Our text today includes Genesis 8:1-10:32,  Matthew 4: 12-25, Psalm 4:1-8, and Proverbs 1:20-23.  Today we continue our study of Noah.  As you know, Noah walked with God. Noah and his family were the only humans spared from the great flood.  Scripture tells us that “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.  It broke his heart.”  Genesis 6:5-6

How hard it must be that the Lord knows our thoughts.  Those secret things that no one else knows, that we never admit or confess.  Oh, the Lord can handle it for sure when we are honest.  He longs for us to admit it to Him, to answer the question, “Where are you?”  And “What have you done?”  Just like He asked Adam and Eve.  He, of course, knows it all.  But He knows we need to admit it so He can change it.  And that was the problem.  Not only were people not admitting it, they were so used to it, it no longer seemed wrong.

Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter.

(Isaiah 5:20)

One thing we must note about the story of Noah is the similarities between the account of Adam.  The very first thing that God spoke to Adam was “Be fruitful and multiply.”  This was God’s blessing for them. (Genesis 1:28) And I believe that this fruitfulness involved spiritual fruitfulness as much as procreation.  Yes the number of people had multiplied.  But their spiritual fruitness—the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—had not multiplied.  And so it seems that the purpose of the Flood was the cleansing needed to get back to the beginning.  The first thing the Lord spoke to Noah after he had exited the ark was word for word the same as He first spoke to Adam:

“Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the earth.’”

(Genesis 9:1)

Let’s pause here and describe the fear which could have hindered Noah.  Do you know that Noah had never heard of rain before the Flood?  No, it didn’t exist.  The earth was watered by underground springs.  (Genesis 2:5) And yet, Noah simply obeyed all the instructions the Lord gave him, though he had no context from which to draw to even know what God was describing that was to come.  He went inside the boat, trusted the Lord to close the door behind him (Genesis 7:16), and held on tight throughout the storm.

Have you ever wondered how 40 days and 40 nights of rain could actually flood the whole earth?  It was not just the rain coming down, it was the spring watesr rising up.  During the process of creation, we find that God separated the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.

(Genesis 1:6-8)

When He brought the cleansing flood He was going back to the beginning.  He was going starting all over.  At creation He separated the waters and at the Flood He brought them back together.

Another similarity was that Adam had three sons, Cain, Able, and Seth, just as Noah had three sons.  At first, we learn of Cain and Abel, brothers growing up together, struggling to live outside the garden.  Cain worked the soil and Abel was a shepherd.  When I was young I was very confused as to why God did not accept Cain’s offering of his crops.  I kind of felt sorry for Cain. But I understand now that God saw their hearts.  We find in Genesis 4: 3-5 that Cain offered “some” of his crop to the Lord, while Abel offered “the best” of the first-born lambs.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

Cain went about the motions of offering to the Lord as merely a requirement.  Abel offered his best out of his devotion to God.  And we cannot pass over another important reason God preferred Abel’s gift.  Abel was a shepherd.  He was offering a lamb. A pure, perfect lamb—the best one he had.  This act was prophetic and reflective of what was to come.  The Ultimate Sacrifice that would make the wounded world right again.  It was symbolic of the Lamb of God, Jesus.  And with this gift, I believe the mind of God traveled through time to the moment He would send the dove to descend and rest upon His Lamb and He could already feel the sensation of the words to come, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” (Matthew 3:17)

Of course, Abel’s gift was more pleasing to God!  It was sincere and pure and reflective of God’s greatest joy.

What grief the Father must have felt when Cain killed Abel.  Again, he confronts sin with a question, the answer to which He already knows.  “Where is your brother… What have you done?”  Of course God knew the answer  and punishment was soon to come.  Cain was forever after a homeless wanderer. But our good Father God extended mercy along with the punishment and promised to protect Cain and vowed to give a 7-fold punishment (There’s that number 7!) to anyone who tried to kill him.

And so it was that Adam and Eve lost both of their sons in one sad event.  But God brought a great mercy in the midst of the severe grief.  He brought a third son, Seth.

Seth and his descendants brought about a righteous line, a redeemed lineage.  And it was through Seth that Noah came, the only righteous one left on earth.  Tomorrow we will find out more about the similarities of the three sons of Adam and the three sons of Noah.  But today, let’s pause and reflect on the heart of God to send the Flood and get back to the beginning.  He brought the waters he had separated on Day Two back together.  But why didn’t He go back to Day One.  Why didn’t he go back to the total darkness and emptiness?

We are told in the book of John that Jesus was the Word and was at the beginning of creation.   We are also told that Jesus is the Light of the World.

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'”

(John 8:11)

God did not go back to day one and snuff out the light because Jesus was the light of the world.  And though he may have regretted he had created man, he wanted to begin again  offering the great Light to the world He created.

We find in our New Testament reading today that Jesus consistently fulfilled the prophesy of Messiah, the hope for the world.

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

“In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,

beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,

in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,

the people who sat in darkness

    have seen a great light.

And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,

    a light has shined.”

 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

(Matthew 4: 12-17)

God did not go back to Day 1 and snuff out the light, because could not, would not permanently snuff out Jesus.

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,^a

and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

               (John 1:1-5)

Can you imagine the fear Noah must have had when God said, “Leave the boat…”  The boat was safe, the boat was secure.  The boat had been their safety.  They were now walking into the unknown with the command to be fruitful and multiply.  And that is what we must do, too.  This year, let’s leave the boat, let’s be spiritually fruitful and multiply.  Because there are those around us still living in a land where spiritual death casts its shadow, and they need to know the Light of the World.

Okay, we are three days in.  If you can be diligent for 18 more days, then you will have established a habit. Or so the experts say! For the first couple of weeks, I will post more often, then I am sure life will set in and once a week posting will become the norm.  In these early chapters, we can find so many basic truths, threads of God’s goodness, introductions of the language He uses to speak and repeat and remind us of His truth woven throughout the whole Bible.

Today’s reading includes Genesis 5:1-7:24, Matthew 3:7-4:11, Psalm 3:1-8, and Proverbs 1:10-19.  To begin I want to remind you of a few things.  First of all, God is all about words.  He formed the universe—all of heaven and earth, sun, moon, and stars, every creature great and small, and the entire human race—with words.  He spoke it and it came to be.  Words are very important to Him.  And His words are very, very powerful.  They have the power to transform.  So, know that every word in the Bible is true and important.  Often, God repeats Himself.  Not because He forgets what He says, but because we forget what He says.  After you study the Bible for a while, you learn to see the recurring themes throughout.  One of the ways God uses the recurring themes is through numbers. There are many references in the Bible to certain numbers that keep popping up everywhere.  I call them “holy numbers”.  Some of the most common are three, seven, 12, and 40.  The number three can be classified as holy perfection like the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The number seven indicates completion and perfection—like the seven days of creation. The number 12 often encompasses the family of God, representing all God’s people, and reminds us of the covenant or unending promise of relationship between God and his people—like the 12 tribes of Israel or the 12 disciples. The number 40 is often a number of cleansing and preparation for the extraordinary—like the flood in the days of Noah which lasted 40 days and 40 nights, or when Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness before He began His ministry.  Both of these events were in our reading today. Keep those numbers in mind as you read through the Bible.  You may want to circle those numbers when you see them.  Sometimes you may see a series of numbers.  Often, if you take the time to add them up, you will discover that they add up to one of these holy numbers.  Not always, but often.

To me, when you see these holy numbers, it is like God is signaling for us to pay attention and look for the additional meaning in the story, the underlying spiritual meaning in the midst of the Bible story.  Tomorrow we will study more of the story of Noah and we will see some of the repetitive symbolism discussed today.  But today, let’s begin our look at Noah.  We find that his influence is in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  The threads of the story of Noah go deeper and farther than a mere Sunday School story.  The elements in the story of Noah are crucial for a clear understanding of the entire Bible.

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes from faith.”

Hebrews 11:7

When I read this verse years ago, I felt that I saw the tip of an iceberg of truth, but there was much more to it than I saw.  I still feel that way.  But as I wrestled with this seemingly insignificant passage, I did see deeper truth than I had originally grasped.  You know the story of Noah, who lived in a time where sin was the norm and righteousness was rare.  It was so rare, in fact, that only Noah was found to be righteous.  How did he stay faithful when the tides of a sinful culture sent constant waves of temptation wherever he went?  I think the secret is found in Genesis 6:9:  “This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”

Noah walked with God.  He did not run ahead of God or lag behind Him.  He consistently walked with God step by step, day after day.  We can learn from that.  Sometimes in a winter season of life it is almost easier to walk with God than when everything in life is bright and beautiful.  It is because the winter seasons of life reveal our deep need for God—a reality in every season, but one that shouts loud and clear in the winter season.  This side of heaven we will not see all the benefits of walking with God.  Our earthly eyes cannot comprehend the blessings that automatically come from walking with God.  We must trust that God always sees through a wide-angle lens.  He sees what we can’t see or accomplish.  And just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean that it is not happening.  These truths can be discerned from the simple passage of Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes from faith.”

Noah obeyed God, believed God, was faithful to God, but he did it for his little family.  But God had a much bigger plan in store.  Noah only saw and understood a small piece of the puzzle.  But God uses imperfect people to bring about His perfect will. God uses the ordinary to bring about the extraordinary. Noah’s obedience affects us now.  But he didn’t see that.  And we don’t see God’s huge, multi-faceted plan in our lives either.  We don’t see the big picture that what we are doing today affects generations to come.  We need to remember that we don’t see the big picture.  But we need to think about our legacy and make the most of every opportunity.

We see in the story of Noah that our God is very specific about His plan of salvation for His people. The 40 days are symbolic of the cleansing our world needed.But in the midst of the cleansing, He is faithful to His own.

As our reading today in Psalm 3 indicates, He is a shield for those who choose to walk with Him, to quietly trust Him day in and day out, during the days of sunshine and the storms of life.

“But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.”              Psalm 3:3

A final note on the New Testament reading today.  We find Jesus in an intimate moment with His father.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”

Matthew 3:16-17

God the Father graciously assured Jesus of who He was and whose He was before He was sent into the wilderness to face the tempter. Using scripture as his defense against Satan’s tactics, Jesus could go into the wilderness knowing who He was.  This gives courage and strength.  He was the beloved Son and God was pleased with Him.  Why?  Because God knew Him, knew His heart.  This was before Jesus had performed any miracles.  The pleasure God the Father expressed was complete and unconditional.  It was not based on good works but on the identity of being a child of God.

As you go through the day today, remember that God loves you unconditionally.  He loves you because you are His child, not because of good works.  Rest in His complete love for you, then go out equipped with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

What have you learned this week?

So, did you get your Bible?  Do you have a notebook and pen?  Do you have a plan?  Of when you will have your devotional time, of where you will keep it so that you don’t have to look for it each day, of who you will invite to join you?  I am excited to get started!  I will mostly likely post notes towards the end of the week.  Please comment or email me what you are learning.  I know God will be generous in His divine lessons for all of us!

Each week, I suggest that you think through and jot down in a notebook the following:

Name one thing that you have learned from the Old Testament.

Name one thing you have learned from the New Testament.

Name one thing you have learned from the Psalms.

Name one thing you have learned from Proverbs.

Before you begin reading your Bible, whisper a prayer to God that He would teach you, rebuke you, correct you and train you in righteousness.  Pray that He would reveal any unconfessed sin so that the distance that causes would not keep you from hearing what he wants to teach you.

Your time with the Lord is not just about reading.  It is about listening.  Listening to the quiet, deeply personal whispers of your God to you, his beloved child.

The Holy Spirit is your teacher.  I simply want to be your encourager and accountability partner.  I want to share with you what I am learning and hear what you are learning.

May the Lord bless our endeavors this year.  May His Word bear great fruit in our hearts and minds and actions this year.

One final note before we begin.  In the coming months, I want to encourage you toward this end:

Cherish your Bible.  I first thought of other verbs which didn’t set right with my heart.  I thought of “read your Bible” I thought of “study your Bible”, but neither of those words seemed to convey what is on my heart. And then I thought of CHERISH.

Webster says CHERISH means: to hold dear: feel or show affection for; to keep or cultivate with care and affection; to nurture. It also means to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely.

CHERISH your Bible.

In our travels to China Mont once spoke to a North Korean underground Christian who told about one technique the government used to find underground Christians.  The teachers were instructed to ask the children if their parents had a special book, one that they cherished, one that they hid in a special place.  When the children answered honestly, they had unknowingly betrayed their own parents to the police.  He told Mont that after that, some of the parents disappeared and were never seen again.  The children became wards of the state.  As horrifying as that story is, I would hope if my tiniest children were asked the same question, they would be able to say, “Yes!  My mom has a book like that—one that she cherishes above all others.”  There are many great Christian books out there, but they should never take precedence over THE BOOK.  It’s not okay to read a good Christian book for your devotion, instead of your Bible.  I can say that because I write Christian books.  Only the Bible is the Living Word, only the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit which defends you and defeats Satan’s schemes.  Only the Bible can give you strength and transform your heart.  Cherish your Bible.

As a reminder, I am reading the One Year Bible.  This is an easy way to read through the Bible in a year.  I have done this for years and it has enriched my life in more ways than I can explain.  You can purchase that particular Bible in whichever version you desire.  You can download the One Year Bible app.  This allows you to listen to the passages if you get behind.  But I do encourage you to also buy an actual Bible in book form.  Be prepared to mark it up, highlight what you find applicable, date it when you feel the Lord whispering to you, make notes in the margins, circle important words, etc.

When my grandmother died, I inherited one of her most prized possessions—her Bible.  I love to flip through it and read her notes in her own handwriting.  I hope my own kids and grandkids will enjoy this as much when I go to my heavenly home.  Starting this year, my plan is to buy a new Bible each year.  I will try out different translations, then probably end up back to the beloved NIV.  But each Bible will be fresh, and the notes which inspired me last year will not distract me from seeing something different.  And I will have many Bibles with my handwritten notes to pass down to my abundance of children!

Invite a friend to join us!  I will be praying for you tomorrow as I read the precious Word of God.