**not a word for word transcript, but the sermon manuscript
NEVER AGAIN
PART ONE: GO FOR WOOD
Never again. Those words imply that something happened before, or happened a certain way, but it will not be that way or happen that way again. Throughout the Bible, there are such events that tie into God’s story of redemption. As the season of Lent begins, our sermon series will focus on these events found in the Old Testament.
In the book of Genesis, the Bible records that the world became wicked and violent, to the point that every inclination of the human heart was fixated on evil. The most merciful thing God could do to preserve humanity and creation was to start over. God tells a man named Noah, “Go for wood.” Noah needed to go for wood to build an ark because God was sending a flood to wash away humanity’s wickedness.
Today’s message is titled “Go for wood.” However, we are not looking at the building of the ark or Noah’s life during the flood. Our “Never Again” event is found in the aftermath.
Genesis 9:8-17:
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him; 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come; 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” (NIV)
This is the Word of God, for the people of God, thanks be to God.
God tells Noah to go for wood because He is going to wipeout all life that dwells on the earth. Noah was considered a righteous man because of His faith in God, so God was going to restart the earth through him and his family. And Noah was faithful to this task. For over 200 days, Noah and his family survived in the ark, with each other and two of every kind of land-dwelling creature.
Once Noah and his family emerged from the ark on to dry land, God declared that Noah, nor any other person would have to go for wood again to build an ark. As we examine the passage we will be trying to answer the question “why will we never need an ark again?”
VERSES 8-11 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with our descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you---every living creature on the earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
In verse 8 and again in 11, God says He is establishing a covenant with Noah and his family. That word established means “to arise, stand up, come about.” (Vines Bible Dictionary) This covenant does not exist on the will of the earth. It is not because of the goodness of humanity. The covenant given to Noah, along with his family and the rest of the creatures, is propped up because God decided it should. He decided that “never again would there be a need to go for wood.”
God established this with humanity. Again, God did not do this because mankind was now good. Sin had (and has) corrupted humanity in every single heart. As a matter of fact, in this same chapter, we will see the wickedness continue. God does not make this covenant because we are good. This covenant between God and humanity has nothing to do with goodness or sin. It is a covenant based on God’s mercy.
It is a covenant of mercy, but notice this covenant is not only given to Noah, his family, and people but to all living creatures. God’s mercy is extended to the animal kingdom as well as people. If God places such value on the animals, what should that say to us?
VERSES 12-17 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature wit you, a covenant for all generations to come; 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
God makes the covenant with Noah that “never again will anyone have to go for wood” because God in His mercy wanted to. As a reminder, God places a mark in creation. This is not because God is forgetful, He always remembers. When God sees the mark, it is not for Him to recognize that He needs to pull back the rain, wind, and thunder. It is a mark reminding all of us that God will “never again have anyone go for wood.”
What is the mark God uses? A bow. I know the NIV says, “rainbow.” But the Hebrew word literally means, “bow” like the instrument of war. A rainbow is shaped like a multi-colored bow in the sky. However, notice which way the bow is pointed. It is not aimed at the earth, but point at the heaven. God is not going to shoot arrows at Himself, it is a promise without end.
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Matthew Henry wrote, “Sin which drowned the old world will burn this.” Humanity’s wickedness and violence brought the flood upon the earth. God did it as an act of mercy to preserve creation from humanity’s sinfulness. After the waters receded, God promised never again would anyone need to go for wood to build another ark. His floodwaters of judgment would never wash away all creation again. But sin always leads to destruction. A final judgment is coming when sin will be consumed by fire.
It is a good thing God promised “never again” about needing an ark. An ark made of wood would not keep anyone safe from fire. Even then, notice the ark only saved Noah, his family, and two of every kind of land-dwelling creature. That is a limited capacity. The number saved at the time of the flood was a very small percentage of life, but that is all the ark was designed to hold. At the final judgment, there is no cap on the number. God promised that never again would anyone have to go for wood because an ark was not needed.
Why will we never need to go for wood again? Why will we never need an ark again? Because Jesus made a way for all sinners to be saved. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17) An ark is not needed because the blood of Jesus has washed away our sin, and if we place our faith in Him then the Holy Spirit will purify our hearts with fire.