected vessel did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn scenes of judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above its mountain tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose.

Beautiful mystery! The earth was redeemed from the curse now, and in its new-creation state the dove can delight. All of it is her native air. It is now the land of the turtledove and the olive, and Noah understands why this clean creature is absent. He at once removes the covering from the ark and looks out. The God of glory soon lets him out, as the God of all grace had before shut him in.

His faith had been tested more than a little, but the prospect was comforting even from the first. "The face of the ground" was dry when he looked. After nearly two months more "the earth was dry." But even with this comfort, he still waited on God's word to go out, as he had gone in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the impulsiveness of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. The word came in due time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

Meanwhile it was never God's mind that there should be life only, but liberty. Life out of death leads into liberty. Christ not only gives life and shelter, but does so as a preparation for the freedom of grace... now there is life. Death and judgment have done their worst on Him who is risen out of both. So there is liberty also for those given new life.

The waters of Noah did go over the earth, as surely as they shall go over it no more. A still more terrible destruction awaits it, however long the delay seems. By His word the heavens and earth that now exist are kept in store. They are reserved for fire on a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. The one is as certain as the other. But we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

The account of the flood itself (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is very clear about how long it lasted and how far it reached. The tremendous rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month, when the ark grounded on the mountains of Ararat. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains appeared. On the 1st day of the 1st month of a new year the waters had vanished from the face of the earth. On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for those in the ark to go out — one year and 10 days after it all began.

Ten and a half months had now passed since Noah entered the ark. He removed the covering of the ark and found the face of the ground dry (v. 13). Of course, the high ground where the ark rested would be dry first. Lower areas needed more time for the waters to drain away. So verse 14 tells us that the earth was dry about two months later.

His faith had been tested hard, but the prospect was comforting even from the first. "The face of the ground" was dry when he looked. Nearly two months later "the earth had dried out." He was rightly stirred and comforted by this. Even so, he still waited for God's word before going out, just as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead with the rashness and self-confidence of nature. He depends on God and obeys His word. The word came at the right time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

But it is beautiful to note how Noah can wait. Many days had passed before he opened the window of the ark. Many more passed while he tested the state of the renewed earth by the messengers he sent out again and again — and not in vain.

After years of discipline and toil, Noah is in the ark. Very often the quality we are best known for, the one we have gained most from, deserts us, and we suffer much. Noah, no doubt, became impatient to leave the ark after it had accomplished its purpose. Nothing exposes our impatience and self-will like this… He worked for many a year to build the ark. Now he is impatient to abandon it, as soon as it has given him salvation… It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than even to reach it.

The flood swept away the ungodly. It brought judgment and death on the world. The ark rode above the waters and rested at last on the cleansed earth. It taught the lesson of life for the people of God, once they had passed through judgment and death. The new earth came up out of the waters of death. Noah and his family set their feet on the dry land as people saved through those waters, as people raised from the dead.

Meanwhile it never was the mind of God that there should be life only, but liberty. Life out of death ushers into liberty. Christ not only gives life and shelter, but this as a preparation for the freedom of grace.

His faith had faced no small test, but the prospect was comforting even from the first. "The face of the ground" was dry when he looked. Almost two months later "the earth had dried out." This stirred and comforted him, and rightly so. Yet he still waited for God's word before going out, just as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead with the rashness of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. And the word came in due time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

The ark had a window in it. The door was in the Lord's keeping, but the window was for Noah's use. The One who had shut him in was the only one who could let him out. The times and the seasons were in His hand. No one can shorten the time of his journey as a prisoner of hope. But the hopes of such a prisoner may be richly fed, and his spirit stirred within him.

"Then God said to Noah, 'Go out from the ark.'" The same God who had said, "Make yourself an ark," and "Go into the ark," now says, "Go out from the ark." "So Noah went out … and built an altar to the LORD." ALL is simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together… Superstition would have worshipped the ark, since the ark was the means of salvation. The heart always tends to let what God appoints take God's place… But Noah's faith passed beyond the ark to the God of the ark. So when he stepped out, he did not look back at it with longing, and he did not treat it as an object of worship. He built an altar to the LORD and worshipped Him — and the ark is never heard of again.

Not one thing had gone into the ark thirteen months before which did not now come out. The small and the great had been in it, and the small were as safe as the great. The creeping thing from the ditch or the hedge was as free from danger and harm as Noah himself. Precious mystery! We may be little, and we are little, as the heart knows full well. But heaven, or the coming system of glory, has fitted itself, like the ark, to receive the small as well as the great.

Now comes the faithful word of God to His waiting and watching servant: how welcome to the prisoner of hope! It is the type of those kept safe through the great hour of temptation that will come on the whole inhabited world to test those who dwell on the earth… Christ's coming to receive His own to Himself for the Father's house on high follows a different pattern. It is not the pattern of Noah passing through the scene of judgment, but of Enoch taken up to heaven before the time of trouble came, as we may see in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

No doubt Noah became impatient to leave the ark once it had done its work. Nothing exposes our impatience or self-will so much as this… God stands vindicated, His truth has its witness, Noah and his house are saved — and now he wants to leave before it is God's will. It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than even to reach it… The freed raven, going back and forth, is a fitting picture of our restless, impatient spirits. The dove teaches Noah a different lesson… The dove tells him first that he must have patience.

His faith had been tried more than a little, but the prospect was comforting even from the first. "The face of the ground" was dry when he looked. Nearly two months later, "the earth was dry." This rightly moved and comforted him. Even so, he still waited on God's word to go out, as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead with the impulsiveness of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. The word came in due time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

"And God spoke to Noah, saying, go out from the ark." The same God who had said, "make yourself an ark," and "come into the ark," now says, "go out from the ark." "And Noah went out … and built an altar to the Lord." ALL is simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together. Superstition would have worshipped the ark, since it was the means of salvation. The heart always tends to let the things God appoints take God's place. But Noah's faith went past the ark to the God of the ark. So when he stepped out, instead of looking back at the ark, he built an altar to the Lord and worshipped Him — and the ark is never heard of again.

He landed on the renewed earth. At that mysterious moment, all was in a great sense according to God's mind again. It was no longer corrupt, as it had been when he last walked on it in its old condition, but clean, refined by the judgment.

Not one thing had gone into the ark thirteen months before that did not now come out. The small and the great had been in it, and the small were as safe as the great. The creeping thing of the ditch or the hedge was as free from all danger or harm as Noah himself. Precious mystery! We may be little, and we are little, as the heart knows full well. But heaven, or the coming system of glory, has fitted itself like the ark, to receive the small as well as the great.

Some will say that Noah was a picture of Christ — the righteous head of a saved family, saved because of their connection with him. I grant all this. But Noah's role as a picture does not in any way interfere with the principle I am drawing from this and similar passages. I will state that principle plainly here at the start: the house of every servant of God is brought into a place of privilege, and of responsibility that follows, because of its connection with him.

Now comes the faithful word of God to His waiting and watching servant. How welcome to the prisoner of hope! It is the picture of those kept safe through the great hour of temptation. That hour will come upon the whole inhabited world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Enoch is a figure of those caught up, Noah of the remnant of the Jews who go through the tribulation. In Noah the world is comforted — the figure of the millennium.

His faith had been tried more than a little, but the prospect was comforting even from the first. "The face of the ground" was dry when he looked. Nearly two months later, "the earth was dry." He was rightly moved and comforted by this. Even so, he still waited on God's word to go out, just as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the impulsiveness of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. And God gave the word in due time, as He always does to those who look up to Him.

Meanwhile it never was the mind of God that there should be life only, but liberty. Life out of death ushers into liberty. Christ not only gives life and shelters, but does this as a preparation for the freedom of grace. With freedom He set us free. The law had long tested human nature, and its mind proved hostile to God. But now there is life, after death and judgment have done their worst to Him who is risen out of both. So there is liberty as well for those born again.

Noah went out. He landed on the renewed earth. At that mysterious moment all was, in a great sense, according to God's mind again. It was no longer corrupt, as when he had last walked on it in its old condition, but clean, under the refining of the judgment.

Jehovah deals with the creatures set under the headship of Adam. How blessed to know, on authority beyond doubt, that "the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God"! It will "be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." As man's sin dragged it down with himself into ruin, so shall the Second Man raise it out of its degradation and misery.

In Noah, we have a plain figure of resurrection, the whole world passing away in the judgment of the flood, and a new world emerging from the baptismal waters. The apostle Peter teaches us to see in this a type of salvation (1 Peter 3:20-21). And to the man in Christ, risen with Him, the old has passed away and all things have become new. The figure is very plain here, although many a detail may be hidden from us.

"The face of the ground" was dry when he looked, and after nearly two more months "the earth had dried out." Though this rightly stirred and comforted him, he still waited on God's word to go out, just as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the impulsiveness of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. And the word came in due time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

After years of discipline and toil, Noah is in the ark. Very often the quality we are most known for, and from which we have gained most, deserts us, and we suffer much. Noah, no doubt, became impatient to leave the ark once it had done its work... God had been vindicated, His truth witnessed to, Noah and his house saved; and now he wants to leave before it is God's will. It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than even to reach it.

The flood swept away the ungodly. It brought judgment and death on the world. The ark was carried up above the waters and finally rested on the cleansed earth. It taught the lesson of life for the people of God after judgment and death had been passed through. The new earth emerged from the waters of death. Noah and his family set their feet on the dry land as those saved through those waters, as risen from the dead.

Not one thing had gone into the ark thirteen months before that did not now come out. The small and the great had been in it, and the small were as safe as the great. The creeping thing from the ditch or the hedge was as free from all danger or harm as Noah himself. Precious mystery! We may be little, and we are little, as the heart knows well. But heaven — the coming system of glory — has fitted itself, like the ark, to receive the small as well as the great.

The ground on which the Lord commands Noah to enter the ark with his household is, "for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Someone might object that probably all the household were righteous before God too, but the later history of one of them — Ham (Genesis 9:22-25) — forbids that thought. The force of the statement cannot be weakened in any way: the family of Noah was delivered from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head. True, it was not salvation; but it was so in figure (1 Peter 3:20-21). And it was no small blessing to be carried in the ark through that mighty flood.

The same God who had said, "Make yourself an ark," and "Go into the ark," now says, "Go out from the ark." "So Noah went out... and built an altar to the LORD." It is all simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together... Superstition would have worshipped the ark, since it was the means of salvation. The heart always tends to put God's ordinances in God's place... But Noah's faith passed beyond the ark to the God of the ark. So when he stepped out, he did not look back at it or treat it as an object of worship. He built an altar to the LORD and worshipped Him. And the ark is never heard of again.

His faith had been tested more than a little, but the prospect was comforting from the first. "The face of the ground was dry" when he looked. Nearly two months later "the earth had dried out." Yet even though his heart was rightly stirred and comforted, he still waited for God's word before going out, just as he went in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the rashness of human nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. And the word came at the right time, as it always does to those who look up to Him.

Noah, no doubt, became impatient to leave the ark once it had served its purpose. Nothing exposes our impatience or self-will so much as this. God has been vindicated. His truth has had its witness. Noah and his house are saved. And now he wants to leave before it is God's will. It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than to reach it.

Not one thing had gone into the ark thirteen months before which did not now come out. The small and the great had been in it, and the small were as safe as the great. The creeping thing from the ditch or the hedge was as free from danger or harm as Noah himself. Precious mystery! We may be little, and we are little, as the heart knows full well. But heaven, the coming world of glory, has fitted itself like the ark to receive the small as well as the great.

The ordinary use of this word distinguishes all animals from man, and marks off four-footed animals from birds and creeping things, Gen. 8:19. The word is also used symbolically: for the ignorance of man and his acting as a creature without reason or conscience before God, and for great worldly powers, such as the four great kingdoms in Daniel 7.

Nothing is said about anyone being anxious to leave the ark. Had they become so used to living there that they were hesitant to leave? God gave them orders to go out, however, including all the people and all the animals of every kind. Whether at first they returned there for shelter at night we are not told. The animals, sent back into their natural surroundings, would then breed and multiply.

Man, by his sin, has not only brought ruin on himself but has spoiled his home and dragged down all the creatures that depend on him. Thorns and thistles are marks of man's sin, and much more the groans of the animal creation (Gen. 3:18). Man, unlike angels, was made by God the centre of a system of things. The whole of this lower creation either suffers or rejoices with its head.

Meanwhile it never was the mind of God that there should be life only, but liberty. Life out of death brings us into liberty. Christ not only gives life and shelter; He does it to prepare us for the freedom of grace.

The word "altar" is mentioned here for the first time in the Bible. The altar is for worship. Here then worship is for the first time revealed. We worship, having passed from the old into the new, standing on the ground of resurrection. We know that death and judgment are past, and therefore we worship in spirit and in truth. Christ is our altar, and the sacrifices Noah brought are a picture of Christ too. Only the person who knows Christ and the perfect work He has done is a true worshipper.

Everything is simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together. The altar is set up where, just before, all had been a scene of death and judgment... Superstition would have worshipped the ark, as being the means of salvation. The heart always tends to put God's appointed means in God's own place. The ark was a very clear and obvious appointed means. But Noah's faith passed beyond the ark to the God of the ark. So when he stepped out of it, he cast no lingering look back at it, and he did not treat it as an object of worship or reverence. He built an altar to the Lord and worshipped Him. And the ark is never heard of again.

Before the flood Noah had been occupied with building an ark for himself and his household. After the flood we find him intent on building an altar for God... He held back none of the small stock of acceptable animals that came out with him from the ark. They had gone in with him to keep their kinds alive on the earth, yet he felt it was right to offer some of them on the altar to God. So his offering shows the thankfulness of his heart. But in it we see something more: the ground on which all blessing could now rest — a sacrifice accepted by the Lord.

Before the flood Noah already knew this essential part of an acceptable sacrifice (Gen. 7:2), though there is no record of how he learned it. But in the law we read God's definition of clean beasts and clean birds, and we find moral teaching tied to the subject (Lev. 11). So we must conclude that no man could have worked out by his own instinct which creatures God would count clean, and which He would not.

Yet as far as we know, no prayer was spoken on that solemn occasion, and the patriarch raised no hymn of praise... It may have been a silent service. We read of nothing that God had heard, but only of what He smelled. A silent service perhaps, yet how full of meaning to Him, and instruction to us.

"And Noah," it is written in verse 20, "built an altar." To whom? To God? Most fittingly it is to Jehovah now. The two names could not be swapped without loss... It is Noah's relationship that appears here. The sacrifice offered there bore witness to the special place in which he stood.

Noah acted on this after the flood. His first recorded act was to build an altar and offer up whole burnt offerings of every clean beast and of all clean birds. For the earth after the flood was held on the ground of sacrifice.

In this the patriarch acknowledged that atonement was his only possible ground for standing before a holy God. That is a striking lesson for people in every age. As that lone column of smoke rose to heaven, "the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma." His mind ran on from that altar to Calvary. There, in due time, the great sacrifice would be offered, and every other sacrifice pointed to it.

Here we have the sacrifice presenting a "sweet savour," or "a savour of rest," to God. It is what He finds His rest and delight in. And in its excellence the offerer finds the ground of his acceptance. The term burnt offering occurs here for the first time. We discover what it means in particular when we come to the book of Leviticus.

Man had not improved, so there was no reason for God to deal with him differently. The Lord's estimate of man after the flood differed little, if at all, from that before it. Compare Genesis 6:5 with Genesis 8:21. Before the flood God spoke of evil as being constantly in the heart of His creature man. After it He declared it was innate. "The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."

It is interesting too that in Genesis 6:5 the reason for the flood was that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Yet this same fact becomes a reason that God would not curse the earth again (v. 21). Since man's heart is evil from his youth, God would not again curse the earth or destroy every living thing out of it. The reason is that in the sacrifice of Christ there is a remedy for man's evil nature.

The reason God gave for not cursing is that He looks to Noah's sacrifice, not to the sin. God deals with us on the ground of what the Mediator is, instead of what we are. The sacrifice ought to be always in our hearts, but it is always before God.

There was to be no repetition of the curse. Otherwise the Lord might have been always at it, for every thought of man's heart was only evil, and that continually. But on the ground of sacrifice this was said: "the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord said in his heart, I will no more again curse." He would not again act as He had done. The effect of this sweet savour is very striking. It does not change God's mind; it reveals what He is — the source of peace.

When the Lord smelled the savour of Noah's sacrifice, He said in His heart that He would not again curse the ground. But that was just His own purpose and grace. For a time it was the secret of His own heart. In due time He made His purpose and grace known to Noah. Then Noah took the blessing in a way of special sweetness. He took it as coming from the deep, well-considered, and fully approved counsels and affections of the heart of the Lord Himself.

For God the sweet savour was in what the offerings meant: a new world brought in on the ground of the sacrifice of Christ, His own Son. God had no more pleasure in the actual death of Noah's animals than in those killed on Jewish altars. Hebrews 10:6 says as much: "In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure."

We must have a basis of approach to God. And more than this: we must be fully accepted, to be completely at rest there. If God finds a savour of rest in the death of Christ, we find our rest there too.

No one can deny that God in His sovereignty has blessed man unconditionally. On what ground have the millions of our race since Noah's day enjoyed seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, day and night? Have these been conditional blessings?… Genesis 8:20-22 makes it clear. We have these blessings only on the ground of sacrifice — Noah's burnt offering, a type of Christ. If God gave them on the ground of men's conduct, men would have forfeited them long ago.

The cleansing of the waters of judgment had made no change in the imaginations of the thoughts of man's heart. They were still evil, and only evil. The heart was uncured, for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," though there be water to cleanse or fire to refine. It was no change there which gave the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil towards men.

With the new method of dealing with men, God would bring in a stability unknown before… To man in innocence God made no such announcement. Whether the blessing of paradise lasted depended on his obedience. The flood broke the natural order of the seasons: seedtime and harvest stopped for a year. Because of the sacrifice, nothing will break that order again as long as the earth remains. Man can count on this; and man has proved it. God has often held back the earth's full crop, but the seasons have kept running their round.

When God created the lights in the sky He said, "Let them be for signs and for seasons." It is well known that the different seasons on the earth come largely from the days being longer or shorter, so the earth gets more or less of the sun's heat. After the flood, God declared that while the earth remained the seasons should continue, Genesis 8:22. They fall roughly like this: seedtime, cold and winter run from October to March; harvest, heat and summer run from April to September.

Then after the flood God secures seedtime and harvest. Farming is blessed in a way. The curse is not gone, but man is comforted. So I should think it takes less work to get things out of the earth now than it did before the flood.

The sign or token of this covenant with creation is the rainbow in the cloud. Under it the earth has continued until the present time, and it will continue throughout the millennial period. Then Christ will deliver up the kingdom to the Father. The heaven and the earth will pass away and give place to the new heaven and the new earth — the everlasting state, in which God shall be all in all.

Few things show the divine perfection stamped on the Bible more than its unfailing accuracy about what has already been fulfilled. More than four thousand years ago, Jehovah said, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest … shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22); and do they not continue to this day?

The reaping does not come as soon as the seed is sown. So we need patience. But reap we shall — in due season, and God, not we, is Judge as to when the fitting season arrives. Still, arrive it certainly shall. Genesis 8:22 stands true even in this connection.

Water has washed the earth clean. That gives a whole new set of conditions for people and animals. God now sets man in a new order of things. He blesses Noah and his sons, promising that they will be fruitful and will multiply to fill the earth, which had lost so many of its people.

The new world, like the old, began its course with blessing from its Creator. "God blessed Noah." But first God gave a solemn witness. Before He spoke the blessing and the commands that came with it, He showed that the survivors of the flood were unchanged. They had the same nature as those whose sin had ruined them (Gen. 8:21). God had declared man completely corrupt before He judged the world by the flood. He says it again as the second father of the human family starts out. But now it was for mercy, not for judgment, that God spoke these words.

Notice God's command to man as he entered the restored earth. It was to refill that earth — not parts of the earth, but the earth. He wanted men spread out across the world. He did not want them clustered together, relying on their own gathered strength. We will see in Gen. 11 how man ignored all this.

After the flood, His word to Noah and his sons was still, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." But mankind, though awed by that judgment, had no desire to do His will. They wanted to stay together... their aim was to set themselves up as a universal republic without God.

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," God had said to Adam. "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," He also said to Noah and his sons. But to Adam He added what He did not add to Noah — "and subdue it." Was this omission accidental? To subdue the earth was God's original design for man on earth. By the fall he lost that place, and can never regain it. Another Man will do it — the Head of the new creation.

He is "blessed," as Adam was in his day, and told to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." (Gen. 1:28; Gen. 9:1) ... God put the earth under Adam, and the creatures of the forest, the field, the sea and the air recognized him as their master... Now the creatures of the earth only stand in dread and fear of Noah... Yet Noah's table was better spread than Adam's had been at first... For Adam's was the food fitting an innocent one, Noah's is the food of a ransomed one.

God commands him to fill the earth, as He had commanded Adam at the beginning. He is to order and govern it. He is to carry on his religious service and keep up his testimony to God in it. Government is his, and in company with priesthood too.

The first thing Noah does after God had blessed him is to get drunk.

Here we see Christ, the true Noah, Heir of the new earth. Of that earth we read, "no longer will there be anything accursed." All things in it are handed over to Him.

What a different dominion from Adam's! God there, as Creator, puts all living animals under Adam's power; he names them. Here, God is a preserver, a saviour. But He only places the animals in Noah's power, and fear marks the relationship. Noah is their destroyer, and they fear him… This clearly sets the whole thing on a new system and footing.

Now it was a fallen world. God blessed these men and charged them to fill the earth, and the fear and the dread of them were to be upon every beast and bird, with reptile and fish. God delivered the creatures into men's hand. Sin was everywhere, and God took it into account as a fact that could not be ignored.

This is a great mercy. Beasts are stronger than man, and if they had no fear of him, they could all but wipe out the human race. So God has planted that fear in them. They no longer have a nature that submits to man of its own accord, as they did in the garden of Eden.

God created Adam alone, and in "His own image," and made him the responsible head over an unfallen creation. But "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." God led him into the ark, through it, and out of it on the other side of death and judgment, as a redeemed man. He was to begin a new history in another world, under God's promises and covenanted blessings… It is on this new ground that God gave the world out afresh to him.

Then their authority over the lower creatures is restored. The fear and dread of man is to be upon every beast of the earth, and upon all that moves, and God delivers them into his hand. All things are his, and even death itself is now to furnish him with food. This fact carries the deepest meaning. It is death serving life, and God would keep us always mindful of that principle.

If Adam is a picture of Christ as the Head over all things, and as the Head of the Church, then Noah, stepping onto a renewed earth, is a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Governor of the world to come… This is very similar to what God says of man in Psalm 8. It shows that Noah, as well as Adam, pointed forward to the coming Son of Man, with all things put under Him.

All this was very significant, telling us of the character of that kingdom which is to arise in the last days, when the true Noah takes the dominion. Then the earth and its creatures will be established in the covenant of lasting rest and certainty… And then the Lord God will rest in His full delight in it all. It will all stand in the sweet savour of the sacrifice which the Son of His love has offered.

Besides this, mankind was no longer limited to a vegetarian diet (v.2). God allowed him animals, birds and fish as food, just as fully as herbs and fruits. There were no restrictions like the ones God later gave Israel under law (Lev. 11), and then set aside after the death of the Lord Jesus (Acts 10:11-16; 1 Tim. 4:4-5). Of course, if someone finds that a food gives him physical trouble, it is only wise to avoid it. But God does not forbid the use of any.

All things are his, and now even death itself supplies him with food. This fact carries the deepest significance. It is death serving life, and God would keep that principle constantly before us. Almost every meal testifies to us of the very basis of all real gospel, which the Lord's supper declares in full and formal terms.

God now gave every moving thing that lives to be food for man (Gen. 9:3), as freely as He had first given green plants to beast and bird and reptile (Gen. 1:30). But He placed a clear restriction on the blood. Man was not to eat it (Gen. 9:4). The blood was the life, and God reserved it for Himself. Giving man the freedom to eat animals made God's claim stand out all the more. Life belonged to God, and it will go badly for those who despise or defy His rights... This is no longer the dominion given by the Creator. Now He gives permission, and He forbids.

Only after we know deliverance, and in the new place with God, can this be rightly understood. We now go farther than the type and past the restriction imposed here: we drink the blood also. What is God's alone as atonement is ours to sustain and cheer us, as atonement now made.

After the flood, God gave man a grant of every moving living creature for food (Gen. 9:3). Here, under the law, He brings in restrictions... But why these restrictions? Because the law puts man at a distance from God and makes him feel it. It is also meant to teach him the great difference between standing on the ground of keeping the law and standing on the ground of grace... How free was the grant to Noah and his sons! How strict the restrictions placed on Israel!

Demons play on man's sense of defilement. As the cure they suggest staying away from certain foods and from marriage — the very things God has provided for His creature's good. So they make God out to be the author of man's lack of piety... Nothing that God has provided for His creature defiles. Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, because the word of God and prayer sanctify it — that is, God's grant to Noah (Gen. 9:3-4) and the thanksgiving of the one who receives it.

In Genesis 9:3, we find how the word of God put an ample supply of food at man's disposal. It is sad if Christian households do not complete this sanctification by prayer as they use the food He has so mercifully provided.

God now gave man every moving thing that lives for food (Gen. 9:3), as freely as He had first given green plants to beast and bird and reptile (Gen. 1:30). But He put a clear limit on the blood. Man was not to eat it (Gen. 9:4). The blood was the life, and God kept it for Himself. Letting man use animals for food made God's claim stand out all the more. Life belonged to God, and woe to those who despise or defy His rights.

From Genesis 9:4 it is clear, I think, that the expression means flesh in its living state; that is what must not be eaten. And that state — of ruined flesh — lies in its blood… The verse comes in to show that the term means flesh with the life in it — flesh in its living state — which is the blood.

To eat blood denied the rights of God the Creator. Even though man forfeited his own right by sin, the LORD kept His title over life untouched. God set up human government in the first place to deal with death by deliberate violence. Shed blood is the sign of that death, and it belongs to God alone. Man has no right to take it for himself.

To eat the blood would have been a bold taking back of what he had lost through sin — an attempt to win life again by forcing the way that the cherubim's sword guarded. This rule told the sinner that he had lost his right to the tree of life and can never return to it in his own strength. The life has gone back to God. The blood is His. And the gospel comes to tell us how He has used it, even providing with it and through it new, eternal life that cannot fail for the sinner who is dead.

Life belongs to God, so no one of the human race was to eat blood. The sinner has also forfeited his life. He can only live before God on the basis of the death of a sacrifice in his place… So the ban on eating blood reminds us of three important truths. We are creatures, and must remember it. We were sinners by nature, and are to acknowledge it. We owe atonement by blood entirely to God, and are always to own it. The One to whom life belongs has given it to be poured out for our everlasting blessing.

This law pressed on Israel what God had already laid down for Noah after the flood, in Genesis 9:4. So when the apostles and elders gave the same command to Gentile believers in Acts 15:20 and 29, they were not loading them with a mere item of the law of Moses. They were repeating a ban that applies to everyone. We do well to keep it, though we need not copy the extreme carefulness of the Jews, as the instruction of 1 Corinthians 10:25 shows.

Man was not to eat the blood. It was the life, and God kept it for Himself. Letting man use animals for food made God's claim stand out all the more. Life belonged to God, and it will go badly for those who despise or defy His rights. This is the state of a fallen world. God is a Preserver, or a Saviour, of all people, as the apostle says — especially of those who believe.

The life of a man killed by a beast — "from every beast I will require it." So we see that God keeps His right over life, even a beast's life. They must come and offer the blood to God. Man had no meat to eat until God gave it to him. Many are seeking to do away with capital punishment; but what do they care about God? The whole order of God is broken up now. Even a beast that kills should die.

Above all, man's life is sacred. What Cain did is to go unpunished no longer. Man is plainly declared to be his "brother's keeper": he is to require blood for blood, and to do it as the instrument and deputy of God on earth.

No government had yet been set up on the earth, so God would allow no one to punish Cain. Once government began in its simplest form, men were to act, as we see in verses 5 and 6 of Genesis 9.

Man would soon misuse and twist the very governing authority God placed in his hand, following his own will without the fear of God. Rivers of blood would flow — not only through lawless corruption and violence, as before the flood, but through ambitious kings and rulers after it. So God, in His foreseeing wisdom and thoughtful goodness, declares at the very start of the new order, "And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it."

The words of Genesis 9:5-6 — "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image" — first laid the primary basis of human government as it is. Life belonged to God, and He passed that principle on to Noah. From then on man was responsible as God's servant to carry out wrath, even to the shedding of blood if blood had been shed; for he must not carry the sword for nothing.

Life is what lets a created being enjoy the place the Creator has set it in. Sin has come in, so that life is forfeited, and God claims it in the words of Genesis 9:5. That established capital punishment for murder, and the law has never been cancelled or changed.

Notice that nothing like civil government was set up at the beginning. Man did not invent it in all the centuries before the flood. God established it for the first time after that great event... This is why Cain was not punished by man, as responsibility would have required after the sword was committed to Noah. From then on God solemnly required blood for blood.

God attached a value to man's life that He had never declared before. It counted for more still, because now for the first time it fell to government, responsible to God, to defend that life.

The image of God expresses man's place and responsibility of representing God... It is not His likeness, for man lost this by sin and fathered children in his own likeness. But man keeps His image, even fallen as he is here. So the man who kills another (except by proper authority) is guilty of denying God's right in this respect... The murderer does not just interfere with a man and harm him as badly as possible. He also defaces God's image by killing a man, and God sentences the murderer to die.

What is insisted on here is the image, not the likeness. So Genesis 9:6. But in James 3:9 it is "likeness," not "image."... An image "represents"; a likeness is "conformed to."

Clearly it is God's committal of the sword, the power of life and death, into the hands of man... Such is the true source and basis of civil government. It did not spring from a social contract. It did not grow by degrees out of family relationships. It did not begin in the usurpation of man or of a class. As God's command gave it being, so it can never cease to be clothed with His authority, whether men listen or refuse... It is a right of God, which He has been pleased ever since the flood to entrust to human keeping.

The law separated murder from manslaughter. If someone killed a person by accident, that killer could run to a City of Refuge and be protected there. God has given man governmental authority to carry out this universal command. It came long before the law of Moses, and no one has ever repealed or relaxed it. In the New Testament the magistrate does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's servant for the punishment of evildoers. Romans 13.

God had already spoken long before on this case (Genesis 9); no one has revoked it, and no one can... That ground remains, and so does the guilt on a land that does not avenge such blood. Those who today would abolish the death penalty should weigh it: "no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it."

Man fails with government as well as without it — not only the governed, but the governor. Noah — that is, man — proves completely unable to wield the sword in righteousness before God, because whoever governs must first know how to rule himself. But Noah got drunk... Part of God's purpose is to show this, and so to show that the Man of His right hand must come to rule the earth.

Despite all He foresaw of rebellion and bloodshed, God repeats in Genesis 9:7 His word to men: "Be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it." They have certainly done this.

God repeats the encouragement of verse 1 to multiply on the earth, and verse 7 puts even more emphasis on it. Multiplying would bring more sinners into the world, but that would not defeat God: by His own pure grace He is able to save sinners. People today try every method of keeping the population of the world down, but God has not told them to do this. He knows how to take care of this problem and will do so in His own way.

Notice, God's command to man, as he entered the restored earth, was to refill that earth; not parts of the earth, but the earth. He wanted men spread out across the face of the world, not leaning on their own concentrated strength. We shall see, in Genesis 11, how man neglected all this.

Back then God gave dominion to man made in His image, after His likeness — dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the cattle, all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Now it was a fallen world. God blessed these men and charged them to fill the earth, and the fear and the dread of them were to fall on every beast and bird, with reptile and fish. He delivered the creatures into men's hand. Sin was everywhere, and God took it into account as an existing fact that could not be ignored.

The Lord's instructions to Noah in verses 3-6 show the start of human government on earth. After Adam sinned, God left man to his conscience. Man broke down completely, and the flood came. So man needed more than conscience, and at this point a new order began: human government. It was necessary to restrain evil and keep order. God, however, gives man only a minimum of law for government — just two laws, covering the rights of God and the rights of mankind.

God entrusted government to the hands of men. Sadly, this new trial soon has the same result as before. The government given to Noah loses its honour at once. The earth, relieved by farming care, becomes in its fruit a snare to Noah. He gets drunk, and his own son dishonours him.

They were to fill the earth. But scattered in peaceful quietness they would count for nothing, so they would not. They had to get a name for themselves, to be a centre. And God scatters into nations by judgment what would not fill the earth by families in peace.

"I will establish my covenant with you" had been God's word to Noah, before he built the ark or the waters came (Gen. 6:18). Now that the judgment is past, and the new earth is inherited, God details that covenant in full and pledges it again to His elect (Gen. 9:8-17). Every covenant we read of in Scripture is specific. Each one names its parties and states its objects plainly. There is no mistaking them.

Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is. From then on God allowed man to eat animal food, yet forbade him to eat blood, which belongs to God. God also put government into man's hand for the first time. Its task was to protect human life, and to vindicate God where life was taken. Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made. It still holds under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.

The covenants made by God are of a different order. He makes His covenants from Himself, without consulting man. With Noah God made a covenant that He would not again destroy the world by a flood. As a token of that covenant He set the rainbow in the cloud (Gen. 9:8-17). This kind of covenant takes the form of an unconditional promise.

Here we may observe that it is "God" (Elohim) who blessed and who spoke; no other title would be fitting. "The LORD" (Jehovah) would have been entirely out of place. This is not an occasion for expressing a special relationship. The subject before us is of the widest character. It is the Creator who is declaring Himself the Preserver of all here below. He does so despite the imagination of man's heart being evil from his youth, which had so recently ended in the destruction of everyone on earth outside the ark. God could and would and did bless on the ground of sacrifice. That blessing was provisional, until the infinite sacrifice by which the new heavens and new earth will come in. Here God establishes His covenant with Noah and his sons on a footing that leaves aside all question of the soul or of moral considerations.

His first act on the cleansed earth was to build an altar to the LORD. There he offered burnt offerings of all the clean animals and birds. The LORD smelled a pleasing aroma. He said in His heart that He would not again curse the ground because of man. He would not again strike down every living thing as He had done. This teaches us that God carries on His providential government of the world on the ground of the pleasing aroma of Christ's sacrifice.

God covenants not only with Noah and his sons and with his descendants after them, but with every living creature — cattle, bird, and beast. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment which had just taken them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke the same punishment? No; God's covenant with man and the earth steps in absolutely. "I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth." He will surely judge and destroy in another way, as He warns elsewhere. But it was no small comfort, when the world that now is began after the flood, that God settled their trembling hearts against a blow they naturally and rightly dreaded.

"With you I will establish my covenant" had been God's word to Noah, before the ark was made, or the waters had come. Genesis 6:18. Now the judgment is past and the new earth is inherited. So God spells that covenant out in full, and pledges it again, to His chosen. Genesis 9:8-17. And it is here that the word "covenant" is first used. Every covenant we read about in Scripture is specific. Its parties and its purposes are clearly defined and plainly stated. There is no mistaking them.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.

God had talked with Noah, because he was righteous before Him. He had often spoken to Noah, but never before to his sons. The Lord could not do this before the flood, or even before Noah and his family left the ark. Once the sacrifices were offered on the altar, He could and did do it... To the righteous one God could speak apart from a sacrifice; to others only on the ground of it. Noah had a place before Him on earth because of what he was; his sons only because of the sacrifice.

Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is... Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature placed under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still stands under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.

Notice again that it is "Elohim" Who blessed (Genesis 9:1) and spoke (verse 8). No other title would be fitting here. "Jehovah" would have been entirely out of place. This is no occasion for expressing a special relationship. Far from it: what is before us here is as wide as it could be. It is the Creator declaring Himself the Preserver of everything here below. And He does so even though the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his youth — which had so recently ended in the destruction of everyone on earth outside the ark.

The second head in this second world — the world since the flood — was Noah. But his place stood on changed terms: under a covenanted and unconditional blessing, whose full token was the rainbow God set in the cloud. Under the protection of that blessing we take our part as "his seed" and descendants. This unchanging covenant rests on the faithfulness of God. It is what secures all blessing to every living creature.

There are really only two covenants in Scripture — the old covenant and the new. Still, the word covenant is used in several places about the Lord where it only announces certain relationships. These are relationships He was pleased to enter into with man or with the creature (Genesis 9:8-17, and so on), or on which man was to approach Him — but without conditions. The context must decide the sense.

Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made. It still stands, held up by a merciful pledge that cannot fail.

At this time God also announced a covenant with Noah and his sons. It included all his descendants too, as well as the birds and animals — all who had been in the ark, and therefore not the fish. The covenant was that God would not again send a flood to destroy the earth.

Here again we may notice that it is "Elohim" Who blessed (Gen. 9:1) and spoke (v. 8). No other name would fit. "Jehovah" would have been completely out of place. This is not an occasion for expressing a special relationship. What is before us is as wide as it could be. It is the Creator declaring Himself the Preserver of all here below.

Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and every living thing that was with them — birds, cattle, beasts of the earth, all that came out of the ark. So the earth and everything tied to it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, just as far the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature.

Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated blows of the same judgment that had just swept them all away? Would old sins repeated and new sins added not bring the same punishment? No. God's covenant with man and the earth stands in the way, and stands absolutely... He will judge and destroy in other ways, as He warns elsewhere. But it was no small comfort, when the present world began after the flood, that God calmed their trembling hearts about a blow they had every natural and just reason to dread.

We have had many pledges of this final redemption and joy of the creatures. Noah carried them, two of every kind, with himself and his household through the waters into the new world. And the same covenant that settled him and his descendants there provided just as much for them (Gen. 9:10).

God never forgets His rights as Creator and Preserver. Even when our blessed Lord brought out heavenly and eternal things, He never taught us to despise the birds of the sky or the lilies of the field, or God's care in either case... And the New Testament is as clear as the Old in keeping before us the deliverance He will surely bring for the whole creation, which groans and suffers pain together until now.

God establishes His covenant in a way that cuts off the least fear from every heart that trusted in Him. There is no more fear that a flood will destroy all flesh, and no fear that God will ever deal with the earth in that way again. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment which had just taken them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke like punishment? Not so. God's covenant with man and the earth steps in and settles the matter.

Noah's was the second recorded sacrifice, Abel's being the first. Abel's sacrifice shows the ground the believing individual stands on with God. Noah's shows the ground the earth stands on with God. Christ's atonement is the reason God can bear with the appalling mass of evil that meets His eye as He looks down from above. Patience would be impossible without the atoning sacrifice, which is always before the mind of God. So the unbeliever owes the very air he breathes to the Saviour whose name he scorns.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new.

The sacrifice of Christ (pictured here) becomes a ground for God's dealing with the earth, not only for accepting man, as with Abel. On this a covenant is founded. God binds Himself in grace, so faith has sure ground to stand on, something it can count on.

Genesis 9:1-7 set out the blessing of God pronounced on Noah and his sons for the world that now is. Now Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still continues under a merciful pledge that cannot fail. We first hear of a covenant with Noah in Genesis 6:18.

The covenant was to the effect that God would not again send a flood to destroy the earth (vv. 10-11). Once a flood like this had happened, people would fear another. But God's word on this is absolute. Sadly, because another has not come, people deny that the first ever happened! Such is the perversity of human sinful nature!

God has told us that just as that world was destroyed by water so this world will be destroyed by fire. The same word of God says this world is kept for the fire at the day of judgment and ruin of bad men. (See 2 Peter 3:7.) He warns men, and tells them how they may escape. (John 3:16.)

In Genesis 9:8-11 God establishes His covenant with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still stands on a merciful pledge that cannot fail. Neither of these applied to the world before the flood. In the verses that follow (12-17) God kindly gives a sign or token of His covenant with the earth. Of a covenant with Noah we first hear in Genesis 6:18.

God makes a covenant with Noah and with the creation, and as the witness of it He gives the rainbow… God gave this covenant to the earth right after the sacrifice of Noah, which is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The wording of God's promise clearly implies that mankind had never seen a rainbow before.

So the goodness of God pledged in the bow He set in the cloud brings immense comfort. As a rule you do not see the bow unless there is rain. You see it only when the sun shines bright at your back from the opposite quarter of the sky. So no sign could be more fitting. The rain might awaken fears; the glorious bow was fitted to calm them. This was God's own way of assuring man of His unfailing covenant.

The Lord God makes a covenant with Noah and with all the creatures around him. He will keep the earth safe from a second flood. As a token of this, He hangs the bow in the cloud, up there under His own eye, that He may look on it, and so remember His promise… The cloud might threaten, and swell itself with water; the bow should control it. The cloud might frown; the bow should smile… And God set the creation on sure conditions, not on conditions that could fail.

Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and every living thing that was with them… The earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, so far the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt… The earth as well as man had a share in the covenant, and the creature will one day rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

The bow God set in the cloud long ago, with its many colours and varied beauty, is the token of His covenant with the earth (Gen. 9:9-17)… It is God's object lesson for the human race. It is a public sign hung out in the heavens, so that all may see and learn that God is good. The last mention of the rainbow shows it over the head of the Lord as He claims the earth in power (Rev. 10:1).

The bow is given as the token of the covenant; that does not mean it was created then. God could, of course, have put plenty of clouds above the earth without a rainbow. He says, "I do set my bow."

It is a pointless question, because Scripture has not given us enough evidence to settle it. Was the rainbow seen then for the first time, or was it well known in the earliest ages?... The least we can draw from the words is that God was now, after the flood, pleased to attach a new and merciful meaning to it.

So there is immense comfort in the bow God's goodness pledged when He set it in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain, and only when the sun shines behind you from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could fit better. If the rain might stir up fear, the beautiful bow had every right to calm it, because God Himself was pleased to assure man of His unfailing covenant.

"I bring a cloud... I do set My bow." We may not separate these two, nor look at one apart from the other. It is good for us to remember that man — himself and his works — is only fit for judgment. It is just as good to remember what God is, or the soul must sink into despair.

The bow in the cloud is man's assurance; but it is more, it is God's memorial of the new relationship into which He has entered with His creatures. His eye is on the bow, and not man's only. So He gives them fellowship with Himself in a sign that speaks of peace in the middle of trouble, and of light in the place of darkness.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The words, "I do set My bow in the cloud," clearly imply that no one had ever seen a rainbow before.

Another universal judgment by water will never come again (verse 15). Another judgment is in store for this planet. "The world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."

This is a lovely picture of God's glory, for "God is light." Each colour stands for some part of God's many attributes — supremacy, power, authority, grace, righteousness, holiness, love... So all the glory of God is bound up in His promise never again to judge the world by a universal flood.

There was a cloud indeed — a dark, thick, heavy cloud of judgment pouring itself out on the sacred head of the Lamb of God... But, thank God, faith sees in that heaviest cloud that ever gathered the most brilliant and beautiful bow that ever appeared.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The words, "I do set My bow in the cloud," clearly suggest that no one had ever seen a rainbow before.

The rainbow may have appeared to Noah before, but it was not appointed by God as a token until after the flood. The word translated "set" (nathan) is sometimes translated "appoint," as in Joshua 20:2. Others think it more likely that no one saw a rainbow before the flood, since the air was in a different state then from what it became after the flood.

Men had good reason to tremble after that terrible disaster. Dark clouds covered the sky, the rain fell in torrents, and tidal waves rose with overwhelming force. An accusing conscience would speak even louder of the disaster they had just lived through. Man naturally expects that what happened once will happen again. He expects it all the more if old sins still ruled and new evils sprang up.

As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain. And you see it only when the sun shines brightly at your back, from the opposite side of the sky. So no sign could be more fitting. If the rain might stir up fears, the glorious bow had every right to calm them. God Himself gladly chose this way to assure man of His unfailing covenant. The accuracy is even more striking. The words run, "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds." Rain does not seem strictly necessary, but cloud is.

We look at the cloud; God looks at the bow. What grace is here! He says, "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it." The bow tells of God's unchangeable faithfulness and mercy when all is over with man. This is the ground we are on with God.

The mighty angel, the angel of judgment, comes down. He is clothed with a cloud, the frightening vessel of wrath and sign of judgment. This is what God said at the beginning: "When I bring clouds over the earth." But even then the rainbow is with Him... It is not simply with a cloud He comes down, but with the cloud and the bow accompanying it. See Gen. 9:14; Rev. 10:1. This tells us that at the very end He remembers His word, and will hold judgment in check. He will say to it, "You may come this far, and no farther." ... The cloud carries out its commission and pours out its waters, or its judgments, again. But it must stop in obedience to the bow that measures and controls it.

My fellow-believer, in all the trials of the way God would have us see the bow in the cloud. Think of this in your present trial, which He has allowed. Think of the thing that distresses you most of all, which perhaps no other Christian knows anything about. These words are written for you... The cloud may be dark and gloomy, but there is a beauty in it painted by His own hand, and it tells you, despite everything, what He is to you. And remember, whether you see it or not, IT IS THERE.

God sets up His covenant to cut off the least fear from every heart that trusted Him. No flood will destroy all flesh again, and God will not deal with the earth in any such way. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment that had just swept them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke the same punishment? Not so; God's covenant with man and the earth steps in absolutely.

This is the immense comfort God's goodness pledged in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain. And you only see it when the sun shines at your back from the opposite quarter of the sky. No sign could be more fitting. If the rain might wake fears, the glorious bow was there to calm them; for God Himself in this way assured man of His unfailing covenant. The accuracy is all the more striking. The terms run, "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant." So "rain" does not seem strictly necessary, but "cloud" is.

The Lord God makes a covenant with Noah, and with all the creatures around him, that He will keep the earth safe from a second flood. As a sign of this, He hangs the bow in the cloud, up there under His own eye, so that He may look on it and so remember His promise. The cloud might threaten and swell with water; the bow would control it. The cloud might frown; the bow would smile.

Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, and their seed after them. He included every living thing that was with them — birds, cattle, beasts of the earth, everything that came out of the ark. The earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, there the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt... The covenant took in the earth as well as man, as the creation will one day rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

The rainbow speaks of a judgment now past, of His salvation and His remembrance. Another universal judgment by water will never come again (verse 15). But another judgment is in store for this planet. "The world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 3:6-7).

The rainbow was the seal of God's covenant with the earth, an agreement in which He pledged Himself never again to visit the earth with a flood. So the rainbow appears as a complete circle around the throne, alongside all the judgments about to come from that throne upon the earth. It is as if to remind us that God would act according to the terms of that covenant. He will never forget the pledge He has given, and all the judgments of the great tribulation will not wipe it out.

The whole creation rests, as to its exemption from a second deluge, on the eternal stability of God's covenant, of which the bow is the token; and it is happy to bear in mind that when the bow appears, the eye of God rests upon it; and man is cast not upon his own imperfect and most uncertain memory, but upon God's. "I," says God, "will remember." How sweet to think of what God will, and what He will not remember! He will remember His own covenant, but He will not remember His people's sins.

If God has swept man away once in the judgment of the flood, then whatever the cloud may be, it declares again what He thinks of the first man. If mercy has shown itself and we are spared, we must still never forget that His estimate of what we are is on record, and that the same cloud bears witness to it again. And the bow in the cloud declares His faithfulness to His promise... We look at the cloud; God looks at the bow. What grace is here! He says, "When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it."

So God's goodness pledged immense comfort in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule the bow only shows when there is rain, and only when the sun shines behind you from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could fit better. If the rain might stir up fear, the glorious bow had every right to calm it; for God Himself stooped to assure man of His unfailing covenant.

Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man: the largest covenant God ever made, and still subsisting under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.

Because of the sacrifice God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and with every living thing that was with them... So the earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, so far the blessed results of the burnt offering would reach... The earth as well as man had a share in the covenant, and one day creation will rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

The bow in the cloud is the sign, or token, of this covenant with creation. Under it the earth has continued to the present time, and it will continue all through the millennial (thousand-year) period. Then Christ will hand the kingdom over to the Father, and the heaven and the earth will pass away. They will give place to the new heaven and the new earth — the everlasting state — in which God will be all in all.

Here the rainbow is God's remembrance of His covenant with the earth... God is about to pour out judgments on the earth, and on those who had the responsibility of being His people. But He takes pains to show that, before a single judgment falls, there is mercy in store. Before He touches creation, there is the sign of His covenant with the earth... The rainbow was the witness that God had not let go of His ancient word: He could not forget it.

Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still holds good under a merciful pledge that cannot fail. Neither the one nor the other applied to the earth before the flood. In the verses that follow (12-17) God chooses to give a sign or token of His covenant with the earth.

This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. God's words about setting His bow in the cloud clearly imply that mankind had never seen a rainbow before.

At the very least, the words mean that God was now, since the flood, pleased to attach a new and merciful meaning to it. For men might well tremble after that terrible disaster. Dark clouds had covered the skies, the rain had fallen in torrents, and tidal waves had risen over everything.

So God's goodness pledged immense comfort in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain, of course. And you only see it when the sun shines brightly behind you, from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could be more appropriate. If the rain might awaken fears, the glorious bow was fit to calm them. In this way God Himself chose to assure man of His unfailing covenant.

Last of all, God ratifies the covenant and gives a token to confirm it. The bow in the cloud is man's assurance. But it is more. It is God's own memorial of the new relationship He has entered into with His creatures. His eye, and not man's only, is upon the bow. So He gives them fellowship with Himself in a sign that speaks of peace in the middle of trouble, and of light in the place of darkness.

Pure white light divides into seven distinct visible colours. They always appear in the same order, and each colour of the spectrum has a beauty of its own. This is a lovely picture of God's glory, for "God is light." Each colour stands for some particular aspect of God's many attributes: supremacy, power, authority, grace, righteousness, holiness, love, and others. So all the glory of God is involved in His promise that He will not again judge the world by means of a universal flood.

The Lord is now gathering a people for heaven. He is not filling the earth with glory yet, but gathering out a chosen family to have communion with Himself in heaven. Still He is mindful of His promise. He looks on the bow and preserves the earth. He keeps seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, day and night, summer and winter, in their fixed rounds and seasons.

The bow set in the cloud long ago, with its many colours and varied beauty, is the token of God's covenant with the earth. It is God's object lesson for the human race, a public sign hung out in the heavens so that all may see and learn that God is good. The last mention of the rainbow shows it over the head of the Lord, when in power He asserts His claim to the earth.

Genesis 9:18 — 11:9. The story of the deliverance closes here. Now we come to something very different, in many ways the opposite — the history of the delivered people. That history begins with failure. It ends with confusion — and that confusion comes from the same gracious hand that had just delivered them. It is the humbling lesson of what we are, and we now have to read it in the light of what He is.

Ham, we know, is declared to be "the little" one (Gen. 9:24) — usually translated "youngest." Chronology shows that Japheth, not Shem, was the eldest. Shem is put first in the usual formula of "Shem, Ham, and Japheth." That is not due to the order of birth, but to the spiritual purpose which gave Shem that position (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18; 10:1). When the detailed "generations" come, though, Japheth's sons are listed first... Japheth had the honour of being firstborn. Ham is marked by his early rise to political place and natural power. But the honour Godward was kept for Shem, though he is named last.

Verse 18 gives us the names of Noah's sons — Shem, Ham and Japheth — and then the positive statement that "from these the whole earth was populated."... However obscure some races have been, they have become obscure since Noah's time. We have no clear knowledge of how they were scattered through the world — even into North and South America — but all are the descendants of Noah.

The covenant with man and the creation under him, sealed with its sign of mercy, was settled first. Then attention is drawn again to the three heads of Noah's race, "Shem and Ham, and Japheth," in the same order as before (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13). Now there is an ominous addition: "and Ham is the father of Canaan." The sad incident that follows comments on it at once, and the solemn prophecy at the end of the chapter says more still. It echoes through the whole Old Testament, and it will only be completed in that kingdom which awaits the Anointed of Jehovah, when all the earth shall be filled with His glory.

In verse 21 a notable mark is set on Eber: his forefather Shem is called, in unusual terms, "father of all the sons of Eber," though Eber came several generations later. The opposite happens with Ham, though perhaps not so strikingly. He had to bear the shame of being called "father of Canaan" (Gen. 9:18). So God calls us to notice two things. One is the man who inherited the curse and became the instrument of the enemy, trying to stop Israel from taking possession of the promised land at the right time. The other is the interest He took in making us look ahead to those who stood in the first line of the heirs of Shem's blessing.

One of Noah's three sons: he was father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan... We know nothing about Ham himself except his disrespectful behaviour when his father was drunk. That behaviour brought down the curse of Noah on Canaan.

"Ham" means "black," the unenlightened — or perhaps more exactly the "sun-burnt," scorched and darkened by the very light itself. Light that is not received as light becomes a source of darkness to the soul. And Ham is the father of Canaan — the "trader," as his name means.

It is not only that mankind sprang from a single pair created innocent as Adam and Eve were. A fresh start for the race began after the flood which judged the guilty mass. God preserved Noah and his three sons from destruction. From them began the conditions that continue today, and will continue for their descendants until the Son of man comes with the clouds of heaven... This time the race did not start from a single line. We have three heads with their wives — three great families to renew the history of man on earth, with the experience drawn from the world before the flood.

The last word points to what has been going on ever since... What strikes one more is how slowly it happened after the flood. Whatever moved men to hinder the plan of God, it soon became plain that mankind had settled on one united community. They would not only gather together. They would build a city and a tower with its top reaching to the heavens, and make a name for themselves, so that they would not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. This, we are assured, only brought out God's power and wisdom. He frustrated their empty purpose, and He carried out His will that they should spread over the earth. He judged their self-exalting folly by breaking the bond that held them together.

In the Bible there is no more important chapter than Genesis 10 about the way God arranged tongues, families, and nations. Here alone we find the rise of the different races, with their sources. Who else could have told us how and when this division of the earth happened?... Everyone who has studied it agrees, as far as I know, that there are three, and only three, divisions into which the nations branch... Men worth listening to are all convinced that these three grand lines are just as surely from one origin as they are distinct. That there was only one such root is the statement of the Scriptures.

In Noah's sons we have the heads of the three great divisions of the human race. Their characteristics have developed so differently today that unbelievers dare to deny their common blood (Acts 17:26).

The result of this history is that the world is set out by families. The fashion of this world has blotted out the memory and the sense of this, but not the power. It is rooted in the judgment of God. When the acquired strength of this world grows weak, it will show more and more, as it is at work even now. The fountain heads were three, first named in this order: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Shem's was the family in which God would establish His covenant on earth, and with which He would be in relationship. Ham was hostile to God's family. Last came the Gentile Japheth, though he was the eldest and proudest.

Now there is an ominous addition: "and Ham is the father of Canaan." The sad incident that follows comments on it quickly, and the solemn prophecy that closes the chapter says still more. That word echoes through the whole Old Testament. It will be finished only in that kingdom which awaits the Anointed of Jehovah, when all the earth shall be filled with His glory.

Noah failed to govern himself by his misuse of God's creature, and gave occasion for such sin in his family that a special curse came in there... It is the sad and familiar story of the first man; as soon as he is put to the test, he breaks down. Nor does the evil stop with himself... But God is not mocked. His moral government fails no more than His grace does. And His grace answers every failure of man with something better out of His goodness and wisdom.

Noah sits in the new world — gifted and blessed, enriched and honoured, taught too, and appointed as "the power" under God. With all this he is at ease, and knows he is safe, with no evil or enemy present. A new trial of man was going on, under new circumstances. As with Adam in Eden, God leaves nothing undone on His part... And Noah, like the rest, fails. The very first foot that trod the fresh soil of the new world quickly stained it.

We may note, in passing, that Noah failed in this covenant, as man always has. Instead of drawing blessings out of the earth by working the soil, he starts to grow the vine, and gets drunk. Through this forgetfulness and fault of his, the true principle of government also lost its force at the very start. Noah held the reins of that government, and one of his sons mocked him.

Noah followed in the way of Cain and turned his attention to the ground, and serious failure followed. And so it is in Christian experience. As soon as we follow Cain's way and become occupied with the earth, Satan traps us in one of his snares.

Noah's work as a farmer was of course commendable, but people can misuse anything and bring trouble. This man had received the dignity of authority in government. Yet he allowed himself too much wine, became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. This illustrates the weakness of human government from its very beginning. Why is human government doomed to fail? Because those in authority fail to exercise self-government. If a man does not rule himself well, how can anyone trust him to rule others?

God entrusted government over life and death to his keeping. And the man who first received that trust was by far the best fitted for it, in godliness and in experience. Yet look at the very next thing recorded of him. No doubt through self-indulgence and a lack of watchfulness, he not only sinned himself, but brought God's ordinance of government into open dishonour.

This, truly, was a high position — a place of immense power, privilege, and responsibility. How does Noah carry himself in it? He gets drunk, and degrades himself in front of his sons! Such is the plain, obvious fact. Men may reason as they will. They try to smooth it, soften it, and pare it down. They always do that when a great truth bears down on human pride and self-congratulation. But they cannot set aside the humbling fact that the head of the restored earth got drunk.

Although Noah lived 350 years after he began to be a farmer, his name is never mentioned again... Men did not take notice of him that he had been with the Lord. Satan had won the victory over "the preacher of righteousness." This episode comes home with living power to every Christian, the oldest as well as the youngest. We do well to be watchful. "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. 10:12).

Human government is now set up. It shows its weakness, not in the authority given to it, but in the feeble hands that received it. Noah fails to govern himself. So he becomes a picture of the failure of all government. Yet he is also a hint that One is coming who will reign in righteousness and bring blessing through His reign.

Several Hebrew words are translated wine. Scripture attaches various words to it — "sweet," "new," "strong," "good," "mixed," "spiced," "on the lees" — yet all are wine. And the wine was intoxicating, as we already see in the days of Noah. Drinking to excess is the abuse of it, and Scripture is full of protests and warnings against such abuse.

Man fails with government as well as without it — not the governed only, but the governor. Noah, that is, man, proves completely unable to wield the sword in righteousness before God. Whoever governs must first know how to rule himself. But Noah got drunk. And so another point comes out: man must have a ruler, and he clearly cannot be his own master. Part of God's purpose is to show this — to show the absolute need for the Man of His right hand to come and rule the earth.

This new trial had barely begun when man broke down. He failed at the very point he was responsible to keep intact before God and his fellow men. God had entrusted government over life and death to his keeping. The man who first received that trust was by far the best suited to it, in piety and in experience. Yet the next fact recorded of him is that, no doubt through self-indulgence and lack of watchfulness, he not only sinned himself, but brought God's ordinance of government into open dishonour. And the sin and the dishonour produced no godly sorrow in his own household, but contempt.

Noah sits in the new world, endowed and blessed, enriched and honoured. He is instructed too, and appointed as "the power" under God. With all this he is at ease and knows he is safe, with no evil or enemy in sight. A new trial of man was going forward, under new circumstances. As with Adam in Eden, God leaves nothing undone on His part... In Christ, and in Him only, are unfailing faithfulness and strength. And Noah, like the rest, fails. The very first foot that trod the fresh soil of the new world stained it.

What a condition to find Noah in — the only righteous man, the preacher of righteousness! What is man? Look at him where you will, and you see only failure. In Eden he fails. On the restored earth he fails. In Canaan he fails. In the Church he fails. In the presence of millennial blessing and glory he fails.

We must look at Noah in two ways: as a picture, and as a man. The picture is full of beauty and meaning, but the man is full of sin and folly... Divine grace had covered all his sins, and clothed him with a spotless robe of righteousness. Though Noah exposed his nakedness, God did not see it. He looked at Noah not in the weakness of his own condition, but in the full power of divine and everlasting righteousness.

Noah had all this high favour and special experience. Yet as soon as he was left to his own will, he became a slave to lust under Satan's influence. Noah followed in the way of Cain and turned his attention to the ground, and grievous failure followed. So it is in Christian experience. As soon as we become occupied with the earth, Satan traps us in one of his snares. Although Noah lived 350 years after he became a farmer, his name is never mentioned again. He was alive through the whole godless period that ended with the building of the Tower of Babel. Yet his presence did not restrain his descendants... "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."

The last part of this chapter shows a humiliating scene. The lord of creation fails to govern himself... What a condition for Noah, the only righteous man, the preacher of righteousness, to be found in. What is man? Look at him wherever you like, and you see only failure. In Eden, he fails; in the restored earth, he fails; in Canaan, he fails; in the Church, he fails.

Noah's sin brought God's ordinance of government into open dishonour. In his own household it produced no godly sorrow, but contempt. His younger son Ham had no feeling for God's glory, and none for what he owed his father, even in such a disastrous moment. All he showed was the wickedness of his own heart: he mocked Noah without pity, and he was eager to spread his father's shame and to trap his two brothers. Their reverence was as plain as Ham's lack of it. He forgot to whom he owed his life, and his rescue from the flood.

Noah is put to shame; but Ham, his son, glories in the shame. That was a terrible advance in the progress of evil... This was not simply being "caught in any transgression," but "rejoicing at wrongdoing."

Disrespect toward authority is a very grave sin, whether it is a parent's authority or a government's, because God set up both. In the end it leads to setting aside the authority of God, who set it up. Only when we weigh this properly do we see how right Noah's solemn curse was, once he learned what had happened.

This is the evil of despising government, which has become very common in the day in which we live (Jude 8). Though governments often fail badly, this gives us no right to reject or disobey proper authority (Romans 13:1-7).

Divine grace had covered all his sins, and clothed him in a spotless robe of righteousness. Noah exposed his nakedness, but God did not see it. He looked at him not in the weakness of his own condition, but in the full power of divine and everlasting righteousness. So we can see how far astray Ham was in what he did, how totally cut off from God and His thoughts. He knew nothing of the blessedness of the man whose iniquity is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Shem and Japheth, by contrast, show in their conduct a fine example of God's own way of dealing with human nakedness.

Love is far from being indifferent to sin. But love does not have to expose sins, or gloat over the failure of others. If possible, love will deal with sins privately, so that they do not needlessly become public. When they are dealt with and judged, love will no longer speak of them or spread them abroad.

The wicked and scornful son reaped the fruit of his evil in his own son Canaan, just as God remembered the reverent modesty of Shem and Japheth in their descendants. Salvation is by grace, and it cannot fail, because it is the work of God in Christ, where God secures everything for His glory. Even where salvation may not be, God puts honour on obedience and on respect paid where it is due.

His younger son Ham cared nothing for God's glory, and nothing for what he owed his father, even in such terrible circumstances. He only showed the wickedness of his own heart. He made unfeeling fun of Noah, and was eager to spread his father's shame and trap his two brothers. Their reverence was as plain as Ham's contempt for God, and Ham forgot the one to whom he owed his life as well as his rescue from the flood.

Shem and Japheth showed Noah the respect he was due, both as their father and as the ruler in the new conditions. Ham did not. Disrespect toward authority is a very serious sin, whether it is a parent's authority or a government's. God set up both at the start. In the end it leads to setting aside the authority of God, who set it up.

The two brothers did a work of love. The graceless hardness of their own close relative stirred them to it all the more. Yet what sorrow must have filled their hearts. Their godliness forced them to turn their backs on the one they had always looked up to. And they had looked up to him rightly, with steady affection, honour, and gratitude.

Divine grace had covered all his sins, and clothed him with a spotless robe of righteousness. Noah exposed his nakedness, but God did not see it. He did not look at Noah in the weakness of his own condition. He looked at him in the full power of divine and everlasting righteousness. So we can see how far astray Ham was in the course he took, and how completely cut off from God and His thoughts. He knew nothing of the blessedness of the man whose wrongdoing is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Shem and Japheth, by contrast, show in their conduct a fine example of God's way of dealing with human nakedness. So they inherit a blessing, while Ham inherits a curse.

The same principle holds true for a parent's authority and for a government's authority. Proper respect will seek to cover failure, not expose it. But we must stress this: it applies to cases of failure, not to cases of wicked abuse of authority.

Love is far from being indifferent to sin; but love does not necessarily expose sins, or gloat over the failure of others. If possible, love will deal with sins privately, so that they do not needlessly become public. When they are dealt with and judged, love will no longer speak of them or spread them abroad.

The wicked and scornful son reaped the fruit of his evil in his own child Canaan. The reverent modesty of Shem and Japheth was remembered in their descendants. Salvation is by grace, and it cannot fail, because it is the work of God in Christ. Even where salvation may not be in view, God puts honour on obedience and on respect paid where it is due.

God gave this man the dignity of authority in government. Yet he allowed himself too much wine and became drunk, and in that state he lay uncovered in his tent. This shows the weakness of human government from its very beginning. Why is human government doomed to fail? Because those in authority fail to govern themselves. If a man does not rule himself well, how can he be trusted to rule others?

His younger son Ham had no feeling for God's glory, and none for what he owed his father, even in such terrible circumstances. He only showed the wickedness of his own heart. He mocked Noah without pity, and he was eager to spread his father's shame and trap his two brothers. Their reverence was as plain as Ham's contempt for God. He forgot to whom he owed his life and his rescue from the flood.

Ham, we know, is declared to be "the little" one (Gen. 9:24) — usually translated "youngest". And the dates show that not Shem but Japheth was the eldest… Shem is named first in the usual formula of "Shem, Ham, and Japheth." That first place is not due to the order of birth, but to the spiritual purpose which gave Shem that position.

In Genesis, as here, the order is Shem, Ham and Japheth. We cannot assume this to be the order of birth. In Gen. 10:21, where Shem and Japheth are mentioned, Japheth is called the elder. And some ask whether "younger son" in Gen. 9:24 refers to Ham or to his son Canaan.

Disrespect of authority — whether a parent's or a government's — is a very grave sin, because God set up both. In the end it leads to setting aside the authority of God, who established it… When we come, in verses 25-27, to the curse that came from Noah's lips, we find it fell on Canaan with no mention of Ham. We think this shows two things. First, Noah's sad lapse happened some time after the flood. Enough years had passed for Canaan to have been born and become active. Second, Canaan was involved with his father in the matter, and the weight of the curse fell on him rather than on his father.

Either way it was mercy to keep the curse Ham had surely earned within the narrowest limits, instead of spreading it over all his descendants. In judgment as in grace God is always wise.

The wicked and scornful son reaped the fruit of his evil in his own offspring Canaan. In the same way, God remembered the reverent modesty of Shem and Japheth in their descendants… Even where salvation may not be, God puts honour on obedience and on respect paid where it is due.

And the saint himself is soon restored. Noah awakens from his wine. The man who was overtaken recovers himself, through the Spirit. And the grace of God gives him a great triumph. It is a very precious and glorious triumph indeed, for the restored one judges his judge, and condemns his accuser.