Mike
Scriptures: Genesis 1:2 Genesis 6:8 Genesis 8:1 Deuteronomy 32:11 & 12
Earlier this month Annie started us on a journey through the beginning of the creation, when the Spirit of God, the Ruach Elohim moved or fluttereth over the face of the Earth, an Earth that was without form. It was His breath that breathed life into the beginnings of the creation that the Word had spoken into being. This was the beginning of the creation of the whole cosmos, all the galaxies and universes, the point at which the God from beyond the beginning (the God who was) started on the journey to redeem a family that He had already seen, and then promised to be the God of all the families in Israel.
It would be easy to miss the intensity with which the Spirit of God moved or fluttered over the void earth, the word is Rachaph and as far as I can see is only used once more in scripture.
In Deuteronomy 32 the word is used in reference to the Eagle, how she watches over the chicks that are about to leave the nest, how powerfully she would make sure that nothing was going to happen to her young.
Vs 11 As an Eagle stirreth up Her nest, Fluttereth (Moved) over Her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.
From what we learn in Genesis 6:8 Noah was the lone man on earth who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Imagine the loneliness Noah must have felt living in a world where there were no set standards, or rules, or laws, a world basically where everyone did whatever they pleased.
Did Noah warn the people of his day about the coming flood? There is nothing in the Genesis account that tells us specifically that Noah preached of God's judgment, but this huge ark must have sent a message to that generation. And, in 2 Peter 2:5, we read “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”
Therefore, knowing that Noah was a preacher of righteousness proclaiming God's truth, we can safely assume he diligently warned the people of his day about the impending judgment. Noah was told to put pitch on the inside and outside of the ark. The Hebrew word for pitch is “kaphar” and it’s definition is; “to cover, to purge, to make an atonement, make reconciliation”. So, just as Noah was reconciled and atoned by the sealing of the Ark, in like manner the blood of Jesus is our cover, our atonement, poured out by the One that has reconciled us back to God.
Remember there was only one door on the Ark, only one way to enter. I had often wondered why God shut them in the ark, I cannot start to consider the change in mood of the people when it started to rain. For the first couple of hours it may have been funny, but as the waters rose the joke was over. The hatred and violence towards Noah would have been incredible, people would have been all over the ark trying to get in and Noah’s humanity would have wanted to open the door.
God watched over the building of the Ark, He was present during its travels and in Genesis 8:1 we see that God sent the wind (Ruach) to recede the flood, another demonstration of the caring of the Father over His family.
The Son has been set above all, the channel of creation, providence and redemption. He is the far-travelled Light of the world. The Creator of the universe Who voluntarily left His throne and made a portion of Himself visible, and, in doing so, created a way across the greatest chasm that humanity could ever cross. From Infinite Majesty to death on a Roman cross, that we might be ransomed from death.
Jesus bridged that unbridgeable gulf between this finite world and the infinite Majesty of the Father, between the visible and the invisible.
Jesus Christ is the Visible, tangible evidence of the unsearchable Father who has formed, known and loved us since before the beginning. Jesus in the flesh was the Son of the Invisible unsearchable Father, the One Who dwells in the Spirit.
Prayer: Abba Father, let us always remember that You are the loving Father God, but also the mighty Creator, Protector and all Powerful God, who saw us as Your precious family from before the beginning. Amen.