WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.479 Well, if you can tell by the sound of my voice, I have been sick all week. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:04.000 My wife is also sick. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:04.959 It's my fault. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.919 And our youngest is sick and they're at home right now. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.039 And so love you guys. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.560 Sorry you're not here. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:12.160 I've got water with me. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.199 If for some reason I finish this, someone just throw water at me or something like that. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:17.920 We'll be fine. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:19.600 I don't think we'll we'll be there though. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.719 I am so excited about what we're going to talk about today. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:29.600 So if you're new, if you're just joining us, if this is your first time, we started something that we've never done before called the whole story. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:33.359 We're spending the rest of our year going through the entire story of the Bible. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:39.039 We've broken the story of Scripture down into 14 different series, and from now through December, we're going through all of it. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:43.280 And so if you're someone who's like, I don't really know scripture, I struggle sometimes to read the Bible. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.000 I want to, I open it up and go, what is this all about? 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.479 This year is going to help you so much. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:52.640 Now, last Sunday we started the very first series called The Human Project. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:58.159 We're looking at some of the first interactions that God has with people, with us in the Bible. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:05.120 And we learn so much about God, and we learn so much about ourselves through these interactions. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.040 If we're going to have a healthy relationship with God, we've got to know ourselves, we've got to know Him. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.239 And we learn so much through these. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:18.000 And so Genesis chapter 1, verse 26, God says, Let us make human beings in our image to be like us. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.560 And the Hebrew word for human beings is Adam. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.200 That's all of us, Adam, A-D-A-M. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.920 We are all human beings. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:29.680 And these are the two main characters of the entire story of the Bible. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:30.959 God and us. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.879 Here's why that's really meaningful. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:34.319 This is not just a story. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.560 This is not just a collection of stories. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.159 This is your story. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:43.840 The story of the Bible is your story because you are one of the main characters, believe it or not. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:52.879 It's the story of God and humanity, of all of us, the lengths that God will go to know us, the things that He will do to show us who He really is, what He's really like. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:58.799 And so as we read these stories, we're learning our own history in so many different ways, and it's really fascinating. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:06.480 And so last week we talked about the story of the first couple of humans that show up, Adam, not Adam, but but Adam with the capital A and Eve. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.960 And things just went great, like perfectly. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.199 No problems, no issues, excuse me. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.159 No, things don't, things don't go smoothly for very long. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.080 Because human beings are really good. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.319 Like we are, we're really good at a lot of things. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.599 Like we gotta be able to give ourselves props when we when we need them. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:25.120 We're good at so many things. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.719 But we are like we're super good at messing up. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:31.439 And I don't mean that in like a self-deprecating way. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.439 Like I think it'd actually be really freeing if we all just admitted, like, I'm so good at messing things up. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:36.960 It's a gift, it's a talent. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.199 Like, you give me something perfect, I'll mess it up. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:46.960 That's why parenting is so hard because when you have a child, those of you with kids, you know this, um, they trust you like implicitly. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:53.680 You can have a newborn baby, you can throw that child in the air, and they're just like, yeah, this is great. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.919 You know, seven years later, the trust is broken, it is gone. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.400 They don't think you know anything anymore. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.240 Like, how it's like, how did that happen? 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:03.759 Well, we mess things up. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.759 We're always playing catch-up. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:10.639 And in reality, what human beings often do is we have this tendency. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:14.000 Maybe it's partly because we were made in the image of God to be like him. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:31.520 Sometimes we maybe uh overstep that, and instead of trying to be like God, we just try to be God, and we decide that we know what's best, and we don't really care if we're honest, we don't really care what God has said because at the end of the day, we're gonna do what we think we ought to do, what makes us happy, what makes us feel right. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.960 And that's what Adam and Eve did. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:36.319 We've all done it, and things go pretty poorly. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:51.280 People decided that we would ignore what God had said, and we would do what is right in our own eyes, choose what looks good to us, even if it's the very thing that God has said to stay away from, and that begins this vicious cycle. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.520 And so the very next story that we get to read is in Genesis chapter 4, you've got Cain and Abel. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:01.280 Cain's this older brother, he gets jealous of his younger brother, and then God actually says this to Cain. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.800 Genesis chapter 4, verse 7, he says, Watch out. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:11.039 Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you, but you must subdue it and be its master. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.080 It's the first time in the Bible we have this mention of the word sin. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:22.959 And here it's mentioned not just as this thing that we can do, it's this inner force working within us, trying to sabotage our lives. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.720 And God says, watch out. 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.879 This thing, sin, it's working in you, it's trying to mess everything up. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:33.839 You've got to you've got to beat it, or it will subdue you, control you, it will ruin you. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.399 And Cain, unfortunately, he doesn't listen. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:44.879 He gives in, he does what he wants to do, and again, we have brokenness. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:50.000 He kills his brother Abel, he tries to cover it up, and that's what happens every time you see people sin. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.519 Adam and Eve, Cain, it's like, I messed up, let me try to hide it. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:55.920 It never works. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:03.600 We're overcome with guilt and shame and fear and all kinds of things, and God steps in and he both gives a consequence because there's always a consequence for sin. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:05.680 That's just the way the world works. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:10.000 But he doesn't stop at the consequence, he always gives, we talked about this last Sunday, a covering. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:18.720 And so when Adam and Eve messed up, they were naked, they felt ashamed, they went and got some fig leaves, that's the best they could think of, to cover their shame, and God doesn't just expose them. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.319 Sometimes we have a fear, I think, of God exposing our shame. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.199 Maybe we even hide from him, we run from him. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:33.040 Maybe some of you have spent whole years of your lives running from him because of your shame, and God does not expose their shame, God covers their shame. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.040 He creates clothing for them and says, Here, wear this. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.519 I don't want you to walk around in shame. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.319 God doesn't just give a consequence, he gives a covering. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:43.920 With with Cain, there's a consequence. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:45.439 God says, Man, you've got to leave. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.199 You can't be in this place anymore because of what you've done. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:53.199 And Cain's afraid other people will find out what he's done and kill him, and so God covers him. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.519 He actually puts some kind of marking on Cain. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.079 We don't know what it is that that's a symbol to everyone else. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:05:59.920 Don't mess with this guy. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:01.680 You know, he's under my protection. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.920 God doesn't just give a consequence, he gives a covering. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.319 We see his mercy and we see his love, even in the midst of justice. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.319 And that becomes a theme in the early stories of the Bible. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:17.120 But let's keep moving on because you know, Adam and Eve, rough start, Cain and Abel, that's not good. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.680 But maybe, maybe people just stumble out of the gate a little bit, but then we figure it out and we get things right on track, you know? 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.959 Maybe it's like a sports team that has a really rough start to a game. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.120 Coach calls a timeout and says, guys, what are you doing? 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:29.839 What's going on? 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.560 They come back out triumphant and they just execute perfectly from this point on. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.680 No, that is not what happens. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:43.519 So let's let's continue as we're breezing through this Genesis chapter 6. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.720 This is when things get things get real. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:47.199 Okay. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:57.199 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.199 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.560 It broke his heart. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.920 And the Lord said, I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:12.800 Yes, I will destroy every living thing, all the people, all the large animals, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.120 I am sorry I ever made them. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:20.000 But, and this is it's a good thing that this is here. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:23.680 Noah found favor with the Lord. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:30.560 Noah saw that the earth had become corrupt and now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.319 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.879 And God said to Noah, I've decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.199 Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:47.120 Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar inside and out. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.680 Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:54.959 Make the boat four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.560 Leave an eighteen-inch opening below the roof, all the way around the boat. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.879 Put the door on the side and build three decks inside the boat, lower, middle, and upper. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:08.079 Look, I'm about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.319 Everything on earth will die. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.040 But I will confirm my covenant with you. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.879 So enter the boat, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:22.000 Bring a pair of every kind of animal, a male and a female, into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:32.000 Pairs of every kind of bird, every kind of animal, every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground will come to you to be kept alive, and be sure to take on board enough food for you and your family and for all the animals. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.519 So Noah did exactly as the Lord had commanded him. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:40.080 Genesis 7 continues, Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.200 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood covered the earth. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:44.080 Excuse me. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:46.159 I said I was sick. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.200 I said it. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.960 He went on board the boat to escape the flood, he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:09:02.320 And with them were all kinds of various animals, those approved for eating and for sacrifice, and those that were not, along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.320 They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.879 And after seven days the waters of the flood came and covered the earth. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.200 Excuse me. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:15.919 I thought I was gonna be so much better in this one second. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:18.080 Just pray. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:19.279 It's fine. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:23.600 Alright, anyone here grow up in church? 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:25.759 Just out of curious, like when you were a kid. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:32.559 Anyone grow up with like you have mental pictures of like the pictures of Bible stories in like children's Bibles and books and stuff like that? 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:34.159 Anyone at all have that? 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.559 Do you remember how happy the pictures of Noah and the flood were? 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:41.679 It's like it's it's like a Disney cruise, but with animals. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:42.879 You know what I'm talking about? 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.000 It's crazy, right? 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:51.600 Like if you think back to those pictures, it's this like little boat, and there's like a hippo smiling on the outside next to an elephant and a tiger, and there's like Noah. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:55.120 And so like little kids will grow up in church because we teach the Bible this way. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:57.200 We we don't actually teach the Bible this way here. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:02.320 We're really big on let's teach it for real and trust kids with with more than maybe we give them credit for sometimes. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:09.279 But if you grew up reading the Bible like that, that's what was told to you, and then you know, someone maybe asks you as a kid, what's your favorite story in the Bible? 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.120 You're like, I love the story of Noah and the Ark because of all the animals. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:17.279 I've never heard an adult say, My favorite story in the Bible is the story of Noah and the Ark. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.519 You know, because of all the death and destruction. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:21.440 It's just so great. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:28.799 This actually becomes, this becomes a really difficult story for a lot of people. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:34.080 In fact, for some people, this becomes kind of like a crisis of faith type of story. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:43.519 Especially maybe if you grew up being taught a version of it that isn't the actual full version, and then all of a sudden you're opening up the Bible and you're reading this and it's like, uh no? 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.639 Like, God, uh, I don't like this. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:49.919 There's there's kind of weird stuff in this story. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.320 And we can get tripped up on it. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.159 And so I want to I want to address that if that's okay today. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.360 I want to take a few minutes. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.679 Now, maybe you're here and you're like, I'm fine with the story of Noah and the flood. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:01.360 In fact, I think floods should happen more often. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.159 Maybe you're like that, like, calm down, buddy, okay? 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.480 God actually says, I'm not gonna do that again. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:08.240 All right, so don't get your hopes up. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:14.639 Like, but some of us, maybe you were at a place of peace where we're like, you know, I can read stories like this and it doesn't bother me at all. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:24.159 But I will tell you this I've met so many people over the years that it's stories like this that really they have a hard time reconciling how this fits with a loving, kind, merciful God. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.159 And it becomes a tripping up point, it becomes a stumbling block. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:39.200 And maybe it's not you personally, but it might be someone that you know, it might be one of your children one day, if you have kids, it might be a friend, a brother, someone you're trying to lead to Jesus and have a conversation with, and they read that and go, explain this. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:53.120 Like it's important, I think, that we treat this stuff with a level of seriousness and depth, so that we have a really, really confident heart when it comes to following God. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:58.799 So I want to I want to address some of the things that are hard about this story, but I want to keep the big picture in mind. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:06.080 And so with that, with that in mind, I'm actually for the first time gonna address this box that I brought on stage that some of you detail-oriented people are like, why has he not talked about this box yet? 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.799 Okay, so this is a puzzle that I bought for my wife uh for Christmas. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.480 It wasn't the only gift that I got her. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:13.279 I want you guys to know. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.799 I also uh is like you bought her a puzzle, that's what you got her? 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:18.159 Here, here's some work to do. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:26.159 Um actually, my other gift was uh gardening stuff, which I guess is work to do, but she loves to garden, so I got her these custom built planner boxes. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.000 I did not custom build them, no. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.519 I paid someone to do that. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:30.879 Uh but it still counts. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.840 Now I can say as a man, oh yes, these are custom built by someone else. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:35.840 But I bought those for her, but she loves puzzles. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.559 And this if this is the image on it. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.720 Um it's this like quaint little bookstore. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.399 I don't think it's a real bookstore, I think it's a you know just an imagined bookstore. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:45.279 But I will tell you this. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.600 I saw this and I was like, that is my wife. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:55.120 If my wife, if I was walking with my wife somewhere and we saw that bookstore, I would just go, well, I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do for the next three hours of my life. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.360 Because Megan would say, I love you, but goodbye. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.480 And she would get a coffee and she would go into that place and she would stay there. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:07.200 And when I saw this picture, I thought, that is like my wife's version of heaven on earth. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:08.480 And she loves puzzles. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:09.759 So I bought it for her. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.759 But if you've ever put a puzzle together, and let's just be honest, how many of you have done that? 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:18.080 You've put a puzzle together, I don't care if it's a 10-piece puzzle with you, like a child preschool puzzle. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.159 Some of you have never put a puzzle, you've never put. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:23.360 Okay, well here, let me explain how puzzles work. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:28.799 In that box is that picture, but not like you might think. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:30.639 It's in a billion little pieces. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:38.639 And the thing about puzzles, especially big puzzles, is that if you just focus on the individual pieces when you don't know the big picture, you're gonna be very confused. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.639 You know, if you looked at these pieces, I just picked four of the pieces out. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:48.720 You would never look at those pieces without familiarizing yourself with the big picture and have any idea what it's about. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:49.759 You would be very confused. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:54.080 It would never lead you to consider what the beautiful picture might actually be. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:55.039 You'd be lost. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.039 And a lot of people read scripture that way. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:04.960 It's very easy for us to pick out little pieces here and there and read scripture in such a way that we forget the big picture. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:14.000 And we get very confused at certain little moments in the story, and all of a sudden we're like, I don't, I don't know about this, because we're not seeing the big picture. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.679 But that doesn't happen when you put a puzzle together as long as you're looking at the box. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.720 You go, oh yeah, this this piece, it doesn't look particularly interesting. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:27.039 It doesn't maybe even look that beautiful, but I see where it fits. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:31.519 I see where it fits, and it's a necessary component to a much bigger story. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:41.919 The big picture of Scripture, without doubt, is the fact that we have a God who is just and righteous, and he will not allow this beautiful earth that he's created to devolve into chaos. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.360 He won't let that happen. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:56.159 But whatever amount of wrath he may have, which he does have, the Bible many times says that God has wrath, but the Bible says that God is love. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:11.759 So the big picture of Scripture is that yes, he is righteous, yes, he is just, yes, he will make all things right, yes, he is right in his ability to judge the earth, but his love and his kindness is overwhelming, overwhelmingly above everything. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.120 And the story is ultimately a story of redemption and beauty. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:21.679 But sometimes when we read certain stories, especially certain stories in the Old Testament, you kind of miss that. 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:26.639 If you're like hyper-focused on it, it's like you're looking at one piece of a puzzle and you forget the big picture. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:34.879 Now, I don't just want to say that to gloss over, like now that I've said that, hey, I used a fun little metaphor of a puzzle, and now I can just skip the hard stuff and not talk about it. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:42.559 No, no, let's let's let's talk for a few minutes about some of the hard details of the story of Noah, and then I want to get again to really focusing on that big picture. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:43.679 Is that okay with you guys? 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:45.919 Like you could say no, because you're you're already here. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.480 Like, it's not really a democracy, I guess. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:49.039 I don't know. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.840 Um, so so let's let's start with a couple things. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:04.159 Two of the biggest things that I have heard trip people up in the story of Noah are the fact that people apparently lived a really long time. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:05.519 Like, anyone else notice that? 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.559 It's like when Noah was 600 years old and you're like, hmm, what? 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:09.679 Excuse me? 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:11.919 That's gotta be a typo. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:16.159 I don't know, it must have not had like a spell check or whatever feature back then, you know. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:24.559 Like the Bible actually, if you read it, like Noah, 600 years old, Noah's grandfather is a man named Methuselah, and the Bible says he lived 969 years. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:26.720 And so maybe you've read stuff like that. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.799 Maybe you're new to the Bible and you're new to this whole church thing. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:29.759 You're like, nah, I'm out. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:30.159 It's crazy. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.120 It's fairy tale stuff. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:31.679 I knew it. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:36.320 No, if you read the early stories of the Bible, people are apparently living a really long time. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.320 Like a really long time. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.279 That stops after the flood, actually. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:47.200 After the flood, we see people living shorter and shorter and shorter until eventually their lifespan just looks like ours today. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:50.639 But in these early stories of the Bible, people are living hundreds of years. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:17:00.960 And for a long time, that was a big like stumbling block in a lot of conversations I would have with a lot of people, and it kind of was for me too, because I don't I want to pretend like I'm smart. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:04.640 You know, I don't want to believe in something that's that's stupid and foolish. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:06.960 So is this stupid and foolish? 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:08.960 And and what I found is no. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:13.440 Actually, I have no problem whatsoever anymore believing that people could have lived that long. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:19.200 Some people say, oh, it's just a myth, it's just like, you know, mythological stuff, it's stories, they're they're taking a lot of liberty. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:22.319 I I'm actually super comfortable with the idea of people having lived that long. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.519 And let me explain to you why. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:24.079 Sharks. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.079 Let's talk about sharks for a second. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.039 It's a super smooth transition. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:32.799 Um, this is a common picture, like a this is what you picture a shark. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:33.519 This is Jaws. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:34.640 This is the great white shark. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.119 Now, I've said this before, I don't need to go into detail. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:40.559 Pictures like this clearly indicate for us why we should not go in the ocean. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.440 The ocean is filled with monsters, we don't belong there. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.200 That is what God put in the water. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:46.640 Like, don't go in the ocean. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.279 Jesus walked on top of the water, Moses parted the sea. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:53.279 Jonah's the only character in the Bible that gets in the water and it goes really poorly. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.039 So just stay out of the ocean. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:56.480 All right, stay away. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.319 Because it's a monster, right? 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.160 Do you know the average lifespan of a great white shark? 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:06.000 I don't know why you would, but anyone want to just yell something out? 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.079 Hey, 600 years? 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.799 No, that would be that'd be terrifying, right? 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.319 600-year-old jaws. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:13.359 How many people have you eaten? 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:14.480 Like, oh my goodness. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:16.160 Seven years. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.119 Okay, it's it's uh 50 to 70 years, right? 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:23.359 So that could be like a that's a that's a shark that qualifies for social security. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:24.480 Like, you have no idea. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.400 They live a pretty long time. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.480 50 to 70 years. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.640 Now I'm gonna show you a different shark, okay? 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.640 This is called a Greenland shark. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:33.920 Let's actually put that one up. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:35.279 Not quite as menacing. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:39.680 I it kind of looks like a submarine, just very, very strange looking shark. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:41.359 So these sharks live a little bit longer. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.039 The oldest recorded Greenland shark uh was was actually uh verified in 2016 to be 400 years old. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:50.559 Now here's what's crazy about that. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.559 I love history, I'm like a history guy. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.319 And so uh the Mayflower. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.240 We all remember learning about the Mayflower in school. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:59.759 You know, pilgrims came over and they had their hats on and they ate turkey and it was all great. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.039 Kind of looked like the same pictures of the Ark that you saw in churches again. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:05.599 They're super happy, but if you know the history, that was not a happy voyage. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:06.240 Whatever. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.480 Um Mayflower 1620. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:17.119 Okay, so the 400-year-old Greenland shark that they verified in 2016 would have been born in 1616. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:25.759 Meaning that when the Mayflower crossed the Atlantic Ocean, that same exact shark was alive swimming in the same exact ocean. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.200 That's nuts. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:33.519 Is that not crazy just to think about that there's a shark that's been swimming around the ocean for 400 years? 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:35.039 Don't go in the ocean. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.079 I'm telling you. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.799 There's actually all kinds of creatures that live incredibly long lifespans. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:48.079 Uh there is a form of sea sponge in the Antarctic that scientists believe lives thousands of years. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:57.359 There's a tree in California, and it's it's nicknamed Methuselah, and scientists have dated it to be just under, just under 5,000 years old. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:58.640 It's still alive. 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.839 Okay, so here's what that's what that tells us, really simply. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.119 Things that God creates can live a very long time. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:06.480 They can live a very long time. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:07.759 What determines how long they live? 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:13.920 And the truth of the matter is a variety of factors, but the main factor is actually something hardwired into our DNA. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.839 If you study this, it's called uh PCD, programmed cell death. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.799 And I'm not trying to make all of us painfully aware of our own mortality. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.480 I think it's just really important to understand what's happening here in scripture. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.160 Excuse me, I should have moved my face away from the microphone when I did that. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:28.960 Hold on. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:31.359 All right, I hate getting sick. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.160 So, PCD, programmed cell death. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.359 This is gonna, I'm so sorry, I'm talking about this. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:38.640 I just realized I might regret this. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:50.720 Um, no matter how good you eat, no matter how well you you take care of your body and exercise and avoid all kinds of contaminants, one day your body just goes, time to die. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.160 And I mean, serious. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:21:01.839 And what happens is this this process starts inside of you called programmed cell death, and your cells begin dying at a rate faster than they can rebuild, and you begin to age, and we die. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:03.519 That's that's our mortality. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.279 And there's there's just nothing. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.440 Scientists are trying to figure out how to extend that. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:10.559 They're trying to create pills and things like that, medicines you can take. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:11.519 I'm not interested in that. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:12.559 Some of you might be. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:20.880 I got some friends that are, I joke about it sometimes, but like, okay, I've watched enough commercials to know that if there's a pill that helps you have a headache, the side effects can be immense. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:26.400 Whatever pill they make that makes you live a hundred years longer, I don't even want to know what the side effects of that pill are gonna be. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:26.799 Okay? 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:31.279 Like you're gonna grow extra arms, it's gonna be weird, like, but hey, you're older. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:32.640 I'm not interested. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:38.160 But the truth of the matter is there's something inside of us that it's like a switch, it's hardwired into our genetic code. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.799 And no matter what, boom. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:46.880 Which is why we don't have a lot of variety in terms of the maximum length that we can live. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:51.839 It's just you look at the oldest living people, and it's there's like a line that people just don't go over. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:58.000 And what's really interesting, and this is again, kind of I'm I geek out on this stuff, okay? 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.839 Genesis chapter 6, verse 3. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.720 The Lord said, My spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.160 In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:19.839 Now, this is something God says right before the flood, and there's a little bit, in this translation, I'll be honest, there's a little bit of liberty being taken with the translation, because the actual language says that their time will be no more than 120 years. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:20.799 Their time will be. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:24.000 And it's about 120 years after that that the flood happens. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:37.759 So you can interpret this either being that God says 120 years, boom, but some people translate this, and it's not wrong, as God saying that the normal human lifespan will become 120 years. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:47.680 If you look up the longest that people can live, like the oldest confirmed living people in human history that we have, modern human history, with things like records and birth certificates. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:51.599 There's one lady from France that lived 122 years. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.240 One. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:54.960 I don't know what she did. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:56.559 Right? 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:07.519 But there's even a lot of dispute as to whether or not her records are accurate because that's the only person we literally have in the history of modern civilization that has lived above 120 years. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:13.279 Every other person, it's 120, 119, 19, 19, 19, 18, 18, 17, it's like no one can hit that moment. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.400 How crazy is it that something written in the Bible 3,000 years ago would accurately reflect that today? 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:19.599 It's nuts. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.960 And what that would mean, again, I'm almost done geeking out, so you guys are being so patient. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:23.759 I appreciate it. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:36.400 That would mean that if we used to live about a thousand years, and then God like changed things, and now we live about a tenth of that, that we would basically age ten times faster than the people maybe in Noah's time did. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.720 Do I believe that's possible? 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:49.759 Well, there's actually a genetic disease, a genetic condition, very rare, called progeria, and it's something that very few people are born with, but if you're born with it, you age ten times faster than a normal human being. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.400 So you're eight years old, but your body has aged like an 80-year-old. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:53.440 It's really sad. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:54.559 Very rare. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:04.480 And all that happens for people born with progeria is that one gene in their DNA, one gene has a mutation. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:05.759 That's all it takes. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.680 One mutation of a gene, and you age ten times faster. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:22.480 And so when I when I used to when I used to battle with this kind of stuff, like when I was in college and I was reading this, I'm like, oh, I don't want to feel like a fool because I was the kind of guy that would be in debates with people and just talking about the Bible and like jumping into arguments I had no business being in, because why not? 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:31.759 Um, you know, I when I learned this stuff, I thought to myself, man, do I believe that God has the power to change one gene in human DNA? 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:44.480 And if I don't believe that God has the power to alter one gene of human DNA that can make us go from living a thousand years to a hundred years, like what kind of God is that? 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:49.039 And we know that things that have been created can live a very long time. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.200 A very long time. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:55.359 And it's just something that's hardwired into all things in terms of how long they'll live. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.720 And apparently, according to Scripture, we used to be hardwired to live longer. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:04.240 But instead of it being like we lived a thousand years and look at all the good we could do and look at all the good things we could accomplish, it was like the opposite. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:12.720 That we just got more and more depraved and selfish and wicked, and it just got worse and worse and worse, and God's like, ah, I gotta, this has gotta, uh, gotta go shorter. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:15.119 You know? 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:18.799 But that's that's that's where I came to. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:30.079 That's why I have peace, because I had to ask myself, okay, if that's all it takes, if that's all that it takes to alter the length of life, do I believe that I have a God powerful enough to alter one gene in human DNA? 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.240 And if not, how can I believe in the resurrection? 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:36.799 How can I believe in there's so many miracles in the Bible that are way more intense than one gene being altered? 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:38.559 And I believe God is powerful enough to do that. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:39.599 That's why I have peace. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:39.920 Okay? 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.200 Let's move on to the next one. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.519 I think it's a bigger stumbling block, and it's all the death and destruction of the story of the flood. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:47.519 Like, how many of you believe in a loving God? 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.359 Like a God who, like, we sing about it, right? 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:54.160 We sing all the time about how God loves us, like, like, oh, how he loves us. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:55.839 I'm not gonna sing it, I'm gonna sort of sing it. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:57.519 You know the song, Oh, how he loves us? 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:01.759