Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTERS 6-9
Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTERS 6-9
Scripture Reading: Genesis 6-9 (KJV)
We have, now, arrived at a deeply-important and strongly-marked division of our book. Enoch has passed from the scene; his walk as a stranger on earth terminated in his translation to heaven. He was taken away before human evil had risen to a head, and, therefore, before Divine judgment was poured out. From the first two verses of chapter 6, his course and translation had little influence on the world. ‘And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.’
The mingling of that which is of God with that which is of man is a special form of evil, an effectual engine in Satan's hand, marring the testimony of Christ on the earth. This mingling may wear the appearance of something desirable; it may look like a wider promulgation of that which is of God; a fuller and more vigorous outgoing of a divine influence; and something to be rejoiced in rather than deplored. But our judgment regarding this will depend entirely on the point of view from which it is contemplated. If we look at it in the light of Divine presence, we cannot possibly imagine that an advantage is gained when the people of God mingle themselves with the children of this world; or when the truth of God is corrupted by human admixture. Such is not God’s method of promulgating truth, advancing the interests of those who should be occupying the place of witnesses for Him on earth. Separation from all evil is God's principle; and this principle can never be infringed without serious damage to the truth.
In the narrative now before us, we see that union of the sons of God with the daughters of men led to disastrous consequences. True, in man's judgment the fruit of that union seemed exceedingly fair, as we read, "the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown;" yet, God's judgment was different. He sees not as man sees. His thoughts are not as ours. "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"; "evil only", "evil continually" – so much for the mingling of the holy with the profane. Satan's first effort was to frustrate God's purpose by putting the holy seed to death, and when that failed; he sought to gain his end by corrupting it.
We need to understand the aim, character, and result of this union between "the sons of God" and the daughters of men. There is great danger in compromising truth for the sake of union. This should be carefully guarded against. There can be no Divine union attained at the expense of truth. The true Christian's motto should always be, "maintain truth at all cost; if union can be promoted in this way, so much the better, but maintain truth." On the contrary, the motto of expediency: "promote union at all cost; if truth can also be maintained, so much the better, but promote union." This latter principle can only be carried out at the expense of Divine testimony.1 In the long run, there can be no true testimony where truth is forfeited; thus, in the case of the antediluvian world, the unhallowed union between the holy and the profane, between that which was Divine and that which was human, had the effect of bringing evil to a head, causing God's judgment to be poured out.
"The Lord said, I will destroy man." Nothing less would do. There must be the entire destruction of that which had corrupted God's way on the earth. "The mighty men, and men of renown," must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" unfit for God must be set aside. "The end of all flesh is come before me." It was not merely the end of some flesh; no, it was all corrupt, in the sight of Jehovah – all irrecoverably bad. It had been tried and found wanting; and the Lord announces His remedy to Noah in these words, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood."
In this way, Noah was put in possession of God's thoughts about the scene around him. The effect of the Word of God was to lay bare the roots of man's complacency and pride. The human heart might swell with pride; the bosom heave with emotion, as the eye beholds the brilliant ranks of men of art, men of skill, "men of might”, "men of renown." The sound of the harp and the organ might send a thrill through the whole soul, and the ground cultivated so that man's necessities were provided for, to the point of contradicting every thought in reference to approaching judgment. But oh, those solemn words, "I will destroy"; what a heavy gloom they cast over the glittering scene. Could man's genius invent some way of escape? Could "the mighty man deliver himself by his much strength?" No; there was only one way of escape, but it was revealed to faith – not to sight, not to reason, not to imagination.
“By faith Noah, being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is of faith” (Heb 11:7). The Word of God removes the gilding used by the serpent to cover a vain, deceitful, passing world, over which hangs the sword of Divine judgment. But, only by faith will we be "warned of God," when the things of which He speaks are "not seen as yet.” Nature is governed by what it sees, by its senses; faith is governed by the pure Word of God. This gives stability; no matter the outward appearances. When God spoke to Noah of impending judgment, there was no sign of it. It was "not seen as yet;" but the Word of God made it a present reality to the heart, enabling it to mix that Word with faith. Faith does not wait to see a thing, before it believes, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
The man of faith needs only to know that God has spoken; this imparts perfect certainty to his soul. "Thus saith the Lord," settles everything. A single line of Sacred Scripture is an abundant answer to all the reasoning and imaginations of the human mind; and when we have the Word of God as the basis of our convictions, we may calmly stand against the full tide of human opinion and prejudice. The Word of God sustained the heart of Noah during his long course of service; and, from that day to this, the same Word has sustained millions of God's saints in the face of the world's contradiction. Therefore, we cannot set too high a value on the Word of God. Without it, all is dark uncertainty; with it, all is light and peace. Where it shines, the man of God has a sure and blessed path; where it shines not, one is left to wander amid the bewildering mazes of human tradition. How could Noah have "preached righteousness" for 120 years without the Word of God as the ground of his preaching? How could he have withstood the scoffs and sneers of an infidel world? How could he have persevered in testifying of "judgement to come" when not a cloud appeared on the world's horizon? The Word of God was the ground on which he stood and "the Spirit of Christ" enabled him, with holy decision, to occupy that elevated and immovable ground.
In an evil day, like the present, what else do we have to stand on, in service for Christ? The Word of God, and the Holy Spirit are all we need to equip us perfectly; to furnish us thoroughly, "to all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). What rest for the heart! God's pure, incorruptible, eternal Word – what relief from Satan's imagery, and man's imaginations. "Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually;" but God's Word was the simple resting-place of Noah's heart.
"God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me...Make thee an ark of gopher wood.” Here was man's ruin, and God's remedy. Man had been allowed to pursue his career to the utmost limit, bringing his principles and ways to maturity. The leaven had worked and filled the mass; evil had reached its climax. "All flesh" had become so bad that it could not be worse; wherefore nothing remained but for God to totally destroy it; and, at the same time, to save those linked with "the eighth person" – the only righteous man then existing. This vividly brings out the doctrine of the cross. There we find God's judgment of nature with all its evil; as well as the revelation of His saving grace, in all its fullness. ‘The day-spring from on high hath visited us’ (Lk. 1:78). God has come down to the very deepest depths of our ruin. There is not a point in the sinner's state to which the light of that blessed day-spring has not penetrated, revealing our true character. The light judges everything contrary to itself; but, while it does so, it also "gives the knowledge of salvation through the remission of sins." While the cross reveals God's judgment upon "all flesh," it also reveals His salvation for the lost and guilty sinner. Sin is perfectly judged; the sinner perfectly saved; God perfectly revealed and perfectly glorified in the cross.
The First Epistle of Peter throws light on this entire subject. In the third chapter, beginning with verse 18 (NKJV), we read, ‘For Christ also suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us – baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.’2
This is a most important passage. It sets before us the doctrine of the ark and its connection with the death of Christ. As in the deluge, so in the death Christ, all the billows and waves of Divine judgment passed over that which, in itself, was without sin. The creation was buried beneath the flood of Jehovah's righteous wrath; and the Spirit of Christ exclaims, "All thy billows and thy waves have gone over me" (Ps. 42:7). Here is a profound truth for the heart and conscience of a believer. "All God's billows and waves" passed over the spotless Person of the Lord Jesus, when He hung upon the cross; and, as a most blessed consequence, not one of them remains to pass over the person of the believer. At Calvary we see "the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven opened." "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts." Christ drank the cup, and perfectly endured the wrath. He judicially put Himself under the full weight of all our liabilities, gloriously discharging them. This should give settled peace to the soul. If the Lord Jesus has met all that could be against us, if He has removed every hindrance out of the way, if He has put away sin, if He has exhausted for us the cup of wrath and judgment, if He has cleared the prospect of every cloud, should we not enjoy settled peace? Yes; without a doubt. Peace is our unalienable portion. To us belong the deep and untold blessedness; the holy security that redeeming love bestows on the righteous ground of Christ's accomplished work.
Did Noah have any anxiety about the billows of Divine judgment? No; by those very outpoured billows, he was raised into a region of cloudless peace. In peace, he floated on the very water by which "all flesh" was judged. He was put beyond the reach of judgment by God Himself. He might have said, in the triumphant language of Romans 8, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" He had been invited in by Jehovah Himself, as we read in Genesis 7:1, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark;" and when he had taken his place there, we read, "the Lord shut him in." This was full and perfect security for all within. Jehovah shut the door – no one could go in or out without Him. It’s important to note that the ark had both a window and a door. The Lord secured the door, leaving Noah the window, so that he could look upward to the place from whence all the judgment had emanated. The saved family could only look upward, because the window was "above" (Gen. 6:16). They could not see the waters of judgment, nor the death and desolation those waters had caused. The "gopher wood," God’s salvation, stood between them and all these things. They could only gaze upward into a cloudless heaven, the eternal dwelling-place of the One who had condemned the world, and saved them.
Nothing can more fully express the true believer's perfect security in Christ than those words, "the Lord shut him in." No one could open what God had shut. The family of Noah was as safe as God could make them. There was no power, angelic, human, or diabolical, that could open the door of the ark and let the waters in. That door was shut by the selfsame hand that had opened the windows of heaven, and broken up the fountains of the great deep. Thus Christ is spoken of as the One "that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth" (Rev. 3:7). He also holds in His hand" the keys of hell and of death" (Rev. 1:18). None can enter or leave the portals of the grave without him. He has "all power in heaven and on earth." He is head over all things to the Church," and in Him the true believer is perfectly secure (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:22). Who could touch Noah? What wave could penetrate that ark? Likewise, who can touch those who have retreated to the shadow of the cross? Every enemy has been met and silenced – silenced forever. The death of Christ has triumphantly answered every demur – His resurrection the satisfactory declaration of God's infinite complacency in that work which is the basis of His righteousness in receiving us, and the basis of our confidence in drawing nigh unto Him.
Therefore, the door of our ark has been secured, by the hand of God Himself. So, what remains for us – enjoying the window; or, in other words, walking in happy and holy communion with Him who has saved us from coming wrath, making us heirs and expectants of coming glory? Peter speaks of those, who "are blind, and cannot see afar off and have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins" (2 Pet. 1:9). This is a lamentable condition; the sure result of not cultivating diligent, prayerful communion with God who has eternally shut us in through Christ.
We now glance at the condition of those to whom Noah had preached righteousness. We have been looking at the saved, let us now look at the lost; we have been thinking of those within the ark, let us now think of those without. No doubt, as it rose with the water, many an anxious look would be cast toward the vessel of mercy; but "the door was shut"; the day of grace was over; the time of testimony closed. The same hand that shut Noah in shut them out. It was as impossible for those without to get in, as it was for those within to get out. The former were irrecoverably lost; the latter, effectually saved. The long-suffering of God and the testimony of His servant had both been slighted. Present things had engrossed them. "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Lk. 17:26, 27). Abstractedly looked at, there was nothing wrong in any of these things. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers. They might all be done in faith, in the fear of the Lord, to the glory of His Holy name. But, that is not the way they were done. The Word of God was rejected. He told of judgment; but they did not believe. He spoke of sin and ruin; but they were not convinced. He spoke of a remedy; but they would not give heed. They went on with their plans and speculations, having no room for God. They acted as if they had a lease on the earth forever. They forgot there was a clause of surrender; that solemn "until." God was shut out. "Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually;" therefore, they could do nothing right. They thought, spoke, and acted for self; doing their own pleasure, forgetting God.
The Lord Jesus Christ said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man." Some teach that before the Son of man returns in the clouds of heaven, this earth will be covered with a mantle of righteousness – that as the result of agencies now in operation, we should look for a reign of righteousness and peace. But the brief passage just quoted cuts to the roots all such vain and delusive expectations. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea? Was God's truth dominant? Was the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord? Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "All flesh had corrupted his way on the earth." "The earth also was corrupt before God” – "so shall it be in the days of the Son of man." This is plain enough. "Righteousness" and "violence" are not similar. Neither is there any similarity between universal wickedness and universal peace. To understand the true character of the days preceding "the coming of the Son of man", one needs a heart subject to the Word, freed from the influence of preconceived opinions. Let us reverently bow to Scripture, and not be led away. Let us look at the condition of the world, "in the days before the flood;" and bear in mind, that "as" it was then, "so" shall it be at the close of this present period. There was not a state of universal righteousness and peace then, neither shall there be anything like it by and by.
No doubt, man displayed abundant energy in making the world a comfortable and agreeable place for himself; but that was different from making it a suitable place for God. This is true today; man is busy clearing stones off the pathway of human life, making it as smooth as possible; but this is not "making straight in the desert a highway for our God;" nor is it making "the rough places smooth," so that all flesh may see the salvation of Jehovah. Civilization prevails; but civilization is not righteousness. The sweeping and garnishing are going forward; but it is not to fit the house for Christ, but for Antichrist. The wisdom of man is put forth to cover with his own drapery the blots and blemishes of humanity; but, though covered, they are not removed. They will eventually break out in hideous deformity. The painting of vermilion will soon be obliterated, and the carved cedar wood destroyed. The dams by which man sedulously seeks to stem the torrent of human wretchedness will eventually give way to the overwhelming force thereof. Man’s efforts to confine the physical, mental, and moral degradation of Adams posterity within such enclosures that human benevolence has devised will eventually prove abortive. The testimony has gone forth. "The end of all flesh has come before me." It has not come before man; but it has come before God; and, even though the voice of the scoffers may be heard, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation", still, the moment is rapidly approaching when those scoffers will get their answer. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up" (2 Pet. 3:4-10). This is the eternal answer to the intellectual scoffs of the children of this world, but not to the spiritual affections and expectations of the children of God. True believers have a totally different prospect – to meet the Bridegroom in the air, before evil shall have reached its culminating point; before Divine judgment is poured forth. The church of our Lord looks not for the burning up of the world, but for the return of Jesus Christ.
In whatever way we look at the future, from whatever point of view we contemplate it, whether the object of our soul's vision be the church in glory, or the world in flames; the coming of the Bridegroom, or the breaking in of the thief; the morning Star, or the scorching sun; the translation, or the deluge; we must feel the unspeakable importance of attending to God's present testimony to lost sinners. "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19). He is reconciling now, soon He will be judging; grace abounds now, soon it will be wrath. Through the cross, God is now pardoning sin; then He will punish eternally. He is now sending out a message of purest, richest, freest grace; telling sinners of an accomplished redemption through the precious sacrifice of Christ, declaring that all is done. He wants to be gracious; He waits to be gracious. "The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation." "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3). All this makes the present moment one of peculiar solemnity. Unmingled grace declared; unmingled wrath pending. How deeply solemn.
With what profound interest we should mark the unfolding of Divine purposes! Scripture sheds light on these things; so much so that we need not vacantly stare on passing events as those who know not where they are and whither they are going. We should accurately know our bearings; fully understanding the direct tendency of the principles now at work; aware of the vortex toward which all the tributary streams are rapidly flowing. Men dream of a golden age; they promise themselves an age of arts and science; feeding on the thought, that tomorrow shall be like today, except more abundant. But, how utterly vain are such thoughts, dreams, and promises. Faith can see the clouds gathering thickly around the world's horizon. Judgment is coming. The day of wrath is at hand. The door will soon be shut. With terrible intensity, the "strong delusion" will soon set in. How needful it is to raise a warning voice – to seek, by faithful testimony, to counteract man's pitiable self-complacency. It is true that by so doing, we shall be exposed to the charge that Ahab brought against Micaiah, of always prophesying evil: but no matter. Let us prophesy what the Word of God prophesies – simply for the purpose of "persuading men." Only the Word of God can remove a hollow foundation, replacing it with an eternal foundation that can never be moved. It only takes away from us a delusive hope, giving us in return "a hope which maketh not ashamed." It takes away "a broken reed," to give us "the rock of ages." It sets aside "a broken cistern, which can hold no water," to set in its place "the fountain of living waters." This is true love – God's love. He will not cry "peace, peace, when there is no peace;" nor "daub with untempered mortar." He would have the sinner's heart resting sweetly in His own eternal Ark of safety; enjoying a present communion with Himself. It is God’s desire that when all the ruin, desolation, and judgment have passed away, we shall rest with Him eternally.
We now return to Noah, contemplating him in a new position. We have seen him building the ark, we have seen him in the ark, and we now view him leaving the ark, taking his place in the new world. "And God remembered Noah." The work of judgment being over, the saved family came into remembrance. By the power of God, a wind to pass over the earth; the waters assuaged; and heaven’s rain was restrained. The beams of sun begin to act on a world that had been baptized with a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judgment, because He delights in mercy.
"And it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth, to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth." The unclean bird made its escape, and maybe found a resting-place on something floating, perhaps a carcass. It did not seek the ark again. But the dove was different. ‘She found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark...and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark: and the dove came in to him, in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf ...’
Sweet emblem of the renewed mind, that amid surrounding desolation, seeks and finds its rest and portion in Christ; laying hold of the earnest of the inheritance, furnishing the blessed proof that judgment has passed away. On the contrary, the carnal mind finds rest in anything and everything but Christ, feeing on uncleanness. The heart that is taught and exercised by the Spirit of God can rest and rejoice only in the Ark of His salvation "until the times of the restitution of all things." May it be so with us; may Jesus be the abiding rest and portion of our hearts. The dove went back to Noah, and waited for his time of rest: and we should find our place with Christ, until the time of His return. "He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry." May God direct our hearts into His love, and into "the patience of Christ."
"And God spake unto Noah, saying, go forth of the ark." The same God that had said, "make thee an ark," and "come thou into the ark, "now says, "go forth of the ark." "And Noah went forth . . . and builded an altar unto the Lord." There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together. Where all had been death and judgment, an altar is erected. The ark had borne Noah and his family safely over the waters of judgment. It had carried him from the old world into the new, where he now takes his place as a worshipper.3 Notice that he erected his altar "unto the Lord." Superstition would have worshipped the ark, as being the means of salvation. It is always the tendency of man’s heart to displace God by His ordinances. The ark was a marked and manifest ordinance; but Noah's faith passed beyond the ark to the God of the ark. Therefore, when he stepped out of it, instead of regarding it as an object of worship or veneration, he built an altar unto the Lord, and worshipped Him: and the ark is never heard of again.
This teaches us a simple, but seasonable lesson. When the heart leaves the reality of God Himself, there is no limit to its declension on the highway to the grossest forms of idolatry. In the judgment of faith, an ordinance is valuable only as it conveys God. Beyond this, it is worth nothing; becoming an instrument of the devil. In the world of superstition, the ordinance is everything – God is shut out; and the name of God is used only to exalt the ordinance, giving it a deep hold of the human heart, and a mighty influence over the human mind. This is why the children of Israel worshipped the brazen serpent. When their hearts had departed from the Lord, that which had once been a channel of blessing to them, became an object of superstitious veneration; and Hezekiah had to break it in pieces, and call it "a piece of brass.” In itself it was only a "Nehushtan," but, when used of God, it was a means of rich blessing. Faith determined it to be what Divine revelation said it was; but throwing Divine revelation overboard, superstition lost the real purpose of God in the thing, making a god of the thing itself (see 2 Kin. 18:4).
There is a deep lesson in all this for the present age. We live in an age of ordinances. The atmosphere surrounding the church of our Lord is impregnated with the elements of religious traditions that rob the soul of Christ and His full salvation. It is not that human traditions boldly deny that there is such a person as Christ, or such a thing as the cross of Christ: were they to do so, the eyes of many might be opened. No; the evil is of a far more invidious and dangerous character. Ordinances are added to Christ and the work of Christ, The sinner is not saved by Christ alone, but by Christ and ordinances. Thus he is robbed of Christ altogether – Christ and ordinances will prove to be ordinances, and not Christ. This is a solemn consideration for all who uphold religious ordinances. "If ye be circumcised Christ will profit you nothing." It must be wholly Christ, or not at all. The devil persuades men that by honoring ordinances, they are honoring Christ. However, Satan knows full well that they are setting Christ aside, and actually deifying the ordinance.
Let us now briefly consider Genesis 9. Here, after the deluge, we have the new covenant, together with the token of that covenant. "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Observe, when man entered the restored earth, God’s command was to refill that earth; not parts of the earth, but the earth. He desired to have men dispersed abroad, over the face of the world, and not relying upon their own concentrated energies. In Genesis 11, we will observe how man neglected this.
All creation is delivered, by God's everlasting covenant, from the fear of a second deluge. Judgment is never again to take that shape. "The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." The earth was once purged with water; and it will be again purged by fire; and in this second purgation none will escape, save those, who have fled for refuge to Him, who has passed through the deep waters of death, and met the fire of Divine judgment.
"And God said, This is the token of the covenant...I do set my bow in the cloud...and I will remember my covenant," The whole creation rests on the eternal stability of God's covenant, of which the bow is the token. It is happy to bear in mind that when the bow appears the eye of God rests on it; and man is not cast on his own imperfect and uncertain memory, but on God's. "I" says God, "will remember." How sweet to think of what God will, and what He will not remember. He will remember His own covenant, but He will not remember His people's sins. The cross, which ratifies the former, puts away the latter. This belief gives peace to the troubled and uneasy conscience.
"And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud." Beautiful and most expressive emblem! The beams of the sun, reflected from that which threatens judgment, tranquillize the heart, revealing God's covenant, God's salvation, and God's remembrance. Precious sunbeams deriving additional beauty from the very cloud that reflects them. How forcibly this bow in the cloud reminds us of Calvary. There a dark, thick, heavy cloud of judgment discharging itself upon the sacred head of the Lamb of God – a cloud so dark, that even at mid-day "there was darkness over all the earth." But, in that heaviest cloud that ever gathered, faith discerns the most brilliant and beauteous bow that ever appeared, for it sees the bright beams of God's eternal love darting through the awful gloom, and reflected in the cloud. Faith hears the words, "it is finished," issuing from amid the darkness. In those words, faith recognizes the perfect ratification of God's everlasting counsels.
The last paragraph of this chapter presents a humiliating spectacle. The lord of creation fails to govern himself: "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent." What a condition for the only righteous man, the preacher of righteousness, to be found in. But what is man? Look at him where you will, and you see only failure. In Eden, he fails; in the restored earth, he fails; in Canaan, he fails; in the Church, he fails. He fails everywhere, and in all things: there is no good thing in him. Let his advantages be ever so great, his privileges ever so vast, his position ever so desirable, he can only exhibit failure and sin.
However, we should look at Noah in two ways: as a type, and as a man. While the type is full of beauty and meaning, the man is full of sin and folly. Yet, the Holy Spirit has written these words, "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and Noah walked with God." Divine grace covered all his sins, clothing his person with a spotless robe of righteousness. Though Noah exposed his nakedness, God did not see it, for He looked not at him in the weakness of his own condition but in the full power of Divine and everlasting righteousness. Hence we may see how alienated from God and His thoughts Ham was, in the course he adopted. Evidently he knew nothing of the blessedness of the man whose iniquity is forgiven, whose sin is covered. On the contrary, Shem and Jepheth exhibit in their conduct a fine specimen of the Divine method of dealing with human nakedness; thus they inherit a blessing, while Ham inherits a curse.
Footnotes:
1 Keep in mind that “the wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable” (James 3:17). The wisdom of earth puts “peaceable” first; therefore, it can never be pure.
2 It is impossible to over-estimate the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, as seen in the way He treats baptism in 1 Peter 3. The figure, pattern, or type is the salvation of Noah's family “through water.” How does the salvation of Noah prefigure the salvation of Christians? (a) It was the water of the flood that separated Noah from a disobedient generation; and today it is the water of Christian baptism that separates the saved and disobedient. (b) Noah and family were borne through the flood for a period of nine months; and Noah’s coming forth from the water to live again on the earth, after a full nine months in the water, might fitly be called his being “born of water.” Christians too must be “born of water” [Jn. 3:5]. (c) The same water that destroyed the antediluvians bore up the ark and delivered Noah and his family into a new life. In the sense that they rebel against God’s command, belittle and despise it, either refusing it or downgrading the necessity of it, the water of baptism destroys the wicked today. At the same time, it is the water of baptism that buries the Christian from his past and “into Christ,” from which he, like Noah, “rises to walk in newness of life.” (d) Whether you consider Noah or the Christian, the same element, water, is prominent in both deliverances; and the same kind of water [who ever heard of different kinds of water?] is evident in both salvations, his and ours. In other words, the water that caused the flood is one with the water of Christian baptism. (e) It was the water of the flood that washed away the filth of that evil generation; and it is the water of Christian baptism that, in a figure, washes away the sins of Christians [Acts 22:16]. (f) Only a few were saved through the flood; and [in the relative sense] only a few will be saved in Christ. Baptism is “an antitype which now saves us...” This simple statement of truth should upset no one, for Christ himself said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” [Mk. 16:16] – Peter states no more than what the Lord Himself stated. “Not the removal of the filth of the flesh...” Peter points out a variation in the figure; whereas it was actual filth that was washed away by the flood, moral and spiritual filth which are washed away in baptism. The former affected the flesh and not the conscience; the latter the conscience but not the flesh. Some have made this an excuse for saying, “Peter is telling them that it [baptism] is no external rite” [emphasis added]. It is hard to conceive of a more irresponsible statement by a Christian scholar than this one. All history denies the notion that baptism is not an external rite. On the other hand, it most assuredly is an external rite. Christ was baptized in a river. It took a laver [baptistery] to perform it in the days of the apostles [see Titus 3:5, where the “laver of regeneration” is mentioned]; it was performed in pools of water like those men pass by on the road when traveling [Acts 8:36]; and even today there is hardly a church in Christendom that does not have in its place of worship either a baptistery or the vestige of one [the font]; and it may be inquired where did these come from if Christian baptism is not an external rite? Of course, it is also a fact that baptism is not merely or solely an external rite.
3 It is interesting to look at this entire subject of the ark and deluge in connection with baptism. A truly baptized person, that is, one who as the apostle says, “obeys from the heart that type of doctrine to which he is delivered” is one who, by faith, has passed from the old world into the new, in spirit and principle. The water rolls over his person, signifying that his old man is buried, that his place in nature is ignored – that his old nature is entirely set aside; in short, that he is a dead man. When he is plunged beneath the water, expression is given to the fact that his name, place and existence in nature are put out of sight; that the flesh, with all that pertained thereto – its sins, its iniquities, its liabilities – is buried in the grave of Christ, and never again comes into God’s sight. When he rises up out of the water, expression is given to the truth of the resurrection of Christ; that he comes up possessing a new life. If Christ had not been raised from the dead, the believer could not come up out of the water, but should remain buried beneath its surface, as the simple expression of the place that belongs to nature. But because Christ rose from the dead in the power of a new life, having entirely put away our sins, we also come up out of the water; thus expressing the fact that by the grace of God and through the death and resurrection of Christ we are put in full possession of a new life. “We are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (See Rom. 6; Col. 2; Comp. 1 Pet. 3:18-22). All this makes baptism immensely important, and filled with meaning.
