Genesis 8:1-5
1 "Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the SEVENTH MONTH, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen."
(Noah sends out a raven.)
In parts 1 and 2 we talked about why the flood happened and Who was with Noah and his family in the ark. In part 3 we'll dig into the construction of the ark, the meanings of names and the typologies found here, learn how it changed the Jewish calendar and what the landing on Mt. Ararat signifies. Let's dig in.
Rest.
Above all things, God prizes rest for His people. He talks about it all the time. In fact, Noah's name in Hebrew means "REST." This story is demonstrating to us what God means when He tells us to "rest in Jesus."
A major obstacle to REST is "sin consciousness." God definitely doesn't want us to have a consciousness of sins as the verse below says:
"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer CONTINUALLY year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, ONCE PURIFIED, would have had NO MORE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SINS." (Hebrews 10:1-2.). We'll cover more of this topic in part 4.
Has God gone soft on sin? CERTAINLY NOT! 2,000 years ago, ALL our sins were righteously and judicially punished in the body of His beloved Son on the cross. Not one of them escaped. In fact, if even one sin was left unpaid God could not have raised Jesus from the dead. God had to have a judicial basis to raise up His Son.
The Father was legally within His rights to resurrect Jesus because He finished the work! It would be unjust to Jesus to punish us for our sins when He has already paid ALL our debt. Actually, His death was far and above an OVERPAYMENT!
God must have a righteous foundation in order to bless us. He can't just arbitrarily do so just because He wants to (and He does). But thank God, Jesus' death and resurrection accomplished it all!
God did not raise Jesus from the dead because He is His Son. That He always is. He raised Him from the dead because HE FINISHED THE WORK!
GRACE.
It's no coincidence that the first mention of the word "grace" in the Bible is in association with Noah's name which, coincidentally, happens to be the 5th time Noah's name appears. Five is the number of Grace!
The "law of first-mention," in case you were unaware, is the principle in the interpretation of Scripture which states that the first mention or occurrence of a subject in Scripture establishes an unchangeable pattern, with that subject remaining unchanged in the mind of God throughout Scripture.
In Genesis 6:8 it says, "8 But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord," or literally, "rest found grace" in the eyes of the LORD. God is showing us that what finds grace in His eyes is resting in Him. There's a definite connection between resting and grace.
Noah was given very explicit instructions regarding the Ark's construction. God said in Genesis 6:14-16:
"16 Make yourself an ark of GOPHERWOOD; make ROOMS in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with PITCH. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set THE DOOR of the ark IN IT'S SIDE. You shall make it with LOWER, SECOND AND THIRD DECKS."
Gopherwood (obviously) comes from a tree. But in order to be used for building, it must be hewn down, cut into shape, hammered with nails, covered within and without with pitch so it could become the vessel which would preserve Noah and the other 7 members of his family.
Wood in the Bible typifies humanity. Jesus is 100% man/wood. Just like the goferwood tree, He was "cut off from His people. He was beaten, hammered and nailed to the cross" in order to become THE ARK which would save the whole world.
Noah was told to build "rooms" in the ark. The word in Hebrew for rooms is "quinim," which literally means "nests;" you know, like a bird's nest. Just as baby birds are loved and cared for by the mother bird in their nest, so Noah and his family were loved and cared for by God in the ark.
Where was God during the flood? Did He just send all that destruction to earth and sit back on His throne, buffing His nails and watch? If you saw the latest Holywood version of the story, you might get that idea. Better to believe HolyWord over Holywood. So where was He? The answer may surprise you. Follow this link to find out!
The word that the Holy Spirit used for "pitch," is not the normal Hebrew word for it, which would be the word, "zetteth." Instead He chose the word "kapher," which means "atonement, or covering." Much later on, in Moses' day, this word became the root for the word "kapporeth," which means "Mercy Seat!"
Jesus says of the Mercy Seat, "There I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat--the "kapporeth"--from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony..." Exodus 25:22
Before Jesus shed His blood, sins could only be "covered" by offering right blood sacrifices. That's why the Holy Spirit could only rest "ON" individuals and had to come and go. God cannot abide with sin. Ours is a better deal! Our sins are cleansed and He can now reside "IN" us and NEVER LEAVE!
There was only "ONE door" in the side of the boat, a very moving typology of Jesus on the cross. When He died, the soldiers came to check on the victims who were crucified that day. Upon finding that He was dead already, they pierced His "side" with a spear. Out came blood and water. That opening in His side allowed blood and water to flow out to the whole world and washed away our sins! From His side was born the greatest and most successful organization ever to exist on planet earth:
THE CHURCH.
The door in the side of the ark was a depiction of the wound in Jesus' side. He is THE ONE AND ONLY Door of the sheepfold for there is salvation in NO ONE ELSE. Everyone who is born again must all enter through that one door.
The the Holy Spirit makes a point of telling us there are three decks. Why? Because man is "triparteid:" We have three components: Spirit, soul and body. It's a glorious picture of the fact that, when we are born again, the Ark--JESUS--saves us SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY. HALLELUIA!
Yes, we still commit sins and mess up from time to time, but when we stumble, we fall INSIDE THE ARK. We don't fall OUT of the ark nor do the flood waters of judgment from outside come IN. They do not.....NO; THEY CANNOT, come in. EVERYONE who is a believer is safe IN the ark--in Jesus. They have been shut indside by the LORD HIMSELF, SAFE FOREVER!
This so beautifully portrays the verses in John 10:27-30 which speaks of our eternal security!
God Himself caused every creature He had chosen plus the eight people of Noah's family to board the vessel.
15"And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God {Elohim} had commanded him; and the Lord {Yahweh} shut him in."
The word here for "LORD" is "Yahweh--the heart of God," the Covenant-keeping One, as opposed to the hand of God--"Elohim: "Creator God." Elohim--Creator God, brought the animals to Noah but the hand of Yahweh--the Heart of God, shut the door. When God closes a door, NO ONE CAN OPEN IT. We are safe and secure forever IN THE ARK.....IN CHRIST. Understand? Eternally secure!
In Genesis 7:11-12 it says, 11"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the GREAT DEEP great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights."
First, the fountains of the deep were broken up, a picture of all hell being unleashed against Jesus. Then the storm that lashed against the sides of the ark is a picture of the emotional and physical abuse rained down on Jesus by His human tormentors. But the WORST punishment of all was the "windows of heaven" opening up. All of His Father's righteous judgment and fiery indignation against sin rained down on Him until there was NO MORE JUDGMENT LEFT. NONE!!!
In the book of Revelation, all those bowls of wrath that are discussed describe what was poured over Jesus' head during those six hours as He hung on that cross, suspended between heaven and earth. God exhausted ALL HIS JUST WRATH on Jesus during that 3-hour period of darkness which, by the way, covered the whole earth.
Of all the civilizations in the world, the Chinese are among the most fastidious in keeping records of celestial events. Ancient Chinese records actually document that three-hour period of darkness. They may not have been able to explain it, but they certainly recorded it.
Jesus hung on the cross from 9am to 3pm. 9am is the time of the morning sacrifice. 3pm is the time of the evening sacrifice. HE FULFILLED THEM BOTH!
Jesus death, which would happen in the far-distant future, changed the whole Jewish calendar. You see, from the very first day of creation in Genesis 1:1 to the foot of Mt. Sinai when Moses received the Law, first month of the Hebrew calendar had been the month of Tishri. This all changed when Pesach (Passover) was instituted. God told Moses that the seventh month--Nissan--was to become the first month.
Exodus 12:2
“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you."
Jesus died on the 14th day of the month of Nissan, which actually was on a Thursday, and He rose on the 17th day. This day is the beginning of the Feast of Firstftuits. Remember what Jesus is called? The Firstfruits of them that "sleep."
17, in Hebrew numerics, means VICTORY! It was on this EXACT day that the ark rested on the top of Mt. Ararat, and the word, "arar" in Hebrew, means "curse;" Ararat means "the curse is reversed!" HALLELUIA!!!
Noah and his family stepped out of that ark into a new world; it was no curse ground. It was a brand new day; a brand new world! Then he built an altar to the LORD and "offered burnt" offerings on the altar.
"And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.'"
We see God's promise to us every time a rainbow appears in the sky. It doesn't only mean no more physical flood, it signifies NO MORE JUDGMENT for those of us who are SAFE IN THE ARK: JESUS, according to Isaiah 54:9.
There is much more you can learn about the rainbow if you like. Read all about it by following this link: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-covenant-of-rainbow.html
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that THE CURSE IS REVERSED!
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