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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(107) - Lecture on Genesis Ver.2 (107) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 7:1~3 |
Date |
2014-05-02 |
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Scripture
Genesis 7:1~3
[1] Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
[2] "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;
[3] also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is 107th Lecture on Genesis. Recently, a Korean ferry named 'Sewol' sank and hundreds of people died. Experts say that the ferry had some safety issues with its ship structure. Moreover, the channel where the ferry sank is the 2nd fastest and strongest channel in Korea. And the ferry was being operated by a 3rd officer who lacked experience.
When I heard this news, I thought about the Noah's Ark. Noah's ark was safe even in the wild sea waves in the heavy windstorms. It was because Noah's ark was built according to the ratio that God Himself explained. The size of Noah's ark was, as Genesis 6:15 says, approximately 150 meters long, 25 meters wide, and 15 meters high. The length of the ark (150 meters) was 6 times to its breadth, and 10 times to its height.
Modern marine engineers discovered that this ratio is exact for the safest ratios of a large vessel. Additionally, in 1992, the Maritime Technology Research Center, a Korean national institution, conducted marine engineering research and experiments on Noah's ark at the request of the Creation Research Association. From this experiment, it was scientifically proven that Noah's ark was strong enough to survive the great flood. Noah's ark was designed by God Himself. It was truly safe and fully capable of handling waves as high as 30 meters. I explained this in the former Genesis Lecture number 102.
I said that, 'the ark' spiritually refers to the 'word of God.' Therefore, I hope you will remember that you can stay safe no matter what kind of difficulties you may face if only you dwell in the word of God, which is the 'spiritual ark.'
Dear brothers and sisters. Now, the Great Flood begins in Genesis 7. In Genesis 7:1, before God sent rain, He told Noah to enter the ark with all his household. He clearly explained the reason why He would save Noah and all his household. God said to Noah, "...for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time." That is, in his days it was Noah alone that God acknowledged as righteous before Him.
Those who are righteous not in their own sight but in God's sight can receive great blessings like Noah. Noah could receive the blessing that not only he alone but his entire family was also saved. In addition, Noah was used by God as a precious instrument to accomplish the great providence of God.
There is another blessing that Noah received when God acknowledged him righteous. When the Great Flood began, the original light that surrounded the earth was completely withdrawn. However, Noah could still live in the light-surrounded space. During the Flood, God surrounded the Ark of Noah with the original light. And thus, all the people and animals inside the ark could enjoy God's special protection.
As God said on the 1st day of creation, "Let there be light" as written in Genesis 1:3, the original light of creation encircled the 1st heaven along with the earth. Consequently, the earth was under the law of the spiritual realm to some degree even though it was a fleshly space. This original light of creation that encircled the earth was gradually withdrawn from the moment Adam committed sin.
And with the beginning of the Great Flood, it was completely gone. As its result, the earth became the fleshly space evidently, and has been entirely under the law of the flesh. Then, the living things on the earth began to reveal their natural fleshly attributes without any restrictions. For example, beasts of prey such as lions and tigers exposed their inherent ferociousness. When the earth was surrounded by the original light, such beasts were meek, but now they began to reveal their natures. Moreover, everything on earth tended to more quickly perish and corrupt according to the attributes of flesh.
Even in this physical environment after the Flood, however, Noah could live in the space which was surrounded by the original light. Noah's lifespan confirms this fact. Noah lived until the age of 950 just like the people before the Flood. However, there were people who were corrupt in flesh and destroyed even though they could actually have lived indefinitely. They were those who came down to the earth from the Garden of Eden, took of the flesh as they desired, and became fleshly beings.
All of them along with their descendants were exterminated during the Judgment of Great Flood. From this, we learn how different the outcome of the righteous is from that of the unrighteous. It is just as Proverbs 12:7 says, "The wicked are overthrown and are no more, But the house of the righteous will stand." As you can see, Noah remained righteous before God in his time when sin and evil were rampant, and thus he received salvation and blessing. May you also stay far distanced from unrighteous things, walk the righteous path before God, and be guided the way of blessing, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Now, we precede to verses 2 and 3. God told Noah what animals Noah should take into the ark and how many of them. He said, "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth."
God actually said in Genesis 6:19~20, "of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, male and female." Then, why did God say that Noah should take with him of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female?
He said to Noah that, of every living thing of all flesh he should bring two of every kind into the ark, and it was to keep them alive. In other words, in order to keep their species, Noah should bring two of every kind into the ark, male and female. And, those animals that God chose to keep alive were drawn through the original voice by instinct and brought into the ark.
However, in Genesis 7:2~3, God Noah to take with him of certain animals by sevens, a male and his female, or by two, a male and his female. One thing you should pay attention to here is that God let Noah choose clean and unclean animals that he should take with him. It reveals the will of God the Father who would start the human cultivation anew through Noah.
Moreover, God shows that if one becomes a true child of God like Noah, he can rule over everything. Since the true children of God reside in the spiritual dimension, they can surely control and rule over the animals of flesh, whose dimension is lower than the spirit. It was by the same principle that Daniel couldn't be hurt by hungry lions.
Dear brothers and sisters. By what standard were the clean animals separated from those animals which were not clean? The standard is their original attribute that the animals possess. All the animals have different original attributes depending on the ground from which they were created. For example, some animals are crafty, some are ferocious, and some are greedy. In contrast, some others are submissive, some others are meek, and some others are simple and honest.
When this earth was surrounded by the original light of God, the evil attributes inherent in the animals were not revealed. Even the ferocious animals of today were all meek back then. As the judgment of Great Flood began, and the original light was completely withdrawn from the earth, and then the hidden attributes that were inherent in the ground began to come out.
And so, God separated clean animals from unclean animals according to their original attributes. By the way, not all the animals fall into either of these two categories. Only some of the animals were marked 'clean' or 'not clean.'
Now, Leviticus 11 records 'unclean animals' in detail. But the unclean animals in Leviticus and the unclean animals which were taken into the ark of Noah were not 100% the same. Leviticus was written about 1,000 years later after the judgment of Great Flood. The animals of the days when Leviticus was written were different from those of Noah's days.
After the judgment of Great Flood, as men flourished again, the world was gradually stained by evil. Since there was no more original light of God was left after the judgment of great flood, nothing hindered the animals to fully display their original attributes. Simply put, the animals became more evil as well.
Therefore, the God-given standard to separate the clean animals from the unclean in the days of Noah couldn't be the same with that in the days of Leviticus. Some animals were not unclean in Noah's days, but they fell into the category of the unclean in the days of Leviticus.
Such was the case with 'birds,' for example. Among the birds in Noah's days, there were few that revealed the evil attributes to be called unclean. And so, Genesis 7:3 says, "also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth." There was no remark about the birds that were 'not clean.' Besides, the verse doesn't mean that of 'ALL' the birds of the sky should be taken by sevens. It means that Noah should take with him of clean birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female. Therefore, you should understand that, in the days of Noah, only two kinds of birds existed; 'the clean ones,' and 'the rest.'
On the other hand, Leviticus 11:13~19 specifies in detail which birds should be treated unclean. It proves that evil birds also came to be only as time passed. For your information, the 'unclean' animals in Leviticus 11 resembled the forms of fallen cherubim. God tells us not to eat them. It is because most of the unclean animals that resemble the fallen cherubim have strongly negative and harsh temperaments affect that impact badly on people. They make people's heart evil, rather than good.
Dear brothers and sisters. In Genesis 7:2, God told Noah to take with him of clean animals by sevens, and of not clean animals by two. You should know that 'of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female;' it contains two meanings. First off, it means, literally, 7 pairs of a male and his female, which yields 14 animals. It also means 3 pairs of a male and his female plus one male, which yields 7 animals.
I said, in Genesis 6:19, that Noah should basically bring in two of every kind of animals, male and female, to keep their species. And here, of every clean animal, they were not taken by two, but sevens. The clean animals are such meek animals as cows, sheep, and goats. To keep the species of these animals, their number should be bigger than that of wild beasts. That's why those clean animals were taken by sevens into the ark to save their species.
However, the fact is that every clean animal was taken into the ark by sevens – 3 pairs of male and female plus one male - for another purpose. Let me help you understand better. That is, Noah took seven pairs of sheep which fell into the clean animal category to keep its species. And for 'another purpose,' he took 3 pairs of sheep and one male sheep more. Therefore, the total number of the sheep taken into the ark was 21. Among them, males were 11, and females were 10.
Then, how many of pigs which were 'not clean animals' were taken into the ark? There were 4 of them – a mandatory pair of male and female, and another male and his female as 'unclean animals.' Actually, there was a greater number of the animals that didn't fall into either of the two categories – clean and unclean - And they were just taken into the ark by two, male and female. As you can see, the animals taken into Noah's ark were 3 kinds; the clean ones, the unclean ones, and the rest.
Then, what is the 'another purpose' that God brought the clean animals, the birds, and the unclean animals into the ark? After the judgment of great flood, these animals were necessary for some special reasons.
Let me begin with the use of the clean animals.
First off, they were to be used as sacrifice when offered before God. Genesis 8:20 is the scene that Noah offered burnt offerings to God when he came out of the ark after the judgment of great flood. It says, "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." As said, not any animals were offered to God when they were offered to God. Only the clean animals or birds were offered as sacrifice to God.
From this, you can understand that the 'clean animals' refer to the animals which can be a sacrifice. You can find a detailed ways of giving sacrifice in Leviticus Chapters 1 through 7. The animals which can be sacrifice are also specified. Among animals, people could offer sacrifice out of the herd (of bulls or oxen), or the flock (of the sheep or the goats). Among birds, they could offer doves. Likewise, the animals which could be sacrifice are only 4 kinds. And the clean animals in the days of Noah were not so different from these.
Then, when Noah offered the first burnt offerings to God after the judgment of flood, he "took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." It was not just one herd alone. On top of that, he offered one sheep, one goat, and one dove as burnt offerings to God. And these clean animals as offered as burnt offerings were all male. That's why God the Father told him to take with him an extra male of clean animals.
If the clean animals had been taken only by two, male and female, it would have been difficult to offer burnt offerings like this. If he had yet offered burnt offerings, the herds, sheep, goats, and doves might have been extinct. And we would be able to see those bulls, oxen, sheep, goats, and doves now. And so, God told Noah to take 7 more clean animals into the ark beside the 14 of them to keep their species. It was because sacrifice should be offered before God even after the judgment of great flood.
The offerings in the days of the Old Testaments were the channels for people to communicate with God through. After the judgment of flood, people rapidly flourished on this earth. At the same time, they had more chances to offer offerings to God. God foreknew this in advance, and let Noah take in a greater number of clean animals- as many as people might need.
Other than this, there was another use of the clean animals. The second use of the clean animals was as food for God-believing people. After the flood, God allowed people to eat meat. That is, He said in Genesis 9:3, "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." Before the judgment of flood, people ate only vegetables. But after the judgment of flood, they began to eat meat. And the animals that were allowed as meat for people were the clean animals.
Back then, Noah and his family who received this word were the people who believed in the LORD God. And thus, we can see that not any animals, but only the clean animals could be eaten. As you can see, the clean animals were necessary as food for people, and as offerings to be offered before God. Therefore, the number of clean animals that were to be taken into the ark was many times greater than that of other animals.
Dear brothers and sisters. What is the reason the unclean animals were taken by two, a male and his female? It was to give them as food in the future for those who would not believe in God. After the judgment of flood, as time passed by, Noah's descendants flourished and some of them didn't believe in God. They ate not only the clean animals but also other animals as they pleased.
God foreknew what animals they would eat as food. And so, God let Noah take with him of another pair of animals; a male and his female. Those animals that God called unclean were to become food for gentiles later on. There were not many kinds of the animals that were not clean. Therefore, it was not a big deal even if Noah took another pair of a male and his female.
Dear brothers and sisters. God the Father knows very well what people may need. Just look how He prepared in advance the food for those who wouldn't believe in God in the future. Our Lord said in Matthew 5:45, "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." As you can see, the lovingkindness and mercy of God the Father is much greater than what people can imagine.
But even among those who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and received the right to become the children of God, there are some who don't understand the love of God. Our God the Father wants to give only the best things when His children ask for them by faith.
And our Jesus knew such a heart of the Father God well. And so, He said in Matthew 7:9~11, "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
And Romans 8:32 also says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" Therefore, I hope that you can rely more faithfully on God who becomes our Father. God knows everything about you and is able to fill all your needs, so I urge you to ask the Father by faith for your desires. God the Father gives love, and He does in justice.
You can receive only when you ask. Indeed, our Lord said in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." This is the secret to receive answers and blessings that our Jesus told you. First of all, you should pray for the expansion of God's kingdom. In other words, you should pray for your church and shepherd, and for the salvation of many souls. 'To seek His righteousness' is to pray for the sanctification of your heart.
Do these merely refer to the order of your prayer? Of course, the order of prayer is important, too. But more important than that is what it is that the one prays for and considers important. "Does he care more about expanding the kingdom of God and sanctification of his heart? Or, does he care more about his fleshly matters such as financial blessing or healing of his disease?" Father God accepts our hearts.
Father God loves us so much that He even sacrificed His only begotten Son for us. And He searches for the children who care about the kingdom of God by all means, and who want to resemble Father God because they are so grateful for the love of God the Father. If you pray with this kind of heart, God the Father will give you not only whatever you seek, but also what you haven't sought. It is because He is the Father God who wants to give only the best things and give them abundantly at any cost. May you believe in such good Father God, always pray with thanksgiving, and receive answers and blessings, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray! |
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