Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/98832/the-declaration-of-judgment-on-sinful-man/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] . . . . [0:12] Alright, we're in Genesis chapter 6, and tonight, kind of moving a little bit, not in a different direction, but further, as we approach God's actual judgment upon this planet, the flood, Noah's flood. [0:33] And we're not going to get that far here tonight. We're really kind of looking at what the Bible says here about those things that are going to take place prior to the flood actually coming, in a sense, preparation for the flood, a preparation for God's judgment. [0:52] And I've entitled this portion, really, the latter part of chapter 6, and then on in to chapter 7, and we'll get into that next time. [1:02] But I've entitled it, The Coming Judgment and the Ark of Salvation. Because there is judgment here, it's very clear. But there's also God's grace and His redemption, and it's all part of His plan. [1:17] And it's really quite incredible when you look at this and begin to understand it. The die is cast here for mankind, meaning that mankind has now passed the point of no return, and judgment is now inevitable. [1:40] There's no repentance that will be accepted now. The judgment is coming. And so with that, we begin with the judgment and what God's Word here in chapter 6 says about that. [1:56] And I've called it the declaration of judgment upon the sinful, upon sinful man. It's a declaration that God is making. In fact, He repeats it several times throughout this chapter, this portion of the chapter, and even on in to chapter 7, and it'll kind of bring all those together here. [2:15] But verse 13 is where it is first declared. And here's what God's Word says. You have that text right before you. God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence. [2:34] Now, by the way, this is not in your notes, but that is an incredible, well, very disturbing phrase filled with violence. [2:48] We think it is today. And indeed, it's fast approaching that. But this phrase is saying this. [2:59] God is saying that there is no more room for any more. It is so bad, so saturated, the world is so polluted by sin, that God is saying it cannot hold anymore. [3:16] Now, you know, that's maybe a little bit vague. It's an astounding statement. I'm not sure what that looks like. We kind of think we do. It may be in some parts of our world today. [3:28] We might see, you know, maybe a snapshot of what it was like on the entire planet in this day. But God said it's filled, filled full, filled full with violence. [3:42] It can't hold anymore. And how did that come about? Through them, he says. And, of course, them is a reference to man, mankind. [3:56] So, the earth is filled to capacity with violence, with sin, through man and behold. [4:09] And here's the declaration. I will destroy them with the earth. That phrase is very important, too. And I think I pointed this out last time. He's going to destroy them. [4:20] Again, that's a reference to mankind. But not just man. He's going to destroy them with the earth. That is, not only is he going to destroy man, but also his domain and dominion. [4:34] It's all going to be destroyed. Now, this is a horrifying declaration. It really is. Now, it's so familiar to us that, you know, the seriousness of it is perhaps lost. [4:48] But think of it. Let this sink in. This is a horrifying declaration. I will destroy them with the earth. This is coming from God. [5:00] And it's horrifying, I say, for several reasons. And I've given those to you there. Number one, because God himself will be the agent of this global destruction. [5:13] God's not just simply going to just let things happen, you know. You know, just simply remove maybe his protective grace or, you know, whatever, his hand. [5:26] He is going to deliberately do this. He's the agent of this global destruction. He said, and behold, I will destroy. [5:38] Now, I don't know if that shakes your view of God, you know, to think of God in these terms, that God is going to do this. [5:53] He's not going to just say, well, this is the way you want to go. Go for it. I'm just letting go. He is going to do it. He's going to send this destruction. And verse 17, if you skip on down there, the declaration is repeated there. [6:12] And it's even stronger. A stronger, if it's possible, stronger declaration of judgment. And behold, he says that again, I myself. Now, in Hebrew as well as Greek, that is called an emphatic. [6:31] Now, we wouldn't necessarily talk this way. We wouldn't write this way. It would be redundant. You know, it's not a good way to write. But in the Hebrew culture and Greek culture, they used this to make something emphatic. [6:46] God said, I, myself, am bringing floodwaters on the earth. And we see it again in chapter 7, verse 14. [6:57] I will destroy. And there's the word destroy again. Now, and I put this here in your notes because this is important. The word behold in both verses, that is both the verse 13 and then there in verse 17, the word behold reveals that what God is about to do should be attributed to him alone and not some natural event. [7:25] Now, what's the point there? I'm sure that you have seen programs on TV or, you know, heard so-called scientists speculate. [7:38] And, you know, they're always kind of, in fact, many of them are infatuated with certain things in the Bible, biblical record, supernatural things. And there is always this attempt to explain something in natural terms. [7:54] You know, and so they just kind of look for a way that this could happen in a natural way. But God is saying, behold, behold, as is, open your eyes and see. [8:08] It's clear for all to see. This flood, this judgment is clearly supernatural. It's not something natural. And when he uses the word behold, and he does so twice, he's saying that it's clear for everyone to see. [8:27] It's very clear. And so any honest thinking person must admit that God did this, that this is supernatural. [8:38] This is not to be explained in any natural way at all. Now, what's the point of that? Well, there are people who deny the record in Genesis of the flood. [8:52] In fact, it would probably be the most contested supernatural or miracle event in all of the Old Testament. The idea of a universal flood that destroys, that covers the entire planet in the first place, and would destroy all living things. [9:11] The very idea. And it's so contested. But God is saying, and the testimony of Scripture is, twice, it is plain to see. Plain to see. [9:22] And though he doesn't say this here, even the geological record, the evidence that we can look at today, points to only one possible cause. [9:36] A worldwide flood. And it's clear for all to see. And then only willful hostility toward God would keep a person from seeing it. [9:49] And of course, there are many that approach God in that way. They're hostile toward him. All right. The second thing is that God is determined within himself to destroy man and his world. [10:05] He said, I will destroy. Verse 17, chapter 7, verse 4, I will destroy. He's determined within himself. [10:15] It's not just something he's going to do. It's something he wills to do. Third, God has promised here in this declaration nothing short of complete global destruction. [10:32] Complete. I made this point last week, believe, that the flood was not some localized event. And there are many, many scholars out there, moderate liberal scholars, who go to great lengths to try to prove that this is not a universal worldwide flood, but just a local event. [10:58] And we'll talk more about that when we get to the flood itself. But let me just throw one thing out to you. If it was just a local event, then why did Noah and his family need an ark? [11:11] They just walk out. Go to high ground. They go to high ground. Yeah, just walk out of there. And a number of other reasons. We'll get to that argument a little bit later. [11:22] But this is complete global destruction. God said here in this verse 13, I will destroy them with the earth. That is, man and his dominion will be destroyed. [11:37] Again, verse 17. It's very clear, very absolute. In fact, it is almost redundant. And behold, I myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life. [11:54] everything that is on the earth shall die. Now, that's pretty redundant. That's complete. And again, chapter 7, verse 4, I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. [12:13] All right? Now, I would add to this, and I'm not sure, but I think I did make this point last week as well, that all of these points that I have made about God being determined within His own will and the complete destruction of creation, all of that is further fortified by the word destroy itself. [12:39] Just the word destroy, just by itself. The word doesn't appear this way in the English text, but it's a participle. And therefore, it is an expression of two things. [12:53] A deliberative, it's a deliberative, that's the form, and a continuous action. Deliberative in that God was deliberate in this, determined in this. [13:06] This is what He decided to do, not some afterthought or some, well, maybe I will, maybe I won't, or something that was half-hearted on God's side or God's part. [13:21] It's deliberative and continuous. That means it was going to continue, this judgment was going to continue until it was finished, until it completely destroyed. [13:33] Man and His dominion totally. Fourth, the means of God's judgment will be the flood. Well, of course. [13:44] Verse 17, He says, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth. That's how the New King James translates it. It actually is just one word in the Hebrew text. [13:55] I think the King James has it, flood of waters. That's just one word in the Hebrew text. Now, it's not brought out in the English text, but floodwaters or flood of waters, the word itself, appears with the definite article in front of it. [14:15] The. Though you don't have it translated that way. In fact, I think in the King James it says, a flood of waters. But it's actually the flood. Now, is that important? [14:27] It means that this is a very specific thing, this flood. I mean, there have been a lot of floods on the earth, haven't there? We've seen floods in our day. Bartlesville has seen a flood. [14:39] It happened before I got here. And it was pretty devastating in a certain area of this community. And I've been involved in floods in different places. [14:50] And we've seen them on TV and so forth. But those are all floods. But this is the flood. This is a specific event that, by the way, and we can go to other places in the Bible, God has promised never to repeat. [15:05] This is a one-time event. And it was catastrophic. Really. Now, of the 13 times this word that's translated floodwaters or flood of water, of the 13 times it appears in the Old Testament, it always refers to Noah's flood. [15:28] Always to that. Not to any other kind of flood. So this is a very unique event. Very specific. In fact, the Septuagint, and I've explained this before and you probably know, the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. [15:44] Done quite a few centuries before Christ. And in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, they use the word katalousmas. [15:57] Katalousmas. Or we get our word katalousmas from. And in the New Testament, that word appears in the New Testament, the word is always used in reference to Noah's flood. [16:12] Katalousmas. A katalousm. We use the word in other senses, but in the New Testament, but in the New Testament, it always refers to the flood. This is a special event. [16:25] A unique event. A catastrophic event that was sent by God. He was determined to send it. And it was a continuous event until it had utterly destroyed not only man, but his dominion as well. [16:43] A serious, serious thing. All right, so this is the declaration of judgment on sinful man. The next thing we see, though, and really it's interesting, the better part of the text deals more with this next thing than it does with the declaration of judgment, though the declaration of God's judgment is woven throughout the narrative. [17:06] And here's the second thing, the protection from judgment for the faithful. Verse 14, he says to Noah, make yourself an ark. [17:20] Make yourself an ark. All right, here's the introduction to, and instructions for how Noah and his family and a portion, a representative of the animals on the face of the earth are going to be protected from this judgment. [17:38] And here's where we get into God's grace and God's redemption. First thing we see is God's constructed protection. That is how it was constructed, the physical construction of it. [17:49] What that looked like, God's protection. And that we see there in verses 14 through 16. Let me read those verses for you. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. [18:02] Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits. [18:13] Its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits. You shall make a window for the ark and you shall finish it to a cubit from above and set the door, the ark, in its side and you shall make it with lower second and third decks. [18:29] All right, there's a description of God's protection, what that's going to look like. It's the ark. God instructed Noah to build, make an ark. [18:43] Now, the word ark appears 31 times in the Old Testament. 26 times right here in Genesis in reference to this thing that Noah's been instructed to build in relation to the flood. [19:03] Five times the word appears in Exodus 2, 3, and 5 in the account of Moses when he was just a little baby. Same word there. Nowhere else does this word ark, and I know you're thinking the ark of the covenant, but it's a different word. [19:19] This is something different. Now, the Hebrew word is never used to define a ship in the sense of a vessel, a water vessel, that is used to navigate from point A to point B or something like that or go out fishing or anything like that. [19:37] It's not used in the sense of boat or ship. It doesn't mean that. The word describes, very simply, just a craft, a water craft of some sort that will float. [19:50] And its only real purpose is to do that, to float. I know we've got pictures, you know, that have been painted of the ark, and, you know, some will buy little arks with all the little animals and Noah and his family and put it in the nursery or maybe as a toy or something. [20:14] And generally, it looks kind of like a boat, doesn't it? I mean, just like you would imagine. But it just wasn't that way. [20:25] And we'll explain that a little bit more here as we go along. But what does the Bible tell us about the physical features of the ark? Well, a number of things, but they're not real specific. [20:39] In fact, they're kind of vague. This was no real elaborate kind of construction. And so, what were the physical features? [20:51] Well, first, the ark is to be constructed out of gopher wood. Gopher wood. What is that? Well, we don't really know. [21:04] You know, this is the only place in Scripture where this type of wood is mentioned, or if it's the name of a tree, it's the only place that we have any reference to it. [21:14] If it's a gopher tree, we would assume if it's gopher wood, it came from a gopher tree. But this is the only place you find it in all the Bible. The word gopher, now, that appears in the King James, New King James, I think the New American Standard probably has gopher in there. [21:34] You say, well, where does that come from? Well, it's just a transliteration. That's how it sounds if you were to pronounce the Hebrew word gopher or something similar to that. [21:46] So, that's why we have that word in our most English texts because that's just the way it sounds in the Hebrew. But that means, actually what that means is the translators didn't know what it was. [21:59] There was no English equivalent for the word. And so, anytime that happens, you just bring the Hebrew word right on in to the English. And that's called a transliteration. [22:12] Now, some of you might have an NIV. Anybody have an NIV? All right. So, there, in the NIV, it says cypress. All right. [22:22] It says cypress. But, I have to say that that's speculative. Speculative on their part. The word is not cypress. Cypress. We don't know that it was a cypress tree. [22:34] Now, why would they pick cypress? Because they used cypress to build ships. And so, they're making an interpretation there, speculation, and they may be right. [22:45] But the fact of the matter is, we don't know if it was cypress. We don't know what kind of tree it was. Because this is the only place we find it in the Bible. We can't go other places in Scripture and see where gopher is used again to get a little bit better idea about what it was. [23:03] It may have been, in fact, this, I think, might be a good conclusion to make. One scholar, several scholars, have speculated that it was just simply, not a word for a tree or wood, just a word that meant a suitable kind of wood for shipbuilding. [23:26] So, it might have been anything. It might have been cypress. Or maybe some other kind of wood that doesn't even exist anymore. I mean, we did have a flood. [23:37] And a lot of things were destroyed on this planet, plant-wise, that did not survive. And so, who knows? We just don't know. [23:49] So, you can just decide for yourself. All right? Second, the ark is to be constructed with rooms, it says, in the most English text. [24:01] And, of course, a room would serve a two-fold purpose, obviously, to provide each species of animal its own particular place in the ark, including Noah and his family. [24:13] I mean, they had to have their living quarters. And so, they had rooms or compartments. I think some of them were probably very small, some large. Some might have been cages because a lot of the animals, of course, that would be brought on the ark were very small. [24:28] And so, they wouldn't need an entire room. In fact, I really think that many of the animals that came on board were juveniles, weren't full-grown. [24:39] they needed to be very young and strong so that they could survive a very hostile world after the flood. So, and that, you know, leads to the question, were the dinosaurs on the ark? [24:52] Well, if the dinosaurs were alive before the flood came, then dinosaurs were on the ark. You say, well, how could you get a big T-Rex on the ark? [25:03] Well, who said it was a big one? Even if, and I really think a lot of the dinosaurs that we think existed, scientists think existed, probably did not, but we won't get into that. [25:16] But even if they did, some of the largest of dinosaurs could have been brought on the ark as infants, just little babies, maybe just barely born. And there would be plenty of room for them there. [25:30] And, you know, this, too, this organizing, though it doesn't go into detail, developing the rooms, I think we can read between the lines, the implication is that Noah was to be very organized in how he constructed the various compartments and living quarters and so forth inside the ark for maximum usage of the space. [25:52] And that would be pretty important because they had quite an extensive cargo. In fact, one of the arguments, of course, from science is that it's not possible that every species or two of every, two of every animal could fit on the ark. [26:10] And, but it's been pretty well proven that they could. I mean, all you have to have is one dog and, or two dogs, male and female. [26:22] You don't have to have every, every breed. most of those breeds are contained inside the one dog and many would be born after that. [26:35] Anyway, we won't get into that right now. All right, the ark, third, is to be sealed inside and out with pitch. And, what is pitch? [26:47] Well, we don't really know that either. most likely it was some kind of tar, some bituminous substance and it was used there. [27:02] Clearly, it's intended to waterproof the ark. They had a certain kind of wood probably best suited for building a watercraft and then it had to be sealed. [27:15] And, it's interesting that God instructed Noah to cover the ark. They didn't just put it, he didn't just put it, you know, in the joints or in between the, you know, the timbers that were used to build the thing. [27:32] He was to cover it. And not just on the outside but on the inside too. And, that's kind of interesting and I would add to this and I did not put this in your notes, I don't think, but it's interesting though that the root word, the root for the Hebrew word here for pitch is the same word for atonement. [27:57] The word atonement and so it's led many to see something symbolic here. Symbolic of what atonement does for us. [28:10] The covering of sin. The blood atonement and the pitch may have been a kind of a foreshadowing of the atonement and I think it's perfectly right to come to that conclusion because the ark itself was a, was symbolic, a foreshadowing of salvation and that's very clear from the New Testament, New Testament references to the ark and so forth. [28:35] number four, the size of the ark is given in cubits. Cubits and cubit was a unit of measurement of course used in ancient times and it sounds a little redundant, I keep saying this but we don't really know how long it was. [28:52] It has been a lot of speculation about it and probably if you put them all together, you know, the average of them is probably pretty close. in Deuteronomy 3.11 you have this phrase after the cubit of a man and the cubit then, at least in Mosaic, in the Mosaic period and, you know, Moses did write Genesis so this may be accurate but the cubit was a measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and I measured mine exactly 19 and a half inches. [29:28] I don't know about yours, I'm talking about you know what I'm saying from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger here and for me that's 19 and a half inches I mean just almost right on it now it would vary from person to person obviously and, but, anyway, they came up with that measurement a royal cubit in the Babylonians was 20.6 inches and the ordinary cubit was 17.6 now I don't know what makes the difference there royal as well as opposed to ordinary I don't know what that means most scholars though accept a standard of 18 inches for a cubit and that's kind of the middle of the road there you know between 17 and 20 and I think there one scholar or some scholars say it was as much as maybe 22 inches or so anyway if we just use 18 inches for a cubit then the arc would have been 450 feet long that would be 300 cubits 75 feet wide 50 cubits and a football field [30:39] I think I put this in your notes this is NFL NFL measurements anyway I think it does vary but a football field is 360 feet long that's counting the end zones so you can get an idea of how large the arc or how long the arc was in relation to that that's a pretty good size 75 feet wide a football field 160 feet wide so about half the width and a little bit a little better than the length of the football field and then it's 45 feet high 30 cubits and the height about the height of a probably closer to a four historic building though now the arc itself as we're going to see was only three stories high but by standards today if a floor is ten feet it would be a normal kind of building I mean this is a false ceiling so it's a little higher than it appears here but they say you know anywhere from eight to ten feet for a story a house you know would be smaller so that gives you somewhat of an idea about how tall it was alright so the arc then was little more than a large rectangle we'll get back to this what I kind of mentioned a while ago just a big rectangle big box in fact again referring to the septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament they used the word they translated wooden box wooden box and so it's flat on the bottom flat on each end not something that you would build if you're planning on going somewhere with it or navigating anywhere with it it wasn't intended for that to navigate anywhere it was essentially a floating barge it had but one purpose and that purpose was to protect [32:36] Noah and his family and the representatives of the animal population on the earth to protect them during the flood to ride out the storm and so it didn't need any mechanism for navigation the hand of God would be its rudder God did want it to rest somewhere but he took care of that alright Noah didn't have to worry about that he didn't have any way to steer it there were no sails no rudder you know it was just a big wooden box that floated around in fact some scholars have gone so far as to look at the science of it and they've discovered that based upon the dimensions it was absolutely perfect for doing that could not tip over and it was just perfect and well God designed it so that explains that number five the ark is to be constructed with a window and this is a bit problematic as well again preachers seem to very regularly find themselves in a position to dash people's ideas of what things look like and of course we don't always base our ideas or our visions of what a thing might have looked at we don't always base it upon scripture we base it upon other things but the [34:08] Hebrew word that's used here is not the word for window even though it's translated that way I guess in nearly every translation I think the NIV has the word roof on there not window but some Hebrew dictionaries lexicons do prefer the word roof as the meaning but it's really not likely not in the strictest sense and a number of other reasons why the word is translated elsewhere in the Old Testament because it does appear in other places it's translated not window well I take it back I think one place out of many times the word is used again in the Hebrew text only one time is it translated window and then there's some question about that translation as well in every other place it's translated well in some places it's translated noon some place noon day another place a few places midday that's kind of strange isn't it where do you get window out of that well you get it out of that because the idea is light the idea is light and the idea being the visible light and though probably and I hate to tell you this probably not a window in the traditional sense you know [35:30] I know we picture Noah there at some point looking out the window and he's releasing a bird out you know and the bird is coming back and got nice wooden shutters for this window but it probably was not that way perhaps what follows in the text gives a little bit better idea it says and you shall finish it this window whatever it is finish it to a cubit from above what does that mean well you say well that's just the position where the wind is supposed to go how high it's supposed to be but the way it's worded it really really is pointing to something more like this God may have instructed Noah to to build an opening at the top of the ark or we might better call it a space space a space of one cubit high 18 inches that would extend around the ark just under the overhang of the roof so that really it would be a kind of a opening all the way around of course there would be intermittent places where there would be posts that would support the roof itself whatever it may look like and it could be that like the NIV has scholars thought and some other lexicons have determined could be that the whole idea was the opening and the roof itself and how it was constructed and it seems pretty reasonable this would be for light during the day hours and for ventilation for the ark and that would be pretty important [37:24] I would think I mean you're in there with all these not just barnyard animals but every other animal I think you need a little ventilation in that place and it has to be some kind of an opening no matter what because you remember Noah is going to dispatch some birds from the ark to discover if the water has receded you read about that in chapter 8 verses 6 and 7 alright 6 the ark is to be constructed with a door in its side and we all know about that door and there's nothing profound about that in the sense of understanding what it was just simply a door Noah and his family and all the animals as God brought them to the ark they entered into the ark before the flood and the same door they will exit through out of after the water receded and the ark comes to rest on dry ground and God is going to be the door keeper he is the one that shuts the door then finally there the ark is to be constructed with a lower second and third decks and the ark then had three floors and each one then based upon the measurement the total height each one would have to be about 14 feet high and obviously there would be very few probably weren't any animals that needed 14 feet of space above them most animals would be very small squirrels cats all kinds of small animals and so since many of them would be very small under 5 feet then what would that allow that would allow for space for storage because they would need a lot of that storage for food and such and I think again some of the rooms were like cages and they'd be stacked one on top of another so you can just kind of picture what it would look like there alright so that's God's constructed protection and then we're going to finish up with his covenant protection because the ark by itself isn't going to be it isn't really all there is to it that's just the physical thing that [39:45] God provided for them to be physically protected the larger picture is God's covenant his covenant is what's going to protect Noah and his family spiritually and eternally verse 18 says but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall go into the ark you your sons your wife and your sons wives with you now the basis of this covenant has already been established that's back in verse 8 where God says or where the Bible says Noah found grace found favor in the eyes of the Lord and so and then through faith through faith Noah's faith God declared Noah just and righteous in the very same way that he finds us just and righteous it's according to his favor or by his favor and according to our faith then the substance of the covenant the substance of it was salvation salvation salvation from God's wrath [40:52] God's judgment here in immediate sense through the flood God's judgment so that's the substance of this covenant I'm going to save you going to protect you and God promised Noah in his family protections security preservation and third the provision for God's covenant people God's going to also preserve pairs of all land animals why would he do that just so the planet could have animals no this was part of God's covenant God's provision for his covenant people a little bit later we're going to find out that there had to be a certain number of clean animals that would be used for sacrifice and so forth so this is part of God's covenant verse 19 says and of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sword into the ark to keep them alive with you they shall be male and female of the birds after their kind of animals after their kind of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive and so and then [42:00] God also instructs Noah concerning the food he and his animals will need verse 21 you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten and you shall gather it to yourself and it shall be food for you and for them that is you're going to eat the same food send away a minute got horses on them when they eat the same food they're eating well yes in the sense that and not everybody agrees with this but it's very likely and we get this from scripture that man and beast were vegetarians prior to the flood that the actual eating of meat was something that came after that and God was the one that set the first menu let me read this to you real quick Genesis chapter 1 verse 29 and God said see I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree whose fruit yields seed to you it shall be for food and so we're talking about plants vegetation and so he's bringing on food that will be their food and the animals food and then finally the confirmation of God's covenant people and the confirmation that you are one of God's covenant people is obedient faith that is expressed every day see verse 22 says thus Noah did according to all that God commanded him so he did see this is the character of one whom God has redeemed whom God has included in his covenant [43:54] Noah simply believed God believed him and he acted accordingly and that's what we do as well Hebrews 11 7 says by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet that is God told him all these things and what to do but he didn't understand it he just took it by faith and he moved with fear that is fear in the sense of holy respect for God and honoring God and what did he do he prepared an ark to the saving of his house tremendous truth in Hebrews 11 7 and to him to