Genesis 9:1

Genesis 9;1 says, And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  God blessed Noah and His sons.  That is the best that we can ever hope for, that we will be blessed by God.  For this to happen, we, like Noah must obey God and have a personal relationship with Him.  Verse two states, And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.  There was to be a change in the relationship between people and the other animals.  The other animals were to start to fear people.  People and animals had lived in harmony until this time.  Verse three proclaims, Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.  Noah was told that all animals could be used for food, just as all green herbs could be.  Later, under the Law, some restrictions would be placed on what animals could be eaten, and even later, under grace through Christ, those restrictions would be removed.  In all three cases though, God said that the animals were for food.  When someone says that Christians should not eat meat because it is against God's will, they do not know what God's word teaches.  Verse four adds, But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.  There was the restriction of not eating the blood of animals, which was seen as the life force.  Verse five declares, And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.  We are not to just needlessly kill animals or other people, and Matthew Henry says this is a warning against killing ourself.  Verse six says, Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.  This is a warning against murder and not against killing in wars or under the judicial system, nor does it apply to a death in an accident.  It refers to murder, as Cain murdered Abel.  Verse seven states, And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.  God once again called on people to multiply and abundantly repopulate the earth.  God wants people to be numerous, but He also wants them to be obedient to Him.  Verse eight declares, And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,  God didn't just speak to Noah, but He also spoke to Noah's sons.  God speaks to us each individually today, but the question is whether we will listen to Him or not.  Verse nine adds, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;  God was once again establishing a covenant with mankind.  When God establishes a covenant with us, we do not get to change the terms of the covenant.  Verse ten continues, And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.  God's covenant with people would cover all of His creation.  Verse eleven concludes, And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.  God promised Noah and his sons that the earth would never again be destroyed by water, and that promise remains today.

Genesis 8:13

Genesis 8:13 says, And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.  On the first day of the first month, Noah removed the cover from the ark.  It was a new day of a new year for a new beginning.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, it is a new beginning for us.  Verse fourteen states, And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.  Noah still had not left the ark a month and twenty-seven days later, I believe because he was still waiting for God to tell him to go.  We may think things look right for us to do something, but until we know that God has told us to do it we must wait.  Verse fifteen declares, And God spake unto Noah, saying,  The word of God came to Noah.  Verse sixteen adds, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Then verse seventeen concludes, Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.  God had told Noah to build the ark, and he obeyed.  God had told Noah when to gather the animals and his family and get in the ark, and he obeyed.  God now told Noah that it was time to leave the ark with all the animals and his family and to repopulate the earth.  If we are following Christ, we do not reach a point where we just do everything on our own and assume that it is God's will.  Like Noah, we must wait on God's direction even when everything may look perfectly safe to proceed on our own.  Verse eighteen proclaims, And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:  Verse nineteen adds, Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.  Though Noah had waited until God told him to go, once God told him to go, Noah went.  When God tells us to go, there is no longer a need to wait until we feel things are right.  Just as we don't want to get ahead of God, we don't want to lag behind Him either.  Noah obeyed God, and so must we.  Verse twenty states, And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God of every clean animal and bird.  We must always remember to thank God for all that He does for us, especially for providing for a way of salvation.  Verse twenty-one says, And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.  When Noah offered the sacrifice, God said He would not curse the ground anymore for the sake of mankind, even though the hearts of people were evil from their youth.  Fortunately, God does not destroy us the first time we sin, but offers us a way to salvation through faith in Christ.  Verse twenty-two concludes, While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.  God said that as long as the world stands that life would continue as it was created to be.  We still have this promise from God.

Genesis 8:1

Genesis 8:1 says, And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;  God remembered Noah and all the living things in the ark.  I don't believe that this means that God had forgotten them at some point, but that He knew it was time to complete His promise to Noah.  God never forgets His promises to us.  God sent a wind to begin drying the waters off the earth.  Verse two states, The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;  God also stopped the rains and the waters from the deep from continuing to flood the earth.  It was not enough to attempt to dry the earth if it was still being drenched, just as it is not enough for us to attempt to find forgiveness for past sins if we are still not trying to stop sinning.  Verse three adds, And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.  The waters begin to recede.  God could have returned the world to normal in an instant, but He chose to work through more natural means.  God still works through natural events to spread His gospel, His saving grace, for the most part today.  Verse four declares, And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.  The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.  There are people today who attempt to find the remnants of the ark, but I believe the ark served its purpose and is no longer of any value.  We either believe what God's word tells us or we don't, and it should never be based on having physical evidence of an event.  Verse five states, And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.  The water continued to recede.  During this time, Noah had to simply wait on God to fulfill His promise, just as we must learn to wait on God.  Verse six declares, And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:  Forty days after settling on the mountain, Noah opened the window of the ark.  I believe that God led Noah to do this.  Verse seven adds, And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.  Noah first sent out a raven from the ark, and it flew all around.  Matthew Henry says that the raven came back to rest on the ark, but never came back in.  Verse eight states, Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;  Noah also sent a dove out, to see if the waters had receded enough for all the people and animals to get out of the ark.  I believe that this was all because God led Noah to do these things.  Verse nine says, But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.  The dove returned because there was no resting place, and Noah brought it back into the ark.  Verse ten adds, And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;  Noah waited a week before sending the dove out again.  We must likewise patiently wait for God to fulfill His promise of everlasting life after Christ returns.  Verse eleven concludes, And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.  This time, the dove returned with an olive branch in its mouth, and Noah know the waters had receded.  I believe that God will always provide proof that He has kept His promises, but that it will be according to His time frame.  Verse twelve proclaims, And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.  Noah was still content to wait another week.  We must always be certain that we are not getting ahead of God.

Genesis 7:13

Genesis 7:13 says, In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;  These were the people who would repopulate the earth.  We really aren't told much about Noah's children's relationship with God, but I believe that they must have at least followed the example of Noah.  Verse fourteen states, They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.  All the animals were also aboard the ark.  Verse fifteen adds, And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.   Though they went in two by two, we know that the clean animals had seven pairs going in.  I don't believe that Noah had to go hunt and herd the animals, but more that God brought them there and lined them up.  I do have to wonder what people around Noah felt by this time, with a giant boat sitting on dry land being filled with animals, but they were not interested enough to begin to look to Noah or God for answers.  There may be people today who are curious about what is going on in the church, or Christianity, but they are not interested enough to find out.  Like those around Noah, they will miss salvation if they only remain curious.  Verse sixteen says,  And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.  We are told that they went in as God commanded them and God shut them in.  When we go to God through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, which is what God commands us to do for salvation, then God shuts, or seals, us into His kingdom.  Once we accept Christ, we are God's children forever.  God seals our salvation.  Verse seventeen declares, And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.  The flood came, just as God had said it would, and Noah and everyone and everything on the ark were safe.  God always keeps His promises.  Verse eighteen adds, And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.  This simply says that as the waiter rose that the ark rose with it.  Verse nineteen continues, And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.  Verse twenty concludes, Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.  This flood didn't just cover the low areas, but covered the mountains as well.  There was no other place of sanctuary outside the ark, and there is no place of sanctuary spiritually today outside of faith in Christ.  Verse twenty-one says, And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:  All the animals on land and all the people on the earth died.  Verse twenty-two adds, All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.  The fish survived, because they lived in the water.  Verse twenty-three states, And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.  Verse twenty-four concludes, And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.  The earth was covered with water for one hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 7'1

Genesis 7:1 says, And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.  God instructed Noah to go into the ark with his family.  Though following God's instructions to build the ark was important, going into the Ark was what would ultimately save Noah and his family.  Salvation is already provided for every person, but until we enter into a personal relationship with God through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, we cannot be saved.  Verse two states, Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.  I know we normally say that Noah took two of every animal into the ark, but he took seven pairs of the clean animals.  Since God is the One Who declared animals as clean or unclean, I am sure He was able to specify which animals were which to Noah.  Then verse three adds, Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.  Also, the birds were taken aboard in pairs of seven.  Verse four declares, For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.  Noah and his family and the animals were to be in the ark seven days before the rain started.  I am not sure if the significance of the seven days was because that was the duration of God's creative activity or not, but what He had declared good at the end of that first week He now declared very bad.  I personally am not certain that this was the first time that it had rained, but it is the first time rain is mentioned.  Verse five says, And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.  Noah had obeyed God in building the ark, and now he obeyed God in doing what God had commanded him to do about getting in the ark.  We cannot be saved by simply getting ready to some day follow Christ.  We must fully enter into that personal relationship with Christ.  Verse six states, And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.  Verse seven adds,, And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.  Noah's whole family went into the ark.  We could debate whether the rest of Noah's family were saved because of his faith in God, but even if they were physically saved by the faith of Noah, their spiritual salvation was still dependent on their own belief in God.  We may do everything possible to bring our children to salvation, but each must make their own personal choice in order to be saved.  Verse eight states, Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,  Verse nine adds, There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.  Though this says they went in two by two, it also says that they went as God had ordered, so there would have been seven pairs of the clean beasts going in two by two.  Verse ten declares, And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.  After a week, the rain came, as God had said it would.  The rains lasted for forty days.  God could have easily flood the earth in the blink of an eye, but He chose this method.  We do not need to question God's methods, but we need to simply obey His word.  Verse eleven adds,  In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.  Not only was the earth flooded by rain, but it was also flooded by the fountains of the deep.  Verse twelve adds, And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.  As already stated, the time to flood the earth lasted for forty days.

Genesis 6:11

Genesis 6:11 says, The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  We can debate whether the conditions a person lives in or the way they are raised lead a person to sin, but God had created a good world and it was soon totally corrupt.  We might say that after being evicted from the garden of Eden that the world had been cursed, but I believe that this simply meant that people were going to have to work to meet their needs instead of them being provided for by God.  We certainly know that  Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment, and still they sinned.  Verse twelve states, And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.  When God looked at the world that He had created and called good, He saw that it was totally corrupt.  Sin grows rapidly when people turn away from God.  Verse thirteen declares, And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  God warned Noah of the coming destruction.  Noah was said to have found grace in the eyes of God, and this one righteous man kept the world from being totally destroyed.  I believe that the righteous, the followers of Christ, reaching out to the lost, keep the world from being destroyed today.  Verse fourteen says, Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.  God told Noah to make an ark, or a giant boat.  Even though Noah had found grace, he had to obey God's instructions to be saved.  In order to claim salvation today, we must obey God's instructions to accept salvation through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse fifteen states, And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. Then verse sixteen adds, A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.  This tells us how big the ark was to be, but all we really need to know was that it was big enough for God's purpose.  When we live by faith, we need to realize that God will always provide for our needs in order for us to do His will.  Verse seventeen declares, And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.  God pronounced the coming destruction of all flesh through a flood.  Then verse eighteen proclaims, But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.  God established a covenant with Noah.  God would save Noah and his family.  God establishes a covenant with each individual who accepts Christ today.  He will save us, but our family cannot be saved by our faith.  Each person must accept Christ as Savior and Lord for themselves.  Still, if we live by faith we may lead our family to that same faith.  Verse nineteen states, And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.  Noah was also tasked with saving the other animals.  We today are to work to maintain God's creation.  Verse twenty adds, Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.  Noah was to gather a pair of all living creatures to keep them from being totally destroyed.  Then verse twenty-one adds,  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.  Noah was to take enough food for his family and all the animals.  Not only did Noah have to build the ark, but he had to gather the animals and food as well.  He could only do this by acting from faith.  If we see what seems like an impossible task we feel that God is calling us to do, remember Noah and his task.  God will not call us to do something that He does not equip us to do.  Verse twenty-seven declares, Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.  Like Noah, we do not need to question God but we need to simply do what God instructs us to do.

Genesis 6:1

Genesis 6:1 says, And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,  God had intended for people to multiply and populate the earth, and they were doing so.  This does not mean that it was happening in accordance with God's will.  Verse two states, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  Matthew Henry says this means that those men that God had given life to, who should have been as sons to Him, were not guided by God's Spirit when they chose wives.  They simply looked for the women who looked the best.  We cannot be guided simply by physical looks when we are looking for a spouse, but must be guided by the Holy Spirit if we want the best marriage.  Verse three declares, And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.  God was displeased with mankind, but He didn't immediately destroy them.  God gave a warning that people had one hundred and twenty years to repent or they would face destruction.  God is always patient in His grace before He comes to people in judgment.  Still, we can be certain that God's judgment will come.  Verse four says, There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of renown.  Though some attempt to interpret this as some lesser god or angels having children with human wives and creating a race of giants, if we believe God, we know that there are no other gods and that angels are a different form of creation than mankind.  Though people may have looked like giants to those around them, they were still just people.  No matter how big and important people may feel today, they are still simply a part of God's creation and powerless before Him.  Verse five proclaims, And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  God saw the wickedness of people, those that were to be the very best of His creation.  As such, God had given them free will.  We today are still the ultimate of God's creation, but we can still choose to ignore or defy Him.  Verse six adds, And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.  Mankind had become so evil that God was regretting having created them, and He was grieved because of it.  If we turn away from God continually, He will be grieved at our creation, of the life that He gives us.  Verse six declares, And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  God said that He was going to destroy not only mankind but all animals as well.  The world was created to follow the laws of God and people were to care for the other animals.  If there were no people, there was no need for the other animals. Unlike people, animals simply live life and pass from existence at death, so this wasn't a harsh sentence for them.  God was not going to act out of anger, but out of disappointment and grief over the actions of people.  Verse eight states, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  There was one man, Noah, who was still following God.  Noah found grace in the eyes of God.  We need to be like Noah today, living for God so that He might delay the coming destruction of the world so that others will have a chance to repent and come to God.  Verse nine adds, These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.  I don't believe that this means that Noah never sinned, but that he attempted to live by faith in God.  One person walking with God can have a great impact on the world.  Verse ten says, And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Noah's sons would be a part of the saving of mankind.