In this episode, we continue our look at the flood and Noah's role in it. We see Noah and his family leave the Ark, and the earth begins to recover from the flood, but the flood is still an enemy of the world.
00:05:14.660They're fictionizing or they're mythologizing the flood narrative.
00:05:19.260and that that is what people have been doing forever and what the reason they're doing that
00:05:24.740is because they want to escape the authority if you can fictionize something then it's not real
00:05:30.320and if it's not real it has no authority and if it has no authority you don't have to change
00:05:35.240it's the same reason that we fictionize any particular point of the Bible David and Goliath
00:05:43.720whatever it may be. To acknowledge the flood is to acknowledge God. And to acknowledge the flood
00:05:49.120is to acknowledge the existence of sin. To acknowledge the flood is to acknowledge
00:05:53.820righteous judgment. And so they have to deny these things and it creates an opportunity for them to
00:06:02.060not be under the authority of scripture. In the same way an unrepentant man is unwilling to
00:06:07.360acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ for the fear of condemnation, he cannot acknowledge the
00:06:13.920flood. And so you have to see that the flood is still one of those very important issues
00:06:17.660in which people will deny who are unrepentant because they know if they acknowledge the
00:06:23.340existence of the flood, it does mean something for the authority of their own lives. So let's
00:06:30.400not treat the flood account as if there's no purpose for it, if there's no use for it, if there's
00:06:38.240no need to defend it today. There certainly is a need to defend it. I appreciate Ken Ham's work.
00:06:44.740I appreciate the Creation Museum. I appreciate the documentary Genesis is History. There's a
00:06:51.660variety of creation scientists out there that have done a great job of putting together the evidence
00:06:57.140of the flood for the defense exactly for the reason of these people that have been listed here
00:07:03.060in wikipedia and so we're going to go through chapters or chapter 8 verses 6 through 22
00:07:10.460and let's read at verse 6 it says at the end of 40 days noah opened the window of the ark
00:07:19.160that he had made and sent forth a raven it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the
00:07:26.520earth. Then he sent forth a dove to see if the waters had subsided from the face on the ground.
00:07:34.160But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters
00:07:41.460were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her in and brought her
00:07:48.800into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove and out
00:07:55.720of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly
00:08:02.180plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another
00:08:10.200seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. Okay.
00:08:19.320Now, compared to the front of your liturgy, you can see the image that's there, the painting
00:08:25.700speaking of Noah holding the dove through the window. Some argue that the window was not
00:08:32.560actually in the side of the ark, that it was in the top of the ark. And a few scholars say that
00:08:39.280because essentially that the reason and purpose for the bird was that there was no windows on the
00:08:45.640side and there was no visibility and they needed to put the bird out because they had a lack of
00:08:51.060visibility. And also maybe that Noah was concerned to be disobedient to somewhat exit the ark
00:08:57.820because God had commanded him to go into it. And so that's one argument that's out there. However,
00:09:04.380the Hebrew word for opened the window, when you see it, it's actually a different Hebrew word
00:09:09.140than we see for window that's used in Genesis 6. And so the Hebrew word for window here is
00:09:14.360actually a side panel or a side door. There is another word in Genesis chapter 6 that talks
00:09:21.020about a skylight or event. So it's very possible that the ark had a window that either Noah cut it
00:09:27.500out after the floodwaters had stopped, or it could be talking about the skylights. We do know
00:09:33.720that at some degree, I imagine that Noah is not living in darkness for a year in the flood. So
00:09:41.240there's got to be some degree of windows, maybe some degree of skylights to see because it's
00:09:46.880multiple decks. So even if the top deck had skylights in it, you're talking about do the
00:09:53.680lower decks have no light coming through? What kind of issues do we have with that? And we don't
00:09:58.760hear of anything in scripture there. And so my take is that it was probably a side window that
00:10:05.840was cut out. If not, it was put together even before the flood began. And so the purpose, I
00:10:13.640think, for the birds was that the birds are able to go and fly and scout out dry land that
00:10:18.460potentially cannot be visible from where Noah is. And he's stuck, as we know, on Mount Ararat.
00:10:25.660The boat is now settled at this particular place. And so the birds offer eyesight and opportunity
00:10:31.320that you cannot have in a fixed position. Now, Noah was never told how long he would be
00:10:36.480in the ark. Think about that. He was never told how long he would be in the ark.
00:10:42.260God never gave him that information. And so by faith, he did know that the ark wasn't a floating
00:10:49.060coffin. But I think that the birds were not an act of unbelief, but they were an act of curiosity.
00:10:57.700Now, birds finding land were actually a common seafaring practice.
00:11:02.640It was something that happened in the old world.
00:11:04.700It was something that continued to happen.
00:11:06.180It's very possible that Noah had heard of this practice before he was in the water from people that were on the sea.
00:11:12.020Now, some connections have allegorized this passage of scripture, meaning that they've tried to make this something that it may or may not be.
00:11:20.180So they'll say things like the raven, which is an unclean bird, by the way, and the dove, which is a clean bird.
00:11:25.520The raven represents the devil and the dove represents the Holy Spirit or the raven represents
00:11:31.560the law and the dove represents the gospel. So there's a whole bunch of allegories that have
00:11:37.700been connected to this particular passage of scripture. Now, I certainly believe that there's
00:11:41.800something intentional here, but the scripture doesn't tell us what that something is. And so
00:11:46.620I'm very hesitant to go in there and say, oh, this is what it means. This, it could mean this,
00:11:50.460it could mean that. The reality is, is that we do know that God is good at having intentionality
00:11:55.300behind every possible element in the scriptures. And so it might be worth studying across those
00:12:03.080allegories to figure out which one maybe feels best. But I don't believe that it was the work
00:12:07.640that I was supposed to do this week. What we do know is this. Ravens are scavengers. And we know
00:12:14.360that because they take the trash out of my dumpster all the time. I see them. They're just
00:12:19.260eaten garbage. They're eating dead meat. They're eating dead animals. Ravens are scavengers and0.99
00:12:26.220they often eat the carcasses of the dead. That's what they do. They eat dead carcasses. It's likely
00:12:32.300that the raven did not return because it landed on floating carcasses from the bodies that were
00:12:40.720out on the flood and it found a place to rest and eat off of the dead. It's very possible.
00:12:46.440and we know that the ravens are still here so somehow the raven had to have found its pair
00:12:51.440and met up and continually reproduced itself now doves on the other hand are vegetarians
00:12:58.600and they survive off of seeds and nuts and fruit we see doves all over our property as well and
00:13:07.080they're often under the trees they're often eating the twigs and they're they're there
00:13:11.360carrying those branches in their mouths. And so when you understand that only a dove could survive
00:13:20.380on land, a dove is not going to find its survival on a corpse, but if a dove could find a potential
00:13:26.440place for it to land its foot, then it means that there is land available. And so when you look at
00:13:31.920it logically, you can see that Noah has some sort of effort here that makes sense. It might not have
00:13:39.040to be some crazy allegory, there could actually be some logic behind this. And so when the dove
00:13:45.280did not return, it was evidence that essentially the habitat for a dove, which is land, was
00:13:51.280available and that the waters had receded to a particular position. Now, when the dove returned
00:13:58.100with an olive leaf, interestingly, the olive tree is remarkably hardy. I did some research on olive
00:14:05.540trees this week and it can survive prolonged i'm talking months of submersion in water
00:14:13.600there's not many trees that can do that they can handle you know you can be in a flood and it'd be
00:14:18.880fine but i'm talking months of of being underwater that it doesn't actually waterlog the trunk
00:14:24.660or the leaves and so one scholar observed he says the olive tree has been ascertained to even bear
00:14:31.240leaves underwater. So it'll actually grow underwater. Again, not many trees do that.
00:14:37.080And eyewitness accounts confirm that young olive trees thrive while still being fully immersed
00:14:43.880underwater. And so again, this supports the text, which, you know, the text says that it was a
00:14:50.540freshly plucked leaf. And so I love it when scientific record backs up what the scriptures
00:14:58.980say and so there is a logical possibility that you go oh yeah this this olive tree may have
00:15:05.040actually survived the flood being underwater for many many months at a time and actually bore
00:15:11.800leaves it wasn't just that that the dove found the debris of a olive leaf floating in the water
00:15:20.300no this is a freshly plucked as what it says olive leaf and you go okay well how did that happen
00:15:26.260Well, it's because it's likely that it stayed alive during that process of the flood.
00:19:47.040And then he kind of gives a passing command that they may swarm.
00:19:52.740The idea is that there's a command of creation there.
00:19:55.840the third command and then it says to be fruitful and then the fifth command is to be to multiply
00:20:01.440so we want to be fruitful and we want to multiply now these are basically near identical
00:20:08.560phrases that we see from genesis chapter one it's almost in a sense recreation language that's
00:20:14.720mirroring or paralleling what's happening in genesis chapter one now um the old world is gone
00:20:22.480and the new world is here. Okay. The old world is gone. The new world is here. Now it's the same
00:20:28.140physical world. It's just new in the sense that the old world is gone. It didn't perish in the
00:20:35.220sense that it disappeared. We know that. No, it's, it's gone in the sense that the old world has been
00:20:40.140deluged as the scriptures would say. And this is an important distinction because it helps us with
00:20:45.000our eschatology. And I want to talk about that just for a second. So second Peter chapter three
00:20:50.200verses 5 through 7, it says, speaking of Noah's Ark, it says, for they deliberately overlooked
00:20:55.260this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through
00:21:01.220water by the word of God. And that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged
00:21:09.500or flooded with water and perished. So the world perished. Verse 7, it says, by the same word,
00:21:17.420the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day
00:21:25.900of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly, end quote. So the same way that the old world
00:21:32.400perished, the old world went away. It's the kind of language that we see as the medieval world0.52
00:21:38.580is gone. The medieval world is no longer, right? It has disappeared. Now the physical world that
00:21:46.640medieval people lived on is here. We're on that same earth. And so what I'm saying here is that
00:21:53.520there will be another way that the world perishes, but this world will remain. And this is very
00:21:59.440important because when we think about eschatology, we have to remember that God is going to restore
00:22:03.480the earth and it's not going to be a new earth in the sense that it's new matter. It's going to be
00:22:08.560this earth renewed. It's going to be this earth made new. So you can go out there, you can touch
00:22:14.620that dirt. You can hold that dirt and go, this dirt will be in heaven. This dirt will be in
00:22:20.260heaven. This matter, all of it will be in heaven. Now it will be purified. It will be sanctified.
00:22:26.140It'll be purified by fire, removed of all of its sin. Now, when it says fire, does it mean
00:22:34.980actual fire? Maybe. I mean, it certainly meant actual water. But is it going to mean actual
00:22:40.820what? We don't know. Will everything burn? Like, will this world actually burn? What is it going
00:22:46.660to look like? We don't know the specific answers. Will this place just turn into a place of ash
00:22:52.080and coal? What are we to expect from this? Is it going to be more of a purifying fire? Is that
00:22:59.060the scripture? Is it kind of a use of a type of language, an apocalyptic language that's more
00:23:05.300about purification that's going to occur rather than actually burning the whole place down?
00:23:10.820Now all of scripture, Numbers, 1 Corinthians, 1 Peter, they all talk about this idea that whatever is pure, that's done in faith, that's made to the glory of God will withstand fire.
00:23:25.260That fire will reveal that which was done in faith or that which is pure or that which is righteous.
00:23:32.320It'll be like gold and that it'll withstand the fire.
00:23:35.160And so the question I have often with, you know, my theologian friends and also by myself in my
00:23:42.200room as I think about these things is, what will burn? What will perish? Will the cathedrals burn?
00:23:48.380Will they remain? Will our Bibles burn? Will the pulpits in great churches burn? Will church
00:23:55.740buildings be burning and going away? Will all of the things that we have created, the great art,
00:24:00.540the beautiful masterpieces, will those things burn? Or will God come and purify the world
00:24:07.900as by fire and it will reveal a beautiful, purified, sanctified world? So we don't know.
00:24:18.060We don't know the specific answers. I lean towards that no good thing that was done in faith will
00:24:24.200perish. That all of those good things that we have built, the kingdom of God here on earth,
00:24:28.500will remain. They will be in heaven. Will we see Cologne Cathedral in heaven? I hope so.
00:24:33.800Will we see some of the great Christian art in heaven? I hope so. Will we be singing amazing
00:24:38.380grace in heaven? I hope so. I believe these things done in faith will not perish. They will actually
00:24:44.660withstand the test of fire. And so there will be some degree of burning away, burning away all of
00:24:50.980the ugly, the gross, the sinful, the nasty, the dead. That will all go away. And it's important0.79
00:24:58.040because there really is a parallel between Noah exiting the ark and the day that we come and the
00:25:03.660world is made new. There is very much a parallel there that we should be learning and expecting
00:25:08.820what is to occur. It says in verse 20, then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every
00:25:15.660clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now remember0.61
00:25:22.720he had extra clean animals because he was going to use them for sacrifice. There was more clean
00:25:27.620animals than there were unclean. In verse 21, it says, and when the Lord smelled the pleasing
00:25:34.900aroma, the Lord said in his heart, I will never curse the ground because of man. For the intention
00:25:42.020of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever strike again down everything and
00:25:48.700every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and
00:25:55.660heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. Now, the first act after Noah's obedience
00:26:05.820is worship. So Noah has spent not only the year and 10 days on the ark, but the hundred years
00:26:17.800before that being faithful. And the first act after exiting the ark, after he's done and obeyed
00:26:25.060all of these commands that the Lord has given him was to worship. Now, this is the first mention in
00:26:31.260all of scripture of building an altar. We know that there is altars potentially with Cain and
00:26:37.880Abel and that these altars are being built, but this is the first time we see the mention of an
00:26:43.140altar being built. Now, altars are for worship, they're for sacrifice, but there's also an altar
00:26:50.280of witness, an altar of witness. And it's a kind of a memorialization. And we would see this
00:26:55.140in scripture that you might actually use an altar that was used for sacrifice and it then becomes
00:27:00.660an altar of witness so that when future generations pass by that particular altar,
00:27:06.340they remember. We see this with Isaac, with Jacob, with Abraham. Now, this is also the
00:27:16.140rationale that our American forefathers used, what was the very first thing that they would do
00:27:21.500when they settled into a town? They'd build a church. They'd build a church. It was very similar.
00:27:28.320The very first thing that Noah does is he builds an altar. And the very first thing that our
00:27:32.280forefathers did was that they'd enter into a place and the first building that would go up
00:27:36.520would be a church. And it was supposed to demonstrate priorities. It was to demonstrate
00:27:42.860priorities. We need to get back to that structure as the very first thing we build when we break
00:27:47.920ground in new territory is to build a church. Now, in verse 21, we see what's called an
00:27:55.060anthropomorphism, and it's when you apply a human characteristic to a spiritual being. So God, we
00:28:02.660know, is a spirit and does not have a body like men. He does not have a nose to smell in the way
00:28:09.800that we are seeing it here, but it says that God smells the pleasing aroma of the sacrifice of Noah.
00:28:17.240And I thought about this. Not only does this imply that God accepts Noah's sacrifice,
00:28:24.680his burnt offering, but it affirms the goodness of our senses. It's just a, it's a thing to remember
00:28:30.580that our senses are good. God gave them to us for good things. It's, it's for a long time
00:28:37.820Now, when I was really sick, my sense of smell became so sensitive that I couldn't even be around good, pleasing smells.
00:28:51.340I remember having to go into the backyard of a friend's house because his wife was baking an apple pie, and it was making me sick.
00:28:59.860People would be cooking steaks, and I couldn't be around.
00:33:38.340When you start there, then you start to realize that every good thing that happens to you is an act of grace and mercy.
00:33:46.200And it allows you to appreciate the gloriousness of the gospel, but also just the goodness of still being alive in light of you being such a dark sinner.0.83
00:33:58.420And so we get to wait in this place in between.0.99
00:34:05.660It's this fallen but not abandoned world