Or, All That God Commanded
Scripture: Genesis 6:9-22
Date: October 25, 2015
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 150:1–6)
The most fitting activity in the universe is praise. The final psalm in the book calls for booming song from His gathered people. He is to be praised for His mighty deeds and to the degree of His greatness, which is infinitely excellent. He is to be praised with instruments of every variety, with great vitality and great volume. Everything that has breath—praise the Lord!
If we breathe, then we’re called into the life of praise. Each breath is His gracious gift and ought to be entered into our blessing journals. In the beginning, “the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). Every breath of every beast and bird and creeping thing is given by God (Genesis 1:30). Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Imagine God’s moral outrage then, when He saw (and sees) a planet of corrupt flesh, pretending self-sufficient importance. “We don’t need Him.” Every God-given heartbeat churned out intentions that were only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Those who should have praised the LORD and filled the earth with worship instead pursued their lusts and filled the earth with violence (Genesis 6:13).
”And the LORD was sorry he had made man on the earth and it grieved Him to His heart” (Genesis 6:6). “So the LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them” (Genesis 6:7). “Behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life” (Genesis 6:17). God determined to make and end of all ungrateful breath-ingrates.
Here we are after only five chapters in Genesis, only 10 generations into human history. From almost the very beginning, the story of man is a story of unforgettable sin. The flood is the single greatest pruning and purging of corrupt man on earth until the battle of Armageddon.
In Genesis 6:9, Moses shifts the focus of the story from the generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4-4:26; man, marriage, fall, murder) and the generations of Adam (5:1-6:8; genealogy, demonic involvement, increase of the serpent’s sinning seed) to “the generations of Noah,” a section that extends until 9:29. We were introduced to Noah at the end of Seth’s genealogy (the seed of the woman) as the son of (the good) Lamech (5:28-32). Noah is also mentioned in 6:8 as the lone stand out from the corruption, one who found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah is a pivotal figure in history, and in Genesis he arrives on the scene exactly halfway between Adam and Abraham.
The first two sections in the Third Book (6:9-9:29) of Genesis show A Righteous Man in 6:9-10 and A Righteous Judgement in 6:11-22.
The leading character in the next four chapters is Noah.
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
After transitioning to the new toledot, Moses tells us three things about Noah. All three descriptions blow the same horn but press different keys.
Noah was a righteous man . Unlike those whose hearts were only evil continually, Noah’s heart was different. Unlike the violent, Noah was not rough. He was righteous , the first time (of many) that “righteous” is used in Scripture. Noah was free from vice and full of virtue. According to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah was a “herald of righteousness.” He practiced what he preached.
Noah was not only righteous in character, he was blameless in his generation . This is also the first occurrence of the word “blameless” in the Bible. It doesn’t mean without sin at all, but rather that his righteous practice was a regular pattern that caused him to be recognized for his good reputation. His life was whole, nothing pretended or hypocritical. His name was beyond criticism; like teflon, nothing thrown at him would stick. Based on what we know of Noah’s dark times, it wasn’t hard for his bright life to shine in contrast. At the same time, it would have been hard as a lone candle in a wind of wickedness.
Here is the source of his character and reputation: Noah walked with God . Though the tide raged against God, Noah enjoyed fellowship with God. Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:22); Enoch also prophesied about God’s judgment on ungodly sinners (Jude 14-15). Noah walked with God and preached righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). It seems that those who love His name can’t help but preach when they see His name un-praised.
And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 6:10)
Nothing is said about the character of his sons. As with Adam and Eve, the seed of the woman was preserved through Noah, but so was the seed of the serpent. My dad always used to say that we are all related through Noah, and it’s true. Our family tree’s all extend back to Adam through Noah and his sons.
What had been mentioned but unspecified is now detailed to Noah.
Moses reviews why the LORD was grieved and planned to blot out man from the face of the land.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (Genesis 6:11–12)
The word “corrupt” or “corrupted” occurs four times in verses 11-13; “the earth was corrupt,” “it was corrupt,” “all flesh had corrupted,” and then God said, “I will destroy (corrupt) them.” It refers to rotten fruit and spoiled crops, to ruined clay on the potter’s wheel. Everything is ruined by men and God will ruin the ruiners.
We usually think about violence as physical force intended to hurt or even kill someone. The Hebrew word includes more, and defined by one theologian as “the cold-blooded and unscrupulous infringement of the personal right of others, motivated by greed and hate and often making use of physical violence and brutality” (Hagg, “hamas”, TDOT, 4:482). Without or without brute force, it could include “the exploitation of the weak by the powerful or the poor by the rich (e.g., Amos 6:1-3)” (Wenham, 171). It’s death by a thousand lawsuits. We’re not better just because we pay lawyers to do this for us.
The corruption was global. The earth was filled with violence (verse 11). All flesh had corrupted their way (verse 12). God repeats it to Noah in verse 13, the earth is filled with violence . That’s why the judgment would be global; God determined to make and end of all flesh (verse 17), to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die (verse 17).
Why the repetition in verses 11 and 12?
God again declares that he had seen this; in order that he may commend his long-suffering to us. (Calvin, 253)
The fact is established, yes, but God’s forbearance is the focus. 1 Peter 3:20 also explains that God was patient in the days of Noah.
The majority of this paragraph is God’s speech to Noah. God not only reveals His plan to flood the earth but also promises to deliver Noah and his family.
And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:13)
God did not owe Noah an explanation of His plan, let alone deliverance from judgment. God’s people often die alongside the ungodly. The LORD informed Noah about what was coming, and he did so without Noah’s request.
When God said, I will destroy them with the earth , the word destroy is the same word as corrupt in verses 11 and 12. Here is poetic justice, a consequence that fits the crime. The people ruined their way, now God is resolved to ruin them.
There are at least two important implications in verse 13. First, God is a righteous God. Second, God has the right to judge unrighteousness. No arguments are made for either; both are assumed.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. (Genesis 6:14–16)
This is a back-of-the-napkin sketch, not a full set of blueprint plans. God doesn’t send him a boat, but He does command Noah to build one and provides him with some basic instructions. These are the “minimum details required for making sense of the flood story” (Wenham, 172).
Ark (teba) is only used here and in Exodus 2:3 in reference to the Moses basket. There is another Hebrew word for the “ark of the covenant” as well as other words for boats and ships.
Gopher wood is from an unknown tree (“gopher” only here in the OT, translated “square” by the LXX and “smoothed” by the Vulgate). Pitch (only here in the OT) is a substance like tar, sticky and waterproof, to cover the boat in caulk. A cubit is approximately 18 inches, so the size of the ark would have been roughly 450’ long, 75’ wide, and 45’ tall. That’s a football field and a half long, with three levels. The total deck area was 95,700 square feet and the volume of the ark was around 1,400,000 cubic feet, or about 522 standard livestock railroad cars.
Roof (only here in the OT), either means to leave a gap of one cubit between the roof and the walls of the ark, or it could mean that the roof should hang over the walls of the ark by one cubit.
The ark had no rudder or steering system. It was designed for space and stability, not for speed or navigability.
I have trouble envisioning this ark; I’ve looked at drawings and modern attempts to build one. But even more so, how would Noah have envisioned it? Had he ever seen a (fishing) boat? Had he ever seen a building that big? How would he get the supplies to build the boat, or the supplies to feed and care for those on the boat? How would he pay for them? How would he reach something seven times or so as tall as him? Temporary scaffolding? How soon/urgent did God want this project completed? How would he have time to build this massive ark and keep providing for his families’ needs in the meantime? This is a bigger project than restoring an old car in the garage. How was he going to explain this to his wife? Where was he going to put it?
These details don’t make the story less dramatic, they make it more so. Don’t think of it as a fairy-tale with mice coming out of their holes at night to finish the work. Noah was 500 years old. He would have spent a fortune buying the materials. He would have been exhausted putting the materials together. No doubt all his neighbors took every opportunity to mock, and the EPA tree-huggers filed papers against him. He’s doing all of this and he’s never even seen rain before!
And everything he knew was about to change. His family would soon be by themselves, their neighbors and relatives all dead. There’s no reason to suspect that the building process was easy for Noah simply because God commanded Noah to do it. But the story shows the glory of God when a man lives on unseen things.
For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:17)
Rain/flooding hasn’t been mentioned as God’s method of choice for destroying everything with breath until now, though presumably a boat would have clued Noah in.
Flood is a special word, mabbul, used only in Genesis 6-9 and Psalm 29. In the LXX it is κατακλυσμὸν. This is the “mabbul” in history.
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” (Genesis 6:18–21)
Here’s the packing list. This would be the first circus ship, the first zoo, but on a boat. It includes the necessary things to be fruitful and multiply and refill the earth after everything was destroyed.
According to Henry Morris, there are less than 18,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians living in the world today. Taking into account the possibility of extinct land animals, and doubling that (36,000 kinds) times two of each, there could have been about 72,000 animals on the ark, 75,000 to take into account the “extra” clean animals for sacrifice (7:2).
There were large animals (elephants, dinosaurs, giraffes, etc.) but many more small animals (mice, robins, lizards, frogs, etc.). The ark could have held those, plus a million different species of insects, food, living quarters, and still had room for a basketball court. The animals shall come in to you , meaning Noah didn’t go on safaris or hunting expeditions. The animals migrated by God’s providence. Perhaps many of them hibernated during their 10 months on board as well.
There still would have been enough work to keep Noah and his family busy. He had everything necessary for image-bearing: relationships and responsibility, and enough to keep him from going stir-crazy.
A simple, straightforward, and world-changing response.
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22)
Noah believed God’s word and obeyed. The account doesn’t tell us if he asked questions, but it does say he did all that God commanded him . He obeyed exactly, “according to all” he was told. God said, “Build an ark” and Moses said, “How high?” The same affirmation of obedience is stated again in 7:5, 9, and 16.
Noah was the original man contra mundum, against the world. It’s staggering to think that he didn’t contract the same disease as those infected around him, that he wasn’t soiled by their filth.
Their unnatural ferocity has been before mentioned; there can therefore be no doubt that they would daily provoke modest and simple-minded men, even without cause…Certainly, unless they had been restrained by the mighty hand of God, they would have stoned the holy man a hundred times. (Calvin, 260)
And would not Satan himself have seen the opportunity to destroy Noah in order to destroy man?
Nowhere in the flood story does Noah talk. Noah doesn’t get a line until 9:25 when he curses Canaan. He is the recipient of revelation and grace and deliverance. The story is about God the righteous, God the redeemer, and God the sovereign.
In other pagan flood accounts, the gods weren’t righteous, they weren’t saviors, and they were scared.
The gods were frightened by the deluge,
And, shrinking back,
they ascended to the heaven of Anu.
The gods cowered like dogs
Crouched against the outer wall.
(The Epic of Gilgamesh, quoted by Gordon Wenham)
Our God, the God of Noah, sits enthroned over the flood. We need to build our lives on God’s righteous, redeeming, and sovereign Word as well.