God says "Fill"

 

Genesis 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 

There are only a handful of covenants made by God in Scripture.  This is the first of them. At the beginning of this chapter, God told Noah and his sons to go out and fill the earth.  That did not mean they were on their own; God would maintain a relationship with them. They would not have to live in fear of such a great flood of judgment again.  In the proceeding verses, He also promised that human life would be sacred, unlike the time before the flood when wicked men were given to violence.   Along with His promise to watch over them was a new standard they were to live by before Him, being good stewards of the renewed creation He was entrusting to them.  The rainbow reminds us of God's faithfulness.

God Says "Go Out"

Genesis 8:15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

We have seen the past two days that God told Noah to build the ark, then when to go into it. Noah did all God commanded. Now He told Him to go out. The residents of the ark may well have been claustrophobic after a year together there, but there may also have been a sense of comfort and security as they looked out onto a whole new world.  Things were different than when and where they left them.  Often missionaries have a hard time coming back to Western culture and all the changes that have taken place. The point is that we need to continue to listen to God instruct us for when to go in, out, to, or from. He has much more for us than we could ever imagine. 

God says "Go"

Genesis 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Yesterday we saw that God said "Do", and Noah obeyed, following His directions for building the ark. Now it is time for Noah to go into it, taking all these animals with him.  It sounds overwhelming - even getting them all collected and inside. It's a study in itself look at all the people to whom God said "Go." Obviously, God provides help when He calls us to do or go, but it is pointed out that Noah did all the Lord commanded.  How often do we only go part way, doing only some of what God has instructed us?  

God Says "Do"

Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 

Once again, we see that God sees and says. He reveals both Himself and His plan.  Sometimes He tells us very clearly what is on His mind, as He did here with Noah.  But He doesn't stop there: He tells us what He wants us to do in reference to His plan.  Without this information, Noah would have been helpless and hopeless when the flood came.  But since God gave him information and instructions, Noah and His family could and would be saved from the coming destruction.  God said "Make", which is a word that in many languages also means "Do." God tells us what to do for our own good, in response to what He will do.  May we follow His instructions.

God Stops Saying and Starts Sending

Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Perhaps the most dramatic part of this chapter is at then end of verse 22, where God does not complete His statement, represented by the "-". The Godhead (and we) don't want to even think of what it would be like for sinful rebellion to last forever...  Action was required.  Thus, we have seen throughout His-tory that when God speaks He does end up acting, often sending someone and/or something to realign man's action or condition with His will and purpose. He sends judgments and deliverers, problems and promises, all the while having a long-term view of what life is intended to be. May we listen and learn from what He says and what He sends.

Individual Attention

 

Genesis 3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; or you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

At the beginning of this chapter, there are three characters involved in the Fall.  Each was responsible for his/her part in this drastic event. Each made excuses. Therefore, God said something to each one. His reply fit the part that person had in the event and the results of their failure on their future.  What we must also realize here is that God had spoken to them before. They had not paid attention to His instructions. May we listen more intently, and obediently, when God gives us instruction and correction.

God's Convicting Call

 

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 

The man knew the voice of God. He had heard Him speak before.  But he also had heard Him walking before He spoke. Man hid. He really did not want to hear what God had to say, but when man heard Him speak, he knew there was nowhere to escape.  God cuts to the chase with a very pointed question: "Did you disobey?" God came wanting to walk and talk with the man, but first He had to give this convicting call.  It was not to be a big bully, but to address the elephant in the room: "man has sinned and something needs to be done. God still lovingly speaks the same way today. How will respond to His call?