Genesis chapter 6, we're going to have a special group in a couple of weeks sing the
Don't Sing a Bit people, people that sit out there with their arms crossed and never sing a word.
We're going to pull you out, we got you on camera, and we're going to bring you up here and see how you do.
We'll never have all of our questions answered about historical events of history that are recorded in the Bible.
We'll never get all the questions answered about any history, quite honestly.
Biblical history is extra tough because God told us what we need to know, but He didn't necessarily tell us everything we want to know, everything we're curious about.
But I want us to dive in this morning, look at some answers, go deep into the flood, and explore some common questions about the flood.
Are there clear answers about it?
Sometimes.
Let me tell you some of what I think, but more importantly, what I know and why I know it.
Genesis chapter 6, beginning in verse 11, says,
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them.
Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.
Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch.
This is how you are to make it.
The length of the ark, 300 cubits.
Its breadth, 50 cubits.
And its height, 30 cubits.
Make a roof for the ark.
Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
For behold, I will bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which it is the breath of life under heaven.
Everything that is on the earth shall die.
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your son's wife, with you.
And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.
They shall be male and female.
Of the birds, according to their kinds.
And of the animals, according to their kinds.
And of creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind.
Two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
Also, take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up.
It shall serve as food for you and for them.
And Noah did this.
It's an important passage right here.
He did all that God commanded him.
Now, the story is that God told Noah to build an ark.
And Noah was to put these animals in the ark.
It goes on to tell us that he was to put seven pair of clean animals in the ark.
And once all those were in the ark, God shut the door, as Scripture says.
And seven days later, the rain came.
And it rained and it flooded for 40 days and 40 nights.
Scripture says that the fountains of the great deep burst forth.
And the windows of heaven also came.
So, water was coming up and water was coming down.
And it stayed flooded.
Rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
The earth stayed flooded for 150 days.
After 150 days, the ark landed on Mount Ararat.
And he sent a raven out.
And then he sent a dove out.
And after the dove had been out for a while, it came back with an olive leaf.
And he knew they were getting somewhere then.
He sent it back out.
And it never came back.
And he knew then that the flood was over.
So, some questions that people often ask or at least think.
One is, was the flood really worldwide?
The Smithsonian Magazine released an article in 2000
that discussed that there was a worldwide flood thousands of years ago.
And two Columbia University geologists.
You ever heard of Columbia University?
Okay, you got the picture.
Two Columbia University geologists took core samples out of the Black Sea
and noticed that in those samples were uncharacteristic river mud.
And there was shell hash there as well.
Both of them spoke of that being salt water.
And at some point, salt water and fresh water mixed together due to a flood.
And they said with such a flood as that, that the bedrock was cut
and channels were dug as deep as 300 feet deep.
And the remains of animals were left in the bottom of that lake.
Scientists also say that salt water in that same occurrence
gushed in creating a waterfall 200 times the volume of Niagara Falls
with enough cascading water coming forth to cover Manhattan
to a depth, this article in 2000, to a depth two times the height of the World Trade Center.
And the height of the World Trade Center was right at 1,800 feet.
So in other words, 3,600 feet deep.
The rush of water for such as that would have been heard 100 miles away.
ABC News reported in 2012 that Robert Ballard,
who is the man who found the Titanic,
wanted to question these theories of these Columbia University geologists.
He is an oceanography archaeologist.
And he affirmed that there was evidence of a catastrophic flood
that changed the shorelines and that appeared to happen about,
in his words, 5,000 years ago.
Now, you read up on that, not while I'm preaching but later,
and you'll find that the science community does not like that talk a whole lot.
They don't deal with that.
So how do you trust that the flood was worldwide?
Because I trust the Bible.
That's why.
Notice what it says.
In Genesis 7, verse 19, it says that all the mountains were covered with water
by as much as 15 cubits.
A cubic is a foot and a half.
So all mountains were covered with at least 22 feet of water.
Verse 20 tells us about that depth.
It continues to tell us that every living land animal and human died
and was blotted out except that that was on the ark.
Further evidence is that it was worldwide,
is found in the size of the ark.
Think about this for a minute.
Why do you save all the animals and their species
if they could have escaped because the flood was not worldwide?
But Genesis chapter 6, verse 1,
gives us indication that the whole earth was populated.
And Genesis 7, verse 21 tells us
that nobody was left except those on the ark when it was done.
Genesis chapter 8, verse 15 tells us
that God promises not to destroy all living things with the flood again.
Listen, my friend.
God would not have needed to promise
to not destroy all living things in a flood again
unless he had destroyed all living things in a flood previously.
Actually, the global extent of the flood
is referred to 30 times in Genesis chapter 6
through Genesis chapter 9.
I'm telling you, my friend, it was global.
Second question sometimes people ask me is,
was the ark real?
I mean, really?
Did he really build that boat?
I know there's one in Kentucky,
but I mean, did Noah really build that boat, you know?
Well, Scripture tells us that it stopped on the mountains of Ararat.
That's in Genesis 8, verse 4.
There have been many sightings on that mountain
or in the surrounding area of what looked like an ark,
none of which have been proven true or false.
Josephus, which was a historian contemporary
with the New Testament, first century,
Josephus wrote that a generation after the life of Christ
that Arminians would often get small pieces of the ark
to wear as an amulet around their neck.
Several other historians of that time spoke of the same thing.
There was a monastery that was built.
It's been destroyed by an earthquake since,
but it was built to mark the spot where the ark rested
and to preserve the relics there.
And there are ancient inscriptions there
of eight crosses into stones there.
Now, listen, eight people were on that ark.
Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives.
For those who are slow at math, Noah.
An Arminian and his father searched the area in 1856
to disprove the ark.
They became enraged when they found evidence there.
They tried to destroy it, but it was too big,
and it was petrified.
And his dying confession of his find
was recorded in 1918 in an English newspaper.
In 1876, a distinguished British author
found a four-foot-long piece of hand-tooled timber
while climbing at 13,000 feet.
Ararat is 16,800 feet tall.
In 1883, after an earthquake
that caused huge quantities of rock and ice
to be dislodged from the mountain,
the British paper, Prophetic Messenger,
carried the following story.
It said,
We have received from our correspondent
of the return of the commissioners
appointed by the Turkish government
to inquire into the reported destruction
of three cities by avalanches.
The expedition was fortunate
in making a discovery
that cannot fail to be of interest
to the whole civilized world,
for among the vastness
of one of the glens of Mount Ararat,
glens of Mount Ararat,
there came upon a gigantic structure
of very dark wood
embedded at the foot of one of the glaciers
with one end protruding,
in which they believed to be none other
than the old ark in which Noah
and his family navigated the waters
of the deluge.
The place where discovery was made
is about a five-day's journey
from Trebizoran
in the Department of Van
in Armenia,
about four leagues
from the Persian frontier,
end of quote.
This report,
only a portion of which is cited here,
was picked up and commented
at that time by the New York Herald
and by the world
and by the Chicago Tribune.
In 1887,
an explorer discovered pieces of it.
He made three climbs up there,
presented his evidence
at Chicago's World Fair in 1893.
Belgian explorers got interested in it,
wanted to go see it,
but the Turkish government,
which is common in this situation,
would not allow them
to obtain permits
for further expeditions.
Six Turkish soldiers
claimed to have spotted it
in 1916.
In 1936,
an archaeologist found
hand-carved timber
on top of Ararat.
During World War II,
two American aviators
took pictures
of what they believed
to be the ark.
And an AP article
was recorded about the following
in 1948.
It said this.
It said,
The petrified remains
of an object
which peasants insist
resemble a ship
have been found
high on Mount Ararat,
biblical landing place
of Noah's Ark.
Apparently hidden for centuries,
it came to light
last summer
when unusually warm weather
melted away,
an ancient mantle
of ice and snow.
While various persons
from time to time
have reported objects
resembling a house
or ship
on the mountain,
Turks who have seen
this new find
professed for it to be
the only known object
which could actually
be taken
as the remains
of ship.
George Green
was a geologist
that took pictures
of an ark-like item
in 1953
and brought them back
to try to find funding
for an expedition.
He was unsuccessful
with that
and his pictures
perished with him
in a crash.
Listen to this.
Late last year,
Popular Mechanics
and the New York Post
spoke of that same area,
what is now called
the Dura-Pinor Formation.
And this formation is,
and I quote,
a 538-foot geographical feature
made of laminate
believed by some
to be petrified remains
of Noah's Ark.
Researchers now believe
they found evidence
of human activity
near the boat-shaped formation
in the mountains
from between 550,
excuse me,
5500 and 300 B.C.
This phenomenon
is surrounded by soil
that is filled
with marine materials
and seafood remains.
This formation
is not at all far
from the peak
of Mount Ararat.
My friend,
I know it's real
and I know where it landed,
not because of these reports,
though.
I know where it landed
because I trust
the Word of God.
I trust the Bible.
What about all those animals?
What about that?
Scripture says
there were two
of every kind of bird,
animal,
or ground creature.
There were seven pairs
of the clean ones.
It says,
according to their kind.
So,
what does it mean
by kind?
Does it speak
of the modern classification
of families,
of animals?
If that's the case,
that's about 700.
700 families of animals.
Or does it speak
of species?
If so,
there's so much debate
about how many species
there are.
One world-renowned
taxonomist
estimated slightly more
than a million species.
A million species
of animals,
however,
a vast majority
of them
didn't have to be
on a boat to survive.
The ocean holds
most of them.
It's been estimated
that there are
35 species
that were needed
to be on the boat.
With a pair
of each of those,
that makes
for 70,000 animals.
Now,
when you think animals,
you may be thinking
about giraffes
and elephants
and such as that.
But the reality is
the average size
of a land animal
is about the size
of a sheep.
And you can fit,
not that I want to,
but you can fit
240 sheep
in a double-decker
railroad car
comfortably.
They've asked the sheep
and they told them
they were comfortable.
You can fit
70,000
sheep-sized animals.
Remember,
that's the average
of all,
so that includes
elephants
and mice.
Wouldn't bother me
if God wouldn't
allow them to survive,
but anyway.
You can fit
70,000 sheep-sized animals
in about 300
of those rail cars.
The boat
as described
in Scripture
could fit
569
of those rail cars.
Yet it would only
require 300
to put 70,000
animals
which would take up
really about half
of the boat,
leaving the rest
for people,
food,
water,
storage,
any needed provisions.
Now,
is that the way
it all went down?
I don't know.
Creation science
tells us
that when Scripture
mentions kind,
that is speaking
of the family level
of modern taxonomy,
that would make
for only 16,000.
So,
not only should you
consider the floor
space,
though,
remember
that if you put
animals in cages,
you can stack cages.
And so,
you can put much more
than just floor space.
Now,
I'll just be honest
with you.
I don't know
about all those
specifications.
My point is this.
I know it could have
worked.
And those that have
studied it more
than me
and understand it
better than me
can tell you
more of that.
it would have
worked,
especially
with the sovereign,
guiding hand
of God
upon it
all the time.
And the reason
why I know
that it could
is because
I trust
the Word of God.
I trust the Bible.
One more question.
What about
the dinosaurs?
There are a lot
of opinions,
and the Bible
does not state it
clearly.
I remember
years ago,
there was a youth
group that went
to a camp
and I just went
up for one night.
I was their pastor
and I just went up
for one night
for worship.
I like to do that
when possible.
And the whole week
was about creation.
And that night,
they sang a song
called Behemoth,
which is mentioned
in Job chapter 40.
Behemoth was a dinosaur
and a dinosaur
was he.
And I was trying
to think of how
that song went,
but every time
I thought of it,
I thought Behemoth
was a dinosaur,
a dinosaur was he.
He climbed up
in the sycamore tree
to see what,
so it's,
so I got my songs
mixed up,
so I'm not going
to sing it for you,
but now science
tells us
that dinosaurs
were reptiles,
some kind of reptile-bird
combo kind of deal
is what I've heard,
but they are
egg-laying reptiles.
And reptiles
never stop growing.
They don't have
the growth inhibitors
in them
that humans have,
nor that most animals have.
Reptiles grow rapidly
early in their life,
and then their growth slows,
but they never stop growing.
Now,
why did these different
form of reptiles
named dinosaurs
grow so large
before the flood?
Because living things
lived much longer
before the flood.
Methuselah lived
969 years.
I don't believe
it's a different measurement
of the year.
I believe the man
lived in there
almost 1,000.
How big
does a reptile grow
if it lives
1,000 years?
Well,
about like a dinosaur.
Let me give you
an example.
So,
they tell me
that snakes
live
20 to 30 years,
okay?
I don't think
a snake
ought to live
two minutes
after you see it,
personally,
okay?
They live way too long.
Komodo dragons.
You know what
a Komodo dragon is?
It's a 40-year-old
dinosaur is what
I believe it is,
but anyway,
they lived to be
about 40 years old.
If you want to know
what one would look like
that would live
1,000 years,
you can look
at the dinosaur.
Therefore,
it appears
that Noah put
small ones on the ark.
When the flood came,
the larger ones died.
Why
do we not live
as long as people
did before the flood?
Well,
there's an interesting
passage of Scripture
that theologians
are split right
down the middle on.
I mean,
guys,
I trust
and I read a lot.
They're split
right down the middle
on this.
It's in Genesis
chapter 6,
verse 3,
and it says this.
Then the Lord said,
my spirit,
this is before the flood,
my spirit shall not
abide in man forever
for his flesh.
His days will be
120 years.
Now,
theologians are split
on what that,
leave that passage
up for a moment.
They are split
on what that passage
means.
Some believe
that it means
that from the time
God told Noah
a flood was coming,
that he needed
to build a boat,
that he had
120 years
to do it.
Meaning that
his spirit
would not abide
in man forever
his flesh.
His days shall be
120.
He only got 120 years
later before the flood's come.
As well,
theologians look at it
and say that in reality
what he's saying is
that people's lives
are going to be limited
to 120 years.
They're not going to live
longer than that.
And if that's what it means,
and theologians are quite
split on that,
you can see that happen.
Lifespans drop rapidly
after the flood.
It's not immediate.
It's gradual.
But it is amazing to see.
Not right now,
but later.
Look at the genealogy
in Genesis chapter 5.
And then look at the genealogy
in Genesis chapter 11
at the end of chapter 11.
And you'll see folks
go from 900 and 600
and 500 years
down to 205 years.
By the time you get
to the end of Genesis,
Joseph only lived 110 years.
Moses lived 120 years.
We don't hear beyond that
beyond that fact.
And there's very few exceptions.
As a man who collected
Guinness Book of World Records
when I was a kid,
I know that the oldest person,
at least at that time,
30 years ago,
was 143 years old.
But nobody had a birth certificate
made of stone.
And nobody really knew
exactly how old they were.
So I believe, as some do,
that the reason why
people don't live as long
as they did before the flood
was because the atmosphere
changed after the flood.
When the, as Scripture says,
the windows of heaven
were poured out,
I believe we lost some kind
of atmospheric protection
of sorts.
The incubator of the earth
where it hadn't rained before,
but yet stayed watered.
That canopy of sorts
were torn away.
And the purity of that
was gone that previously
allowed people to live so long.
Therefore, the constant
growing reptile
would no longer live
1,000 years.
Its growth would be limited
to a much shorter lifespan.
How big would a lizard be
if it grew for 900 years?
Well, you can find their fossils
in the Natural History Museum
in New York City.
That explains dinosaurs,
at least to me.
I don't pretend to know
all the answers,
and I've already told you
that I am science-deprived.
But I know and trust
the one who does.
And I trust him
even with the matters
that are not directly addressed
in the Bible.
And do you know why?
Because the Bible tells me
that I can trust him.
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says,
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
and do not lean
on your own understanding.
In all your ways,
acknowledge him
and he'll make your paths straight.
I don't know what questions
you have today
about the flood
or about life.
But I can promise you one thing.
You can trust the Lord Jesus.
You can rest in him.
I want to be clear.
We don't have to agree
on all this.
The details are not
all given to us.
Let me tell you
what we need to agree on
or what you need
to agree with me on.
And that is the authority
of the word of God.
2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says,
All scripture is breathed out
by God
and profitable for teaching
for abuse and correction
and for training in righteousness
that the man of God
may be complete,
equipped for every good work.
In other words,
we can trust his word.
And the cool thing is
he'll use his word
to work and move in us.
Hebrews chapter 4, 12 and 13 says,
For the word of God
is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division
of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow,
listen,
and discerning the thoughts
and intentions of the heart.
And no creature,
including you and I,
are hidden from his sight.
All are naked and exposed
to the eyes of him
to whom we must give account.
God sees us.
He knows us better
than we know ourselves.
And God uses the word of God
to show us
what the most important thing
we must do in life.
The Gospel of John,
somebody texted me yesterday
and said,
I want to begin
to read scripture daily.
Where should I start?
And I said,
start in the Gospel of John.
It's good stuff.
I love to watch
how Jesus worked and moved
and how he interacted
with folks.
And John gives you
the theology behind
why he did what he did.
It's good stuff.
John wrote that account,
the Gospel of John.
And when he got toward the end,
he said this in John chapter 20,
verse 30 and 31.
Now Jesus did many other signs
in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book,
but these are written
so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God,
and that by believing,
you may have life in his name.
I don't know what questions
you have this morning.
Whether it's about the flood,
or it's about life,
but I can tell you
who has the answers,
and I can tell you
who you can trust in,
and I can tell you
who knows you better
than yourself,
and I can tell you
who gives you
the Word of God
so that you may believe
in the Son of God
and that by believing in him,
you may have life
in Jesus' name.
I have no hope
greater for you today
than you know
the Lord Jesus personally
in your life.
And if there's never been a time
when you've confessed
your sins to God
and asked him
to forgive you of your sins
and to come into your life
and to cleanse you,
I want you to know
Jesus Christ will save you today
if you'll surrender
your life to him,
if you'll trust him
as your Lord and Savior,
if you'll say,
God, I know I'm a sinner.
I know I desperately need
the salvation
that's going to only
come from God.
He'll wash away your sins.
He'll remove them,
and Peter talks about
the flood being like
a baptism.
It cleanses,
and I thank God
the blood of Christ
cleanses us
when we surrender
our lives to follow him.
Not only will he remove
your past spiritually
from your life,
but beyond that,
he'll empower you
with the Holy Spirit of God
to live your life
abundantly for him.
If you've never given
your heart and life
to the Lord,
you come today,
I'd love to guide you in that.
Maybe you're here this morning
and you have done that,
but you've never acknowledged
that publicly
through baptism.
You've never told
anybody about it,
and Jesus tells us
by his example
and by his commission
that we're to follow that up
with baptism.
We'd love to guide you
in that process.
Maybe God's drawing you
to this church.
You want to be a part
of a church
that believes the word of God,
that rests in the word of God,
where you can invest your life
and they can invest in you.
If God's leading you
in that way,
you come.
Probably beyond that,
I know there's people in here
who have questions
in your life.
It may not be at all
about the flood.
It may not be about
some particular passage.
It's just stuff in life.
Struggle with the questions
that you have.
I want you to know today
God knows more
about your questions
and he knows the answers
beyond anything
that you can imagine.
And you can trust him.
You can rest in him.
And so I encourage you
this morning
to lay that down
before the Lord.
You need a pastor
to pray with you,
I'll be happy
to pray with you.
You need to come to this altar
and lay it down
before the Lord.
Lay your questions
down before the Lord.
He can handle it.
I promise you.
He'll work and move
in your life.
You can do that
right where you sit as well.
I just want you
to be obedient
to what God tells you to do.
I'll never ask you
to do more than that.
And I hope you're
never satisfied
with less than that.
Just do what God
tells you to do.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus,
I love you and thank you
for your love for us.
God,
will you guide us right now
to simply be obedient
as you speak to our hearts
and lives, Father.
In Jesus' precious name,
amen.
Stand together if you will.
We're going to sing.
More importantly,
you obey God
as he speaks to your heart
and life.
Amen.