Main lesson = the patience of God waited 120 years during that period they received the most intensive Gospel proclamation in all of human history.
This was a direct order from God and one of things that we all need to understand is that when God gives an order you don't always have to understand it, you just have to do it.
That's the principle of authority, you're not to question it, you are to honor and respect it.....even if you disagree with it as the apostle Paul says in Rom 13:1-7, where they we told to honor Nero.
TEBAH - refers to a wooden ship constructed of gopher or cyprus wood, used because it is was a light but tough wood.
In the Bible gold is used for the deity of Christ, wood is used for the humanity of Christ, and together they reveal the hypostatic union, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever --TLJC.
Mat 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy‑laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
The rooms represent the rooms in the soul and the bulkheads were secured with pitch or asphalt which is analogous to the work of Christ on the cross. Pitch keeps out the waters of divine judgment from entering into the ark.
PRO 24:4-5 And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.
There was only one set of plans that were used analogous to the PPOG for us referring to the right thing being done in the right way.
Only the plan of God has stability and the ability to float above the chaos of the world.
It was [300 cubits] 450 feet long [that's one and a half football fields], seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
The analogy is that Jesus Christ is the ark, He is the treasure chest.
He is described as the one in whom all the treasures of God exists, COL 2:3 In Whom [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Those inside of the ark represent those believers in Christ while those who were not on the ark represent those who do not believe in Jesus Christ and are destroyed.
1PE 3:20 those who were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
There was also only one door in the ark, analogous to the fact that there is only one way to come to God and be saved and that is through TLJC who said in JOH 10:9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved."
There was also only one window analogous to the fact there is only one objective after salvation, one perspective, divine viewpoint, Bible doctrine.
There were also three decks or three floors in the ark, which for us represent the concept of progress after salvation, S.S.E., S.A., S.M.
There is only one place of security in time of disaster, inside the ark. The ark represents to us the principle of eternal security and being in union with Christ.
And it's interesting to note that all the believers inside the ark were not mature believers but they were blessed by being in the ark as we are blessed by simply being in union with Christ.
There was no judgment to those in the ark because ROM 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The earth will only be destroyed once more in its entirety, and that will occur at the end of the Millennium, 2Pe 3:7.
2Pe 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Under the principle that Jesus Christ controls history, there must be, from time to time, great judgments, so that certain segments of the population which are self-destructive can be wiped out.
How did God "destroy them with planet earth?"
In Gen 7:11 "He opened up the fountains of the deep."
One biblical scientist states that the rain that came from above contributed a very small portion to the flood, only about 2%.
This verse stresses the importance of God's grace in judgment, seen in the work of our Lord on the cross, also seen in our Lord's removal of evil empires from time to time to avoid the self-destruction of the human race.
- Verse 17 is a part of the principle that grace always precedes judgment.
- God warns about the coming judgment through the doctrinal communication of Noah.
2TI 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
- God provides the ark as the vehicle for safety and security and as well as a training aid while Noah is preaching.
- The devil tried to hinder the incarnation by angelic infiltration into the human race but all he did was to destroy the citizens in his own kingdom.
- The ark was the only place of safety when international judgment fell on the human race just as being in Christ is the only place of safety from eternal judgment.
JOH 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
Jer 29:13 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart [right lobe-brain].
JOH 7:17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it is of God."
We often feel sorry for nations going down and sympathize with people under great disastrous conditions but, we should never fail to realize a very important principle....God is just and everyone has a chance.
The flood would last 40 days but before the water would recede and before they would leave the ark they would live in that ark for one year and five days, or 370 days.
- Noah had the high honor in GEN 6:9 of being said to be one of those believers who walked with God, one of the highest honors in the Old Testament.
- There is a trio of super-grace or mature believers mentioned in Eze 14:14, and 14:20, and Noah is one of them (Noah, Daniel, and Job).
- Noah is used as an analogy of the preservation of Israel in Isa 54:7-9, and therefore Noah was used for many messages for the prophets speaking to the Jews and that in itself indicates the greatness of the man.
- The mature believer Noah had tremendous doctrine resident in his soul so that he made God's hall of fame in Heb 11:7.
- Noah was also referred to and honored by TLJC during His earthly ministry, therefore The deliverance, Mat 24:37-38, Luk 17:26-27.
- Noah was also said to be a great teacher or communicator of doctrine in 2PE 2:5.
- Like all great believers, Noah had failures which is not unusual nor surprising but like all great believers his greatness is related to the doctrine in his soul, Gen 9:20-24.
- In the time in which they lived that looking at another person's genitals was indeed regarded as a serious matter, and therefore some say that was Ham's transgression.
- Ham left his father naked to expose his father's drunken disgrace.
- Ancient commentaries have also debated whether "seeing" someone's nakedness meant to have sex with that person according to LEV 20:17.
LEV 20:17 'If there is a man who takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace;
- In 500 AD there were those who said that the Talmud taught Ham either castrated his father, or sodomized him.
- Ham’s offense also was said to be the mocking of drinking wine which Noah and other priests at that time considered to be a form of celebration with the Lord.
MAT 26:29 "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."