The Everlasting Covenant - 5.1 Noah: References

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5.1 Noah: References and Notes
by Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, September 2009
Topics:
1. Forgiveness through the Blood
2. Salvation before the Flood
3. Covenant with Noah before the Flood
4..The Flood
5. Covenant After the Flood
6. God Sustains His Creation
7. Circuit of Beneficience
8. God Working through His Creation
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1.  “Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).
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2.  People before the flood had a chance to be saved.

    “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3).^ Return to Top

3.  A covenant with Noah before the flood.

     “17  And, behold, I, 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.
     “18  But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee”  (Genesis 6:17-18).^ Return to Top
 
4. The flood of Noah:
          The Day by Day Happenings of the Flood      
         
  Noah and all the beasts entered the ark and wait for 7 days. Genesis 7:1-16    
  The flood began on the 17th day of the 2nd month. Genesis 7:11 2nd m 17th d  
  There was rain for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters “prevailed      
  Upon the earth” 150 days. The ark rested upon Ararat. Genesis 8:4 7th Mo 17th d 150 d
         
  The tops of the mountains were seen on the 10th Mo. 1st Day. Genesis 8:5 10th Mo 1st d 223 d
  Noah sent forth a raven and a dove after forty days. vs. 6-9   263 d
  After 7 days, the dove sent again and returned with an olive leaf vs 10,11   270 d
  The dove sent a third time and did not return after seven days. vs. 12   277 d
         
  The earth is dry.  All the inhabitants of the ark go forth.      
  Noah builds an altar and offers sacrifice. vs 14-20 2nd Mo 27th d 370 d
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5.  A covenant with Noah after the flood.

    21 “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
    22 “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:21-22).

    “The rainbow spanning the heavens with its arch of light is a token of  ‘the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature’ (Genesis 9:16). And the rainbow encircling the throne on high is also a token to God's children of His covenant of peace.
    “As the bow in the cloud results from the union of sunshine and shower, so the bow above God's throne represents the union of His mercy and His justice. To the sinful but repentant soul God says, Live thou; ‘I have found a ransom’" (Job 33:24).  White EG: Education, p. 115.^ Return to Top
 
6.  God continues to work through His Creation.  Paul spoke to the philosophers in Athens:

    “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28).^ Return to Top
 
7. Creation was intended to be a “circuit of beneficence” with each part helping another.

       “God did not create, establish laws, then let His creation run itself.   It was His purpose to give, to share, to provide for all His creation.   Jesus came to reveal the Father. “I do nothing of Myself,” said Christ; “the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father”  (John 8:28, 29).  This is the law of life for the universe.  All things Christ received from the Father, but He took to give.  So in heaven, the Father’s life flows out to all.  In all Creation, each part in some way serves another. None lives just for self. Through the Son our praise and joyous service return to the Father, the great source of all. And thus the circuit of beneficence is complete.”  Ellen G. White:  The Desire of Ages, 21^ Return to Top

8. The essence of the plan of God is for Him to constantly work through His creation.   Here is a beautiful expression of that concept:

    “God has laws that He has instituted, but they are only the servants through which He effects results. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth and springs into life. Every leaf grows, every flower blooms, by the power of God.
    “The physical organism of man is under the supervision of God, but it is not like a clock, which is set in operation, and must go of itself. The heart beats, pulse succeeds pulse, breath succeeds breath, but the entire being is under the supervision of God.
    “Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens. A mysterious life pervades all nature, .   .   .
    “God’s handiwork in nature is not God Himself in nature. The things of nature are an expression of God’s character.   .   .   .   So, while nature is an expression of God’s thought, it is not nature, but the God of nature that is to be exalted.”  Ellen G. White, Medical Ministry, 8-11
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