*Scripture: Genesis 7:11--8:12 (NKJV)* 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark--14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.
17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. 8:1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. 6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. 10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore. * Devotion* The waters that were held in balance by God's ordinance of the second and third days of creation are now permitted to break those established barriers. As they poured upon the earth from above and below they produced a flood similar to the primeval deep. Within the context of this world wide flood the Lord shut Noah in. God kept His promise to Noah and his family to keep them alive by making them secure against the raging disaster. When God locks the door to danger, no power in Heaven or Earth can break it down and touch those who have entered the "ark" of His protection. God's protection comes to us through His chosen Means of Grace, found in Word and Sacrament. Martin Luther used a baptismal prayer that points to the flood as one of the Old Testament examples foreshadowing Christian baptism. God's righteous judgment condemned the unbelieving world through the flood, yet according to His great mercy He preserved believing Noah and his family. Luther saw this event foreshadowing the blessed flood and washing away of sin found in Christ's Holy Baptism. Throughout Genesis we see that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of His creation and His creatures. Noah and his family were graciously delivered from death into life through the means of the ark of wood. Likewise, we are graciously delivered from death into life through the ark of Christ's baptismal flood that washes away our sin, and presents us before the Lord justified by His grace.
_______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
