future. Welcome to Ocean Water. We hope you feel refreshed by the Living Water of Jesus Christ as we help people receive drinking water from the ocean for free. Thanks for joining us for this weekend's message and if you enjoy it, please share it with a friend. Drinking water for small, marginalized rural communities in the 108 countries of the world that have direct ocean access like behind me here in California where I live.
Now this water is given away for free, the annual savings goes back into the community to help people. So, we do all of this while starting easy beach churches that revolve mostly around reading the Bible together, eating food together, spending a lot of time together. And we'd love for you to be involved. I'd like you to email me at ryan.oceanwater at gmail because I'd like to send you a free copy of a little book that I wrote called Ride for Water.
It's a story of the time I rode my bicycle for a year from Canada to Columbia and that bicycle ride became Ocean Water. I'd like to send you to this as a gift for watching today's Beach Talk and I'd love for you to have that. It's really fun reading. Now in the next 12 months we'll go to Salvador, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Now we want you to be on one of those trips. You can find out more information on our website. Now when I teach I'm pretty straightforward.
Now this is my approach because it's very important that you understand every word of God in the word of God. I love to laugh and hang out, catch waves, go on trips, ride my motorcycle and hang out and get coffee with people as much as anybody else. But when I teach the Bible I accept the responsibility to teach it well and because this is the most important book in the world. So I want you to come every time you watch a Beach Talk ready to learn because it's my job as a pastor to help you grow.
Because our objective is simple. It's disciples making disciples who plant churches that plant churches. Now today we're looking at Genesis chapter 6. This is about man's wickedness and a flood that God sent. Now the wickedness in the days of Noah was unsurpassed and 1 and 2 it says that there was intermarriage between the sons of God and the daughters of man.
Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves all of whom they chose. Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth during these days of rapid population expansion especially because of long life spans in the pre-flood world there was a problem with ungodly intermarriage just like there is today. Some things haven't changed.
Now the sons of God saw the daughters of men. Many have believed that the sons of God were those from the lines of Seth and the daughters of men were those from Cain. And this describes an intermarriage between the godly and the ungodly something God specifically told them not to do in Deuteronomy and again in 1 Corinthians. But this approach leaves many unanswered questions. Why did this make God angry enough to wipe out almost all of the earth's population?
Why was something unusual about the offspring of these unions? The idea that these were believers marrying unbelievers doesn't seem to fit the record of the text. So what's going on here? Well the sons of God saw the daughters of men. It's more accurate to see the sons of God as either demons, angels in rebellion against God or uniquely demon possessed men and the daughters of men as human women.
Now the phrase the sons of God clearly refers to angelic creatures when it is used the other three times in the Old Testament. This exact word in Job three different times. The translators of the early text of the Bible clearly thought that the sons of God referred to angelic beings and not people that descended from set. Jude six tells us that the angels did not keep their proper domain but they left their habitation.
Jude seven tells us that they sin in a similar manner to these having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh. Now here in Genesis six as Sodom and Gomorrah there are unnatural sexual union. Now it's useless to speculate on the nature of all this whether it was brought about by something like demon possession or angelic beings that had power to permanently assume the form of men.
It's not revealed but we should understand that the occult is filled with associations with the demonic and there are those today who actively pursue such associations. Those are to be avoided. Jude six makes it clear that what God did with these wicked angels they're reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment on the great day for they're not keeping their proper place. Their sinful pursuit of freedom has put them in bondage.
Now first Peter three tells us that Jesus went into the disobedient spirits in their prison and proclaimed his victory on the crossover. Now an objection offered to this understanding is found in Matthew 22 where Jesus said angels neither marry or are given in marriage but Jesus never said angels were sexless and he also was speaking about faithful angelic beings that angels were the son of God not rebellious ones.
Now from the book of first Enoch which is not inspired by scripture but may still contain some accurate accounts it says that it came to pass that the children of men had multiplied that in those days they were born into them beautiful daughters and the angels and the children of God saw heaven and lusted after them and said come let us choose among wives from the children of men and angels.
So they took themselves wives and each chose one for himself and they began to go into them and have a relationship with them and they taught them charms and enchantments. They became pregnant they bore sons and they bore daughters and much godlessness arose out of these unions that shouldn't have happened. It says that they took for themselves wives of whom they chose. Now we can deduce why did why did Satan send his angels to intermarry either directly with human women.
Satan tried to pollute the genetic pool of mankind. Satan tries to corrupt everything in the world. Remember that. It says the Savior could not be born of a demon possessed mother so if Satan could be succeed in infecting the entire race the deliverer could not be born. And Satan almost succeeded. The race was so polluted that God found it necessary to start again with Noah and his sons and to imprison the demons that did this so they could never do it again.
Now verse three and four God's response to this great wickedness and the Lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh and his days will be numbered a hundred and twenty years. Now there were giants on the earth in these days and afterwards the sons of God came to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. They were the mighty men who were of old men of renown. My spirit shall not strive with man forever.
God did not allow the human race to stay in this rebellious place forever. This means there's a point of no return in our rejection of God. God will not woo us forever. There is a point where he will say no more. Now all the more reason for us to say that today is the day we will respond to Jesus instead of waiting for another day. Now we have no promise God will draw us some other day except for today. So he says your days are going to be a hundred and twenty years.
Now this is not the outside lifespan of man but the time left after the after the flood. The flood happened a hundred and twenty years after this announcement. Now giants arose in those days. This refers to the unnatural offspring of the union between the sons of God and the daughters of men though there were people of unusual size on the earth both before and after the flood and also afterward. These ones before the flood were unique because of the demonic element of their parentage.
They were the mighty men of old men of renown. Now verse five through eight the great wickedness of man in Noah's day it says then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that he and that every intent of his thoughts of his heart were only evil and continually and the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart.
So the Lord said I will destroy man with whom I have created from the face of the earth both men and beasts creeping thing and birds of the air for I am sorry that I have made them but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. You see every intent of thoughts on their heart were only evil. This says a lot. It means that there was no aspect of man's nature that wasn't totally corrupted. A more emphatic statement of the wickedness of the human heart is hardly conceivable.
Jesus said as the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the Son of Man be in Matthew 24. In other words the conditions of the world before the coming of Jesus will be like the conditions of the world before the flood like they are right now in 2020. There will be an exploding population there was sexual perversion demonic activity constant evil in the heart of man widespread corruption and violence. Now the Lord was sorry that he made man he was grieved in his heart.
God's sorrow of man and the grief in his heart are striking. This does not mean that creation was out of control nor does it mean that God hoped for something better but was unable to achieve it. God knew all along that these were how things would turn out but our text clearly tells us that as God sees his plan for the ages unfold it affects him. God is not unfeeling in the face of human sin and rebellion. God has feelings. Now Noah found grace in the eyes of God.
While God commanded all the earth to be cleansed of this pollution he found one man with whom to begin again and his name was Noah who found grace in the sight of God. Now not of a certain grace but we can all find it just like Noah did. It was true then and it's true today but where sin abounded grace abounded much more. Romans 5 20. God calls Noah to build the ark in verses 9 and 10. Noah and his sons this is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man perfect in his generations.
Noah walked with God and Noah begat three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah was a just man perfect in his generations. This description of Noah unique to him not only refers to the religious life of Noah but also to the fact that he was yet uncorrupted by Satan's attempt to sow something like a virus among the genetic pool of mankind. He could translate perfect in his generation as Noah was pure in his genetic profile. Now did Noah live a perfect life? Absolutely not.
Noah's character was righteous though. Did he have flaws? Of course. At this time there was one great sad flaw of which God was talking about. God regarded Noah as righteous. Charles Spurgeon pointed out that we can know Noah had the righteousness of his faith because as soon as the floodwaters had dried up and he left the ark he offered sacrifices. Genesis 8 20. Now Noah had three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah's three sons figure into his account in a significant way.
God will use them as the foundation for the rest of the human race. In verses 11 to 13 the corruption of the earth and the grace of God the earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And then God said to Noah the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the earth.
The earth also was corrupt and the earth was filled with violence because of the corruption and violence on the earth and the extent of the corruption. God told Noah that he would judge the wicked along with the earth. He said I will destroy them with the earth but wonder if this is too harsh a judgment or if it shows God to be cruel and a monster. However since the fall of Genesis 3 every human being has a death sentence. We all live and then we die and our lives are completely in God's hands.
Now on what grounds would God be told that he can bring death to millions of people at the end of a normal lifespan but that he may not do it in any other way. You see in addition it points to a deep and serious problem in the world at that time. Going far beyond the problem of believers marrying those who don't believe. A way bigger problem. It says in God said to Noah God told all of this to Noah without the intention of saving Noah and his family.
In the midst of such corruption and judgment there is also grace. Instead of wiping out the entire human race God preserved a remnant. Now verses 14 through 16 God tells Noah to build an ark. He says make yourself an ark of gopher wood make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch and this is how you shall make it. Now the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits it's 50 cubits wide it's height is 30 cubits.
You should make a window for the ark and you shall finish it to a cubit from above and set the door of the ark on its side. You shall make it with a lower and a second and a third deck. Now it says make yourself. This means this was Noah's project. He was not to simply contract it out to someone else. This is how you shall make it. The ark was as long as a 30 story building is high about 450 feet or 150 meters and it was about 75 feet wide 45 feet high.
That's what's described as really a boat but a well ventilated barge meant not only to float but also to sail anywhere after after an ark is is a chest not a ship. This refers to the shoebox shape of a vessel. Now the ark roughly the shape of a shoebox was plenty large enough about the size of the Titanic and had a wide opening all the way around the top. Now it was not until 1858 that a boat bigger than the ark was built.
The ark was certainly big enough to do the job if the ark carried two of every family of animals there were around 700 pairs of animals but the ark carried two of every species of animals there were around 35,000 pairs of animals. Now the average size of a land animal is smaller than a sheep. The ark would carry about 136,500 sheep living plenty of room for food and plenty of room for people. He says you shall not you shall make it. God had not yet told Noah why he must build an ark.
At this point all Noah knew was that God will judge the earth and he was supposed to build a big barge. Since it had not rained yet on the earth it's reasonable to suppose that Noah did not know what God meant yet just like he does with us. He says you shall make it and Noah did make it. Now beyond the Bible there's rich historical evidence for the reality of Noah's ark.
In 275 BC, Berosus a Babylonian historian wrote, but of this ship that grounded in Armenia some part still remains in the mountains but some get pitched from the ship by scraping it off. Around 8075, Josephus said the locals collected relics from the ark and showed them off to this very day. He also said that all the ancient historians who knew of wrote about this ark. In 8180, Theophilus of Antioch wrote, the remains of the ark are to this day to be seen in the mountains.
Now an elderly Armenian man in America said that as a boy he visited the ark with his father and three atheistic scientists in 1856. Their goal was to disprove the ark's existence but they found it and became so enraged they tried to destroy it but could not because it was too big and it had petrified. In 1918 one of the atheistic scientists and Englishmen admitted on his deathbed, the whole story was true.
In 1876 a distinguished British statesman and author, Viscount James Bryce climbed Ararat and reported finding a four foot long piece of hand tooled timber at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet. Six Turkish soldiers claimed to see the ark in 1916.
Now in the elderly part of this century, a Russian advisor named Vladimir Rokovitsky claimed that the discovery of Novusarok he was stationed in southern Russia near the Turkish border in Mount Ararat as he tested a plane and his co-pilot flew over Ararat and discovered on the edge of a glacier what he described as the boat the size of a battleship. He said it was partially submerged in a lake and he could see there was an opening for a door nearly 20 feet square but the door was missing.
Rokovitsky told his commanding officer and an expedition was dispatched to find the ark and photograph it. The report was forwarded to the Tsar who was soon overthrown and the photos of the report perished. In 1936 a young British archaeologist named Hardwick Knight hiked Ararat and discovered an interlocking hand tooled timber at the height of 14,000 feet and during World War II there were pilots who saw and photographed something they believed was the ark on Mount Ararat.
There have been many more recent attempts to find and document the ark but they have been hindered by politics and surrounded by controversy. Cover it inside and outside with pitch. Now the pitch worked to waterproof the wood. God told Noah to cover it with pitch inside and outside which makes it possible that the ark was preserved for a very long time. It is possible God still had a purpose for the ark to use it to remind the world of a past judgment shortly before a future judgment.
Like a rainbow it was a memorial. Second Peter relates the future judgment to the judgment of the flood saying that unbelievers willfully forget the world that then existed perished being flooded with water. Perhaps before Jesus returns God will make it even more necessary for people to willfully forget these things.
Now because of this mention of pitch, a petroleum product, in what most people think is the Middle East it is said that John D. Rockefeller looked for and found oil in that region based on this verse. Verse 17-21 Why the ark must be built and what Noah must do and behold myself I am bringing flood waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life.
Everything that is on the earth shall die but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall go into the ark you and your sons, your wife and your sons, your wives with you and every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.
They shall be male and female of the birds after their kind and animals after their kind and every creeping thing of the earth after its kind two of every kind will come to you and keep them alive and you shall take for yourself all the food that is eaten and you shall gather it for yourself and it should be food for you and for every and for them. Now everything on the earth shall die we can only wonder what Noah felt when he heard this remarkable announcement from God.
God called Noah to an essential role in the greatest judgment and greatest salvation the world had seen. He says but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall go into the ark. Now despite the dramatic judgment coming God will make a covenant with Noah just like he does with us and his family and be saved God will use Noah to save a remnant of each animal so the earth can be populated with people and animals after the flood.
He says take for yourself all the food that is eaten and you shall gather it for yourself. God also commanded Noah to take all the food he could there must be a lot of food for Noah and the animals. Now verse 22 talks about Noah's obedience thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him and he did it. Thus Noah did when given this staggering job to do Noah did it. We didn't hear him complain we didn't hear him rebelling he simply did it.
The words did cover an awful lot of material in years yet Noah did not shrink from what God told him to do. Now according to all that God commanded him so he did the Bible presents Noah as a great hero of God. He was an outstanding example of righteousness. In Ezekiel 14 14 a preacher of righteousness in 2nd Peter 2 5 Noah condemned the world by offering salvation and the whole world rejected it.
Now Noah was a preacher of righteousness in 2nd Peter 2 yet in his 120 year ministry it seems that nobody listened. The work of building the ark was laborious costly tedious dangerous seemingly foolish ridiculous he was mocked ridiculed made a movie about it with Steve Carell. Noah was without a doubt a joke in the song of drunk people. So it's not strange that this is mentioned and that Noah is thought of as a hero. Now this concludes our time today looking at Genesis chapter 6.
I'd like to invite you to pray with me right now that God's word will speak to you. Would you pray with me just say God thank you for allowing your word to speak to me. I want to hear what you have to say to me. I want to open up my heart to you today. I want to follow you today. I ask for you to transform my mind so that I can think and act and be a different person. Please forgive me today and fill my heart with your love and your presence in Jesus name.
You know I want to thank you so much for responding to the generous amount of love that God shows us by being generous through your worship back to everything we have in our life comes from God in every part of your life. I want you to learn how to say Holy Spirit what do you want me to do and then be obedient to whatever God puts on your heart. I'd like you to apply this to the financial part of your life.
Just say hey God whatever you want me to do today I will do it and respond to what he says. You can go do that at Oceanwater.com. Have a beautiful day. If you'd like more information about Oceanwater Church, how to join us on an upcoming trip, how to be part of one of our Clean Water projects, how to financially support our movement or even information on how you can start an Oceanwater Church yourself, please look us up at Oceanwater.com.