Faithfully Obeying God (Genesis 6)

"The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart ... But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." - Genesis 6:6, 8

Genesis 6 is the clearest picture of what the world had become before the flood. Twice in this chapter, God describes them as "filled with violence". The reason it is important to look at the world before the flood is that in Matthew 24:36-41, Jesus is describing the end times and the second coming of Christ. He describes it as "like the days of Noah". In Genesis we see violence described (v. 11, 13), continually wickedness (v. 5), and in Matthew 24:38, described is "eating, drinking, marry and giving in marriage", these acts described in Matthew are not wicked in themselves, but without Christ they can be.

In a side note, I look around at our society and our world today, and I see these things. The violence in movies and video games is just one example. Alcohol has become such a problem in our society; marriage has been perverted in how God designed it originally, and finally how over eating has become such a problem in our world today. But however bad these things are now, they will be even worse in the last days, and were even worse in the days of Noah. All of the evilness makes God sorry that He had ever made man.

But God made a way to save His creation. I can't help, but think it’s a picture of Christ. God sent Jesus to save humans from their sin, much like He used Noah to have the human race. I'm so glad that God used Noah and the flood to destroy the wickedness of the world, because it would have only gotten worse. How bad would it be today, and what would have been the end result. God knows all, and knew that the world needed to be cleansed.

Noah was described in verse 8 as having favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is similar to what we saw yesterday in how Enoch was described as having walked with the Lord. In Hebrews 11:7, Noah is described as "by faith" obeying God and being warned about things "not yet seen". Some say that rain had never come upon the earth until the flood, so despite the fact that it was unknown to man, Noah obeyed God.

We should have the same obedience to God. Even if we think it can't happen we need to obey. It reminds me of Jonah in how he did not believe God or understand God in sending him to Nineveh, but God used him anyway. We need to step out in faith and do the things that we think are impossible. In looking at my own live, I have struggled in obeying God. I look at my own life, and how God has commanded us to go and share the gospel with the world, and how afraid I am of telling others. I need to be praying that God will give me the faith to obey. What ever your struggle is, ask God to give you faith. He will give you the strength.

One last note about this passage, it says that Noah was commanded to gather two of every animal (one male, and one female). It also describes the size of the ark. The ark is huge in size, but to hold two of every animal it just doesn't seem big enough. I wonder if the animals were young or at least small in size. A full grown elephant or giraffe would take up to much space. Its something we just will never know.

Until tomorrow, have a Great Day!

Verse of the day: "I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." - Isaiah 61:10

For your reading:
The Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 50 and Hebrews 8
Daily Bread: 1 Corinthians 11:23-34