Post 13 Genesis 6 "It's Going to Rain" A Lot!

Genesis chapter six is a discussion of the conditions before the flood that destroyed almost all of mankind. Verses 1-4 gives the general state of affairs and a warning from God. Verses 5-7 gives the reasons for judgment on the earth. Verses 8-22 is the introduction of the ark as a type of grace and instructions for preparations for Noah's survival of the flood.

The conditions of the time have often been compared to our time. Verse 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And verse 11 The earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence.

There were giants in those days. Verse 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bare cildren to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. Some believe this is a reference to angels taking wives of the earth women. I do not know. It might account for the legends of the godmen such as Zeus, Apollo and others. I have forgotten most of what I learned in that course. These men of wide acclaim however did not make it on the ark. It was another type of man that God considered worthy of saving. The last verse in the chapter tells the story. Verse 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. No matter the greatness or the number of people who know someone's name or all the great deeds they have done. It comes down to God's grace and our obedience. It was disobedience that resulted in the sin in the garden. It was grace that caused God to make the covering from an innocent animal. Noah's obedience came after he had already found grace in the eyes of the Lord. In verse 8 after the wickedness of the world is described the Bible says But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The ark is descriibed to Noah in great detail. It was obviously the right way to build it for humanity survived in the person of Noah and his family. Noah was also a preacher II Peter 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a precher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

It must have been a hard message to get across, that it was going to rain since until then a mist watered the land and not only rain but enough to destroy every living thing. Much like today, when people find it difficult to accept that Jesus really is coming back and that the earth will be judged with fire this time. We have seen it all in the movies and the movie ended and we went about our business as usual. Not so, though, with the real thing.

The ark carried Noah safely through the judgment of God. It was a safety zone from the wrath of God brought on by the wickedness of man. The conditions grieved him at his heart v6. Yet one man walked with Him and he would not forget him. I picture the grace of salvation much as the ark. We are invited into salvation and once inside we are protected from the surrounding evil and the judgment to come. As the sun appeared after many days of cloud and rain, so shall the Son appear in due time. Noah found grace before he built the ark, he built the ark out of obedience and because that was the right thing to do.

There is much in this chapter. It gives us a hint of where some old legends may have come from. A picture of just how far man will go with evil. So far that it grieves God at his heart. But it gives us a picture of grace, God's unmerited favor toward man.