Bible Pathway - January 3
Read Genesis 7
Highlights:
Noah, his family, seven pairs of clean and one pair of unclean of every living creature enter the ark as God had commanded (Gen. 7:2,9,16); the Great Flood; the Rainbow Covenant.
The LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark (Gen. 7:1). Noah was able to save his family and preserve mankind because his faith in the spoken Word of God 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 (2 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, when they were told to enter the ark, and the LORD shut him in (Gen. 7:16). 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 (2 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 again 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 (Noah) 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:
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 (Gen. 9:11).
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:
7:3 keep seed alive, preserve the species; 7:18 face, surface; 8:1 asswaged, subsided; 8:3 abated, diminished; 9:19 overspread, populated.
Prayer Suggestion: Ask, seek, and knock through prayer, knowing God promises to answer (Matt. 7:7-8).
Optional Reading: Matthew 3
Memory Verse for the Week: John 3:14
