Real Life Ministries
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Real Life Ministries
A Journey of Obedience
Can you imagine building an ark in the face of worldwide skepticism? That's exactly what Noah did, and today we journey through Genesis chapters 6 and 7 to uncover the profound lessons from this ancient story. We'll address the wickedness that led to the great flood and explore how Noah’s steadfast faith and obedience serve as a beacon for us today. Our discussion navigates the intersection of biblical narrative and scientific inquiry, drawing from insights by the Institute for Creation Research to better understand the world-altering impact of the flood. Join us as we promise to offer a fresh perspective on this pivotal event and its relevance in our modern world.
As the moral decay of Noah's time echoes loudly in our own, this episode draws compelling connections to the present day, as foretold in Matthew 24:37. We reflect on the urgency of spreading the message of salvation through Jesus Christ amidst increasing global challenges. From evaluating our spiritual states to embracing the hope of eternal life, this episode is a call to action for believers and seekers alike. We emphasize integrating Genesis’s ancient wisdom into our daily lives and express gratitude for our engaged community. Get ready to deepen your understanding and prepare for a transformative journey with Real Life Ministries.
Hello and welcome back to Real Life Ministries, where real-life people with real-life problems discuss the Bible. Today we're going to have an amazing podcast. We're going to be in Genesis, chapter 6 and 7. We're going to be discussing Noah and the Ark. We've been working our way through Genesis and now we've come to this point in the history of humanity. And at this point in the history of humanity, god looks upon the people and he decides you know what? These people have just become extremely wicked and it I just can't take it anymore. I'm just gonna wipe them all out. But then he looks down. He sees Noah he's the only one righteous among all of these people and he gives Noah specific directions on how to survive this flood with him and his family. He tells him to build a large boat and he's enough for him and his family, and then he's going to save two of every species of animal that's on the earth at that time.
Speaker 1:Now a lot of us have heard this story during sunday school and almost take it as legend and myth. I can remember doing the little coloring books coloring in the ark and seeing the animals coming in and it almost seems unreal. It doesn't seem like it's a really tangible part of history. However, as we go through this and look at this, I want us to make sure we understand this stuff really happened. The flood really happened and I'll show you how we can understand that and know that later on in the podcast. But the New Testament does speak to the flood and so I want us to look at this as we're going through here and understand that. I know science doesn't say anything about how this happened and people have looked for for Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat and they can't find it, and there's been all of this discussion about it and people think, oh well, you can't find the boat, then it must not have happened. Well, and science, of course, will not admit that this is what happened, because if they fully admit this, then they are basically saying, well, the Bible's right and we're wrong, so of course they're not going to admit this. Then they are basically saying, well, the Bible's right and we're wrong, so of course they're not going to admit this. But there are a lot of different things that we look at in our world, a lot of different processes that we look at that have happened based on this flood, and we've been to ICR Institute for Creation Research and I urge you to look at it, but they talk to this quite a bit. They talk to about the creation of the earth. They talked about the flood and the different processes and how it would have affected the earth during that time and caused a lot of the issues that we're seeing, like ice age and rain and snow covered, and then, naturally, of course, the earth is going to warm up after that because of a lot of the volcanic activity and a lot of the movement of the earth's crust and different things as it broke up.
Speaker 1:Now what I want to look at, though, is uh, it talks about the account of noah and his family. You know, it says noah was a righteous man we're in chapter 6, verse 9 the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with god, and he had three sons shem, ham and Japheth. Now God saw the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. God said to Noah I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth.
Speaker 1:Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar inside and out, then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior, make the boat 450 foot long, 75 foot wide and 45 feet high, leaving an 18 inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side and build three decks inside the boat lower, middle and upper. And this is. This is a major undertaking. Um, that Noah is looking at and and could you imagine being told by God hey, look, I'm fixing to destroy the earth and everything in it, and that's, this is where you've lived. I mean where you've lived. I mean he's, he's 120 years old when he, when he gets this, this is the only thing place he knows. He's like what is going on right now? What is about to happen? The lord's about to destroy everything I know of, right right here, where I live, where I've raised my children. You know it's. It could be a very, very, uh daunting task that God has placed before him and Noah takes it on, does what the Lord says. He begins building the boat the whole time, telling people about what's going to happen. They're laughing at him. You know it's probably not rained in a few months and they're saying where's the rain now? You know, just making fun of poking fun at him, and he's just going. Well, you're going to see, I'm building the boat and the Lord's telling me it's coming. So, and finally the, the time comes and the the Lord decides, okay, I'm ready, and so he floods the earth.
Speaker 1:Now it talks about how the Lord floods the earth. He, the depths of the deep break up, you know, the heavens open up and there's there's a lot of talk about how this happens and comes about, and one of the things that that the icr talks about in this is that there may not have been, at this point, the uh cycles that we have of evaporation and the clouds and and all of the, the major undertakings of the weather that were. Then it would have been a little more milder and um, after all of this happened and a lot of these cycles then got put into place and really started affecting the earth's weather a lot worse, and so this was a major, major upheaval for the earth and, like you said, it killed everybody on the earth and everything on the earth, except for what Noah put in this boat. Now A lot of people will sit and ask well, why would a loving God decide to destroy the whole earth, which he just created probably not long before this, you know and then decide to destroy everything on it, everything he created. It had to have been pretty bad. It had to have gotten to a point to where God was like look there's, there's nothing I can do with these people. They have totally hardened their hearts towards me and begun a tremendous rebellion against me, and so he knew, without starting over, there was going to be an issue.
Speaker 1:I also think that in part of it, we read how the fallen angels had come down and that they actually mated with the human women. Now, we don't know how this happened and we don't need to get into it, but I just want you to understand that when the Bible speaks of the sons of God coming down, that is speaking to the fallen angels that chose to leave their abode, come down to earth, completely rebel against God, and that's something I just want you to understand. That possibly in all of this and that's something I just want you to understand that possibly in all of this there was maybe a different human race at that time, that maybe there was giants there were, there were different people back then and with these being the fallen angels mating with the women, that it probably was a very terrible place to be at that time. And for Noah and his family to be there, still be looking to the Lord, being faithful, and faithful enough to build this massive boat and undertake this whole ordeal in order to save his family, is just a tremendous credit to Noah as a man to be able to protect his family, and he did it. He listened to the Lord, able to protect his family and to and he did it. He listened to the lord, he saved his family and he ended up saving many animal species brought them with him so that way they could reproduce once the floods receded. Now, the flood stayed on the earth a long time and then, knowing his family, disembarked, anded and then they moved on with their lives naturally being a different place, different earth. It was just a completely different area.
Speaker 1:Now again, I started talking about how we read a lot about this in Sunday school and it's an interesting story to teach kids and to show kids. It's very believable for them to look at this. And yet I can remember thinking, oh wow, this is a nice little story, nice little tale, kind of like Little Red Riding Hood or something, to where you don't really think a lot into it. You think, eh, it's kind of a way out there, kind of a legend, a myth, something that possibly may have happened but may not have happened. But I want us to understand, as we look at this, that we need to realize the things that genesis speaks about, like creation and how man came to be, in the different rebellions man had throughout the years, like at the tower of babel and with nimrod and all of these things that are going through here.
Speaker 1:The lord isn't putting these things in here because they make a good story. God is putting these things in here because they make a good story. God is putting these things in here so that, as Christians, so that as believers, we understand and we know how God created the earth, how God intended the earth to be, what happened when sin entered in the world, what happened when the fallen angels came down mated with women, what happened when the flood really tremendously broke up all of the crust of the earth and the water sprang forth and the heavens opened up and dumped all the water they had there, and that there were so many changes from geology and different meteorology and different things. We can see. We can really put all this stuff together and understand just exactly what happened at that time and how it would have affected the earth with such a monumental catastrophe. That happened at that time and it's very devastating.
Speaker 1:It's very difficult to understand and to know and see how God had done this, but he really viewed that, okay, things are getting out of hand. I've got to do something and now here we are today and there's a there's a lot of evil going on in this world with when humans are left to their own devices, when humans are left to themselves. We see that there are so many people out there that are doing bad things. We see the human trafficking, murder lies, the. The courts are just backed up, with people in there being tried. The prisons are overrun, you know, and it's, it's getting really bad. People don't even want to watch the news anymore because most of the stories on the news are negative and it's almost depressing to even watch the news.
Speaker 1:And so we step back and we take a look at this and then we think about okay, god was saying that everything was getting so wicked back then and he destroyed the earth. Okay, what's going on now? Well, when we look at the Bible as believers. Believers, we see, okay, the lord's coming back again. He's going to come back to redeem his people, to redeem his church, bring them to him and then he's going to reign on earth, as he does after the seven year tribulation. So this the apostles actually asked the lord about this because he was talking about in the future times when he returns, and they were trying to understand what he was talking about.
Speaker 1:And in the midst of all of this, in Matthew, chapter 24, verse 37, he speaks directly to the flood, and this is where I want us to understand that this was an actual, true event. Jesus is actually referencing a referencing an event that he actually knows happened, and he's stating that in the future, that things are going to get so bad that this is what it's going to be like when he comes back. As a matter of fact, it says, verse 37, when the Son of man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's days. In those days, before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings. Right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of man comes.
Speaker 1:So he's speaking to an actual, true event that really happened in the time of Noah, and he's speaking about this flood that wiped everything out on earth. And what he's speaking to here is hey, these people were going on about their business, doing their thing, you know, partying, having weddings, living their daily lives, going to work, coming home, you know, kissing their wife Hello from coming back from work, making dinner, grilling out whatever they intended to do. Coming home, kissing their wife hello from coming back from work, making dinner, grilling out Whatever they intended to do. They were doing it, and they continued doing it right up until the point to where it was too late. Noah had gotten in, the Lord had shut up the door to the ark.
Speaker 1:At that point it was too late. You can't make that decision, and there's a point that we're coming to very soon. You know, either one time is going to catch up to us and we're going to pass away, or two, the Lord is going to return. Just as he got fed up enough in the time of Noah to take out the human race, the Lord is going to return and is going to gather us all up and he's going to say, ok, enough is enough. And we don't know when that will be. We will be living our lives just like the people around Noah were doing the same thing just living it, living it up.
Speaker 1:And that's what I think I need us to understand is the pressure that we feel, as we're getting closer and closer as believers, to make sure that we're getting the word out to people, we're making sure people understand and they know hey, you're in need of a savior. You need to really learn about Jesus as your savior. You need to realize you're a sinner, repent of your sins, have faith in him. That he died, you know, on the third and was rose on the third day. These are things you need to understand as a believer, that we need to get the word out, because we don't know when this is going to happen and we don't know, you know how many people that we could possibly reach before then to make this happen.
Speaker 1:And then you know if you're not a believer and and you're out there and you're just kind of wondering and you're hearing this and you're thinking, look, I, I don't want to be left here through the tribulation. It's going to be a horrible time. I don't want to end up eternally separated from god and hell. I don't't want to do that. Well, you know you need to make a decision and make that decision quickly because, like I said, our world is very evil now. Our world has been evil and it's just getting more evil day by day by day with everything that's going on in the world.
Speaker 1:And you truly need to make a decision, sooner rather than later, to follow Jesus Christ and to have eternal life. And and it's important and and I want to urge you, as we, as we look at all of these stories and we we go through this bible and we realize that there's a reason. We're going through all of the different things we're talking about and we're doing, and they're all pointing to what Jesus is talking about, and that is eternal life, a relationship with Jesus. He's going to come back. There's going to be eternal life for everyone in one way, shape or form. And I just hope and pray that as we go through this, you realize, look, I want to be with Jesus, I want to be a believer, I want to be able to say I know where I'm going if Jesus was to come back today. I know where I'm going if jesus was to come back today. I know where I'm going if I was to pass away today, and and that is my hope and just my every intention for this is that as many people as listen understand and know that.
Speaker 1:Look, this is where we're at. We're getting close to the last days. All the prophecies have been fulfilled. There's not anything that needs to happen. It could happen in the twinkling of an eye, in a flash of lightning. He could be here and the rapture of the church could happen, and then the seven year tribulation could begin. Or we could pass away. Something could happen Massive heart attack, get sick, you never know. Anything could happen.
Speaker 1:And that's what I'm trying to say. We need to be ready, we need to be prepared. We're prepared for the next day. We make our lunch for the next day to go to work. You know we meal prep for the week. But something a lot of people don't think about is let's prep for our spiritual life. Let's prep for our eternal life. Let's live this life as a believer in Jesus Christ. Now.
Speaker 1:I thank you for listening again today. I know, you know this is a lot and some of this is pretty heavy and and some of it, you know we're kind of just going through fairly quickly and we're just glancing at, but I hope you realize that that the main message we're trying to get to is that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's, there's hope, love, there's saving grace that Jesus offers when we place our faith in him, we realize we're sinners and we repent of those sins, turn away from them and we begin moving forward, knowing that he died on the cross for our sins. He rose on the third day and he's bringing us to heaven with him when, as soon as we pass away, or if he is to come back. And I want us to understand that that's the main thing that we want to revisit time and time again is understand that this choice is up to us. We have to make this choice.
Speaker 1:If we continue to rebel against God, against Jesus Christ, and say you know what, I'm going to do it my way, then you're going to end up doing it the wrong way. And I just hope and pray. As we go through this, we realize, look, let's do it Jesus' way, let's do it God's way. We want to be on the right side, we want to be on the winning side, and that's where we're at and I just hope and pray that your understanding this and the Holy Spirit is moving your heart, at least planting that seed for you to understand. And maybe somebody else waters it, somebody else harvests it, that's fine, but I just hope and pray we're at least planting that seed.
Speaker 1:Now I want to close in prayer, dear Heavenly Father. Lord, thank you for this day, thank you for all you do, lord. Lord, there's so much to unpack in your word. You know we can't do it in this short time that we have with each other on these podcasts, but at least maybe we can just get that interest going with these people, we can get the holy spirit moving and stirring their hearts to draw them closer to you. Lord, lord, we just thank you for all you're doing in our lives and the many blessings that you're providing for us. Just, you know, protect us, keep us safe, keep us healthy, lord, as we, as we go through this week and we move forward in our lives, and I just pray for these people that are listening, you know that they are safe and healthy as well. Lord, we just thank you for all you do. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. Now I want to thank you for listening.
Speaker 1:Again, you know we're going to continue this. We're going to keep working through the Bible, we're going to stay in Genesis for a little while longer and then we're going to stay in Genesis for a little while longer and then we're going to jump to the next study that we have. But I really appreciate you guys sticking with us and I hope you're enjoying all that we're talking about and I hope you're able to take some of the stuff we discuss and apply it to your personal lives and be able to take it with you on Monday through Friday, you know, and be able to live this out in your lives. And again, I just thank you and I hope you'll be back here next time. Again, this is Real Life Ministries, where real life people with real life problems discuss the Bible.