Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

2. The “ancient world” is the earliest times after creation including the history of man. But even in the earliest times, man was exceedingly sinful. So corrupt was man that it prompted God to destroy him

a. Man’s “wickedness” (raah - bad, evil according to God and His Word) was so sinful that he was consumed with sin and “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5 cf. Jer 17:9, 10; Mat 12:34, 35; 15:18, 19; Mar 7:21; Luk 6:45).

b. Man was so evil that God was grieved that He had made him (Gen 6:6). This did not mean that God did not know man was going to sin. God did know that man was going to sin and had provided a Savior even before the foundation of the world (1Pe 1:20). However, God being a personal Being, exhibited the emotion of hatred toward sin.

c. The ancient world was “corrupt” (shachath - gone to ruin) and completely ruined God’s initial and perfect design (Gen 6:11a cf. Ecc 7:29). In addition, the world was filled with “violence” (chamas - extreme wickedness, cruel hatred, Psa 25:19) and cruel hatred (Gen 6:11b).

d. Man was corrupt and as a result, all of man’s ways became corrupt and ruined (Gen 6:12 cf. Isa 53:6). Even from the earliest times, man sinned outwardly because was sinful inwardly.

e. All the world is accountable in God’s sight (Gen 6:11-12). Therefore, God planned to destroy sinful man from upon the earth (Gen 6:7, 13).

f. Sin brings about the judgment of God, whether it is the sin among fallen angels, the sin in the ancient world, or the sin of false teachers.

C. Preserved Noah

1. Nevertheless, God did not destroy the entire human race but preserved Noah and his family (Gen 7:7; 1Pe 3:20).

2. Mankind would flourish again; however, it would specifically come through the line of righteous Noah.

3. In addition, Noah was in the line of the Savior whom God had promised (Gen 3:15; Luk 3:23, 36).

4. Though God punishes the wicked, He also rescues the righteous as demonstrated in Noah’s preservation through the flood.

D. Preacher of Righteousness

1. Why did God rescue Noah? The record in Genesis gives us the answers.

2. First, Noah “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8). This phrase does not mean that Noah had his own righteousness and was without sin. Rather, we find that Noah trusted in God and His promises in spite of Noah’s sinfulness. Heb 11:7 tells us that Noah believed God’s warning of the flood and accepted God’s invitation of deliverance from the flood. Therefore, Noah’s righteousness was “according to faith” and not according to works.

3. Not only did Noah trust in God’s salvation, but he obeyed God’s commands as an evidence of his faith. He was “blameless” in comparison to his wicked contemporaries.

4. Noah also “walked with God,” This phrase means that Noah enjoyed a close personal relationship with God through faith and obedience. This relationship was based on the knowledge of God’s holy character and judgment toward sin (cf. Gen 5:22, 24).

5. In addition, Noah was a “preacher of righteousness.” Noah preached judgment and the salvation of the Lord for 120 years (cf. Gen 6:3) with no converts other than the “seven others” of his own family (1Pe 3:20).

E. Perdition Upon the World.

1. Though Noah and his family were preserved, God in fact carried out His plan for judgment. He brought a global flood upon the entire world to judge the ungodly who rejected God and His salvation.

2. Scriptural Basis for Global Flood

a. “Brought a flood upon the world” (2Pe 2:5) - To read the account in a normal and literal manner is to agree with universal literary principles. To give allegorical meaning where it is not intended removes coherency from any writing, including the Scriptures. Peter simply stated that a cataclysmic flood (kataklusmos - bring a cataclysmic flood cf. Gen 6:17 LXX cf. Luk 17:26-27) was brought by God (epagō - cause to happen) upon the world of the ungodly. Was there only ungodly people in Noah’s area? Peter would have been referring to an ungodly world which equates to a global flood.

b. “All the high mountains everywhere” - The Scriptures state that all the high mountains of the earth were covered by the flood waters (Gen 7:19-20). This seems more plausible than to assert that only the mountains of a local area could be covered by water and not other places or mountains.

c. “Sinful man on the earth” - The Scriptures declare that all mankind on the face of the earth was sinful (Gen 6:5, 6, 7, 11, 12). This worldwide corruption precipitated God’s judgment on all the world (i.e. global flood).

d. “All flesh died” - It would seem inconsistent and unfair if only a portion of the world was judged and died for its ungodliness while other ungodly places were not affected by the flood (Gen 6:13, 17; 7:21-23cf. Mat 24:37-39). Furthermore, if all flesh was not destroyed, then God’s covenant (rainbow) to never destroy the world by a flood seems powerless (Gen 9:11, 15-17).

3. Scientific Basis for Global Flood

a. Worldwide Tectonic Plates - The displacement of the enormous plates of the earth’s crust support a catastrophic flood. They partially explain where the great amounts of water came from to flood the earth (Gen 7:11). They also answer where much of the flood waters drained (Gen 8:2-3).

b. Worldwide Marine Fossils - Marine fossils near the summits of mountains all over the world are explained by a global flood (Gen 7:19-20) as well as the cataclysmic raising of mountains (Psa 104:8-9).

c. Worldwide Sedimentary Layers - A worldwide flood better explains why there is uniform sedimentary rock layers throughout the world rather than a slow deposit over millions of years.

d. Worldwide Legends of the Flood - John D. Morris, Ph.D. himself has collected more than 200 stories of an ancient flood event by “various missionaries, anthropologists, and ethnologists.” Though they may differ in detail, they explain an ancient cataclysmic event known as the Great Flood.

e. Peter’s revelation of the complete destruction of the heavens and the earth fails in 2Pe 3:6-7, 10 if Noah’s flood was merely local and not upon all flesh.

f. If Peter’s analogy of destruction upon the ungodly is not upon all the world, then we could infer that all false teachers will not be judged.

1) Peter also confirmed the universality of the Flood in three passages in his epistles. Note the following: When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water (1 Pet. 3:20). [God] spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly (2 Pet. 2:5). The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished (2 Pet. 3:6).

IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. God will fulfill His promise of salvation.

B. God will fulfill His promise of judgment.

C. Keep preaching regardless of the converts.

D. Constantly be on guard against false teachers who pervert gospel.

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516