I've just been thinking a little
more about the story of Noah. In Chapter 6 we have the account
of Noah and the world which was about to perish. Mankind had
multiplied greatly upon the earth and in verse 5 God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. In verse 13 God said to Noah,
The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled
with violence through them. and behold I will destroy them
with the earth." It's a sober reality isn't it, that the Lord
God will not strive with mankind indefinitely. And so the Lord
instructed Noah to build an ark for the saving of himself and
his family and two of every creature that went into that ark. It's
amazing, isn't it, that this ancient event is recorded for
us. But we know that the story is
a representation, isn't it, a representation of Gospel. We have that account
of Adam and Eve in Genesis Chapter 2 of God presenting Eve to Adam
and God joining the two so that the two should become one flesh.
And I remember saying to a fellow that that's the very first wedding.
There you have it. And he says, well you go too
far. It's just too far to go. But I would contend we don't
go far enough with pictures and types and allegories. Our carnal
eyes, aren't they? Their carnal eyes are short-sighted
but spiritual eyes, spiritual eyes are long-sighted and they
see way beyond. So the Lord doesn't intend just
for us to know history. The Scriptures are full of all
these emblems and all these types and pictures and similitudes
of redemption. The Lord Jesus constantly used
parables, didn't he? I was always taught that that
meant earthly stories with a heavenly meaning, but probably better
still they are earthly stories with a heavenly reality. They
are reality. We are looking at these pictures
and types and in seeing those pictures and types we are actually
seeing reality. We are looking beyond to the
reality. Sometimes they are explained
plainly in the Scripture, aren't they? But other times the pictures
just stand. They just stand there and they
speak for themselves. We know that the Ark of Noah
was a boat, was a vessel made of wood. But it's not just a
vessel made of wood, is it? The Ark represents our Lord Jesus. God put Noah and his family in
that Ark to preserve them. And so too did God the Father
place all these people in the care of Christ to be their surety,
to be their salvation, to preserve them and to keep them from harm. It's a beautiful picture, isn't
it, of the Gospel, of God's grace. And we know that that picture,
we talk about it often and I just love the picture of it. The pitch
which the ark was pitched in, inside and out, stood at the
turn of propitiation. That's what it means. It means
propitiation. That propitiation, it stood against the fury of
God's wrath, didn't it? The storm of God's righteous
fury that beat down upon that ark. Those hidden inside were
never in danger. that pitch sealed the Ark together
and we were sealed in the Ark by design, sealed in for special
purpose. We belong to Jesus don't we?
We belong to the King. When the King sent a royal letter
he would seal it with wax and with the King's ring. Sealed
in by the King, the King of Glory has sealed us in. He sealed us
in Christ. In Song of Solomon we read, a
garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up and
a fountain sealed. The elect are sealed by the Holy
Spirit until the day of redemption, Ephesians 4 tells us. In Revelation
chapter 7 there is that perfect number that is sealed. 144,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel. That's the perfect
number. None shall be lost. Everyone, every single one of
them shall be saved. So let's just turn to chapter
8 and just read a few more of these wonderful pictures in the
account of Noah. 1. And God remembered Noah and every
living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark.
Of course God had not forgotten. It's impossible isn't it? Rather
God is faithful to his promises and he remembered his covenant
with Noah to preserve him and all that were in the ark. And
God made a wind to pass over the earth. and the waters are
saged, a wind, a wind to cause the waters to recede. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of
the Holy Spirit like that, didn't he? As being like a wind. In
John 3, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell where it cometh from,
and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit, 2 The fountains also of the deep
and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven
was restrained, and the waters returned from off the earth continually. And after the end of the 150
days the waters were abated." Is that not the experience of
so many of the Lord's people? That once they were fearful of
God, Perhaps like the Israelites who looked at Mount Sinai and
saw the rumblings and lightnings that came from that mountain.
They saw God upon the mountain and they were burdened with the
fact that they had no righteousness and they were guilty before God. But at the right time God causes
his people to hear his Gospel. that precious wind. He sends
the comforter. He sends the Holy Spirit of God. He makes the fury of God recede
in our hearts and in our minds. He assures us that Christ has
done it all. Our consciences are cleansed
by the sprinkling of his blood and by faith we stop looking
at ourselves and we look to Christ for all of our salvation. The
Ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth
day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat. Of course that would
be a reminder that God rested from His work of creation on
the Sabbath day, the Sabbath day which God commanded people
to strictly observe. Of course we look beyond that,
we look beyond that regulation, don't we? We look beyond that
to the reality. Christ is our Sabbath. He is
the reality of that Sabbath. He is our rest. He is the end
of that law for righteousness to everyone that believes. And
that ark rested upon the mountain, just rested. God settles us in
Christ upon that solid ground. 5 And the waters decreased continually,
until the 10th month. In the 10th month on the first
day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen. And it
came to pass at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window
of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a raven which
went forth to and fro until the waters had dried up from the
earth." Of course there are some other emblems in there, but let
me just pick up on the raven. The raven is black, isn't it? It's black, emblematic of sin. Every kind of raven was deemed
unclean under those Levitical laws. It is a scavenger that
feeds on carrion, feeds on the corpses of the dead, emblematic
of death. But in verse 8 he also sent forth
a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the
face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for
the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him in the ark,
for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. What a contrast
to the raven. He sent forth a dove to learn
if the waters were abated. The dove is mentioned many times
in scriptures. It's mentioned for its beautiful
plumage. It's mentioned for its sacrificial use. It's mentioned
for its gentleness and innocence. But most perhaps we think of
the dove in that great book, The Song of Solomon, when we
read 2.14 This is what the Saviour says
of His Beloved, O my dove, that art in the cliffs of the rock,
in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let
me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance
is coming. Christ loved the Church and gave
himself for it. Such is the devotion of our Saviour
towards us. The dove, she found no rest for
the sole of her foot and returned to Noah. Noah himself is a picture
of Christ. He is a type of our Lord Jesus.
What did Peter say when he went to the Lord? and the Lord asked them if they
would leave. Peter said, To whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. There is no name under heaven
by which men can be saved. He himself is our rest, only
in Christ. Only in Christ do believers find
rest for their souls. Then he put forth his hand and
took her and pulled her in unto him into the ark. I hope that
warms your heart to read it. Our Lord Jesus put forth his
mighty hand and took her. He would not allow her to take
flight away from him and taking all responsibility for her he
took her to himself. Our Lord Jesus entered the strong
man's house, didn't he, and plundered his goods. Satan, no match for the might
and determination of our Saviour. He simply took her, redeeming
us to himself and he pulled her in unto him in the ark to be
with him, safe and secure in his tender care. Believers are
in Christ now, aren't they? May the Lord grant us the assurance
that our Lord Jesus has redeemed us and saved us and that one
day we shall be where He is. May this be a blessing to you.