INTRODUCTION: My father-in-law would sometimes bring sea shell back to his children after a hike. This was not unusual in itself, but was unusual because of where he found those sea shells. He was not near the ocean, but in Tennessee. I was able to find sea shells on the hills of Tennessee. They were silent witnesses to a great cataclysmic event, the great flood.

When we think of the great flood we inevitably think of the great patriarch Noah. He was the only person, aside from his immediate family, who remain faithful to God and was saved from destruction.

I. THE TIMES IN WHICH NOAH LIVED

A. His family

1. His was the tenth generation from Adam.

2. His family tree was distinguished. It included:

a. Seth, the replacement son for Abel (Genesis 4:25).

b. Enoch, the man who was walked with God and was taken by Him (Genesis 5:18ff)

c. Methuselah, the oldest recorded man (Genesis 5:27)

3. It has been estimated that if each generation of those in Noah's family tree had ten children (this would not have been difficult at all, owing to their unusually long life spans, by our day) there could have easily been 2,000,000 people in ten generations.

B. The condition of Noah's world.

1. It was an extremely sinful age. Since people lived long life spans there was little to curb the wickedness of the age.

2. Those who served God began to intermarry with the daughters of the wicked. In all likelihood the descendants of Cain. We know from their lineage in chapter 4 that they were wicked.
a. See Genesis 6:1-4

3. The mind of man was continually on committing sin and imagining new sins to commit.

a. Genesis 6:5- "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

4. Wicked had it's normal consequence. Virtually all mankind had become corrupt and violence was rampant upon the earth.

a. Genesis 6:11-12 "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12- So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth."

5. The situation became so bad that it grieved God that He had even made man.

a. Genesis 6:6 - And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

6. Only Noah and his family had maintained their integrity. See Genesis 7:1.

A. About his lifestyle.

1. He was a holy and godly man.

2. Genesis 6:9- "This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God."

a. The phrase "walked with God" is the same used to describe the righteousness of Enoch (Genesis 5:24). It is used to designate agreement between God and man and show that a person is living a godly, spiritual life. See Amos 3:3; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12.

B. About his relationship with God.
 

1. He was a man of faith.

a. Hebrews 11:7- "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

2. He was obedient.

a Genesis 6:13-14 "And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14- Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch."

b. Genesis 6:22- "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."

3. He was a preacher.

a. 2 Peter 2:5- "and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;" 

b. Noah was not able to reach a single person in his generation, yet who could consider him a failure? He was faithful in his proclamation. It would seem that his preaching had little effect of the sinful population. They had so completely given themselves over to wickedness that they "closed their ears."

1). See Luke 17:26-27

c. I am convinced that it is Noah's preaching that Peter has reference to in 1 Peter 2:17-20.

C. About his relationship with his family.

1. Little is know of the details of the relationship that Noah had with his wife and sons. What is known is that he was able to exert the leadership, influence, and guidance over them that they were saved along with him in the ark.

2. Genesis 7:1,7 - "Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.... So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood."

A. Noah's salvation on the ark did not mean that there would be no sin in the new world.

1. Not long after the flood we read of Noah planting a vineyard, becoming drunk, and became naked. See Genesis 9:20ff.

2. Noah lived for 350 years after the flood (Genesis 9:28). This was undoubtedly long enough to see the spread of sin once again among his offspring.

B. Two great passages in the New Testament concerning Noah and what they teach us today.

1. Matthew 24:37-39 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38- For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39- and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

a. Noah and his generation present a picture of how much warning the world will have for the second coming of Jesus. Contrary to pre-millinialists, the world will be going on normally, just as it was for Noah's sinful world up to when they entered to ark and the floods came.

2. 1 Peter 3:20-21 "who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21- There is also an antitype which now saves us; baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,"

a. Just as the ark saved Noah and his family, so too will the church saved the child of God.

b. Just as water was a dividing line between the sinful world and salvation in the flood, so too is water the dividing line between a life of sin and salvation from past sins.

C. Some lessons from Noah's life.

1. It is possible to remain faithful in a sinful world.

2. God will not forever tolerate wicked behavior. There is a payment for sin.

3. Salvation has always been by faithful obedience.

4. God's promises are sure and can be depended on.

CONCLUSION: Recently we were driving somewhere in our area right after a rain. All of the sudden it was there: one of the most beautiful multi-colored rainbows I have ever seen. We immediately were reminded of God's great handiwork in the worldwide flood and that He promised Noah that He would never destroy the world with water again. When I remember Noah I see him coming out of that ark to begin life fresh. Let us trust God, just as Noah did.