1232 lines
47 KiB
HTML
1232 lines
47 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter VII].</TITLE>
|
|
<meta name="aesop" content="information">
|
|
<meta name="description" content=
|
|
"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
|
|
<meta name="keywords" content=
|
|
"Prophecy, Rapture,hope,bible map,bible maps, God, tribulation,Second Coming,Christ,large print bible,commentary,complete">
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
|
|
<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
|
|
on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC01006.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC01008.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
|
|
</TD></TR></TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (Begin Body) -->
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page57"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
|
|
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<FONT SIZE=-1>
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this chapter we have the performance of what was foretold in
|
|
the foregoing chapter, both concerning the destruction of the
|
|
old world and the salvation of Noah; for we may be sure that no
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page58"> </A>
|
|
|
|
word of God shall fall to the ground. There we left Noah busy
|
|
about his ark, and full of care to get it finished in time, while
|
|
the rest of his neighbours were laughing at him for his pains.
|
|
Now here we see what was the end thereof, the end of his care
|
|
and of their carelessness. And this famous period of the old
|
|
world gives us some idea of the state of things when the world
|
|
that now is shall be destroyed by fire, as that was by water. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:6,7">2 Pet. iii. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
We have, in this chapter,
|
|
|
|
I. God's gracious call
|
|
to Noah to come into the ark
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:1">ver. 1</A>),
|
|
and to bring the creatures
|
|
that were to be preserved alive along with him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>),
|
|
in consideration of the deluge at hand,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:4">ver. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
II. Noah's obedience
|
|
to this heavenly vision,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:5">ver. 5</A>.
|
|
When he was six hundred years
|
|
old, he came with his family into the ark
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>),
|
|
and brought
|
|
the creatures along with him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>),
|
|
an account of which is
|
|
repeated
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:13-16">ver. 13-16</A>),
|
|
to which is added God's tender care to
|
|
shut him in.
|
|
|
|
III. The coming of the threatened deluge
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:10">ver. 10</A>);
|
|
the causes of it
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>):
|
|
the prevalency of it,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:17-20">ver. 17-20</A>.
|
|
|
|
IV. The dreadful desolations that were made by it in the
|
|
death of every living creature upon earth, except those that were
|
|
in the ark,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:21-23">ver. 21-23</A>.
|
|
|
|
V. The continuance of it in full sea,
|
|
before it began to ebb, one hundred and fifty days,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:24">ver. 24</A>.</P>
|
|
</FONT>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_1"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_2"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_3"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_4"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Noah Invited into the Ark.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2349.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Noah,
|
|
Come thou and all thy house
|
|
into the ark; for thee have I seen
|
|
righteous before me in this generation.
|
|
2 Of every clean beast thou
|
|
shalt take to thee by sevens, the male
|
|
and his female: and of beasts that
|
|
<I>are</I> not clean by two, the male and
|
|
his female.
|
|
3 Of fowls also of the
|
|
air by sevens, the male and the female;
|
|
to keep seed alive upon the
|
|
face of all the earth.
|
|
4 For yet
|
|
seven days, and I will cause it to rain
|
|
upon the earth forty days and forty
|
|
nights; and every living substance
|
|
that I have made will I destroy from
|
|
off the face of the earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. A gracious invitation of Noah
|
|
and his family into a place of safety, now
|
|
that the flood of waters was coming,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The call itself is very kind, like that of
|
|
a tender father to his children, to come in
|
|
doors, when he sees night or a storm coming:
|
|
<I>Come thou, and all thy house,</I> that small
|
|
family that thou hast, <I>into the ark.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Noah did not go into the ark till God
|
|
bade him; though he knew it was designed
|
|
for his place of refuge, yet he waited for a
|
|
renewed command, and had it. It is very
|
|
comfortable to follow the calls of Providence,
|
|
and to see God going before us in every step
|
|
we take.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God does not bid him <I>go</I> into
|
|
the ark, but <I>come</I> into it, implying that God
|
|
would go with him, would lead him into it,
|
|
accompany him in it, and in due time bring
|
|
him safely out of it. Note, Wherever we are,
|
|
it is very desirable to have the presence of
|
|
God with us, for this is all in all to the comfort
|
|
of every condition. It was this that
|
|
made Noah's ark, which was a prison, to be
|
|
to him not only a refuge, but a palace.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build
|
|
the ark, and now he was himself preserved alive
|
|
in it. Note, What we do in obedience to the
|
|
command of God, and in faith, we ourselves
|
|
shall certainly have the comfort of, first or
|
|
last.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Not he only, but his house also,
|
|
his wife and children, are called with him
|
|
into the ark. Note, It is good to belong to
|
|
the family of a godly man; it is safe and
|
|
comfortable to dwell under such a shadow.
|
|
One of Noah's sons was Ham, who proved
|
|
afterwards a bad man, yet he was saved in
|
|
the ark, which intimates,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That wicked
|
|
children often fare the better for the sake of
|
|
their godly parents.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That there is a mixture
|
|
of bad with good in the best societies on
|
|
earth, and we are not to think it strange. In
|
|
Noah's family there was a Ham, and in
|
|
Christ's family there was a Judas. There is no
|
|
perfect purity on this side heaven.
|
|
|
|
(5.) This
|
|
call to Noah was a type of the call which the
|
|
gospel gives to poor sinners. Christ is an
|
|
ark already prepared, in whom alone we can
|
|
be safe when death and judgment come.
|
|
Now the burden of the song is, "Come,
|
|
come;" the word says, "Come;" ministers
|
|
say, "Come;" the Spirit says, "Come, come
|
|
into the ark."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The reason for this invitation is a very
|
|
honourable testimony to Noah's integrity:
|
|
<I>For thee have I seen righteous before me in
|
|
this generation.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those are
|
|
righteous indeed that are righteous before
|
|
God, that have not only the form of godliness
|
|
by which they appear righteous before
|
|
men, who may easily be imposed upon, but
|
|
the power of it by which they approve themselves
|
|
to God, who searches the heart, and
|
|
cannot be deceived in men's characters.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God takes notice of and is pleased with
|
|
those that are righteous before him: <I>Thee
|
|
have I seen.</I> In a world of wicked people
|
|
God could see one righteous Noah; that
|
|
single grain of wheat could not be lost, no,
|
|
not in so great a heap of chaff. <I>The Lord
|
|
knows those that are his.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) God, that is a
|
|
witness to, will shortly be a witness for, his
|
|
people's integrity; he that sees it will proclaim
|
|
it before angels and men, to their immortal
|
|
honour. Those that obtain mercy to
|
|
be righteous shall obtain witness that they
|
|
are righteous.
|
|
|
|
(4.) God is, in a special manner,
|
|
pleased with those that are good in bad
|
|
times and places. Noah was therefore illustriously
|
|
righteous, because he was so in that
|
|
wicked and adulterous generation.
|
|
|
|
(5.) Those
|
|
that keep themselves pure in times of common
|
|
iniquity God will keep safe in times of
|
|
common calamity; those that partake not
|
|
with others in their sins shall not partake
|
|
with them in their plagues; those that are
|
|
better than others are, even in this life, safer
|
|
than others, and it is better with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here are necessary orders given concerning
|
|
the brute-creatures that were to be
|
|
preserved alive with Noah in the ark,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
|
|
They were not capable of receiving the warning
|
|
and directions themselves, as man was,
|
|
who herein is taught <I>more than the beasts of
|
|
the earth, and made wiser than the fowls of
|
|
heaven</I>--that he is endued with the power of
|
|
foresight; therefore man is charged with the
|
|
care of them: being under his dominion,
|
|
they must be under his protection; and,
|
|
though he could not secure every individual,
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page59"> </A>
|
|
|
|
yet he must carefully preserve every species,
|
|
that no tribe, no, not the least considerable,
|
|
might entirely perish out of the creation.
|
|
Observe in this,
|
|
|
|
1. God's care for man, for
|
|
his comfort and benefit. We do not find
|
|
that Noah was solicitous of himself about
|
|
this matter; but God consults our happiness
|
|
more than we do ourselves. Though God
|
|
saw that the old world was very provoking,
|
|
and foresaw that the new one would be little
|
|
better, yet he would preserve the brute creatures
|
|
for man's use. <I>Doth God take care for
|
|
oxen?</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:9">1 Cor. ix. 9</A>.
|
|
Or was it not rather for
|
|
man's sake that this care was taken?
|
|
|
|
2. Even the unclean beasts, which were least
|
|
valuable and profitable, were preserved alive
|
|
in the ark; for God's tender mercies are
|
|
over all his works, and not over those only
|
|
that are of most eminence and use.
|
|
|
|
3. Yet
|
|
more of the clean were preserved than of the
|
|
unclean.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because the clean were most
|
|
for the service of man; and therefore, in
|
|
favour to him, more of them were preserved
|
|
and are still propagated. Thanks be to God,
|
|
there are not herds of lions as there are of
|
|
oxen, nor flocks of tigers as there are of
|
|
sheep.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because the clean were for sacrifice
|
|
to God; and therefore, in honour to
|
|
him, more of them were preserved, three
|
|
couple for breed, and the odd seventh for
|
|
sacrifice,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:20"><I>ch.</I> viii. 20</A>.
|
|
God gives us six for
|
|
one in earthly things, as in the distribution
|
|
of the days of the week, that in spiritual
|
|
things we should be all for him. What is
|
|
devoted to God's honour, and used in his
|
|
service, is particularly blessed and increased.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Here is notice given of the now imminent
|
|
approach of the flood: <I>Yet seven days,
|
|
and I will cause it to rain,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. "It shall
|
|
be seven days <I>yet,</I> before I do it." After the
|
|
hundred and twenty years had expired, God
|
|
grants them a reprieve of seven days longer,
|
|
both to show how slow he is to anger and
|
|
that punishing work is his strange work, and
|
|
also to give them some further space for repentance:
|
|
but all in vain; these seven days
|
|
were trifled away, after all the rest; they
|
|
continued secure and sensual until the day
|
|
that the flood came.
|
|
|
|
2. "It shall be <I>but</I>
|
|
seven days." While Noah told them of the
|
|
judgment at a distance, they were tempted
|
|
to put off their repentance, because the
|
|
vision was for a great while to come; but
|
|
now he is ordered to tell them that it is at
|
|
the door, that they have but one week more
|
|
to turn them in, but one sabbath more to improve,
|
|
to see if that will now, at last, awaken
|
|
them to consider the things that belong to
|
|
their peace, which otherwise will soon be
|
|
hidden from their eyes. But it is common
|
|
for those that have been careless of their
|
|
souls during the years of their health, when
|
|
they have looked upon death at a distance,
|
|
to be as careless during the days, the seven
|
|
days, of their sickness, when they see it approaching,
|
|
their hearts being hardened by
|
|
the deceitfulness of sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_5"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_6"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_7"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_10"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Deluge.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2349.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>5 And Noah did according unto all
|
|
that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> commanded him.
|
|
6 And Noah <I>was</I> six hundred years old
|
|
when the flood of waters was upon
|
|
the earth.
|
|
7 And Noah went in, and
|
|
his sons, and his wife, and his sons'
|
|
wives with him, into the ark, because
|
|
of the waters of the flood.
|
|
8 Of clean
|
|
beasts, and of beasts that <I>are</I> not clean,
|
|
and of fowls, and of every thing
|
|
that creepeth upon the earth,
|
|
9 There went in two and two unto Noah
|
|
into the ark, the male and the female,
|
|
as God had commanded Noah.
|
|
10 And it came to pass after seven
|
|
days, that the waters of the flood were
|
|
upon the earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is Noah's ready obedience to the
|
|
commands that God gave him. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. He went into the ark, upon notice that the
|
|
flood would come after seven days, though
|
|
probably as yet there appeared no visible
|
|
sign of its approach, no cloud arising that
|
|
threatened it, nothing done towards it, but
|
|
all continued serene and clear; for, as he
|
|
prepared the ark by faith in the warning given
|
|
that the flood would come, so he went into it
|
|
by faith in this warning that it would come
|
|
quickly, though he did not see that the second
|
|
causes had yet begun to work. In every
|
|
step he took, he walked by faith, and not by
|
|
sense. During these seven days, it is likely,
|
|
he was settling himself and his family in the
|
|
ark, and distributing the creatures into their
|
|
several apartments. This was the conclusion
|
|
of that visible sermon which he had long
|
|
been preaching to his careless neighbours,
|
|
and which, one would think, might have
|
|
awakened them; but, not obtaining that desired
|
|
end, it left their blood upon their own
|
|
heads.
|
|
|
|
2. He took all his family along with
|
|
him, his wife, to be his companion and comfort
|
|
(though it should seem that, after this,
|
|
he had no children by her), his sons, and his
|
|
sons' wives, that by them not only his family,
|
|
but the world of mankind, might be built up.
|
|
Observe, Though men were to be reduced
|
|
to so small a number, and it would be very
|
|
desirable to have the world speedily repeopled,
|
|
yet Noah's sons were each of them to have
|
|
but one wife, which strengthens the argument
|
|
against having many wives; for from
|
|
the beginning of this new world it was not
|
|
so: as, at first, God made, so now he kept
|
|
alive, but one woman for one man. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:4,8">Matt. xix. 4, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. The brute creatures
|
|
readily went in with him. The same hand
|
|
that at first brought them to Adam to be
|
|
named now brought them to Noah to be
|
|
preserved. The ox now knew his owner, and
|
|
the ass his protector's crib, nay, even the
|
|
wildest creatures flocked to it; but man had
|
|
become more brutish than the brutes
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page60"> </A>
|
|
|
|
themselves, and did not know, did not consider,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:3">Isa. i. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 In the six hundredth year of
|
|
Noah's life, in the second month, the
|
|
seventeenth day of the month, the
|
|
same day were all the fountains of
|
|
the great deep broken up, and the
|
|
windows of heaven were opened.
|
|
12 And the rain was upon the earth
|
|
forty days and forty nights.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The date of this great event;
|
|
this is carefully recorded, for the greater certainty
|
|
of the story.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. It was in the 600th year of Noah's life,
|
|
which, by computation, appears to be 1656
|
|
years from the creation. The years of the
|
|
old world are reckoned, not by the reigns of
|
|
the giants, but the lives of the patriarchs;
|
|
saints are of more account with God than
|
|
princes. <I>The righteous shall be had in everlasting
|
|
remembrance.</I> Noah was now a very
|
|
old man, even as men's years went then.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The longer we live in this world
|
|
the more we see of the miseries and calamities
|
|
of it; it is therefore spoken of as the privilege
|
|
of those that die young that their <I>eyes
|
|
shall not see the evil</I> which is coming,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+22:20">2 Kings xxii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Sometimes God exercises his
|
|
old servants with extraordinary trials of
|
|
obedient patience. The oldest of Christ's
|
|
soldiers must not promise themselves a discharge
|
|
from their warfare till death discharge
|
|
them. Still they must gird on their harness,
|
|
and not boast as though they had put it off.
|
|
As the year of the deluge is recorded, so,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. We are told that it was in the <I>second
|
|
month, the seventeenth day of the month,</I> which
|
|
is reckoned to be about the beginning of November;
|
|
so that Noah had had a harvest just
|
|
before, from which to victual his ark.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The second causes that concurred to
|
|
this deluge. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. In the self-same day that Noah was
|
|
fixed in the ark, the inundation began. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Desolating judgments come not till God
|
|
has provided for the security of his own
|
|
people; see
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+19:22"><I>ch.</I> xix. 22</A>,
|
|
I can <I>do nothing till
|
|
thou be come thither:</I> and we find
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+7:3">Rev. vii. 3</A>)
|
|
that the winds are held till the servants of
|
|
God are sealed.
|
|
|
|
(2.) When good men are
|
|
removed judgments are not far off; for they
|
|
are <I>taken away from the evil to come,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+57:1">Isa. lvii. 1</A>.
|
|
When they are called into the chambers, hidden
|
|
in the grave, hidden in heaven, then God
|
|
is <I>coming out of his place to punish,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:20,21">Isa. xxvi. 20, 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. See what was done on that day, that fatal
|
|
day to the world of the ungodly.
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>The
|
|
fountains of the great deep were broken up.</I>
|
|
Perhaps there needed no new creation of
|
|
waters; what were already made to be, in the
|
|
common course of providence, blessings to
|
|
the earth, were now, by an extraordinary act
|
|
of divine power, made the ruin of it. God
|
|
has laid up the deep in storehouses
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:7">Ps. xxxiii. 7</A>),
|
|
and now he broke up those stores.
|
|
As our bodies have in themselves those humours
|
|
which, when God pleases, become the
|
|
seeds and springs of mortal diseases, so the
|
|
earth had in it bowels those waters which,
|
|
at God's command, sprang up and flooded it.
|
|
God had, in the creation, set <I>bars and doors</I>
|
|
to the waters of <I>the sea,</I> that they <I>might not
|
|
return to cover the earth</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:9,Job+38:9-11">Ps. civ. 9; Job xxxviii. 9-11</A>);
|
|
and now he only removed
|
|
those ancient land-marks, mounds, and fences,
|
|
and the waters of the sea returned to cover
|
|
the earth, as they had done at first,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:9"><I>ch.</I> i. 9</A>.
|
|
Note, All the creatures are ready to fight
|
|
against sinful man, and any of them is able
|
|
to be the instrument of his ruin, if God do
|
|
but take off the restraints by which they are
|
|
held in during the day of God's patience.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>The windows of heaven were opened,</I> and
|
|
<I>the waters which were above the firmament</I>
|
|
were poured out upon the world; those
|
|
treasures which God has <I>reserved against the
|
|
time of trouble, the day of battle and war,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:22,23">Job xxxviii. 22, 23</A>.
|
|
The rain, which ordinarily
|
|
descends in drops, then came down
|
|
in streams, or <I>spouts,</I> as they call them in the
|
|
Indies, where clouds have been often known
|
|
to <I>burst,</I> as they express it there, when the
|
|
rain descends in a much more violent torrent
|
|
than we have ever seen in the greatest shower.
|
|
We read
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:8">Job xxvi. 8</A>)
|
|
that <I>God binds up the
|
|
waters in his thick clouds,</I> and the <I>cloud is not
|
|
rent under them;</I> but now the bond was
|
|
loosed, the cloud was rent, and such rains
|
|
descended as were never known before nor
|
|
since, in such abundance and of such continuance:
|
|
the thick cloud was not, as ordinarily
|
|
it is, wearied with waterings
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:11">Job xxxvii. 11</A>),
|
|
that is, soon spent and exhausted;
|
|
but still the clouds returned after the rain,
|
|
and the divine power brought in fresh recruits.
|
|
It rained, without intermission or
|
|
abatement, <I>forty days and forty nights</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
and that upon the whole earth at once, not,
|
|
as sometimes, <I>upon one city and not upon another.</I>
|
|
God made the world in six days, but
|
|
he was forty days in destroying it; for he is
|
|
slow to anger: but, though the destruction
|
|
came slowly and gradually, yet it came effectually.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Now learn from this,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That all the
|
|
creatures are at God's disposal, and that he
|
|
makes what use he pleases of them, whether
|
|
<I>for correction, or for his land, or for mercy,</I>
|
|
as Elihu speaks of the rain,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:12,13">Job xxxvii. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That God often makes that which <I>should
|
|
be for our welfare to become a trap,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+69:22">Ps. lxix. 22</A>.
|
|
That which usually is a comfort and benefit
|
|
to us becomes, when God pleases, a scourge
|
|
and a plague to us. Nothing is more needful
|
|
nor useful than water, both the springs
|
|
of the earth and the showers of heaven; and
|
|
yet now nothing was more hurtful, nothing
|
|
more destructive: every creature is to us
|
|
what God makes it.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That it is impossible
|
|
to escape the righteous judgments of God
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page61"> </A>
|
|
|
|
when they come against sinners with commission;
|
|
for God can arm both heaven and
|
|
earth against them; see
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:27">Job xx. 27</A>.
|
|
God can surround men with the messengers of his
|
|
wrath, so that, if they look upwards, it is
|
|
with horror and amazement, if they look to
|
|
the earth, <I>behold, trouble and darkness,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:21,22">Isa. viii. 21, 22</A>.
|
|
Who then is able to stand before
|
|
God, when he is angry?
|
|
|
|
(4.) In this
|
|
destruction of the old world by water God
|
|
gave a specimen of the final destruction of
|
|
the world that now is by fire. We find the
|
|
apostle setting the one of these over against
|
|
the other,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:6,7">2 Pet. iii. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
As there are waters
|
|
under the earth, so Ætna, Vesuvius, and other
|
|
volcanoes, proclaim to the world that there
|
|
are subterraneous fires too; and fire often
|
|
falls from heaven, many desolations are made
|
|
by lightning; so that, when the time predetermined
|
|
comes, between these two fires the
|
|
earth and all the works therein shall be burnt
|
|
up, as the flood was brought upon the old
|
|
world out of the fountains of the great deep
|
|
and through the windows of heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 In the selfsame day entered
|
|
Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth,
|
|
the sons of Noah, and Noah's
|
|
wife, and the three wives of his sons
|
|
with them, into the ark;
|
|
14 They,
|
|
and every beast after his kind, and
|
|
all the cattle after their kind, and
|
|
every creeping thing that creepeth
|
|
upon the earth after his kind, and
|
|
every fowl after his kind, every bird
|
|
of every sort.
|
|
15 And they went
|
|
in unto Noah into the ark, two and
|
|
two of all flesh, wherein <I>is</I> the breath
|
|
of life.
|
|
16 And they that went in,
|
|
went in male and female of all flesh,
|
|
as God had commanded him: and
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shut him in.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is repeated what was related before
|
|
of Noah's entrance into the ark, with his family
|
|
and creatures that were marked for
|
|
preservation. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. It is thus repeated for the honour of
|
|
Noah, whose faith and obedience herein shone
|
|
so brightly, by which he obtained a good report,
|
|
and who herein appeared so great a favourite
|
|
of Heaven and so great a blessing to
|
|
this earth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Notice is here taken of the beasts going
|
|
in <I>each after his kind,</I> according to the
|
|
phrase used in the history of the creation
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:21-25"><I>ch.</I> i. 21-25</A>),
|
|
to intimate that just as many kinds
|
|
as were created at first were saved now, and
|
|
no more; and that this preservation was as a
|
|
new creation: a life remarkably protected is,
|
|
as it were, a new life.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Though all enmities and hostilities
|
|
between the creatures ceased for the present,
|
|
and ravenous creatures were not only so mild
|
|
and manageable as that the <I>wolf and the lamb
|
|
lay down together,</I> but so strangely altered as
|
|
that the <I>lion did eat straw like an ox</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+11:6,7">Isa. xi. 6, 7</A>),
|
|
yet, when this occasion was over, the
|
|
restraint was taken off, and they were still of
|
|
the same kind as ever; for the ark did not
|
|
alter their constitution. Hypocrites in the
|
|
church, that externally conform to the laws
|
|
of that ark, may yet be unchanged, and then
|
|
it will appear, one time or other, what kind
|
|
they are after.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. It is added (and the circumstance deserves
|
|
our notice), <I>The Lord shut him in,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
As Noah continued his obedience to God, so
|
|
God continued his care of Noah: and here
|
|
it appeared to be a very distinguishing care;
|
|
for the shutting of this door set up a partition
|
|
wall between him and all the world besides.
|
|
God shut the door,
|
|
|
|
1. To secure him, and
|
|
keep him safe in the ark. The door must be
|
|
shut very <I>close,</I> lest the waters should break
|
|
in and sink the ark, and very <I>fast,</I> lest any
|
|
without should break it down. Thus God
|
|
made up Noah, as he <I>makes up his jewels,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:17">Mal. iii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. To exclude all others, and
|
|
keep them for ever out. Hitherto the door
|
|
of the ark stood open, and if any, even during
|
|
the last seven days, had repented and
|
|
believed, for aught I know they might have
|
|
been welcomed into the ark; but now the
|
|
door was shut, and they were cut off from all
|
|
hopes of admittance: for God <I>shutteth, and
|
|
none can open.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. There is much of our gospel duty and
|
|
privilege to be seen in Noah's preservation in
|
|
the ark. The apostle makes it a type of our
|
|
baptism, that is, our Christianity,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+3:20,21">1 Pet. iii. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
Observe then,
|
|
|
|
1. It is our great
|
|
duty, in obedience to the gospel call, by a
|
|
lively faith in Christ, to come into that way
|
|
of salvation which God has provided for poor
|
|
sinners. When Noah came into the ark, he
|
|
quitted his own house and lands; so must
|
|
we quit our own righteousness and our
|
|
worldly possessions, whenever they come into
|
|
competition with Christ. Noah must, for a
|
|
while, submit to the confinements and inconveniences
|
|
of the ark, in order to his preservation
|
|
for a new world; so those that come
|
|
into Christ to be saved by him must deny
|
|
themselves, both in sufferings and services.
|
|
|
|
2. Those that come into the ark themselves
|
|
should bring as many as they can in with
|
|
them, by good instructions, by persuasions,
|
|
and by a good example. <I>What knowest thou,
|
|
O man, but thou mayest thus save thy wife</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:16">1 Cor. vii. 16</A>),
|
|
as Noah did his? There is
|
|
room enough in Christ for all comers.
|
|
|
|
3. Those that by faith come into Christ, the ark,
|
|
shall by the power of God be shut in, and
|
|
kept as in a strong-hold <I>by the power of God,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:5">1 Pet. i. 5</A>.
|
|
God put Adam into paradise, but he
|
|
did not shut him in, and so he threw himself out;
|
|
but when he put Noah into the ark he shut him
|
|
in, and so when he brings a soul to Christ
|
|
he ensures its salvation: it is not in our own
|
|
keeping, but in the Mediator's hand.
|
|
|
|
4. The
|
|
door of mercy will shortly be shut against
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page62"> </A>
|
|
|
|
those that now make light of it. Now, <I>knock
|
|
and it shall be opened;</I> but the time will come
|
|
when it shall not,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:25">Luke xiii. 25</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 And the flood was forty days
|
|
upon the earth; and the waters increased,
|
|
and bare up the ark, and it
|
|
was lift up above the earth.
|
|
18 And
|
|
the waters prevailed, and were increased
|
|
greatly upon the earth; and
|
|
the ark went upon the face of the
|
|
waters.
|
|
19 And the waters prevailed
|
|
exceedingly upon the earth; and all
|
|
the high hills, that <I>were</I> under the
|
|
whole heaven, were covered.
|
|
20 Fifteen
|
|
cubits upward did the waters prevail;
|
|
and the mountains were covered.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We are here told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How long the flood was increasing--<I>forty
|
|
days,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
The profane world, who
|
|
believed not that it would come, probably
|
|
when it came flattered themselves with hopes
|
|
that it would soon abate and never come to
|
|
extremity; but still it increased, it prevailed.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. When God judges he will overcome.
|
|
If he begin, he will make an end; his way is
|
|
perfect, both in judgment and mercy.
|
|
|
|
2. The
|
|
gradual approaches and advances of God's
|
|
judgments, which are designed to bring sinners
|
|
to repentance, are often abused to the
|
|
hardening of them in their presumption.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. To what degree they increased: they
|
|
rose so high that not only the low flat countries
|
|
were deluged, but to make sure work,
|
|
and that none might escape, the tops of the
|
|
highest mountains were overflowed--<I>fifteen
|
|
cubits,</I> that is, seven yards and a half; so that
|
|
<I>in vain was salvation hoped for from hills or
|
|
mountains,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:23">Jer. iii. 23</A>.
|
|
None of God's creatures
|
|
are so high but his power can overtop
|
|
them; and he will make them know that
|
|
wherein they deal proudly he is above them.
|
|
Perhaps the tops of the mountains were
|
|
washed down by the strength of the waters,
|
|
which helped much towards the prevailing of
|
|
the waters above them; for it is said
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:15">Job xii. 15</A>),
|
|
<I>He sends out the waters,</I> and they not
|
|
only overflow, but overturn, the earth. Thus
|
|
the refuge of lies was swept away, and the
|
|
waters overflowed the hiding-place of those
|
|
sinners
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:17">Isa. xxviii. 17</A>),
|
|
and in vain they fly to
|
|
them for safety,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:16">Rev. vi. 16</A>.
|
|
Now the mountains
|
|
departed, and the hills were removed,
|
|
and nothing stood a man in stead but the
|
|
<I>covenant of peace,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:10">Isa. liv. 10</A>.
|
|
There is no
|
|
place on earth so high as to set men out of
|
|
the reach of God's judgments,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+49:16,Ob+1:3,4">Jer. xlix. 16; Obad. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
God's hand will <I>find out all his
|
|
enemies,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:8">Ps. xxi. 8</A>.
|
|
Observe how exactly they
|
|
are fathomed (<I>fifteen cubits</I>), not by Noah's
|
|
plummet, but by his knowledge who <I>weighs
|
|
the waters by measure,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:25">Job xxviii. 25</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. What became of Noah's ark when the
|
|
waters thus increased: <I>It was lifted up above
|
|
the earth</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
<I>and went upon the face of the
|
|
waters,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
When all other buildings were
|
|
demolished by the waters, and buried under
|
|
them, the ark alone subsisted. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The waters which broke down every thing
|
|
else bore up the ark. That which to unbelievers
|
|
is a savour of death unto death is
|
|
to the faithful a savour of life unto life.
|
|
|
|
2. The more the waters increased the higher
|
|
the ark was lifted up towards heaven. Thus
|
|
sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions;
|
|
and as troubles abound consolations much
|
|
more abound.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge7_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And all flesh died that moved
|
|
upon the earth, both of fowl, and of
|
|
cattle, and of beast, and of every
|
|
creeping thing that creepeth upon the
|
|
earth, and every man:
|
|
22 All in
|
|
whose nostrils <I>was</I> the breath of life,
|
|
of all that <I>was</I> in the dry <I>land,</I> died.
|
|
23 And every living substance was
|
|
destroyed which was upon the face of
|
|
the ground, both man, and cattle,
|
|
and the creeping things, and the fowl
|
|
of the heaven; and they were destroyed
|
|
from the earth: and Noah
|
|
only remained <I>alive,</I> and they that
|
|
<I>were</I> with him in the ark.
|
|
24 And
|
|
the waters prevailed upon the earth
|
|
a hundred and fifty days.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The general destruction of all
|
|
flesh by the waters of the flood. <I>Come, and
|
|
see the desolations which God makes in the
|
|
earth</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+46:8">Ps. xlvi. 8</A>),
|
|
and how he lays heaps upon
|
|
heaps. Never did death triumph, from its
|
|
first entrance unto this day, as it did then.
|
|
Come, and see Death upon his pale horse, and
|
|
hell following with him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:7,8">Rev. vi. 7, 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. All the cattle, fowl, and creeping things,
|
|
died, except the few that were in the ark.
|
|
Observe how this is repeated: <I>All flesh died,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
<I>All in whose nostrils was the breath of
|
|
life, of all that was on the dry land,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
<I>Every living substance,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
And why so?
|
|
Man only had done wickedly, and justly is
|
|
God's hand against him; but <I>these sheep,
|
|
what have they done?</I> I answer,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We are
|
|
sure God did them no wrong. He is the
|
|
sovereign Lord of all life, for he is the sole
|
|
fountain and author of it. He that made
|
|
them as he pleased might unmake them when
|
|
he pleased; and who shall say unto him,
|
|
<I>What doest thou?</I> May he not do what he
|
|
will with his own, which were created for his
|
|
pleasure?
|
|
|
|
(2.) God did admirably serve the
|
|
purposes of his own glory by their destruction,
|
|
as well as by their creation. Herein his
|
|
holiness and justice were greatly magnified;
|
|
by this it appears that he hates sin, and is
|
|
highly displeased with sinners, when even the
|
|
inferior creatures, because they are the servants
|
|
of man and part of his possession, and
|
|
because they have been abused to be the servants
|
|
of sin, are destroyed with him. This
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page63"> </A>
|
|
|
|
makes the judgment the more remarkable,
|
|
the more dreadful, and, consequently, the
|
|
more expressive of God's wrath and vengeance.
|
|
The destruction of the creatures was
|
|
their deliverance from the bondage of corruption,
|
|
which deliverance the whole creation
|
|
now groans after,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:21,22">Rom. viii. 21, 22</A>.
|
|
It was
|
|
likewise an instance of God's wisdom. As
|
|
the creatures were made for man when he
|
|
was made, so they were multiplied for him
|
|
when he was multiplied; and therefore, now
|
|
that mankind was reduced to so small a
|
|
number, it was fit that the beasts should proportionably
|
|
be reduced, otherwise they would
|
|
have had the dominion, and would have replenished
|
|
the earth, and the remnant of mankind
|
|
that was left would have been overpowered
|
|
by them. See how God considered
|
|
this in another case,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:29">Exod. xxiii. 29</A>,
|
|
<I>Lest the
|
|
beast of the field multiply against thee.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. All the men, women, and children, that
|
|
were in the world (except that were in the
|
|
ark) died. <I>Every man</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>
|
|
and
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
and perhaps they were as many as are now upon
|
|
the face of the earth, if not more. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) We may easily imagine what terror and
|
|
consternation seized on them when they saw
|
|
themselves surrounded. Our Saviour tells
|
|
us that till the very day that the flood came
|
|
they were <I>eating and drinking</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+17:26,27">Luke xvii. 26, 27</A>);
|
|
they were drowned in security and sensuality
|
|
before they were drowned in those
|
|
waters, crying <I>Peace, peace,</I> to themselves,
|
|
deaf and blind to all divine warnings. In
|
|
this posture death surprised them, as
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+30:16,17">1 Sam. xxx. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
But O what an amazement were
|
|
they in then! Now they see and feel that
|
|
which they would not believe and fear, and
|
|
are convinced of their folly when it is too
|
|
late; now they find no place for repentance,
|
|
though they seek it carefully with tears.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We may suppose that they tried all ways
|
|
and means possible for their preservation, but
|
|
all in vain. Some climb to the tops of trees
|
|
or mountains, and spin out their terrors there
|
|
awhile. But the flood reaches them, at last,
|
|
and they are forced to die with the more
|
|
deliberation. Some, it is likely, cling to the
|
|
ark, and now hope that this may be their
|
|
safety which they had so long made their
|
|
sport. Perhaps some get to the top of the
|
|
ark, and hope to shift for themselves there;
|
|
but either they perish there for want of food,
|
|
or, by a speedier despatch, a dash of rain
|
|
washes them off that deck. Others, it may
|
|
be, hoped to prevail with Noah for admission
|
|
into the ark, and pleaded old acquaintance,
|
|
<I>Have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence?
|
|
Hast thou not taught in our streets?</I> "Yes,"
|
|
might Noah say, "that I have, many a time,
|
|
to little purpose. <I>I called but you refused;
|
|
you set at nought all my counsel</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:24,25">Prov. i. 24, 25</A>),
|
|
and now it is not in my power to help
|
|
you: God has shut the door, and I cannot
|
|
open it." Thus it will be at the great day.
|
|
Neither climbing high in an outward profession,
|
|
nor claiming relation to good people,
|
|
will bring men to heaven,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:22,25:8-9">Matt. vii. 22; xxv. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
Those that are not found in Christ,
|
|
the ark, are certainly undone, undone for
|
|
ever; salvation itself cannot save them. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:3">Isa. x. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We may suppose that some
|
|
of those that perished in the deluge had
|
|
themselves assisted Noah, or were employed
|
|
by him, in the building of the ark, and yet
|
|
were not so wise as by repentance to secure
|
|
themselves a place in it. Thus wicked ministers,
|
|
though they may have been instrumental
|
|
to help others to heaven, will themselves
|
|
be thrust down to hell.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Let us now pause awhile and consider this
|
|
tremendous judgment! Let our hearts meditate
|
|
terror, the terror of this destruction.
|
|
Let us see, and say, <I>It is a fearful thing to
|
|
fall into the hands of the living God; who can
|
|
stand before him when he is angry?</I> Let us
|
|
see and say, <I>It is an evil thing, and a bitter,
|
|
to depart from God.</I> The sin of sinners will,
|
|
without repentance, be their ruin, first or last;
|
|
if God be true, it will. <I>Though hand join in
|
|
hand, yet the wicked shall not go unpunished.</I>
|
|
The righteous God knows how to bring a
|
|
flood upon the world of the ungodly,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:5">2 Pet. ii. 5</A>.
|
|
Eliphaz appeals to this story as a standing
|
|
warning to a careless world
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:15,16">Job xxii. 15, 16</A>),
|
|
<I>Hast thou marked the old way, which
|
|
wicked men have trodden, who were cut down
|
|
out of time,</I> and sent into eternity, <I>whose
|
|
foundation was overflown with the flood?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The special preservation of Noah and
|
|
his family: <I>Noah only remained alive, and
|
|
those that were with him in the ark,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Noah lives. When all about him
|
|
were monuments of justice, thousands falling
|
|
on his right hand and ten thousands on his
|
|
left, he was a monument of mercy. Only
|
|
with his eyes might he <I>behold and see the
|
|
reward of the wicked,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+91:7,8">Ps. xci. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
<I>In the
|
|
floods of great waters, they did not come nigh
|
|
him,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:6">Ps. xxxii. 6</A>.
|
|
We have reason to think
|
|
that, while the long-suffering of God waited,
|
|
Noah not only preached to, but prayed for,
|
|
that wicked world, and would have turned
|
|
away the wrath; but his prayers return into
|
|
his own bosom, and are answered only in his
|
|
own escape, which is plainly referred to,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:14">Ezek. xiv. 14</A>,
|
|
<I>Noah, Daniel, and Job, shall
|
|
but deliver their own souls.</I> A mark of honour
|
|
shall be set on intercessors.
|
|
|
|
2. He but lives.
|
|
Noah remains alive, and this is all; he is, in
|
|
effect, buried alive--cooped up in a close
|
|
place, alarmed with the terrors of the descending
|
|
rain, the increasing flood, and the
|
|
shrieks and outcries of his perishing neighbours,
|
|
his heart overwhelmed with melancholy
|
|
thoughts of the desolations made. But
|
|
he comforts himself with this, that he is in
|
|
the way of duty and in the way of deliverance.
|
|
And we are taught
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+45:4,5">Jer. xlv. 4, 5</A>)
|
|
that when desolating judgments are abroad
|
|
we must not seek great nor pleasant things
|
|
to ourselves, but reckon it an unspeakable
|
|
favour if we have our lives given us for a
|
|
prey.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC01006.HTM">Previous</A>]
|
|
[<A HREF="MHC01008.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
|
|
Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
|
|
<TR>
|
|
<TD ALIGN="CENTER" VALIGN="BOTTOM">
|
|
|
|
<!--Matthew_Henry's_Commentary_on_the_Whole_Bible:_Genesis_VII.--><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank"><b>Back to Bibles Net . Com - Online Christian Library </b></a><br>
|
|
<a href="http://biblesnet.com/download.html" target="_blank"><br>
|
|
<b>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Free Download</b></a><br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<A HREF="http://biblesnet.com/contactus.html" target="_blank"><strong>Contact Us </strong></A><br>
|
|
|
|
</TD></TR></TABLE>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|