Hebrews 10:7
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’
The Bible is all about Jesus Christ. When we keep that in mind and read the Bible in that perspectives, we can find Him on every page – not just in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament.
We are in the series of finding Jesus in the Old Testament. Often, Jesus is revealed as a “type” in the OT. A type is an example or illustration that points to a person or an event. Finding Jesus hidden in type is a most exciting and rewarding way of studying the Bible. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:2: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
This week we will study Noah’s Ark and uncover the truth of this Ark as a type of Christ.
1) The Ark - Grace of God
Genesis 6:13-14
13 And 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. 14 Make yourself an ark....
Before the flood came God provided Noah a way in which he could escape the flood. Why? Because “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8)
But why would God want to spare Noah and not the rest?
Genesis 6:3-7
3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:11-12
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
It is clear that the earth became corrupt with the habitation of these fallen angels and daughters of men. These hybrids became wicked and every thoughts of their hearts were evil.
As you can see, since Adam's sin took place in Genesis 3, we are just three chapters away in Genesis 6 and the effect of sins had corrupted the earth! God was grieved and decided to send the flood to destroy them all.
Question: Why did God spared Noah then? Verse 8 says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But, why only Noah found favor? What is so special about Noah?
Genesis 6:9
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
In verse 9, it says that Noah was a just and perfect man. But when we look up the word "perfect" in Hebrew, it means "undefiled." In other words, Noah was not the hybrid of fallen angels and daughters of men.He was without spot and without blemish. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Yahweh).
Praise be to God. Hallelujah! God was grieved with the perversion of the generation and “takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Ezekiel 33:11) yet He is still merciful to mankind. He has provided a way to escape before judgment comes.
The ark is a type of Christ. Just as Noah was delivered from the flood, Christ came and deliver us from the curse of this earth! We are eternally redeemed! Hallelujah!
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Nothing is more clearer from this verse, God loves mankind that He sent His Son. Therefore, when we understand His heart, we know the flood was NOT about destroying mankind. Instead, the flood was sent to save mankind because the entire earth was filled with hybrid of angels and men and their wickedness and evil doing were filling the earth! God's grace is upon mankind! Amen!
So,with the same salvation plan God instituted for Noah and his family, He also instituted the same salvation plan for us. In revelation 13:8, the Bible says Jesus is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” So our salvation was not a spur of the moment decision. God knew what it would cost Him to have us spend eternity with Him. God chose to send His Son to this earth so that we can be saved by His Grace. Jesus is our Noah's Ark! Hallelujah!
2) The Ark’s design - Messianic Prophecies
Genesis 6:14-15
“And this is how you shall make it…”
God gave Noah very specific instructions as to how the ark was to be built. In the same way, God gives very specific details about Jesus’ life and mission before He sent Jesus to save the world.
For example, the OT tells us that Jesus would be the Son of God (Psalm 2:7), that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), He would be an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10), and that He would be raised from the grave (Psalm 16:10).
3) The Ark's window - Look to Jesus
Genesis 6:16
“You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above…”
Notice there is only one window in the Ark? Strange, isn't it? This Ark did not have the conventional windows which most ships have. The significance of this is that Noah and his family were not to look down or around for their salvation, they were to look up towards heaven. In the same way, we as believers are to keep our eyes focus on Jesus and Jesus only, not on the world around us. He want us to take our eyes off the temporary (things that we can see) and focus on the eternal (things that we cannot see). For the things which can be seen are temporal, but the things which cannot be seen are eternal. Amen!
4) The Ark's rooms - God's Family
Genesis 6:16
“make rooms in the ark…”
Just as the ark had rooms, Jesus told us that in His Father’s house “are many mansions” or literally, that the Father’s house has many “dwelling places”. (John 14:2)
When we come to Christ we receive more than just forgiveness for our sins, we become a part of God’s family. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)
Today, because of Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God. As much as God revealed His various Names in the Bible,( like Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi,) the one and only Name that He want to reveal to us in the New covenant is the name "Father" or "Abba" in Hebrew.
5) The Ark's only one door - The Way, The Truth and The Life
Genesis 6:16
“…and set the door of the ark in its side.”
There were two groups of people during the time of the flood – those who survived and those who didn’t. The ark was the only way means of salvation. Those who survived walk into the ark through the one door.
In the same way there are two types of people in God’s eyes – those who will be judged and those who are forgiven. Jesus is the only means of salvation and the only door into heaven.
John 10:9
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”
John 14:6
And again, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
6) The Ark's refuge - Our refuge
Genesis 6:17-19
“…I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark–you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of 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.
The ark was a place of refuge from the storm. Likewise, Jesus is our refuge from God’s wrath. “Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:9-10)
Genesis 7:16
“So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.”
The Lord shut Noah in the ark and He kept him secure. In the same way we are not saved by our works, but by grace. We have trusted in Christ for our salvation and as a result we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14) And again in John 6:37: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
7) Entering the Ark - His Invitation
Genesis 7:1
“Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark…”
God once destroyed the earth by water, and He will once again destroy it by fire. The apostle Peter said,
2 Peter 3:5-7
"For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men."
Praise be to God who has made provision for us to be saved. When we believe in our Lord, Jesus Christ, we are ushered into the ark, In the Ark, we take refuge, we find security and in the Ark, we are called "children of God." All that God prepared Noah and delivered him and his family from destruction was because God love him. Two thousand years ago, God prepared the Ark for us.and He invites us in because He loves us and want to deliver us from destruction! When we see His heart and felt His Fatherly love for us, how can we ever doubt when He says:
Isaiah 54:9-10
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
Amen! Hallelujah!
Grace and peace be with you.
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