Genesis (Part 10)
Bible Study Time 8-17-08
(From James Roberts 10-6-96)
Bible Study Time 8-17-08
(From James Roberts 10-6-96)
In our Journey Through the Scripture last week, we met a man by the name of Noah. I’m sure that you are very familiar with the account of Noah in the Bible. Noah was divinely warned of God about the judgment that was coming. God said that His Spirit was not always going to strive with man, but that He was going to give man a hundred and twenty years before the great judgment would come.
God gave to Noah the blueprints for the ark. Then, as Noah built the ark, he warned the people of the judgment to come. In the book of 2 Peter, Chapter 3, Peter compares the rebellion of the people in Noah’s day to the rebellion of the people who will live in the last days before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter says that in the end times there will be many scoffers who will laugh at those who warn them of the judgment that is sure to come. Notice in verse 4 of 2 Peter 3 that these scoffers will say:
2 Peter 3:4-9 NKJV
4 . . . "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
At the Lord’s second coming, He will bring a great judgment upon the earth that will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon. The Jesus Christ will establish a kingdom of blessing upon the earth that will last for a thousand years. However, at the end of that thousand year kingdom, there will be one final rebellion before Satan is cast into the lake of fire. At that time God will bring one final judgment upon the earth that will destroy the heavens and the earth as they now exist. Then, out of that destruction God will bring forth a new heaven and a new earth that will be filled with righteousness.
In 2 Peter 3, Peter indicates that before both of these end time judgments, there will be many scoffers on the earth, just as there were scoffers in the days of Noah before the flood. These scoffers will say, where is the promise of His coming; we don’t see any sign or anything in our past experience that would lead us to believe that judgment is coming. They will say that everything has continued without change since the time of the creation.
Peter says that in this thought these scoffers will be willingly ignorant of one thing, and that is the flood judgment of Noah’s day. All things have not continued without change since the beginning of the world. The flood of Noah’s day was a cataclysmic judgment which resulted in enormous changes in the creation. Many of these changes are with us to this day.
The doctrine of evolution is based on the concept of uniformitarianism. Those who hold to this idea believe that everything in our natural world has remained the same over the billions and billions of years since the beginning of time. This concept does not allow for the occurrence of any catastrophes which could change the natural environment of the earth.
Because of this uniformitarian presupposition, many scientist today feel that they can accurately date every archeological find with carbon dating. They believe that all of the natural laws that we observe today have always been in effect without change even through all of the processes of evolution that have occurred over billions of years.
This presupposition is based on the very idea that Peter warned about in regard to the end times. He said that in the end times, people will say that everything has remained the same since the beginning of creation. Peter says that people who say such things are willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood.
Indeed, many people today are willingly ignorant of the flood and its consequences. They call the flood a myth. They say that the account of the flood is just one of those stories that was placed in the Bible to teach a moral lesson. They refuse to accept the flood as a literal, historic event.
We have to conclude that these scoffers are willingly ignorant of the flood because there is ample evidence that the flood did take place and that it permanently altered the natural environment of the earth. The earth, as it was before the flood, perished, and therefore we cannot assume that the natural laws that we observe today would have been valid before the flood.
Just think of the pressure that was exerted upon the face of the earth when the whole earth was covered with water. The volume of water at that time was so great that it covered even the highest mountains. This intense pressure would most certainly have destroyed everything that was, and it would have permanently altered the natural environment of the earth.
Peter says that the people of the end times will be willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood because they don’t want to face the truth of God’s future judgment. During the end times, people will ask, where is the promise of the Lord’s coming? They will say, I haven’t seen any kind of judgment in my lifetime. I haven’t seen anybody call down fire from heaven. And I haven’t seen the earth being destroyed by water or by any other means.
Peter would remind us that just because we have not seen such judgments, that does not mean that it hasn’t happened. And it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future. Peter says that God is not slack concerning His promise, and that what God has said will take place, will take place. God will perform that which He has promised.
It was the power of God’s word that held the judgment waters of Noah’s day in place until the time for judgment came. However, when God spoke, the windows of heaven opened up and water came pouring down out of heaven for forty days and forty nights. It was a constant deluge of water that had been reserved in heaven for that time of judgment. At that same time, the fountains of the deep were broken up so that the earth, as it was before the flood, was destroyed.
Now, in the days of Noah, the people scoffed at the idea of God judging the earth with rain. They had never seen the judgment of God, and in fact, they had never seen rain. Everything had been going along pretty well, the same as it always had. They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, but then the flood came and took them all away.
You see, God is not going to be mocked. God is not slack concerning His promise, but He is longsuffering, and He is not willing that any should perish. The reason that the judgment of God has not come upon us today is not because men don’t deserve it. It’s because God is longsuffering and patient. God does not want any human life to be destroyed. Indeed, He wants all of humanity to repent and return to Him in faith.
As we apply this lesson to our own situation today, we must bear in mind that as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, we are not headed for the judgments of the end time. We are not headed for the Battle of Armageddon or the fiery judgment that will take place after the thousand year kingdom.
The next thing on God’s agenda for us is the catching up of the Church to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. One day the Lord is going to finish building the Church which is the Body of Christ. When the last person is saved and added to the church, Jesus Christ is going to take the church home to be with Himself in the glory.
Those who have died are going to be raised up from the grave, and they will be given glorified bodies as they ascend into heaven. Then those who are alive and remain on the earth will be taken up, and they too will be given bodies that are like the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The rapture of the Church is our hope today, and just as Noah could look up through a window in the top of the ark to see the heavens, even so you and I today are to keep looking up, because we are to look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Philippians tells us that:
Philippians 3:20-21
20 . . . our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Beloved, the flood came. The flood destroyed the earth and every living thing that was upon the earth. All of the plant life and all of the animal life, all of that perished. But God saved Noah and His family. Before the rain began, God told them to come into the ark, and when they got into the ark, God closed the door so that Noah and his family were sealed inside. They were safe, but it was too late for anyone else to get in.
Notice, if you will, that God did not just let Noah stand outside the ark so that he could try to hold onto the ark and save himself when the waters began to rise. I’m sure that when the floods came, many people did get up on the ark, and they probably tried the best they could to hold onto the ark, but everyone of them perished. Only those who were sealed inside the ark were safe.
Today, when a person comes to Jesus Christ and accepts by faith that Jesus Christ died for his sins, God puts that person inside Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the ark of safety for us today. When God places us into Jesus Christ, He seals us with the Holy Spirit of promise so that the door is shut behind us. As believers, we are safely protected inside the Lord Jesus Christ from the future judgments of God.
I’m glad to know that I am safe and secure inside the Lord Jesus and that I don’t have to just try to hold on in the midst of a world that is tempest tossed and full of turmoil. I’m glad that it’s not up to me to try to keep myself safe, but that it is God, Himself, who preserves me and keeps me as one of His children.
Well, we have seen something of the ark and the safety that God provided for Noah during the great flood judgment. Next week, we are going to pick up again with Noah as he exits the ark to receive some new instructions from the Lord. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
God gave to Noah the blueprints for the ark. Then, as Noah built the ark, he warned the people of the judgment to come. In the book of 2 Peter, Chapter 3, Peter compares the rebellion of the people in Noah’s day to the rebellion of the people who will live in the last days before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter says that in the end times there will be many scoffers who will laugh at those who warn them of the judgment that is sure to come. Notice in verse 4 of 2 Peter 3 that these scoffers will say:
2 Peter 3:4-9 NKJV
4 . . . "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
At the Lord’s second coming, He will bring a great judgment upon the earth that will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon. The Jesus Christ will establish a kingdom of blessing upon the earth that will last for a thousand years. However, at the end of that thousand year kingdom, there will be one final rebellion before Satan is cast into the lake of fire. At that time God will bring one final judgment upon the earth that will destroy the heavens and the earth as they now exist. Then, out of that destruction God will bring forth a new heaven and a new earth that will be filled with righteousness.
In 2 Peter 3, Peter indicates that before both of these end time judgments, there will be many scoffers on the earth, just as there were scoffers in the days of Noah before the flood. These scoffers will say, where is the promise of His coming; we don’t see any sign or anything in our past experience that would lead us to believe that judgment is coming. They will say that everything has continued without change since the time of the creation.
Peter says that in this thought these scoffers will be willingly ignorant of one thing, and that is the flood judgment of Noah’s day. All things have not continued without change since the beginning of the world. The flood of Noah’s day was a cataclysmic judgment which resulted in enormous changes in the creation. Many of these changes are with us to this day.
The doctrine of evolution is based on the concept of uniformitarianism. Those who hold to this idea believe that everything in our natural world has remained the same over the billions and billions of years since the beginning of time. This concept does not allow for the occurrence of any catastrophes which could change the natural environment of the earth.
Because of this uniformitarian presupposition, many scientist today feel that they can accurately date every archeological find with carbon dating. They believe that all of the natural laws that we observe today have always been in effect without change even through all of the processes of evolution that have occurred over billions of years.
This presupposition is based on the very idea that Peter warned about in regard to the end times. He said that in the end times, people will say that everything has remained the same since the beginning of creation. Peter says that people who say such things are willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood.
Indeed, many people today are willingly ignorant of the flood and its consequences. They call the flood a myth. They say that the account of the flood is just one of those stories that was placed in the Bible to teach a moral lesson. They refuse to accept the flood as a literal, historic event.
We have to conclude that these scoffers are willingly ignorant of the flood because there is ample evidence that the flood did take place and that it permanently altered the natural environment of the earth. The earth, as it was before the flood, perished, and therefore we cannot assume that the natural laws that we observe today would have been valid before the flood.
Just think of the pressure that was exerted upon the face of the earth when the whole earth was covered with water. The volume of water at that time was so great that it covered even the highest mountains. This intense pressure would most certainly have destroyed everything that was, and it would have permanently altered the natural environment of the earth.
Peter says that the people of the end times will be willingly ignorant of the facts concerning the flood because they don’t want to face the truth of God’s future judgment. During the end times, people will ask, where is the promise of the Lord’s coming? They will say, I haven’t seen any kind of judgment in my lifetime. I haven’t seen anybody call down fire from heaven. And I haven’t seen the earth being destroyed by water or by any other means.
Peter would remind us that just because we have not seen such judgments, that does not mean that it hasn’t happened. And it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in the future. Peter says that God is not slack concerning His promise, and that what God has said will take place, will take place. God will perform that which He has promised.
It was the power of God’s word that held the judgment waters of Noah’s day in place until the time for judgment came. However, when God spoke, the windows of heaven opened up and water came pouring down out of heaven for forty days and forty nights. It was a constant deluge of water that had been reserved in heaven for that time of judgment. At that same time, the fountains of the deep were broken up so that the earth, as it was before the flood, was destroyed.
Now, in the days of Noah, the people scoffed at the idea of God judging the earth with rain. They had never seen the judgment of God, and in fact, they had never seen rain. Everything had been going along pretty well, the same as it always had. They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, but then the flood came and took them all away.
You see, God is not going to be mocked. God is not slack concerning His promise, but He is longsuffering, and He is not willing that any should perish. The reason that the judgment of God has not come upon us today is not because men don’t deserve it. It’s because God is longsuffering and patient. God does not want any human life to be destroyed. Indeed, He wants all of humanity to repent and return to Him in faith.
As we apply this lesson to our own situation today, we must bear in mind that as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, we are not headed for the judgments of the end time. We are not headed for the Battle of Armageddon or the fiery judgment that will take place after the thousand year kingdom.
The next thing on God’s agenda for us is the catching up of the Church to be with Christ in the glory of heaven. One day the Lord is going to finish building the Church which is the Body of Christ. When the last person is saved and added to the church, Jesus Christ is going to take the church home to be with Himself in the glory.
Those who have died are going to be raised up from the grave, and they will be given glorified bodies as they ascend into heaven. Then those who are alive and remain on the earth will be taken up, and they too will be given bodies that are like the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The rapture of the Church is our hope today, and just as Noah could look up through a window in the top of the ark to see the heavens, even so you and I today are to keep looking up, because we are to look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Philippians tells us that:
Philippians 3:20-21
20 . . . our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Beloved, the flood came. The flood destroyed the earth and every living thing that was upon the earth. All of the plant life and all of the animal life, all of that perished. But God saved Noah and His family. Before the rain began, God told them to come into the ark, and when they got into the ark, God closed the door so that Noah and his family were sealed inside. They were safe, but it was too late for anyone else to get in.
Notice, if you will, that God did not just let Noah stand outside the ark so that he could try to hold onto the ark and save himself when the waters began to rise. I’m sure that when the floods came, many people did get up on the ark, and they probably tried the best they could to hold onto the ark, but everyone of them perished. Only those who were sealed inside the ark were safe.
Today, when a person comes to Jesus Christ and accepts by faith that Jesus Christ died for his sins, God puts that person inside Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the ark of safety for us today. When God places us into Jesus Christ, He seals us with the Holy Spirit of promise so that the door is shut behind us. As believers, we are safely protected inside the Lord Jesus Christ from the future judgments of God.
I’m glad to know that I am safe and secure inside the Lord Jesus and that I don’t have to just try to hold on in the midst of a world that is tempest tossed and full of turmoil. I’m glad that it’s not up to me to try to keep myself safe, but that it is God, Himself, who preserves me and keeps me as one of His children.
Well, we have seen something of the ark and the safety that God provided for Noah during the great flood judgment. Next week, we are going to pick up again with Noah as he exits the ark to receive some new instructions from the Lord. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
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