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09 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Commentary on The Book of Genesis

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Chapter six. The most remarkable thing we have upon record concerning the Old world
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is the destruction of it by the Universal deluge, the account of which commences
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in this chapter, wherein we have Roman one, the abounding iniquity of that
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wicked world Verses one to five, and verses eleven and twelve. Roman two.
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The Righteous God's just resentment of that abounding iniquity and his holy resolution to
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punish it Verses six and seven. Roman three. The special favor of God
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to his servant Noah. One in the character given of him Verses eight ten
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two, in the communication of God's purpose to him Verses thirteen and seventeen three,
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in the directions he gave him to make an arc for his own safety
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Verses fourteen to sixteen, four, in the employing of him for the preservation
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of the rest of the creatures Verses eighteen to twenty one. Lastly, Noah's
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obedience to the instruction given him verse twenty two. And this concerning the Old
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World is written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the New world have
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come. Depravity of the World b c. Twenty four sixty nine, Verses
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one to two. And it came to pass when men began to multiply on
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the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them that the sons
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of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they
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took them wives of all which they chose, for the glory of God's justice
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and for a warning to a wicked world. Before the history of the ruin
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of the old world, we have a full account of its degeneracy, its
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apostasy from God, and rebellion against him. The destroying of it was an
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act not of absolute sovereignty, but of necessary justice for the maintaining of the
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honor of God's government. Now Here we have an acount of two things which
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occasioned the wickedness of the Old world. One the increase of mankind. Man
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began to multiply upon the face of the earth. This was the effect of
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the blessing Chapter one, verse twenty eight. And yet man's corruptions so abused
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and perverted this blessing that it was turned into a curse. Thus sin takes
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occasion by the mercies of God to be the more exceedingly sinful. Proverbs chapter
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twenty nine, verse sixteen. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases the
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more sinners, the more sin and the multitude offenders emboldens men. Infectious diseases
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are most destructive in populous cities, and sin is a spreading leprosy. Thus,
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in the New Testament Church, when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
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there arose a murmuring Acts chapter six, verse one, and we read
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of a nation that was multiplied, not to the increase of their joy Isaiah
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Chapter nine, verse three. Families need to be well governed lest they become
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wicked families. Two mixed marriages Verse two. The sons of God, that
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is, the professors of religion, who were called by the name of the
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Lord and called upon that name, married the daughters of men, that is,
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those that were profane and strangers to God and holiness. The posterity of
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Seth did not keep by themselves as they ought to have done, both for
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the preservation of their own purity and in detestation of the apostasy, They intermingled
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themselves with the excommunicated race of Cain. They took them wives of all that
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they chose. But what was amiss in these marriages except one they chose only
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by the eye they saw that they were fair, which was all they looked
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at, except two. They followed the choice which their own corrupt affections made.
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They took all that they chose without advice or consideration. But sub three
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that which proved of such bad consequence to them was that they married strange wives
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were unequally yoked with unbelievers. Second Corinthians, Chapter six, verse fourteen.
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This was forbidden to Israel. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verses three and four.
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It was the unhappy occasion of Solomon's apostasy First Kings, chapter eleven, verses
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one to four, and was of bad consequence to the Jews after their return
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out of Babylon. As of chapter nine, verses one and two. Note,
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professors of religion, in marrying both themselves and their children, should make
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conscious of keeping within the bounds of profession. The bad will sooner debauch the
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good than the good reform the bad. Those that profess themselves the children of
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God must not marry without His consent, which they have not if they join
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in affinity with His enemies. Verse three, and the Lord said, my
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spirit shall not always strive with man, for he also is flesh. Yet
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his day shall be one hundred and twenty years. This comes here as a
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token of God's displeasure at those who married strange wives. He threatens to withdraw
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from them his Spirit, whom they had grieved by such marriages contrary to their
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convictions. Fleshly LUs are often punished with spiritual judgments the source of all judgments,
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or as another occasion of the great wickedness of the old world. The
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Spirit of the Lord, being provoked by their resistance of his motions, cease
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to strive with them, and then all religion was soon lost among them.
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This he warns them of before, that they might not further vex his holy
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Spirit, but by their prayers might stay him with them. Observe in this
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verse Roman one God's resolution not always to strive with man by his spirit.
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The spirit then strove by Noah's preaching first Peter Chapter three, verses nineteen twenty,
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and by inward checks. But it was in vain with most of the
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men. Therefore God says, ye shall not always strive. Note one,
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The blessed Spirit strives with sinners by the convictions and admonitions of conscience, to
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turn them from sin to God. Two. If the spirit be resisted,
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quenched and striven against though he strive long, he will not strive always.
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Hosea, Chapter four, verse seventeen three. Those are ripening a pace for
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ruin whom the Spirit of Grace has left off striving with Roman iiO. The
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reason of this resolution for that he also is flesh that is incurably corrupt and
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carnal and sensual, so that it is labour loss to strive with him.
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Can the Ethiopian change his skin? He also? That is all one as
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well as another. They have all sunk into the mire of flesh. Note
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one, It is the corrupt nature and the inclination of the soul towards the
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flesh that oppose the Spirit's strivings and render them ineffectual. Two. When a
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sinner has long adhered to that interest and sided with the flesh against the spirit,
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the spirit justly withdraws his agency and strives no more. None lose the
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Spirit's strivings, but those that have first forfeited them. Roman three, A
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reprieve granted. Notwithstanding yet his day shall be one hundred and twenty years.
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So long I will defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to
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prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said cut them down, But
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mercy interceded. Lord let them alone this year also, and so far mercy
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prevailed that a reprieve was obtained for six score years. Note the time of
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God's patience and forbearance towards provoking sinners is sometimes long, but always limited.
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Reprieves are not pardons. Though God bear a great while he will not bear
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always Verses four and five. There were giants in the earth in those days,
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and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
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daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty
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men, which were of old men of renown. And God saw that the
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wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
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thoughts of his heart was only evil. Continually, we have here a further
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account of the corruption of the old world. When the sons of God had
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matched with the daughters of men. Though it was very displeasing to God,
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yet he did not immediately cut them off, but waited to see what would
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be the issue of these marriages, and which side the children would take after.
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And it proved, as it usually does, that they took after the
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worst side. Here is Roman one the temptation they were under to oppress and
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do violence. They were giants, and they were men of renown. They
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became too hard for all about them, and carried all before them one with
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their great bulk, as the sons of an Ac Numbers chapter thirteen, verse
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thirty three, with their great name, as the king of Assyria Isaiah chapter
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thirty seven, verse eleven. These made them the terror of the mighty in
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the land of the living, and thus armed, they daringly insulted the rights
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of all their neighbors, and trampled upon all that is just and sacred.
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Note, those that have so much power over others as to be able to
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oppress them, have seldom so much power over themselves as not to oppress great
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might. Is a very great snare to many. This degenerate race slighted the
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honor of their ancestors and obtained by virtue and religion, and made themselves a
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great name by that which was the perpetual ruin of their good name. Roman
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iiO. The charge exhibited and proved against them verse five. The evidence produced
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was incontestable. God saw it, and that was instead of a thousand witnesses,
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God sees all the wickedness that is among the children of men, it
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cannot be concealed from him now, and if it be not repented of,
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it shall not be concealed by him. Shortly. Now, what did God
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take notice of? One He observed that the streams of sin that flowed along
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in men's lives, and the breath and depth of those streams. He saw
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that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Observe the connection of
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this with what goes before. The oppressors were mighty men and men of renown.
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And then God saw that the wickedness of man was great. Note,
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the wickedness of a people is great. Indeed, when the most notorious sinners
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are men of renown among them. Things are bad when bad men are not
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only honored notwithstanding their wickedness, but honored for their wickedness, and the vilest
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men exalted. Wickedness is then great when great men are wicked. Their wickedness
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was great. That is, abundance of sin was committed in all places by
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all sorts of people. And such sin as was in its own nature most
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gross and heinous and provoking, it was committed daringly and with a defiance of
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heaven, nor was any care taken by those that had power in their hands
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to restrain and punish it. This God saw. Note all the sins of
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sinners are known to God the judge. Those that are most conversant in the
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world, though they see much wickedness in it, yet they see but little
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of that which is. But God sees all, and judges are right concerning
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it, how great it is. Nor can he be deceived. In his
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judgment two, he observed the fountain of sin was in men's hearts. Anyone
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might see that the wickedness of man was great, for they declared their sin
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as sodom. But God's eyes went further. He saw that every imagination of
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the thoughts of his heart was only evil, continually a sad sight, and
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very offensive to God's holy eye. This was the bitter root, the corrupt
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spring. All the violence and oppression, all the luxury and wantonness that were
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in the world, proceeded from the corruption of nature. Must conceive them.
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James chapter one, verse fifteen. See Matthew chapter fifteen, verse nineteen,
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sub one. The heart was not It was deceitful and desperately wicked. The
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principles were corrupt and the habits and dispositions evil. Sub two. The thoughts
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of the heart were so. Thought is sometimes taken for the settled judgment or
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opinion, and this was bribed and biased and misled. Sometimes it signifies the
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workings of the fancy, and these were always either vain or vile, either
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weaving the spider's web or hatching the cockatrice's egg. Sub Three. The imagination
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of the thoughts of the heart was so that his their designs and devices were
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wicked. They did not do evil through mere carelessness, as those that walk
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at all adventures, not heeding what they do. But they did evil deliberately
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and designedly, contriving how to do mischief. It was bad, indeed,
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for it was only evil, continually evil, and every imagination was so.
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There was no good to be found among them, no, not at any
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time. The stream of sin was full and strong and constant, and God
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saw it see Psalm fourteen, verses one to three. Mankind threatened with destruction
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b c. Twenty four sixty nine, verses six and seven. And it
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repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved
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him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom
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I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast,
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and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. For it repenteth
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me that I have made them. Here is roman One, God's resentment of
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man's wickedness. He did not see it as an unconcerned spectator, but as
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one injured and affronted by it. He saw it as a tender father sees
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the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious and disobedient child, which not only angers
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him, but grieves him and makes him wish he had been written childless.
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The expressions here used are very strange. It repented the Lord that he had
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made man upon the earth, that he had made a creature of such noble
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powers and faculties, and had put him on this earth, which he built
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and furnished on purpose to be a convenient, comfortable habitation for him, And
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it grieved him at his heart. These are expressions after the manner of men,
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and must be understood so as not to reflect upon the honor of God's
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immutability or felicity one. This language does not imply any passion or uneasiness in
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God. Nothing can create disturbance to the atri ternal mind. But it expresses
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his just and holy displeasure against sin and sinners, against sin as odious to
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his holiness, and against sinners as obnoxious to his justice. He is pressed
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by the sins of his creatures. Amos chapter two, verse thirteen, wearied,
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Isaiah chapter forty three, verse twenty four, broken, ezik Kill chapter
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six, verse nine, grieved a Psalm one hundred and fifteen, verse ten.
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And here grieved to the heart, as men are when they are wronged
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and abused by those they have been very kind to, and therefore repent of
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their kindness, and wish they had never fostered that snake in their bosom,
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which now hisses in their face and stings them to the heart. Does God
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thus hate sin, and shall we not hate it? Has our sin grieved
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him to the heart, And shall we not be grieved and pricked to the
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heart for it? Oh, that this consideration may humble us and shame us,
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and that we may look on him whom we have thus grieved and mourn
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Zechariah chapter twelve, verse ten two. It does not imply any change of
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God's mind, for he is in one mind, and who can turn him
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with him. There is no variableness, but it expresses a change of his
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way. When God had made man upright, he rested and was refreshed Exodus
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chapter thirty one, verse seventeen. And his way towards him was such as
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showed he was pleased with the work of his own hands. But now that
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man has apostatized, he could not do otherwise than show himself displeased, so
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that the change was in man, not in God. God repented that he
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had made man, but we never find him repenting that he redeemed man,
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though that was a work of much greater expense, because the special and effectual
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grace is given to secure the great ends of redemption, so that those gifts
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and callings are without repentance. Romans chapter eleven, verse twenty nine. Roman
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too, God's resolution to destroy man for his wickedness verse seven. Observe one.
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When God repented that he had made man, he resolved to destroy man.
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Thus, those that truly repent of sin will resolve, in the strength
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of God's grace, to mortify sin and to destroy it, and so undo
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what they have done. Amiss we do but mock God in saying that we
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are sorry for our sin, and that it gries us to the heart if
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we continue to indulge in it in vain do we pretend a change of our
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mind if we do not evidence it by a change of our way. Two,
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he resolves to destroy man. The original word is very significant. I
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will wipe off man from the earth. So some as dirt or filth is
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wiped off from a place which should be clean, and is thrown into the
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dunghill, the proper place for it. See Second Kings, chapter twenty one,
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verse thirteen. Those that are the spots of the places they live in
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are justly wiped away by the judgements of God. I will blot out man
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from the earth, so others, as those lines which displease the author are
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blotted out of a book, or as the name of a citizen is blotted
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out of the rolls of the freemen when he is dead or disfranchised. Three.
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He speaks of man as his own creature, even when he resolves upon
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his ruin, man whom I have created. Though I have created him,
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this shall not excuse him. Isaiah chapter twenty seven, verse eleven. He
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that made him will not save him. He that is our creator. If
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he be not our ruler, will be our destroyer. Or because I have
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created him and he has been so undutiful and ungrateful to his creator, therefore
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I will destroy him those forfeit their lives that do not answer the end of
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their living. Four. Even the brute creatures were to be involved in this
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destruction. Beasts and creeping things, and the fouls of the air. These
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were made for man, and therefore must be destroyed with man. For it
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follows it repenteth me that I have made them for the end of their creation.
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Also was frustrated. They were made that man might serve and honor God
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with them, and therefore they were destroyed, because He had served LUs with
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them and made them subject of vanity. Five. God took up this resolution
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concerning man after his spirit had been long striving with him in vain. None
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are ruined by the justice of God, but those that hate to be reformed
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by the grace of God Verses eight to ten. But Noah found grace in
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the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was
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a just man and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God.
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And Noah begat three sons shem Ham and Jafob. We have here Noah distinguished
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from the rest of the world, and a peculiar mark of honor put upon
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him. One when God was displeased with the rest of the world, he
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favored Noah. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Verse eight.
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This vindicates God's justice in his displeasure against the world, and shows that
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he had strictly examined the character of every person in it before he pronounced it
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universally corrupt. For there being one good man, he found him out and
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smiled upon him. It also magnifies his grace towards Noah, that he was
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made a vessel of God's mercy when all mankind besides had become the generation of
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his wrath, distinguishing favors. Being under peculiarly strong obligations. Probably Noah did
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not find favor in the eyes of men. They hated and persecuted him,
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because both by his life and preaching, he condemned the world. But he
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found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And this was honor and comfort
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enough. God made more account of Noah than all the world besides, and
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this made him greater and more truly honorable than all the giants that were in
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those days, who became mighty men and men of renown. Let this be
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the summit of our ambition to find grace in the eyes of the Lord.
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Herein, let us labor that present or absent we may be accepted of him
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Tewo Corinthians, chapter five, verse nine. Those are highly favored whom God
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favors. Two. When the rest of the world was corrupt and wicked,
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Noah kept his integrity. These are the generations of Noah. This is the
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account we have to give of him. Noah was a just man verse nine.
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This character of Noah comes in here either sub one, as the reason
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of God's favor to him. His singular piety qualified him for singular tokens of
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God's loving kindness. Those that would find grace in the eyes of the Lord
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must be as Noah and do as Noah did. God loves those that love
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him or sub two, as the effect of God's favor to him. Was
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God's good will to him that produced this good work in him. He was
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a very good man, but he was no better than the grace of God
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made him. First Corinthians chapter fifteen, verse ten. Now observe his character.
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One he was a just man, that is, justified before God by
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faith in the promised Seed. For he was an heir of the righteousness which
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is by fate Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seven. He was sanctified and had
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right principles and dispositions implanted in him. And he was righteous in his conversation.
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One that made conscious of rendering to all their due, to God his
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due, and to mend theirs. Note none but a downright, honest man
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can find favor with God. That conversation which will be pleasing to God must
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be governed by simplicity and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom. Second Corinthians,
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chapter one, verse twelve. God has sometimes chosen the foolish things of
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the world, but he never chose the knavish things of it. Two He
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was perfect, not with a sinless perfection, but a perfection of sincerity.
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It is well for us that, by virtue of the Covenant of grace,
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upon the score of Christ's righteousness, sincerity is accepted as our gospel perfection.
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Three. He walked with God as Enoch had done before him. He was
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not only honest, but devout. He walked that is, he acted with
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God as one always under his eye. He lived a life of communion with
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God. It was his constant care to conform himself to the will of God,
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to please him, and to approve himself to him. Note God looks
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down upon those with an eye of favor, who sincerely look up to him
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with an eye of faith. But four, that which crowns his character is
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that thus he was, and thus he did in his generation, in that
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corrupt, degenerate age in which his lot was cast. It is easy to
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be religious when religion is in fashion, but it is an evidence of strong
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faith and resolution to swim against a stream to heaven, and to appear for
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God when no one else appears for him. So Noah did, and it
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is upon record to his immortal honor. Depravity of the world b. C.
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Twenty four forty eight, Verses eleven and twelve. The earth also was
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corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked
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upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted
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his way upon the earth. The wickedness of that generation is here again spoken
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of, either as a foil to Noah's piety. He was just and perfect,
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when all the earth was corrupt, or as a further justification of God's
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resolution to destroy the world, which he was now about to communicate to his
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servant Noah. One, all kinds of sin was found among them. For
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it is said verse eleven that the earth was sub one corrupt before God,
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that is, in the matters of God's worship. Either they had other gods
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before him, or they worshiped him by images, or they were corrupt and
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wicked in despite and contempt of God, daring him and defying him to his
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face. So two, the earth was also filled with violence and injustice towards
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men. There was no order nor regular government. No man was safe in
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the possession of that which he had the most clear and incontestable right to.
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No not the most innocent life. There was nothing but murders, rapes,
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and repine. Note wickedness, as it is the shame of human nature,
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so it is the ruin of human society. Take away conscience and the fear
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of God, and men become beasts and devils to one another, like the
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fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less. Sin fills the
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earth with violence, and so turns the world into a wilderness into a cockpit.
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Two. The proof and evidence of it were undeniable. For God looked
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upon the earth and was himself an eye witness of the corruption that was in
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it, of which before verse five, the righteous judge, in all his
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judgments proceeds upon the infallible certainty of his own omniscience Psalm thirty three, Verse
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thirteen three. That which most aggravated the matter was the universal spreading of the
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contagion. All flesh had corrupted his way. It was not some particular nations
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or cities that were thus wicked, but the whole world of mankind were so.
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There was none that did good, no not one besides Noah. Note
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when wickedness has become general and universal ruin is not far off. While there
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is a remnant of praying people in a nation to empty the measure as it
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fills, judgments may be kept off a great while. But while all hands
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are at work to pull down the fences by sin, and none stand in
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the gap to make up the breach, what can be expected but an inundation
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of wrath. Prediction of the deluge b c. Twenty four forty eight,
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Verses thirteen to twenty one, and God said unto Noah, the end of
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all flesh is come before me. The earth is filled with violence through them,
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And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an
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ark of gopher wood rooms. Shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt
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pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou
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shalt make it of the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits,
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the breath of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
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A window shalt thou make in the ark, and in a cubit, shalt
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thou finish it above. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in
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the side thereof, with lower, second and third stories, shalt thou make
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it. And behold, I even I do bring a flood of waters upon
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the earth to destroy all flesh. Wherein is the breath of life from under
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heaven. And everything that is in the earth shall die. But with THEE
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will I establish my covenant. And thou shalt come into the ark, Thou
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and thy sons, and thy wife and thy son's wives, with THEE,
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and every living thing of all flesh. Two of every sort, shalt thou
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bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee. They shall be male
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and female, of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind,
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of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind. Two of every
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sort shall come unto THEE to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee
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all food that is eaten, And thou shalt gather it to THEE, and
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it shall be food for THEE and for them. Here it appears, indeed,
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that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's favor to
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him was plainly intimated in what he said of him verses eight to ten,
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where his name is mentioned five times in five lines, when once might have
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served to make the sense clear, as if the Holy Ghost took pleasure in
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perpetuating his memory. But it appears much more in what he says to him
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in these verses, the informations and instructions here given him Roman I. God
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here makes Noah the man of his council, communicating to him his purpose to
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destroy this wicked world by water. As afterwards he told Abraham his resolution concerning
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Sodom. Chapter eighteen, Verse seventeen, shall I hide from Abraham. So
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here shall I hide from Noah the thing that I do, seeing that he
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shall become a great nation. Note the secret of the Lord is with those
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that fear him, Psalm twenty five, verse fourteen. It was with his
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servants, the prophets Amos chapter three, verse seven, by a spirit of
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revelation, informing them particularly of his purposes. It is with all believers,
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by a spirit of wisdom and faith, enabling them to understand and apply the
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general declarations of the written word and the warnings they are given. Now one,
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God told Noah in general that he would destroy the world verse thirteen.
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The end of all flesh has come before me. I will destroy them.
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That is, the ruin of this wicked world is decreed and determined. It
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has come. That is, it will come surely and come quickly. Noah,
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it is likely, in preaching to his neighbors, had warned them in
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general of the wrath of God, that they would bring upon themselves by their
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wickedness. And now God seconds his endeavors by a particular denunciation of wrath,
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that Noah might try whether this would work upon them. Hence, observe some
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one that God confirmeth the words of his messengers Isaiah, chapter forty four,
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verse twenty six. So two that to him that has and uses what he
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has for the good of others, more shall be given, were full instructions.
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Two. He told him particularly that he would destroy the world by a
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flood of waters. And behold, I even I do bring a flood of
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waters upon the earth verse seventeen. God could have destroyed all mankind by the
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sword of an angel, a flaming sword turning every way, as he destroyed
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all the first born of the Egyptians and the camp of the Assyrians. And
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then there needed no more than a set mark upon Noah and his family for
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their preservation. But God chose to do it by a flood of waters,
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which should drown the world. The reasons, we may be sure, were
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wise and just, though to us unknown. God has many arrows in his
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quiver, and he may use what he pleases. As he chooses the rod
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with which he will correct his children, so he chooses the sword with which
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he will cut off his enemies. Observe the manner of expression, I even
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I do a flood. I that am infinite in power, and therefore can
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do it infinite in justice, and therefore will do it sop. One.
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It intimates the certainty of the judgment. I even I will do it that
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cannot but be done effectually, which God himself undertakes the doing of see job
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Chapter eleven, verse ten, sop. Two. It intimates the tendency of
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it to God's glory and the honor of his justice. Thus he will be
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magnified and exalted in the earth, and all the world shall be made to
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know that He is the God to whom vengeance belongs. Methinks, the expression
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here is somewhat like that Isaiah Chapter one, verse twenty four, Ah,
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I will ease me of mine adversaries room in two. God here makes Noah
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the man of his covenant another Hebrew paraphrase of a friend verse eighteen. But
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with thee will I establish my covenant one, the covenant of providence, that
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the course of nature shall be continued to the end of time, notwithstanding the
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interruption which the flood would give to it. This promise was immediately made to
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Noah and his sons Chapter nine, verse eight, et cetera. They were
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as trustees for all this part of the creation, and a great honor was
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thereby put upon him. In his two, the Covenant of Grace, that
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God would be to him a god, and that out of his seed,
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God would take to himself a people. Note sub one. When God makes
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a covenant, he establishes it, he makes it sure, he makes it
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good. His are everlasting covenance. Two. The Covenant of Grace has in
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it the recompense of singular services and the fountain and foundation of all distinguishing favors.
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We need desire no more either to make up our losses for God,
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or to make up a happiness for us in God, than to have his
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covenant established with us. Roman three. God here makes Noah a monument of
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sparing mercy by putting him in a way to secure himself in the approaching deluge,
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that he might not perish with the rest of the world. I will
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destroy them, says God with the earth verse thirteen. But make thee an
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ark. I will take care to preserve thee alive. Note Singular piety shall
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be recompensed with distinguishing salvations, which are in a special manner. Obliging this
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will add much to the honor and happiness of glorified saints, that they shall
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be saved when the greatest part of the world is left to perish. Now
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one, God directs Noah to make an ark Verses fourteen to sixteen. This
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ark was like the hulk of a ship, fitted not to sail upon the
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waters. There is no occasion for that, when there should be no short
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to sail to, but to float upon the waters, waiting for their fall.
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God could have secured Noah by the ministration of angels without putting him to
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any care or pains or trouble himself. But he chose to employ him in
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making that which was to be the means of his preservation, both for the
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trial of his faith and obedience, and to teach us that none shall be
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saved by Christ, but those only that work out their salvation. We cannot
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do it without God, and He will not do it without us. Both
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the providence of God and the grace of God own and crown the endeavors of
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the obedient and diligent. God gave him very particular instructions concerning this building,
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which could not but be admirably well fitted for the purpose. When infinite wisdom
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itself was the architect sub one. It must be made of gopher wood.
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Noah doubtless knew what sort of wood that was, though we do not now
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whether cedar or Cyprus, or what other. Sub two. He must make
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it three stories high, within so three might divided into cabins with partitions places
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fitted for the several sorts of creatures, so as to lose no room.
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Sub four. Exact dimensions were given him that he might make it proportionable and
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might have room enough in it to answer the intention, and no more.
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Note those that work for God must take their measures from Him and carefully observe
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them. Note further that it is fit that he who appoints us our habitation
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should fix the bounds and limits of it. Sub five. He must pitch
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it within and without without, to shut off the rain, and to prevent
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the water from soaking in within, to take away the bad smells of the
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beasts when kept close. Observe. God does not bid him to paint it,
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but pitch it. If God gives us habitations that are safe and warm
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and wholesome, we are bound to be thankful, though they are not magnificent
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or nice. Sub six. He must make a little window towards the top
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to let in light. And some think that through the window he might behold
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the desolations to be made of the earth. Sp seven, he must make
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a door in the side of it by which to go in and out.
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Two. God promises to Noah that he and his shall be preserved alive in
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the ark. Verse eighteen, thou shalt come into the ark. Note what
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we do in obedience to God, we ourselves are likely to have the comfort
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and benefit of if thou be wise, Thou shalt be wise for thyself.
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Nor was he himself only saved in the ark. But his wife and his
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sons and his son's wives observe Supt. One the care of good parents their
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solicitous not only for their own salvation, but for the salvation of their families
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and especially their children. So two, the happiness of those children that they
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have godly parents their parents piety often procures them temporal salvation as here and for
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them in the way to eternal salvation if they improved the benefit of it.
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Roman four. God here makes Noah a great blessing to the world, and
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herein makes him an eminent type of the Messiah, though not the Messiah himself,
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as his parents expected. Chapter five, Verse twenty nine one. God
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made him a preacher to the men of that generation as a watchman. He
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received the word from God's mouth that he might give them warning. Ezekiel Chapter
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three, verse seventeen. Thus, while the long suffering of God waited by
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his spirit in Noah, he preached to the old world, who, when
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Peter wrote, were spirits in prison. First Peter, Chapter three, verses
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eighteen twenty. And herein he was a type of Christ too, in a
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land and age wherein all flesh had corrupted their way, went about preaching repentance
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and warning men of the deluge of wrath coming. Two. God made him
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a savior to the inferior creatures, to keep the several kinds of them from
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perishing and being lost in the deluge Verses nineteen twenty one. This was a
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great honor placed upon him, that not only in him the race of mankind
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should be kept up, and that from him should precede a new world,
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the Church the soul of the world, and Messiah the head of the Church,
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but that he should be instrumental to preserve the inferior creatures, and so
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mankind should in him acquire a new title to them and their service. Cup
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One. He was to provide shelter for them, that they might not be
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drowned. Two of every sort, male and female, he must take with
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him into the ark. And lest he should make any difficulty of gathering them
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together and getting them in, God promises verse twenty that they shall, of
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their own accord come to him. He that makes the ox to know his
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owner and his crib, then made him know his preserver and his ark.
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So two he was to provide sustenance for them, that they might not be
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starved. Verse twenty one. He must victual his ship according to the number
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of ti crew, that great family, which he had now the charge of,
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and according to the time appointed for his confinement. Herein Also he was
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a type of Christ, to whom it is owing that the world stands by
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whom all things consist, and who preserves mankind from being totally cut off and
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ruined by sin. In him, the Holy Seed is saved alive, and
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the creation rescued from the vanity under which it groans. Noah saved those whom
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he was to rule, So does Christ Hebrews, Chapter five, verse nine,
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verse twenty two. Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him,
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So did he. Noah's care and diligence in building. The ark may
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be considered one as an effect of his faith in the word of God.
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God had told him he would shortly drown the world. He believed it,
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feared the threatened deluge, and in that fear prepared the ark. Note we
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ought to mix faith with the revelation God has made of his wrath against all
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ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The threatenings of the world are not false alarms.
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Much might have been objected against the credibility of this warning given to Noah,
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who could believe that the wise God who made the world should so soon
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unnaked again, that he who had drawn the waters off the dry land Chapter
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one, verses ninety ten, should cause them to cover it again. How
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would this be reconciled with the mercy of God, which is over all his
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works, Especially that the innocent creatures should die for man's sin. Whence could
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water be had sufficient to deluge the world? And if it must be so,
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why should notice be given of it to Noah only? But Noah's faith
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triumphed over all these corrupt reasonings. Two, as an act of obedience to
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the command of God. Had he consulted with flesh and blood, many objections
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would have been raised against it. To rear a building such as a one
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as he never saw, so large and of such exact dimensions, would put
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him upon a great deal of care and labor and expense. It would be
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a work of time. The vision was for a great while to come.
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His neighbors would ridicule him for his credulity, and he would be the song
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of drunkards. His building would be called Noah's folly. If the worst came
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to the worst, as we say, each would fare as well as his
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neighbors. But these and a thousand such objections, Noah by faith got over.
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His obedience was ready and resolute. Thus did Noah willingly and cheerfully,
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without murmuring and disputing. God says, do this, and he does it.
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It was also punctual and persevering. He did all exactly according to the
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instructions given him, and having begun to build, did not leave off till
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he had finished it. So did he, and so must we do three
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as an instance of wisdom for himself. Thus, to provide for his own
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safety, he feared the deluge and therefore prepared the ark. Note when God
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gives warning of approaching judgments. It is our wisdom and duty to provide accordingly.
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See Exodus chapter nine, verses twenty and twenty one. Ezekiel chapter three,
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verse eighteen. We must prepare to meet the Lord in his judgments on
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earth. Flee to his name as a strong tower. Proverbs chapter eighteen,
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verse ten. Enter into our chambers. Isaiah chapter twenty six, verses twenty
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and twenty one. Especially, prepare to meet him at death and in the
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judgment of the great day built upon Christ the Rock. Matthew chapter seven,
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verse twenty four. Go into Christ the ark four as intended for warning to
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a careless world, And it was fair warning of the deluge coming. Every
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blow of his axes and hammers was a call to repentance, a call to
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them to prepare arcs too. But since by it he could not convince the
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world, by it, he condemned the world. Hebrews chapter eleven, verse
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seven d of Genesis chapter six