Animals of the Flood

Introduction

Well, as has already been noted, we have a good number of visitors with us this morning. I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of you. I’ve met visitors from Indiana and Illinois. I’ve met some local visitors from here in Orlando. And as John pointed out, we have a number of visitors from the state of Mississippi and from their chosen apparel, they seem to be mostly Mississippi State fans. And so I need to give the rest of you a heads up. If I make a particularly good point in my sermon this morning, you may hear a chorus of cowbells. But I don’t know if that’ll be the case or not. We’ll see. One reminder to our members and even our visitors, as far as that goes, we’re starting this afternoon, this evening at five o’clock, our uh study of the 17 Bible time periods, and that’s an ongoing study that we’re going to do with the congregation here.

And so I want to encourage everybody who can and is able to be back with us at 5 o’clock this afternoon, this evening, as we commence that study. I hope that you can be uh be a part of that. I look forward to it myself and and know that many of you here are looking forward to that uh as well. Well, as we begin our lesson, I want to start, as is my custom with the question by a raise by a show of your hands. How many of you have animals at home? And wives, I don’t mean your husbands. You have animals at home. A lot of people have pets. That’s just the thing. Uh pets, and and I’ve always found it interesting the way people feel about their pets.

We have the tendency to humanize those pets and ascribe to them human emotions and human intelligence, and you may even tell me stories about lessons that you’ve learned from your pets. And people can grow so close to their pets. I have to be careful here. I’m not that kind of person. Where I grew up in the culture I grew up in, animals were food. And we had pets, but we weren’t really that close to pets. They just kind of served a purpose. But I know so many of you are just so close to your pets and so close to those animals. Let me illustrate. Let me tell you a true story. And I want to emphasize this is a true story. We were riding along in the car one day, and the DJ on the radio, as they often do, throw out this kind of meaningless trivia and things.

And he was saying that a recent study had shown that upwards to 80% of people prefer their pets to their partners. And he thought that was a shocking statistic. And I did too. And I turned to Deedra, and let me qualify this. Deedra used to have a little pet named Maisie, her little dog. Passed away about a couple years ago, but at that time she still had little Maisie. And I, thinking I was fishing for a compliment, said, that’s kind of like you and Maisie. You prefer her to me. To which Deedra replied, that’s not true. I love you equally. Not quite the compliment I was fishing for. But if you have animals at home and pets that you love like that, you need to thank Noah.

It was Noah, or really thank God through the work of Noah, that made it such that we can have animals today. You know the story from our children and on up. We know the story about Noah and the flood and the instructions that were given to Noah, the instructions to build that ark, and the detailed instructions that he was given, because a flood of destruction was coming. And a part of those instructions weren’t just how to construct this floating device that would save Noah and his family, but also the inclusion of those animals. That’s just an integral part of that story. And I want to talk to you about the animals of the flood this morning. I think there’s at least three lessons that we can learn from these animals of the ark.

1. Others May Suffer as a Result of My Sin

And let’s think about that with me this morning. The first lesson, I think, that we can see is that it’s sadly the case that others may suffer as a result of my sin. I first want to talk about the animals, not the animals that made it on the ark, but the animals that didn’t make it on the ark. And how they and really all of creation suffered as a result of their sin. Would you go with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 6? You know this story well about just how wicked things had become. And as we start talking about the wickedness that was present, the sinfulness that was present, I want to give you a glimmer of hope in 2022. You might think it’s really bad now, that immorality and godlessness is greater than it’s ever been.

And it might be greater than it’s ever been in your lifetime. But I want you to recognize that there’s been times in history where it was far worse. In Genesis chapter 6, we’re not sure of the population of the planet at this time. But even if we look at it as a percentage-wise, there were only eight people worth saving. I think it’s better now than it was then. There’s more than eight people worth saving in God’s eyes today, surely.

Just his family was the only ones worth saving. And so God decides that the wickedness of man is so great and so pervasive that the only answer is to destroy it. Basically, wipe it clean and start over again. And notice how that is phrased, though. Are you with me in Genesis chapter 6? Pick up in the reading in verse 5. Then the Lord saw, 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. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth. And he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.

Pause there. I’m going to destroy mankind. Now I think from the reading of this text, we could argue easily that every human being, except for the children, every adult human being who was destroyed deserved it. But keep reading. Genesis chapter 6, continue in verse 7. I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them. So God says, I’m going to destroy not just the sinners, but I’m going to destroy everything, man and beast. If we could do like you like to do with your pets sometimes and personalize them, those animals could be looking at those human beings and saying, What did I do?

I think of that sometimes in the sacrificial animals that were offered. If that lamb that was going to be slain and offered as a sacrifice for sins under the Old Testament, if that lamb could speak, it might be looking at that high priest and saying, Why are you killing me? I didn’t do this. You’re the one who sinned. Why does my blood need to be shed? There’s certainly some foreshadowing there, isn’t there, of the Lamb of God? But what we see in this utter destruction is that the entire planet suffered because of sin.

That’s always been the case. We could turn, we won’t for sake of time, we could turn back a couple chapters to Genesis chapter 3, when sin was introduced on this planet. God said, Because of the sin of mankind, Adam and Eve, cursed is the ground, he said. This planet is cursed. Hold your finger here in Genesis 6 and go with me in the New Testament to the book of Romans. Look with me in Romans chapter 8. Or excuse me, yes. Romans chapter 8. In Romans 8, he’s talking about our desire for the spiritual resurrection, the physical resurrection at the end of time. And notice what he says, how he phrases this. Romans 8, beginning in verse 20, for the creation, the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope.

Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pains together until now. I don’t know that I fully understand all of that, but it seems to me that he’s saying that in the cursing of this planet, because of sin, that the planet itself, if we can personify or humanize it, it’s crying out, it’s suffering. And so every time, every time something bad happens, even if it’s weather related, every hurricane that we worry about and stress over and prepare for and suffer because you need to hear that as this planet groaning because of sin. We’re all suffering because of sin. And many times we suffer as the result of our own sin.

But sometimes we can suffer as those animals did in the deluge because of somebody else’s sin. There are numerous examples in Scripture of that, aren’t they? Cain suffered because of his brother’s sin. Joseph suffered because of his brother’s sin. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego suffered because of the sinfulness of the rulers and the people in positions of authority at that time. In the New Testament, Barnabas suffered because of the sin of Peter. And Barnabas was even led astray in his racism against those Gentiles. We’re affected. There’s numerous examples in our own lives, aren’t there? Of people being affected by the sins of others, of suffering because. Now we’re not talking about suffering eternal punishment because of somebody else’s sin. Scripture tells us the soul that sinneth, it shall die, but we still will suffer physical, earthly, temporary repercussions because of other sins.

It happens all the time. Children so often suffer because of the sinful bad choices of their parents. Citizens suffer because of the godliness, godlessness of our rulers sometimes, don’t we? Relationships can be destroyed. Friendships ruined because of somebody else’s sin. And so the first lesson I want to learn from these suffering animals in the flood is that I want to order my life in such a way that I can minimize that suffering. I don’t want you to suffer because of my actions. Look with me, turn back a couple pages in the book of Romans to Romans chapter 2. And notice the point that he’s making there in this discussion of the sinfulness of man. Notice what he says in Romans 2, verse 21. He’s talking about the hypocrisy of Christians, the sinfulness of Christians.

You therefore, Romans 2, verse 21, you therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say do not commit adultery, do you not commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through the breaking of the law? Speaking specifically, I think, to those Jewish audience, and now can be transferred to us as an application to those of us as Christians who claim to be serving God, do we sin in our lives in contrary to that profession of faith? But notice what he says in that last verse, verse 24. For in so doing, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

The cause of God can suffer because of my sin. If I proclaim myself to be a Christian, a child of God, and I hypocritically live my life, he’s saying, not only are you going to suffer, not only are others suffering, but God’s cause suffers, because God Himself is going to be blasphemed because they see you as the representative of God. And so I need to see just how horrible sin is. That it’s not something to be toyed with, to be laughed at.

2. God Planned Hope for the Future

Is that God planned for the future? We saw there, in fact, turn back to Genesis chapter 6 with me. We saw there in Genesis chapter 6 that God says, Because you’re so wicked, I’m going to destroy both man and beast. The beast were destroyed because of the sinfulness of others. But also, when we consider the animals of the flood, God planned hope for the future. Because God didn’t destroy everybody and everything. There was a plan. Look in Genesis chapter 6. Pick up in the reading in verse 14. God speaking to Noah says, Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, and its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.

You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to the cubit from above, and set the door of the ark on its side. You shall make it with a lower second and third decks. And behold, I myself am bringing the flood of waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life, and everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall go into the ark. You, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you, and every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you, and they shall be male and female, of the birds after their kind, after the animals, after their kind, after every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you and keep them alive, and you shall take them from yourselves of all the food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself, and it shall be food for you and for them.

And the text adds, thus Noah did, according to all that God commanded him, thus Noah did. So we know that not all human flesh was destroyed. There were eight souls on that ark, and not all animal flesh was destroyed. God said, Bring two of every kind. It doesn’t take a biologist expert to know why. Why bring a male and a female? Because God was planning for the future. God was planning for those animals to multiply. And so here was my earlier point. If you have a pet, thank Noah. He did exactly what God commanded. And so God, in the midst of horrible, can you even imagine what it was like? In the midst of horrible destruction and judgment, there was hope. And God said, Noah, there’s going to be a future.

There’s going to be a future life on this planet. And so let’s make provisions for that. You’re going to need some animals to repopulate the new planet that I’m going to give you. And it would have been a new planet, wouldn’t it? If you’ve ever been a part of a flood, even a small flood, you know how those flood waters can just change everything. Imagine a global flood of how utterly different the planet would have looked like. But God says, Noah, we need to make plans for that. And part of that plan was these animals. Two of every unclean animal was to be taken on the ark. Because God made a plan for hope. And he still does. Hold your fingers again in Genesis, and let’s go to 2 Peter chapter 3.

Peter, by inspiration, is talking about some false teachers who are going to say that I don’t think Jesus is going to come again. I don’t think there’s going to be a day of judgment. And Peter says of them, he says, beginning in 2 Peter 3, verse 5, for this they, those false teachers, this they willingly forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with waters. But the heavens and the earth, which now are, persevered by the same word and reserved for fire until the day of judgment and the perition of ungodly men. And so his point is they forget God did this once before.

God destroyed the world by the flood and gave us a new world. And he goes on to say, but Loved, verse 8, do not forget this one thing that the day of the that with the Lord, one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. And the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. Singular, the promise of his second coming. He’s not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Verse 10 says, But the day of the Lord, this other judgment that is coming, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Peter says, another day of absolute unimaginable destruction and judgment is coming. But God is still planning hope for the future. Don’t miss verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven, a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Just as God in that earlier destruction created a new living place, when this earth is destroyed and burned up, he’s going to prepare us a new living place, a new heavens and a new earth.

He’s not talking about renewing this planet. He’s talking about a new place that we can dwell. He’s talking about heaven.

3. God Planned the Provision for Man to Worship Him

Just like he planned it when he said, Noah, we’re going to need some animals for then. Now, the last lesson that we can learn from the animals of the flood is that not only did God plan hope for the future, but God planned for the provision for man to worship him, because man was meant to worship God. Turn back with me to the book of Genesis. And let’s talk about a couple misconceptions about this flood and Noah and the Ark. I think probably the two biggest misconceptions that we could think of is number one is how long was Noah in the Ark. Sometimes people say, well, he was in the Ark 40 days and 40 nights. Well, no, that’s how long it rained. Noah and his family were in the Ark for over a year.

We just read where he said, bring two, male and female, but that’s not the whole story. Look with me again in Genesis chapter 7, verse 1. Then Noah was told by the Lord, come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, male and female, two of the animals that are unclean, a male and a female, also seven each of the birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of the earth. So it wasn’t just two of every kind, it was two of every unclean animal, and seven of each of the clean animals. Now, let’s wade out into the weeds a little bit here.

We don’t know exactly what that means. Seven. Does it mean seven male, seven female? If my math is right, fourteen of the clean, while there was two of the unclean. That’s one possible way of interpreting that. Another one is that he means seven total. Three pairs, that would add up to six, and then one extra, which would make it the odd number seven. That’s also another possible interpretation. And so he could be saying, bring seven, an uneven mix of male and female, are seven and seven for a total of fourteen. We’re not sure. Noah understood, but Noah really didn’t have to understand, because I think what the text tells us is that Noah wasn’t given the task of building the ark and then going out on horseback in a rope and rounding up all these animals.

I think what he’s saying is God’s going to send the animals. The animals are going to come on to the ark on their own, or not on their own, but by God’s bidding. And so, what do we learn from the animals? The fact that he took more of these, what God deemed as clean animals. Well, the stated purpose there was in verse 3 of chapter 7 was that the species might be kept alive on the earth. But look a little bit further in chapter 8. The flood waters have subsided. Noah has finally sent out those messenger birds and found out that it was safe now to exit the ark. And notice what it says in Genesis 8, beginning in verse 18. Noah went out, and his sons and his wives, and his sons’ wives with him, every beast, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth according to their families, went out of the ark.

There was that hope for the future. Now we’re ready to rebuild and repopulate. But notice verse 20. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Not the unclean. There’s only two of those. You sacrifice just one of those, and we don’t have that species anymore. But we brought extra. Because those extra were going to partially, because they were going to be involved in the sacrifice. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. And 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.

And so at least one reason that they were those extra of the clean animals is because Noah, the very first thing when he came out of that ark was he worshiped God. And he was going to need, based upon that system of worship, he was going to need an animal to sacrifice. And God made provision for that. Because man was meant to worship God. Look with me as we close in Romans chapter 12. The same is true today. The same is true that in the midst of the judgment that we’re awaiting, God is planning hope for the future, a new heavens and a new earth. But also the same is true today, is that God has made provisions for us to worship him. Because that’s what we were meant to do.

You know this text in Romans 12, verse 1, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable, God, which is your reasonable service, which is the service, that translation, reasonable service, that doesn’t mean reasonable like we use it. We use the word reasonable a lot of times. Somebody offers a price. How much is that car cost? And they tell you the price, and you say, that seems reasonable. That’s not what he means here. He’s not saying what God asks of us is reasonable. Oh, that sounds reasonable. But it means that it’s attached to our reason. Some translations say it’s our rational service. It’s the service that makes sense. It’s the service that attaches it to our mind.

God wants our mind, our reason, and our rationale attached to our service to Him. And so we don’t offer some animal today. We offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. The animals, you killed them to sacrifice them. They had nothing else to offer once they were offered once. But now he asks us to give a living sacrifice. I heard someone say it this way, though. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it wants to crawl off the altar. And so we must be careful that when we offer our lives as a living sacrifice, that we are continually offering Him our bodies, our mind. That’s the reasonable, rational service that we’re offering to Him. We’re to worship Him and serve Him. We’re to worship Him on the first day of the week as we’re doing now, but we’re also to serve Him as a living sacrifice every day of our lives.

Conclusion

And everything, everything that God has put within you was put there just like those clean animals were put on the ark. It was put within you so that you could use that to glorify God. And that’s the lessons we learn from these animals. And so when you go home today, pet your dog or your cat or your goldfish, your lizard, no judgment. But remember the lessons that we can learn from these animals, that others can suffer as a result of my sin, that God, in the midst of horrible destruction and judgment, planned for hope. And that God made a provision for us to worship him. And the same is true today. Would you serve him today? Would you become a living sacrifice by obeying the gospel today?

Your greatest act of worship that you’ll ever offer is offering yourself in obedience to the gospel. And then every day of your life should be a day of service and a day of worship to God. If we can help you as you climb aboard the ark of safety today and you begin living your life of glorifying God, can we help you right now as together we stand and as we sing?