Dennis Bevans - Noah - Saving Your Family in a Dark World - Class 3 - By Sevens

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Our third speaker this morning is Brother Dennis Bevins of the Austin Leander, TX Ecclesia. The theme for Brother Dennis’s classes this week is Noah Saving your Family in a Dark World. Today’s class is entitled by Sevens Genesis 7 for the Dentist. Now we promised some numerology, so yay, here it comes. And before I get too far in here, we’re just having a conversation.

2. 0:30

   It’s probably worth sharing because I, I love this thinking. You know, the conversation was, you know, do you think that maybe Methuselah and Lamech might have helped with the ARC building? And the answer is absolutely. I absolutely believe there were other people that helped in the building that just didn’t survive to the end of the flood.

3. 0:48

   Lamech and Methuselah would be good examples of that, but that’s not the part that I found so interesting. I loved what Jim said at the end. So I’m giving you credit for it. Has everybody else hates it, it’s on you. But that’s what he said. You know, it’s probably a lot like like many ecclesial efforts where in the beginning everybody’s excited, but you know, by the time Project Arts ready to deploy, that’s starting to dwindle down. To a very small group.

4. 1:10

   And boy, isn’t that paint a visual for us in our meetings? How many things have we and our ecclesia started and the whole ecclesia is behind it for like week 1? And then it starts to dwindle and a year later there’s the three people that thought it was a great idea, the only three that care about it anymore. I know this only happens in my meeting. It never has happened in yours.

5. 1:28

   OK, very good. So subliminal message. We’re going to find the number 7 a lot today, probably more than you ever have before. Unless you have done this search yourself, you’re going to find it in places that seem. Really strange, like why did we need to know that? And that’s part of what I think it’s there for, to give us a focus. Now we as a community generally accept some basic numerology. Some take it farther than others. There are some that will go this times this minus this divided by.

6. 2:02

   That multiplied by this and you. I don’t do that. I think some of the basics are so obvious they have to get our attention and this is by no means an exhaustive class on numerology. There are brethren that are certainly more qualified and absolutely more interested in it to do it than me, so I’m not. Trying to focus on the numerology. However, when you get kicked in the. Face you have to acknowledge where that come from and Genesis Chapter 7 specifically and the story of Noah in particular is loaded with the number 7.

7. 2:35

   So what are the some the ones that that get my attention routinely I find #5 the grace of God. We referenced Matthew one in the last class number six, the number of man creation day 6667 the completion generally of a covenant. We’ve seen it in the days of creation and we’ve started Noah’s story by mentioning that’s what God did on the 7th day.

8. 2:55

   So the number 7A completion specifically of our covenant is what really, I will argue the theme of the story of Noah is #8-A new beginning. The completion plus 1/12, the number of Israel, 40, the number of a generation general referring to judgment. See the wandering in the the is in the wilderness. We see the temptation of Jesus.

9. 3:16

   And there are plenty others, but those are the ones that get my attention. If it’s divisible by 7:00 or 12:00, it’s got my attention. Those are the only ones that I start that I kind of extrapolate out. Those are my rules, not yours. You can discard them. I’m OK with that. I’m just letting you know why they’re exciting to me. All right, so the focus on this class is going to be the completion of the covenant with Noah. Now we all know there’s no punctuation in Hebrew, and we’ve said a number of times the way our God gives us emphasis is repetition.

10. 3:47

    And so repetition throughout Scripture is something that gets our attention, and the closer it gets, the more emphasized we see it. So when a particular book has the something emphasized a number of times, that’s highlighting how important. It is and. Then when we see it in the same story, it’s even more, and we get down to the same chapter, it’s even more.

11. 4:06

    So what we’re going to look at is God’s giant exclamation point in Scripture today. We’ll pick up at verse one Noah, assuming the Lord said to Noah, come now and all thy house to the ark, for thee, for thee. Have I seen righteous before me in this generation? So let’s start with a population estimate. I’m old, but not that old, so I don’t know. I didn’t wasn’t there for the the last census before the waters.

12. 4:34

    Came but if you start putting together the math and use some basic extrapolations based on average rate of having children no birth control, long life putting these together you. Probably easily get over a million, perhaps in billions by the time we get to the flood, so. Whatever number makes you think you know it makes you happy.

13. 4:57

    The biggest number you can stomach, start there. This is not There’s 12 people and we saved 8 of them. There is 1,000,000, perhaps billions on the planet which makes it. Relevant to our day that the ratio of those trying to serve the things of God and follow God’s way is small compared. To the rest of the population, we mentioned he’s righteous by grace in chapter 6 verse 8.

14. 5:22

    That he is righteous before God. It’s not self. Righteousness. God has seen him and accounted righteousness for him. He wasn’t perfect. But he was seen by God as just an upright because he was trying to do things God’s way. Now, we’ve already looked at Hebrews 11 and seven a couple times. Don’t worry, we’ll do it again. But there’s a couple other places we’re going to warm up today to set the mood.

15. 5:44

    Here’s second Peter chapter 2 verse 5 and spared not the old world, but save Noah the 8th. Person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. So we mentioned the 8th #8 gets our attention and so here’s one of the reasons why. If Noah and his wife are one in marriage and they’re counted as one in the genealogy. As we saw in Genesis chapter 5.

16. 6:10

    Well why that makes Noah the 7th and her the 8th does it not? We have got the completion of a covenant and a new beginning just embedded in the headcount on the ark. We also have a wonderful shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ who truly. Was the completion of a covenant and a new beginning. So we see the condemnation of the world, the ungodly, and their condemnation is there was no room for God in their lives, eating, drinking, marrying and giving a marriage. And this family then becomes highlighted in the eyes of the Father as making time to put him first. And dedicate their life to doing things his way. Ezekiel 33, verse 11.

17. 6:56

    Saying to them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live Turn ye turn from your evil ways, for why will you die, O? House of Israel it is with. Sadness that the wicked are slain.

18. 7:12

    And so, you know, when listening to to Jason’s classes that we’re talking about vengeance’s mind, saith the Lord. I think we need to put in perspective that there’s no joy in God turning his creation to dust, that’s he wills that none should perish. Now he’s acknowledged that most will and those are by his rules, his design and his righteous acts. But there is a sadness in the death of the slain. And just as the father of a child, we know the child has gone wayward, doesn’t give us any pleasure to see them suffer because of their wayward decisions. And we put that perspective in the eyes of the father. I think it’s a very sad state when he looks upon the planet, does his divine inspection and says. I wish I could find more that tried to do it my way. Well, this is the process.

19. 8:02

    There’s a precious few. Our God is given free will, which means He’s allowed most of the population to turn against Him. The highlight reel for that is the flood. The cost is high, which makes the precious few that want to understand God’s way and live it even that more valuable to Him. The most popular verse in the Bible, actually. Says that.

20. 8:20

    God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That’s why God provided a means of redemption. In an effort to save his creation from themselves and their thinking, He’s given us the option one Do it your way and die from.

21. 8:38

    Dust thou wast, the dust thou shalt return in Genesis terms. Or there is one door that gives you access to life eternal, the gift of life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So the two options, one door, we can’t earn it. None of us is worthy. No one on the ark was sinless. We can’t earn it, but we can long for it, and we can yearn for it. And we can try to do everything in our power to better understand what God would have us to do and then do. Everything we can to do all that God commanded. That’s the story of Noah.

22. 9:11

    One more, this is Isaiah 54 will be Noah specific this time in little, in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, say at the Lord thy Redeemer. This is as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I would have. Sworn to the waters of Noah, should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

23. 9:34

    Verse 17. No weapon, that is. Formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of servants of the Lord and their righteousnesses. Of me, saith Yahweh. Our righteousness is really an emulation of the righteous attributes of our Father as we serve Him.

24. 9:56

    So with that, let’s go back to Genesis and pick up on some details. Verse two of every clean beast thou shalt take thee by sevens. Well, we knew that was coming. We’d already talked about it. Male and female, and of beasts that are not clean by two the male and his female. Now this is obviously. Evidence to a law prior to the Law of Moses, as clean animals are acceptable for food, many for sacrifice, though not all. So it gives us evidence there was some way that they had to determine clean or unclean may have been the same as the Law of Moses.

25. 10:28

    We’re just not given that detail. But certainly there was a law. That established an order between the clean and the unclean. Now we already mentioned. That this makes a lot of sense, especially if clean animals are eligible for food. Very interesting point. If we don’t, if we’re not careful, every BBQ eliminates a species.

26. 10:49

    So it makes sense God provided not only for their food, but also for their ability to offer them sacrifice, which, by the way, the first. Act done after the flood was offer a sacrifice of every one of the animals that were clean in the ark. I’ll call it the seventh. Now an interesting point in Hebrew that is clear.

27. 11:11

    If we were reading this in Hebrew, the English kind of skews it a bit, and that is the male and the female. Those actually are the words to describe man and his wife, the isha and isha. In fact, this is the only verse in Scripture where these words are used to describe animals, to becoming one. It’s the only time in the Bible it’s used to describe animals, not human beings.

28. 11:35

    So the RSV calls it 7 pairs and the Hebrew supports that to some degree because it actually it means it’s doubled. If you read it in the Hebrew it’s and he brought them 7 sevens. So whether you’ve got 7 emphasized or. 7 + 7 or 7 * 7. You could probably make an argument for each and for all we’re going to get out of that is the completion of the covenant number is there.

29. 12:00

    Doubled of thousands of the air by sevens, that’s 77 again the male and the female to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. So this is. Preservation. This is not recreation. Our God is preparing to keep and to restore to the planet, not to recreate the planet, because he very well could have done that.

30. 12:22

    You know, our God could have just said, you know, I did this in a week a few 100 years ago. Well, actually 1656. But who’s keeping score? You could have just done that again. Just wipe them all clean. Don’t waste the time on the Ark. And let’s just start this over. And you know we create with Adam point 2.0.

31. 12:36

    But that’s not what he chooses to do. That’s not the character of the father. The character of the father is always looking. For the remnant, in this case, the remnant was just smaller than He or we wish it was all right. Verse 4. Yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth, 40 days and 40 nights.

32. 12:53

    And every living substance I have made I will destroy from off the face of the earth. So now we have 7 days of final warning. So we’ve gone from 120 years and now we’re down to a week now. Rain. We introduced yesterday. Do you like this numerology stuff so far? Am I losing anybody yet?

33. 13:12

    The ones not nodding their head. OK, got it. All right, so. This word rain. Here’s another. One we’ll play with for a little bit. This word rain is only used by Moses in the Old Testament, and it’s only used five times. So we got the number of grace. Isn’t that interesting that here we have the means of destruction, but yet somehow in this we’ve got to see the hand of God is at work and it’s judgment to most. But it’s grace and mercy to those following his path. Well, what are the five?

34. 13:41

    I’ll let you check them out for fun. The first one was no rain. That’s chapter 2 verse 5. This is the second one, which is the first major cleansing. The next one is going to be in chapter 19, verse 24, which is the reign of fire in Sodom and Gomorrah. And the other two are Exodus Chapter 9, verse 18 and verse 23, which is hail. I’ll call that solid rain.

35. 14:02

    And chapter 16, verse 4, bred from heaven. So how can we apply a parable or a theme from that and? Here’s what I believe this is trying to tell us. No rain is like our knowledge, our life before knowledge. Deuteronomy 32 and two, My doctrine shall drop as the rain. Different word, same concept. Now we have the first rain, so we have obedience and baptism. We have fire, rain or judgment.

36. 14:29

    Solid rain on the rock. Here’s a quote from Job 38, verses 29 through 30. Out of those who out of whose wombs came ice and the hoary frost from heaven, who hath gendered it. The waters are hid as with a stone in the face of the deep is frozen. Just to prove that solid rain thing wasn’t just me making stuff up. All right, Bread from heaven.

37. 14:50

    Of course, the body, one body through Jesus Christ ties nicely to the rainbow that we’ll discuss later in the story. And this verse ends with the number 40, which is a generation or for judgment, which is a nice recall back to verse one that says he was found righteous in this generation. So these numbers are starting to come together to a focal point.

38. 15:11

    Lots of numbers to look at. Of course, we see the number 40 in Scripture. There’s a number of things that come to our attention. Trials, Moses, the spies, the wandering Jesus, temptation, days after resurrection, story of Jonah, the reign of David, all of it, prophecy, blah, blah, blah. There’s a lot of them.

39. 15:27

    All right, so let’s go back to verse 4. We have final days, seven final days of warning, and he says he will cause it to rain for 40 days and 40 nights. And he of every living thing, every living substance that I have made, I will destroy from off the face of the earth.

40. 15:44

    This word destroy is the same word we looked at back in chapter 6, verse 7, which means to blot out. That’s how it’s rendered in the RSV, and the Hebrew supports that to blot out from the face of the earth.

41. 15:58

    That language puts us nicely into Exodus 32, Exodus 32, picking up at verse 32. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not blot me, I pray thee, out of the book in which thou was written, As Lord has said to Moses, whosoever I sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

42. 16:19

    So we get to very personal accountability here. We see this in the example of Moses willing to lay down his eternal life to save the nation of Israel. That’s astounding to me. Paul says something similar as well. And that’s in the face of an ecclesia that’s. Arguing with you, disrespecting you, disagreeing with you and turning away from their God.

43. 16:41

    So it’s not like he had such a perfect ecclesia, he said. Boy I wish I could just give up my life so they would have their This is people. That disagree with him and are walking away from the Kingdom. In fact, everyone in this generation is dying because of their faithlessness as they walk towards the Kingdom. And that’s how he feels.

44. 16:59

    Well, I think that story is there for a number of reasons. One, to be self reflective for us, but also to give us an example not just of Moses, but also seeing Noah in this same light. David says this too in David. David says in Psalm 51, verse nine, hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities.

45. 17:20

    Of course, we’ve probably got a tune in our head and him right now. Verse 5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him and we talked about the repetition. So this is what we read in chapter 6, verse 22, which is a comparison to us. Again, he’s given some specific. Instructions.

46. 17:40

    And he’s going to follow them to the tee. So Noah’s now 600 years old and the waters of the Flutter. Upon the earth. So we got the number of flesh here. 61 hundreds are coming together as it starts building at Chapter 7, verse 7. Now who would have thought Genesis Chapter 7 verse 7 would have some sevens in it, but it does. Noah went in and his sons and his wife and his sons wise with him in the ark because the waters of the flood. So we mentioned Japheth.

47. 18:06

    He’s 105 and 32 Shem 98, that’s 11 and verse 10, Ham younger somewhat, but they’re all married. All of them are married, but we’re not given record that any of them has children yet. Wouldn’t that even be more tragic if they did? We’re not given that detail. We’re just told that all three of them were married and that they and their wives were allowed on the ark.

48. 18:27

    So Noah and his seven family members, they’re all invited to be part of the building effort and the salvation. Enter in together of clean beasts, of beasts that are not clean, of fowls, of everything that creepeth on the earth. There went in two and two unto the unto Noah into the ark, the and the male and the female, as God had commanded them, or sorry, commanded Noah. So it’s clarified now there’s lots of shadows here. Birds and beasts are used to describe both Israel and the Gentiles in Hosea chapter 2.

49. 18:59

    For example, if you read Isaiah 34 and 35 together without a break in the middle, it’s a worthy exercise if you want to tackle your own, see if you can see how that connects to this story as well. The nation’s coming to the one door of the ark for salvation is a wonderful image, which we did discuss a little yesterday that Jesus saying in John 14 and six, I am the way, the truth and the life.

50. 19:22

    No man cometh to the Father, but by me. So we’ve got one access point for salvation. Any other way leads to death. There is one path that leads. Us to life so after these seven days the water of the flood were upon the face of the earth. So we have the final warning completed and as we mentioned, the creation math, 1656 years from creation. So now focusing on the life of Noah in the 6th, 100th year of Noah’s life in the second month and the 17th day of the month, the same day where all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were open. And boy, anytime we get specific, it gets our attention, doesn’t it?

51. 20:05

    Now we’re going to do a little bit more of this when we get to Chapter 8. I just want to just pause on that for a second. Now we’re not only getting the year, but the month and the day. We have waters above. I’m picturing Thunder and showers and torrential rain. We have waters below the overflowing of rivers, lakes, seas, geysers, earthquakes, maybe soon anatomies, I don’t know. Do whatever you want with that one. We have waters all around, the actual rainfall everywhere in the water.

52. 20:33

    Effectively, we are seeing a model of baptism, which is what’s picked up in the New Testament now. Where we all know where the Ark landed. You want to say it out loud? Where did the Ark land? Ararat, which means it floated N, Isn’t that opposite the natural flow pattern you would expect God is in.

53. 20:55

    Control. This was his work being performed, His righteousness being declared, His Majesty over, creation being known. He was in control. We’ll come back to Ararat later. The rain was upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. So we’ve got the judgment of this generation, and that brings us to our day where Jesus had told us. Compare it to your day.

54. 21:19

    As it is in the days of Noah, so will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. So the judgment of this generation we may not have seen yet, but it’s coming. What are we doing as individuals, as families, as ecclesias, to prepare for the saving of our household as the world gets darker and the pending judgment of the Father gets closer? What are we doing to prepare ourselves to be part of that covenant that.

55. 21:45

    Is saved by his grace. So on this day, Noah Sham Ham, Japheth, the sons of Noah, Noah’s wife, the three wives of his sons went into the ark so. Again, high level of repetition. The narrative wants to make sure we know. This one went in this one went in this one and. Over and over we get to count off the 8 safety inside absolute misery outside Isaiah. 26 is a nice reference for this Isaiah 26 picking up at verse. 20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee.

56. 22:24

    Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth shall also disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. It’s an important. Lesson So as they’re following the path and there is a somber tone to this March into the ark they have been working on as a family for so long, knowing what’s happening to the rest of the population, including their extended family. To recognize that God is there to comfort them that the punishment that is happening, but it will be overpassed. You know this is an important.

57. 23:07

    Lesson we keep bringing it back to Jesus, tying it to our. Day. And it’s well and good that we should. But Jesus picks up on this topic, specifically Matthew 10 and 37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

58. 23:29

    That is not an easy concept for anyone in this room to swallow, but it’s the principle that’s being taught by the Father. Our natural families are secondary to the family of the Father. God wills that none should perish, and there’s no parent that wants to see their child perish. But we have to stay dedicated to the things of the Father, even if our children.

59. 23:57

    Parents, brothers, sisters do not. We must put God first. That’s his rightful place in our lives, our rightful place in our heart. And if we put God first, next, then comes our family that we put second. And we do everything we can to help our family, but it’s got to be in that order.

60. 24:18

    If we lose sight and reverse that order, we are no longer the children of our Father. It’s that big of a deal. So then as we take this somber tone and we look at what’s going on around, they’re going in the ark. The animals are already there now. They’ve done all the work to prepare, and this is almost like getting ready for a big move. It’s almost anticlimactic.

61. 24:37

    You’re tired, you’re emotionally exhausted, you’re spiritually drained. And now what’s going on outside? Adds to the tragedy by hearing whatever cries and pleas might be outside, knowing that the judgement of God has happened and it is now too late. They and every beast. After its kind and all the cattle, after their kind and creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, after his kind, every fowl, after his kind, every bird of every sort, they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein there is the breath of life.

62. 25:11

    And so here we have that again, the exception fish, chapter 6, verse 17, They’re fine. There’s no cries and pleas amongst the fish. They’re actually dancing and playing. All right, they went. In male and female of all flesh as God had commanded them and Yahweh shut them in. This is a huge. Point we’re going to light on this one for a minute.

63. 25:38

    We focused on there only being one way, and that is true and we well and good should. But God closed the door. Is both grace, mercy and judgment. The door being closed is saying access denied to anyone who is now no longer in it. But there’s a tremendous example of faith in the family that built it.

64. 26:04

    Remember, they followed God’s rules and God told him, make this giant box and put a hole. In it. I’ll take it from there. We have no evidence that they were told. Here’s the intricate work of a pulley designed system we want you to use so you can lift it. There’s no means to close this door without the help of God.

65. 26:25

    What an amazing example of faith. They built a box with a hole in it, trusted God to take it from there, and He did. So on one hand, we have their faith that God can and would deliver as He has promised. And oftentimes we have this song we teach our children. That God always keeps his promises.

66. 26:44

    This is one of the lines in the song. God always keeps his promises, so that’s good. But there’s also a measure of mercy to reward their. Faith. Imagine having to be the one to close the door while it was your child running towards it. God took that out of the equation, did he not?

67. 27:07

    Said you do it my way, I’ll take it from there. And the rest was up to God to sort out, not up to them to go. Well, I know we’re supposed to, but what about that one? I like that one on me. Now you build the boat, you leave the hole, give me a door. I’ll take it from there.

68. 27:22

    So it’s not only an example of their faithfulness, but it’s also an example of the mercy of the Father to take it from there. Now the flood was 40 days upon the earth. The waters increased and bear up the ark. It was lifted up above the earth. Habakkuk 214 is a good verse for this. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water covers the sea. So at this point, everything on the planet now. Knows the power of God, those that perished in the power of God and those that were saved by the power of God. The same act, the water of destruction was also the water of salvation.

69. 28:02

    And granted the population is quite small now, but they know that God is in control now. Water for cleansing is common in scripture. We, we already read Isaiah 54, perhaps many of us are already thinking Ephesians 5 right now. So it’s a concept in Scripture of the cleansing of, of, of water being used as an example of cleansing through Scripture.

70. 28:26

    Now the word of God was increasing in it and that was used a lot in the story of Acts multiple times the word of God increasing. We won’t look at it, but I’ll give you some place you want to play with it. Acts 6 and seven, Acts 12 and 24, Acts 19 and 20.

71. 28:43

    And so here we see the Word of God increasing and bearing up those that it’s going to save. It’s a nice reference for us to think of. So we had then have this arc being lifted up a reference to the wood as a means for salvation and represent a representative of a Redeemer with only one door and the way, the truth and the life which gives us a picture of Jesus in fact.

72. 29:08

    But when we look at chapter 8 we we see Jesus in the ark. Not literally, but the echoes of Jesus in the ark are overwhelming in the 8th chapter. As we start seeing this means of salvation being borne up to redeem the family. Let’s look at numbers. 21 Numbers 21, and we’ll read verse 8:00 and 9:00. The Lord said unto the Moses, Make the a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it should come to pass that everyone that is bitten when you look upon it shall live. Moses made a serpent of brass, put it on a pole. It came to pass if the.

73. 29:51

    Serpent had been bitten by any man. Sorry if the serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the Serpent of brass, he lived. Now granted this would be a separate topic for another day, but I want. To use the imagery while we’re here. So as we look at this being borne up, the ark being borne up to save, we then tie the lifting up the serpent representing flesh, going back to the Garden of Eden, as does the metal brass. So we’ve got the imagery there together. And the only way they could escape death in this instance and its sinful condemnation was to look on the man whom they had pierced.

74. 30:30

    That’s effectively what they were being taught by this serpent, brazen serpent on a pole. In fact, Jesus says this much. We’ll again go back to one of the most popular verses in the Bible. We’ll just scoot forward to and read John 3 verse 14. As Moses was lifted up this say, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

75. 30:56

    We know the next couple verses. We know the concept. The same phrase comes in John chapter 8, verse 28, so it’s repeated. For us, and so we get this example of the means of salvation, another echo pointing towards, specifically towards the crucifixion, and we will do that. Tomorrow, not tomorrow. We’re taking it aside tomorrow. In two days we’ll do that specifically towards the crucifixion.

76. 31:18

    The imagery is there for you and I to connect the dots because as much as it is about their family, it’s recorded for hours and that’s why the imagery is there. It’s recorded so that we would see these shadows and look to him who was pierced that we might have. Hope, and have that hope together.

77. 31:41

    The waters prevailed. They increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters. The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high heels that were under the whole heaven were covered. So we’ve got water, the word of God versus the earth and all its sin. Water wins.

78. 31:58

    That’s really all. That’s all that’s intending to say. God is flooding. Out the sins of the planet, much like when he intends us to flood out the sins of our life with his word, gives us an opportunity to take in his thoughts so that we can overflow our. Thoughts. And what’s left is the purity of his doctrine.

79. 32:17

    The best way to overcome flesh and the lust thereof is to flood it with the Word of God. And this is one of those lessons that I think strikes very hard to our community today. And I want to make sure we adequately put the emphasis on this because it’s an individual thing recognized in the communal thing. Historically, we’ve been considered a community of readers and studiers of the Word of God. It’s been one of the strengths of our community that has allowed us to keep our nose and.

80. 32:45

    Scripture and let God dictate to us what is right and what is wrong, while the churches around us are looking for a happy feeling that determines what’s right and wrong and use a verse here and there to back it up. Sadly, this trend inevitably affects the ecclesia and it’s happening right now. This is. Not confession time, so take this one in, but you ever been to a Bible class where the most common phrase in the in the question and answer part of the class was I think or I feel? Should make a shudder because of what we think and what we feel is important.

81. 33:24

    We have given our God no room to navigate the class. See if we have a chapter and verse we should use it. If we have an opinion, it’s OK to have it and it’s OK to share it. We just have to make sure that opinion never gets elevated to the point of law.

82. 33:38

    And the only way that happens it’s if we start reading and studying. If we stop reading and studying. Because as long as I’m reading the Word of God, I’m allowing the Word of God to impact my thinking. And what impacts my thinking impacts what I say and what I do. But if I’ve read it before, I’m familiar with that story. I don’t get anything out of the Bible class. I’m not really a particular fan of that speaker. Boy, haven’t I read this chapter about 57 times? Maybe I’ll just skip through it a little bit. I don’t do the readings like I used to because I pretty much have the Bible memorized now.

83. 34:12

    I’m not saying any of us use these exact words but now take them out of your conscious thought and ask does it impact my unconscious thought? How many ecclesias have more Bible? Classes than they did 10 years ago. Very few. Most ecclesias have less. Now we go, oh, Zoom has given us access. OK, great, that’s fine.

84. 34:38

    That’s fine and dandy. But for an opportunity to serve, unless you’re the speaker on Zoom, you don’t have that. You get the content, but you don’t have the contact. What’s happening to our community? Are we getting closer to each other through the Word of God, or rather farther away, connected by the Word of God to a degree. And the farther away we get, the more dangerous this is. Now, here’s why I’m going there.

85. 35:08

    Because what if what we did yesterday still impresses us? We are not growing, and if we want to be part of the family of God, we have to continue to grow. Therefore, reading and coming together to talk about what we read is a vital piece to our walk to the Kingdom. The magic of the Bible companion is not because Robert Roberts wrote it and he was a kid. That’s not the magic.

86. 35:32

    I don’t even care what Bible reading calendar you use. If you keep your nose in the Word, you’re helpful to getting God’s Word in your life. But one of the. Beauties of using the Bible companion. Is if all of us are reading the same thing in Scripture and I don’t know, for some unknown reason, like a Bible school, there’s a couple hundred of us in a room together.

87. 35:51

    Do we not have something to talk about now at the Bible school? Well, we got three different classes we could talk about. OK. I’ll give you that. How many of our conversations will we come towards the hall or about the readings from yesterday versus the sports scores from yesterday or what we read in the readings last night versus a new recipe we heard about?

88. 36:12

    Now, I’m not condemning sports and recipes. I’m just trying to put it in perspective. For us to be people of the Word doesn’t mean we used to do that. It means we’re actively reading and trying to understand what we read and study and dig so that we can let God talk to. US. In every relationship, any relationship with any value at all requires two way communication. The husband and wife that don’t talk to each other? It’s not usually going to make it. Parents, children, two way conversation, even your best friend, if you have a best friend and they do all the talking, you’re looking for a new best friend, aren’t you? So think about that for a second. If we pray, we pray at every meal. We pray in the morning, we pray that we do a lot of praying, but we’re not taking the time to read. We are in effect talking to our God and not listening back. Ever done the Bible readings and felt like boy? That’s exactly what I was praying about. I needed that chapter you ever had that you showed up. There was an exhortation.

89. 37:16

    It felt like these order was talking exactly to you. It’s not because they can read your mind. Good thing. And it’s not because God altered the word yesterday because he knew you needed that. But rather, the depth of Scripture is so vast, if we’re constantly reading it, there’s more for us to get.

90. 37:34

    And if we are praying that God help us, that help is probably right in front of us. And we might have read it 50 times, but 51 is the one that got us. In fact, the con, the class we did yesterday with the kids, which we’re going to do tomorrow, is all based on a story I’d read probably 50 times.

91. 37:54

    But after doing a study somewhere else in the Bible, the next time, I went through the readings and got to this one. How did I never know that? That happens to me every year, and it happens to all of us if we continue to read and ask questions. So I want to make sure that we take that part very seriously. That’s how we overflow the flesh in our lives as we flood it with the Word of God, and we come together as brothers and sisters to talk about what we’re learning. Because you’re going to pick up things I don’t, and I’m going to pick up things you don’t.

92. 38:22

    But as long as we’re talking, I might learn something from you. You might learn something from me. We get to grow together as a family and the Word of God is what brought us together. Now with this note, we want to make sure we know water was not the problem, it was the salvation. The corruption of the flesh was the problem. The water was the solution.

93. 38:44

    Let’s go back to Peter first Peter 3 verse 20 and 21 which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing. I like that while the ark was a preparing. Wherein a few that is 8. Souls were saved by water, the like figure where unto even baptism doth now save us, not the putting off of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So here we stand at the flood.

94. 39:21

    Time was up. God’s patience was gone, and we apply that to our day. There will be a day, and boy, we would love for it to be right now. We would love to be at Bible school when Christ returns because the other places we could be and the other things we could be doing are probably not at the same level of spiritual upliftedness than what we have. And we’re together at a Bible camp separate from the world. There will be a day when Christ returns and time is up and the opportunity for judgment takes place. Getting ready today so that we can be prepared to be part of that glorious tomorrow where we are saved by the water of the Word.

95. 40:04

    And the refreshing one way door of the Lord our Jesus Christ bringing us to the concept of tabernacling with Him as His family forever. We get this concept in baptism as well as we see in verse 21, this figure of baptism. And we think of our own optimism at baptism that turns into pessimism later. That is natural.

96. 40:26

    Every time we go to a baptism, do we not think back to our own? Just one of the beauties of having a baptism. It’s not just the refreshing waters going over the Sinner that’s declared God is righteous and I’m following His command. Oh, that’s awesome, especially for that guy or gal. But the real benefit to the meeting is everyone there who’s thinking back. To the time when they made that decision and to offer an opportunity to rekindle that thought so that we can be prepared as we see the day approaching 15 cubits above. Excuse me, upward.

97. 41:06

    Did the waters prevail? And the mountains were covered, so this tells us roughly 22 feet over the highest visible mountain. Which is fine, and I’ll take a quick diversion we touched yesterday. But I won’t spend too much time here really because I don’t care. But I feel like I have to touch it. And this is one of the verses used to say that the entire world was flooded.

98. 41:27

    And it very well could have been. I’m OK with that. God can do whatever he wants. He’s in control. So we don’t deny the power of God. Could have fled the whole planet, no problem. Could he have done it regionally and just killed all the people? He could have, and it would be righteous. Now, the reason I bring that up is we’re given just enough so that we can understand the majesty of the Father. There are an awful lot more details to this story that could be written, but our God and His wisdom gave us enough to see His righteousness and get the lessons. So here is where it becomes important. Whether we think it’s a worldwide flood or whether we think it’s a regional flood really doesn’t matter as long as we all declare God right.

99. 42:06

    Where we get ourselves into trouble is thinking it. Had to be one way for God to be right. Because it didn’t. There’s evidence for both. Pick the evidence you like, knock yourself out. I can give you biblical evidence for both. Knock yourself out. I can give you scientific evidence for both. Give you scientific evidence that tries to argue both. Here’s the part that I love and I don’t care because true Bible study and true science will always match when it doesn’t match either.

100. 42:36

     The science is flawed. Good example of that. Jupiter got demoted all right. Science is still changing. New evidence came in, we changed our mind. I wish they would do that with evolution, but nonetheless. Science is wrong, eventually follow scientific method they’ll get right or the Bible student is wrong. And my favorite example of that we’re actually going to talk about tomorrow night. It’s the age of the earth making an argument that the earth is 6000 years old.

101. 43:03

     We’re wasting our time making the argument. The Bible does not say that. Could it be only 6000 years old? Yes. If that’s how God wanted to do it, He could have started everything over and said new planet, new solar system, I’m on this one. Now could he have done that in His divine majesty?

102. 43:19

     Yes. Could he instead have reused something that had been there for billions of years, started with a clean slate, and said I’m starting over, let’s do it again. Yes. In fact, Genesis chapter 1 suggests that’s exactly what happened. Now if science says the earth is 4 or 6 billion years old and the sun is 10 billion years old, do I care? No, I’m not that old.

103. 43:40

     God has given me a book that covers approximately 4100 years of history and maybe 2 or 3000 years of prophecy. Anyone ever argue this book is too small? He should have kept going. We have plenty to be part of the Kingdom of God. And what God did and where He did it and how He did it, why he did it.

104. 44:00

     You just give us a headache if we tried to figure out how many universes there are right now where God is calling out a people for His name. Could it be another billion? Make your head hurt. Think about that. Here’s the point. Our God’s in control and He’s not new at this. He’s doing what is right for us and who knows what other. Creations that are out there right now. So don’t make God so small that he fits into a box. We understand it’s OK to have an opinion. I have one.

105. 44:25

     You may like it, you may not, and it doesn’t matter as long as we don’t say God had to do it this way because this is the only way that makes sense. Oh, to you. But to God, there’s an awful lot more options than the ones our tiny brains can come up with. Now the key point for this as it relates to the flood is for God’s word to be accurate, all the humans had to die. The animals, they’re amoral.

106. 44:48

     Animals don’t sin. Animals behave on instinct. They died because of their proximity to mankind. So we let that be the part we have to all agree on. God is right, all the humans died. This is. The end of the story Opinions. Have fun. They’re fun to discuss. Just don’t get locked in. When you get locked in.

107. 45:08

     You’re now wrong because God is not limited by the thinking of our thoughts. Verse 21 All flesh died that moved upon the earth, both fallen of cattle of beast, a very creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And every man, all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, that was on dry lands. So now again we have this comment. Excluding the fish.

108. 45:31

     Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not. The emphasis, not the fish. God did not flood the world because of the evil squirrels. Man was the target. That’s the kneefesh. We’re talking about animals. Yes, they died, but the focus was on. Mankind. Every living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle keeping things, the fowls of heaven.

109. 45:55

     They were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is chapter 6, verse 7. Chapter 7, verse 4. Repeat, repeat, repeat. The waters pervade upon the earth 150 days, so we’ve got 5 lunar months, the number of grace. In chapter 8 we get to see the shadows of Christ in the ark, including a few more astounding sevens.

110. 46:22

     And in Chapter 9 we’ll get to see the end of the story. It’s not quite very flattering for sure, but to that day where we can look at a as a family and we can see beyond the sins of our present. Toward the opportunity of our future, that we might be one with the Father.

111. 46:38

     Tabernacling with the sun. And to that end we say, Even so, come Lord Jesus.