Theme: Sons of God (Part 4)
(Key verses: Gen 6:10-16)
All in the first Adam was made subject to vanity and all flesh is still completely under the process of corruption in the hand of the Potter. This is the physical and spiritual state of the first “vessel…to dishonour… [and] of wrath…fitted to destruction”, by God’s design (Rom 9:21-22):
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay [“dust” / “out of the earth” / “earthy”] was marred [Hebrew: “shâchath” = ruin] in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity [empty, profitless, corrupt], not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.
Evil in this creation, and especially in humans, do not differ according to time or place. The evil heart in mankind is not different now than what it was in the beginning. “Evil man wax worse and worse” only indicates the progressive revelation of that deceitful and hypocritical heart (2Ti 3:13; Isa 45:7; Jer 17:9). When the light of God comes at the appointed time it also reveals and exposes these hidden evils in our hearts and minds (John 3:19-21; Pro 20:27; 1Cor 4:5; 1Cor 14:24-25). In the days of Noah humans were just as evil in their thoughts and actions:
Gen 6:11-13 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy [Hebrew: “shâchath” = “mar” / “ruin”] them with the earth.
Everyone in Adam, whether they came through the generational line of Cain (“who was of that wicked one”) or the line of Seth (“which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”), had this same corrupt nature and heart of Adam (1John 3:12; Luk 3:38). The foundational theme of the sons of God through the line of Seth in the book of Genesis is used as a type of God’s spiritual elect. Between these two generational lines God “put enmity” to typify the distinction and separation between the flesh and the spirit and how they oppose each other (Gen 3:15; John 3:6; Luk 16:26; 1Cor 2:13-14):
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Within all of this the focus is placed on the spiritual and its positive application in the true sons of God in Jesus Christ. These sons of God know that everything in this physical and carnal creation is going to be destroyed and through that destruction God will bring all “in heaven” and all “on earth” and all “under the earth” to spiritual maturity in Jesus Christ in the “dispensation of the fulness of times”:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.
The sons of God must develop the spiritual character of their heavenly Father and this is only achieved through an evil experience of fleshliness and fiery trials (Gal 5:22-23; Heb 12:6; Ecc 1:13; Rev 15:8). In this regard the sons of God are always admonished not to ‘think it strange’ when these painful trials come to effectuate the separation of flesh and spirit in their lives (1Pet 4:1-19). This knowledge brings great comfort and purpose because all these things, good and evil, are worked and caused by God for the salvation of the sons of God now, but also for the salvation of others later (1Cor 1:3-7; 2Cor 4:14-18). In this sense Noah is also given to us as an example of good spiritual leadership. Noah was the head of a family and what he did influenced and affected his family. It is important for the sons of God to be an example to others, even as they walk and talk in the world (Eph 4:22; Heb 13:5; Jas 3:13; 1Pet 1:15; 1Pet 2:12). Noah was a type of Christ who is indeed our perfect example and through the faith of Christ His spiritual sons are given power to endure and resist the entanglements of this world (2Pet 2:20; 2Th 1:4; 2Tim 2:1-4; Gal 5:1). The faith of Christ brings the separation between the spirit of the old world in the first Adam and the spirit of Christ (2Pet 2:5; John 20:29):
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
So when the Scriptures declare Noah to be a righteous, perfect man who walked with God, it is not that these virtues were of Noah himself, but it was a work of God in Noah (Php 2:12-13). God works all things in all, being either good or evil (Eph 1:11; Pro 16:4; Jer 10:23; Isa 63:17):
Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Some claim that the story of Noah is only a myth, but Jesus totally disagreed when He said that there was indeed a man called Noah and people indeed were also doing the exact same vain things in Noah’s days on earth as they do today. Noah did not lose hope amidst the bad things around him as he also did not get entangled with it:
Mat 24:37-39 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Noah and the events around him were real and historically accurate, as written down in Scripture for the admonition of those who can receive that. Our faith rests only on what is revealed in Scripture and to go beyond or “above that which is written” displays the puffed up wisdom of the world in which there is no peace, mercy, comfort and salvation (Jas 3:14-16):
1Cor 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
In his generation, which is the line of Seth, Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. God kept Noah faithful and just, to be “perfect in his generations” as Noah “walked with God” (Gen 6:8-9). God deliberately detached Noah (and his family) from the earthly things and its connections – it helps us to see that God will increasingly bring a separation within His spiritual sons to descern the wicked and evil fleshliness and carnality in themselves first and foremost. Our fleshly connections (lusts and pride) will indeed be destroyed – they will be “taken” or “burn” on a daily basis through His fiery judgements (Matt 13:24-30; Isa 26:9; 1Cor 15:31; 1Pet 4:12-17). God’s fiery judgement on His house now in this age also exposes all forms of the false “secret rapture” doctrine for what it is, even in our own hearts (Matt 24:37-42; Pro 10:30; Matt 5:5; Rev 20:4-6). No one escapes God’s judgement – whether it is through His waters and His fire! Judgement is needed to destroy ALL flesh (inside or outside)! Those who understand this all important judgement will shout “GLORY!!!”
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I [GOD], even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
For many the global flood is a physical impossibility because they are not only blinded to the spiritual applications hidden in this, but their own natural data and scientific knowledge do not allow them to come at such a conclusion. Their calculations point to a local flood in the area where Noah lived. If scientific calculations and data can determine all of God’s power and mighty works, then many miracles in the physical, like the virgin birth of Jesus, will also be impossible. But God determined that only faith in what is written will be the spiritual measurement and “calculator” by which He will be pleased:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The “faith of Christ” opens up the deeper spiritual things of God in us and that causes the knowledge of God and Christ to work on a totally different and higher level than what the best natural mind can conceive (John 17:3; 1Co 2:12-14). God’s spiritual things are indeed foolishness to the scoffers who are limited by their own natural pride and lusts, which are in bondage to the seductive patterns and routines of “the elements of the world”, both physical and spiritual (Gal 4:1-10):
2Pe 3:3-7 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 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 the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
The flood is used here to show how God can do things which the natural man in his own ignorance and arrogance cannot understand. The same word of God has two applications – spiritual light to those with spiritual eyes, but also spiritual darkness to those who are not yet given the faith to go beyond the veil of physical things (Ex 14:20; Heb 10:19-20). Water is used as a physical symbol to help us to understand how the earthly elements which rule the old world and its heavens will be dissolved and removed – now God uses His spiritual fire (His Word) to burn out all the old heavens in us with all its “elements” (carnal doctrines). Again the sons of God rejoice when they read these words!
2Pe 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
God’s destructive physical water is like His consuming spiritual fire – it leaves nothing half-done (Heb 12:29; Matt 5:26). The talebearing flesh and all its wisdom which brings so much bitter envying, strife and confusion will indeed be exposed and completely destroyed (Pro 26:20; Jas 3:14-16). In this regard Noah was given clear directions concerning the construction of this ark and the materials to be used which also reflects on the spiritual knowledge, understanding and spiritual wisdom God is investing in the sons of God. We are all His workmanship (from start to finish), and He is putting all things together in the right order to bring everything to His ultimate purpose (Eph 1:11; Eph 2:10; Luk 2:40; 1Cor 8:1; 1Cor 13; 1Cor 15:22-28). That is the reason why we read so much details in the Scriptures – God is very meticulous!
Gen 6:14-16 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Within these few lines a multitude of spiritual pointers are hidden which applies to our own spiritual foundation and growth. The word “ark” also relates to a box or chest which keeps valuables, like money (ref. 2Ch 24:8, 2Ch 24:10-11): Here is one example of such an “ark”:
2Ki 12:9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
This is confirmed according to the dictionary definitions because the word “ark” has much to do with a “depository”. This links to the idea of our spiritual inheritance in Christ which is all about godliness – being like God (John 4:24; Rom 8:29; Rom 12:2). Godliness is indeed “profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1Tim 4:7-8):
1Pe 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
This is what is revealed to us concerning the wood and covering used in the construction of Noah’s ark:
Gen 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher [Hebrew: “gôpher”] wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch [Hebrew verb: “kâphar”] it within and without with pitch [Hebrew noun: kôpher”].
All these Hebrew words and the English word “pitch” in this verse have close similarities in their meanings which relate positively to Christ and His word (or work) in the sons of God. These words connect with the spiritual concepts of a covering (Gen 3:21; Rom 13:14), purging (Psa 65:3; Matt 3:12; John 15:2), forgiveness (Psa 78:38; Acts 5:30-31), ransom (Isa 43:3; Matt 20:28), atonement (Exo 29:33; Rom 5:11), reconciliation (Dan 9:24; Heb 2:17). So within the wood and the coverings over that wood which was used in the building of the ark of Noah, Jesus and His full redemptive work is revealed in type. God also told Noah to make “rooms” in the ark:
Gen 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms [Hebrew: “qên” = nest; Greek: “nossia”] shalt thou make in the ark….
The word “room” here relates to a nest of a bird which is not only a place of safety and care, but also where rest is found. A nest is a place where new life is joyously brought forth through pain:
Psa 84:1-3 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest [Hebrew: “qên”] for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
The sons of God are not in this work of God for a glory ride. They must die daily to self to be conformed to the new image of the True Son of God, Jesus Christ, as they are prepared for their task.
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
They give themselves for others in sacrifice.
Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is like the Good Shepherd, Christ, who gives His life for His sheep NOW, to enable them to also lay down their earthly lives. His life is given to sustain the sons of God NOW, even until the end when that fullness of spirit life will be enjoyed:
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
The Greek equivalent for the Hebrew “qên” (English “nest”) is the word “nossia” which is used only once in the New Testament which helps to convey the message of what these “rooms” in the ark mean, and also what this “brood” of Christ (His elect) is doing:
Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood [Greek: “nossia”] under her wings, and ye would not!
God also instructed Noah to make a window in the upper part of the ark. This shows us that our salvation is coming from above where our eyes are fixed on the heavenly or the spiritual in Christ (Heb 12:2; Ps 123:1-4):
Gen 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above [Hebrew: “ma‛al” = “upper part” or “overhead”].
Rev 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
We must all enter at the one door on the side of the ark over which only God has authority as He drags and leads those to come in – again pointing to Jesus the only way to God (John 10:1-3; 1Cor 15:22-28).
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The numbers three and five also play an important role in the dimensions of the ark. We see in the Scripture that the number three spiritually refers to a process, and the number five spiritually refers to the faith of Christ which works through His chastening grace – which is His judgement. As in this case of the flood and this ark, the number three is indeed linked to the process of judgement.
Gen 6:15-16 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Jesus made it so clear that our time “in the heart of the earth” is our time in the flesh, and this flesh (our earthly temple) will eventually be done away with for good – also in three days!
Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 24:1-2 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 26:59-61 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61 And said, This fellow [referring to Jesus] said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
In the dimensions of the ark we see that the number five links with the number three – the number five points to grace and faith by which that judgement is administered by.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Tit 2:11-12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching [Greek: “paideuō” – Chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.
Heb 12:6-8 For whom the Lord loveth he [Greek: “paideuō”], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
4windkoinonia 