← Thru the Bible Daily
Thru the Bible Daily
Genesis 7:23—8:22
00:26:01
The rain has stopped, but how do Noah and his family know when it’s safe to leave the ark? Find out as our study of Genesis continues. Together we’ll see Noah return to dry land, build an altar, and offer a sacrifice that pleases God.
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How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord is made for your faith in his excellent way.
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Have you ever been bird watching? Well, maybe you're just a casual bird watcher noticing birds as they fly in and out of your backyard. Many birders devote hours patiently waiting for to catch a glimpse of a certain bird. Welcome to through the Bible where our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee explains how Noah became a bit of a bird watcher during the Great Flood. I'm Steve Swets inviting you to grab your Bible and turn to Genesis 7, verse 23. And as you do, I want to mention that May is letter month. Now, years ago, Dr. McGee began this tradition and what it is is he sets aside a special time to ask you, our beloved listeners, to write or call and tell us what God's doing in your life as we study His Word together. So while we do love receiving and shar your letters all year long, each May we make a special effort to celebrate them and invite you to share how God is at work in your life through His Word. Let's start with this one from Robert in Northern California. He writes, I am so excited I made it. I started my journey on the Bible Bus five years ago just as we began Revelation. I was slipping through my radio in my truck and heard y' all mention that you had just concluded Malachi and would begin Revelation the following day. So, so I went up to the house, set up my computer with your app and prepared everything for the study the next day. I have faithfully followed every weekday and recently found your Sunday sermons to be awesome. Thank you so much. You have brought me back closer to my Lord and I just love you all so much. You have my monthly tithe and the Lord has blessed me so that I am able to give for your gas and tires. Thank you. May our Lord hold you dear to him. Well, Robert, you are such a valued member of our team. Thank you for your partnership as well in supporting the Bible Bus in your community and around the world today in over 250 languages. Now here's a short but sweet note from Katie who says this. This program is perfect for my morning coffee and Jesus time. Well, Katie, it's great to hear from you. Thanks for starting your day with us in God's Word along with that cup of coffee. And listen to this one from Jillian. Thank you for your ministry. Our community is filled with believers of another but smaller religion that is deeply misled when they knock on my door and try to witness to me as they often do. I can now share this Bible Bus pass with them. Well, that's a terrific idea, Jillian. Thanks for sharing that with us. And how about you? How's God shaping your story as we spend time in His Word together? Wouldn't it be wonderful if the next time that we're in Genesis that we get to read your letter about something that maybe you learned or something that God changed changed in you? Well, you can send us that note through our app. You can email us@BibleBus ttb.org or write to Box 7100, Pasadena, CA 91109 in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. You can also leave a voicemail at 1-865Bible. And that same number, 1865 Bible, is how you can request a free pack of the Bible bus passes that Jillian mentioned. Now let's pray. Lord, we praise you for your word and ask you to transform our lives as we listen and receive your truth in Jesus name, amen. Here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Genesis 7 and 8 on through the Bible today.
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Friends, our study brings us to the eighth chapter of the book of Genesis. And if you have your Bible and we'll turn there, I hope you're reading along with us and maybe you've read the eighth chapter. Now. We have seen last time the flood, and we were talking about the flood and saying that there were many details we were not going into. And I was quoting from a book that I highly recommend the title of. It is the Genesis Flood. And it's by Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb Jr. And both of these men are competent to write on such a subject and they answer many questions. And for you today, there has come from the press recently several books from men I consider pseudo intellectuals and pseudo theologians for that matter. I know several of them and they take the position that the flood was local. That is, it was confined to the Tigris Euphrates Valley. In other words, they had sort of a big swimming pool there. That's about all that it was. May I say to you, this book absolutely demolishes that thought altogether. And I'm sure that most of you realize the scripture made it very clear that the flood covered the whole earth. God said that the entire earth was to be destroyed by the flood. And he said that he would destroy the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And then if you say that the flood was not universal, the human family had already got to North America and the animals were certainly Here nobody would argue that point for a moment. Well, the fact of the matter is then you have somebody except Noah starting the human family all over again. And that's just not the way the word of God tells it. Friends, you either accept the Bible or you don't make excuses for it. You either on the horns of a dilemma, as I see it, you either have to accept it what it says or you have to reject what it says. And in my judgment, to attempt to make a case like that is actually in the long run to reject the word of God. I think it makes it very clear that it was. It says every living substance was destroyed by which was upon the face of the ground both man and cattle and the creeping things and the fowl of the heaven. And they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark. That is 7:23. Genesis 7:23. And it says in verse 24, that's where we left off last time. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. In other words, for a period of approximately half a year, if you please, for five months the waters prevailed on the earth. And that is the story. Now in chapter eight we have the assuaging of the flood. Somebody said, what do you mean by the assuaging? Well, let's read verse one of chapter eight. And God remembered Noah that a lovely thing and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters assuage. Now, this book I've referred you to, I think answers the question about whether it was a local flood, it was universal, and also answers this question of uniformitarianism. There are those that take that position, you know, that there was no such thing as a great convulsion or catastrophe like the flood. Well, that viewpoint is helped by a great many. And I'm not going into detail. This book gives a great deal of detail. And Peter in his second epistle makes that very clear that we could expect there'd be those today that would come in the last days, knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts. Now this is second Peter 3:3. Now I'm reading the fourth verse. And what are they doing and saying? Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Well, you see, the scoffer has always been a uniformitarian. And this book makes it very Clear that you couldn't quite very well hold that position and accept the integrity of the word of God at this particular point. That's very important to see. Now we not only have here the building up of the flood, but also the prevailing and the assuaging of the flood. And we're told that God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters assuage. Now, it didn't happen just overnight, the build up of the waters over 150 days. And then actually there are 261 days in the assuaging. And that looks to me like it's something more than just a local flood. And I'm not going to go through this. This is an exercise in mathematics. But you find here that verse two and three, and let me read them. Fountains also of the deep. And the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained, and the waters returned from off the earth continually. And after the end of the hundred and and fifty days, the waters were abated and the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. And then we're told verse six. And it came to pass at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Now you have this beginning of the end, let's say, of the flood. Now notice what he did. He sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up and from off the earth. And he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. Frankly, Noah became a bird watcher. He's sending out the two birds, the raven and the dove. Now the thing that happened was this. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. And she returned unto him into the ark. For the waters were on the face of the whole earth. And then he put forth his hand and took her and pulled her unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days. And again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him anymore. And it came to pass in the 600 and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. And that, may I say, brings you to 200 as we have indicated, 261 days. So that the total time of the flood was 371 days and that extended over a year. Now that, may I say, also conforms to the statement of Scripture that the flood was universal, that it was not just filling of a swimming pool. It certainly was more than that. May I say that there are other things that have revealed something concerning the flood. Now, I'd like to pass that on to you. And I'm quoting now from another, from Dr. J.E. shelley. And he takes a position that the flood was universal, covered the entire earth. And I'm quoting from him now, and he says the most striking example of this is found in the case of the mammoths. These elephants are found buried in the frozen silt of the tundra, Siberia, all over the length of the continent of Asia, and in the north of Alaska and Canada. They are found in herds on the higher ground, not bogged in marshes, hundreds of thousands in number. Now he goes on to talk about them, that they've been examined, that they were drowned, and if they just got bogged up, they would have died of starvation. And the farther north one goes, the more they are till. The soil of the islands of the White Sea inside the Arctic Circle consists largely of their bones mingled with those of saber toothed tiger, giant elk, cave bear, musk ox, and with trunks of trees and trees rooted in the soil. Now, there are now no trees in those regions, the nearest being hundreds almost thousands of miles away. The mammoth could not eat the stunned vegetation which now grows in this region. But for three months in the year, a hundred square miles of which would not keep one of them alive for a month, the food in their stomachs is pine, hawthorn branches. These mammoths were buried alive in the silt when the silt was soft. They in the silt were then suddenly frozen and have never been unfrozen for they show no sign of decomposition. And then he goes on to tell about mammoth. Ivory has been sold on the London docks for more than a thousand years. The Natural History Museum purchased a mammoth's head and tusks from the ivory store of the London docks. This head was absolutely fresh and was covered with its original fur. Explorers have saved their lives by eating the flesh of these animals which have been in cold storage for about 4,600 years. May I say to you, friends, if you want evidence of the flood and that it's universal, there is an abundance of evidence, if you're willing to accept it. Now, may I leave that and see a great spiritual truth that we have here in this eighth chapter when we read to you about the Dove. And about the raven, the old crow that was put out, you see. Now we find here that when he sent the flood and Noah spent all that time, he was over a year in there. Why now he sends forth a raven and the raven never came back. But the dove kept coming back and even brought in its beak a little bit of greenery, an olive leaf. I don't know why that's always been the picture of peace, but it is. And I can't quite see that that is exactly the message at the first visit. But when he didn't return at all, when you have no dove, that's the sign the judgment is over and there is peace that's returned to the earth. But of course, man going out again is the same type of man that all the sons of Adam were that provoked the flood in the first place, judgment from God. And you're going to see not too much improvement in man after the flood. In fact, none whatsoever. Now, there's a great spiritual lesson here, and I wouldn't have you miss that for anything in the world. We find Noah here now, engaged in what we'd call bird watching, and he sends out the raven. The raven didn't come back. Why didn't that raven come back? Well, that raven, you have to recognize what it eats. And that raven eats just about anything. The fact of the matter is there was a whole lot of flesh floating around after the flood. You can think of the dead animals and all of that floating around, and that's what this old crow ate, was that kind of a thing. And he didn't return because after all, he was really going to a feast and he was having a very wonderful time. He's an unclean bird, by the way. Now, the dove is a clean bird and so listed later on. And remember that he took into the ark both clean and unclean. Now, the dove brought back information. It was a regular homing pigeon and on its second trip. He's now a confirmed bird watcher as far as Noah's concerned, because he's brought back evidence that the dry land is appearing. And then he did not return, and the waters of judgment are gone. Now, again, may I repeat something we've said before? All great truths of the Bible are germane in Genesis. The Bible teaches that the believer has two natures, old and a new nature. And if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. And the clean and the unclean are together. You and I have these two natures. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Our Lord said that and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And Paul says that I know that within my flesh dwelleth no good thing. But he says to will is present with me, but how to perform it I find not. And there was a struggle between the two natures, by the way. And there's a struggle today between the old nature and the new nature of a believer. And the raven went out into a judged world. But he found a feast and a dead carcass, because that's the thing he lived on. The bloated carcass of a dinosaur would have made him a banquet, I tell you, it would have been for him a bacchanalian orgy. And back and forth he is restless. They went up and down. May I say to you, that's the picture of the old nature. The old nature is like that raven. The old nature loves the things of the world, feasts on them. That's the reason so many people look at TV Sunday night and don't go to church. Don't tell me that you've got some good excuse for that. You've got an old nature, but that's no excuse, because you ought not to be living in in the old nature. Now, the dove went out into a judged world, but he found no rest, no satisfaction. He returned to the ark. You see, today it's a matter of viewpoint. One of these professors said to me, this matter of what's right and wrong is relative. He's right. Tis it's what God says is right and what he says is wrong. And he doesn't find very much that's wrong. The old raven went out in the world and loved it. And the believers told today, love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. You and I are living in a judged world today. We're in the world, not of it. We are to use it, but not to abuse it. We're not to fall in love with it. But we are today to attempt to win the lost in this world and get out the word of God. This is the place to get it out. Today. He told us to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Let's take care of our job down here right now and get the word out down here. That's the important thing. But the dove recognized he's in that kind of a world. And he found no rest only in the ark. And that ark sets forth Christ, if you please. Now, let me just ask you this very personal question, and you have to answer it for yourself. By the way, what kind of Bird are you? Are you a raven or a dove? Well, you've got both natures. But which one are you living in today? You love the things of God or don't you? Well, now, let me drop down here. I'm going to finish this chapter today. Verse 18. And Noah went forth his sons and his wife and his sons wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, every fowl and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth. And after their kinds went forth out of the ark. Now God makes a covenant with Noah here and we're going to see the new beginning next time when we get in that next chapter. Fact of the matter is we're going to see that God made a covenant with him. He can now eat meat. And a covenant that has to do with capital punishment. It's a very important one. When God made it with Noah, he made it with the human family that's on the earth today. Now we're told, and Noah builded an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now do you see why? He took seven of the clean beasts and only two of the unclean. He's offering the clean beasts now. Verse 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground and anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. And you can just write that down that that is true. What about your youth? Was your imagination evil or not? And we're beginning to see in our contemporary society we've had the rebellion of youth today. And isn't it interesting the direction they've gone? They've gone to the direction of. Of where every imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. And it doesn't improve in the hospital the other night I was visiting a party there and then the person in the next bed, the curtain was pulled, but you could hear them talking. Her husband came in and you know it was a contest between those two to see who could outcast the other one. I've never heard such profanity on the part of two human beings. May I say to you, the imaginations of man's heart is evil from his youth. That just happens to be an accurate statement. Was made a long time ago also. Now he goes on. God says, neither will I gainsmite anymore. Everything living as I have done while the earth remaineth seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and Night shall not cease. Now, it has been suggested here that the flood was to the extent that it tilted the earth. As you know, the earth is not on its axis. Actually not we're off center, if you please. And the magnetic center is different from the center we're revolving on. Something happens somewhere along the line. It's the belief of many. This is where it took place. And that's what makes what the word of God says is the harvest and the cold and the seed time, the heat of summer and the cold of winter that gives us our seasons. The earth revolves like that. It started going around like a wobbly top. You remember when you were young and would spin a top, when it would run down, it'd get wobbly. Well, that's the way the earth revolves today, actually. And as a result we have the seasons. We come now to chapter nine and here you have the covenant which began here in verse 20 of chapter 8 extends on down and you're going to find out. God makes a certain covenant with Noah and gives to him some tremendous things. Never again will God destroy the earth with a flood is one thing. Man now can eat flesh. That seems to be something new. We'll see next time. And then you have also God institutes capital punishment. Best I can tell, God's never changed that now. We'll get to all of that next time. And I trust, friends, that you're reading along with us, that you're using our notes and outlines. And if you're not on our mailing list, be sure and write in. And if you've been on it and for some reason have gotten off, why we want to invite you to write again because it means something happened along the way. We do make mistakes and we try not to make any, but you can't help but make a few. And so we do want to hear from you. We do need to hear from you to continue our ministry on your station. So until next time, my beloved, may God richly bless you.
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It's true, we don't just need to hear from you. We genuinely love it, especially during letter month. So let me remind you how to get in touch. Send us a note through our app. You can email us at BibleBustTB.org or write to Box 7, 100, Pasadena, California, 91109 in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Now to download the notes and outlines that Dr. McGee mentioned for Genesis and every study in our five year journey, go to our app or visit ttb.org or download Briefing the Bible prefer a print copy. Well, we got you covered. Just call us at 1-865, Bible now, before we go, I want to remind you to read through Genesis 9 to get the most out of our next study. In fact, let's read it a few times. I'm Steve Swetz, and I'll be here next time saving you a seat on the Bible bus.
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All to be my home Sin had left a crimson save white as snow.
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Through The Bible exists to take God's whole word to the whole world. And we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support. Where will God's word go today?