Bible Pathway - Jan. 3, 2011
Read Genesis 7
Highlights:
Noah enters the ark. The great flood wiped out all but eight that lived in Noah's day (Gen. 7:23)! Noah's assignment (9:1,7; see 1:28). The rainbow, the sign of the Covenant of God (9:11-17). Noah's prophecy concerning his three sons.
Noah was able to save his family and preserve mankind because of his faith in the spoken Word of God which led him to build the ark. During the many years spent in constructing the ark, he was also known as a preacher of righteousness in an ungodly world (II Pet. 2:5). This illustrates the New Testament Truth that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). The ark was a secure refuge from certain death; it was also a type of Christ, who provides refuge from spiritual death for all believers. Christ, our spiritual Ark, continues to call the lost today: Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).
For Noah and his family, there came a day, prior to the flood, The Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. . . . And the Lord shut him in (Gen. 7:1,16). This shows the special attention and personal care that God gives to all who are faithful to Him. All who wait for a more convenient time to be saved need to realize that it is an insult to God who said: Now is the accepted time . . . now is the day of salvation (II Cor. 6:2). Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it (Heb. 4:1).
Just as Noah was able to rest within the ark, secure from the waters of death, Christians can be assured of spiritual rest, for our lives are hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). As soon as he was once more on dry land, Noah builded an altar unto the Lord . . . and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Gen. 8:20). The obedience of faith and the worship of God go hand in hand. Just as Noah was not given an exact day when the flood would come, neither do we know the day that we will face the Lord either through death or at His Coming.
Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels (messengers) of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew (understood) not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. . . . Therefore be . . . ready (Matt. 24:36-39,44).
Thought for Today:
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).
Christ Revealed:
Through the Ark (Gen. 7:1,7; Acts 4:12; I Pet. 3:12, 20). Christ is our Ark of safety. Jesus . . . delivered us from the wrath to come (I Thess. 1:10).
Word Studies:
8:1 asswaged subsided; 8:3 abated decreased; 8:21 sweet savour symbolic of satisfaction; 9:9 Covenant finding agreement with qualifications given by God; 9:13 bow rainbow; 9:20 husbandman farmer.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for International Broadcasts in honor of Dr. John A. Hash • Country: North Korea (22.2 million) in northeastern Asia • Major language: Korean • Violent oppression against all religions • 68% atheist; 15% Ch'ondogyo; 14% Other Traditional; 2% Buddhist; 1% Christian • Prayer Suggestion: Praise God for godly men of old who were faithful to record His Word of Truth (Hab. 2:1-2).
Optional Reading: Matthew 3
Memory Verse for the Week: Genesis 1:1
