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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter VI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC01005.HTM">Previous</A>]
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page51"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The most remarkable thing we have upon record concerning the
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old world is the destruction of it by the universal deluge, the
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account of which commences in this chapter, wherein we have,
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I. The abounding iniquity of that wicked world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>,
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and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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II. The righteous God's just resentment of that
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abounding iniquity, and his holy resolution to punish
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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III. The special favour of God to his servant Noah.
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1. In
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the character given of him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>.
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2. In the communication
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of God's purpose to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:13,17">ver. 13, 17</A>.
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3. In the directions he
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gave him to make an ark for his own safety,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>.
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4. In
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the employing of him for the preservation of the rest of the
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creatures,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:18-21">ver. 18-21</A>.
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Lastly, Noah's obedience to the instructions
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given him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:22">ver. 22</A>.
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And this concerning the old world
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is written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the new
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world have come.</P></FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Depravity of the World.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2469.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass, when men
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began to multiply on the face
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of the earth, and daughters were
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born unto them,
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2 That the sons of
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God saw the daughters of men that
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they <I>were</I> fair; and they took them
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wives of all which they chose.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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For the glory of God's justice, and for
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warning to a wicked world, before the history
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of the ruin of the old world, we have a full
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account of its degeneracy, its apostasy from
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God and rebellion against him. The destroying
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of it was an act, not of an absolute sovereignty,
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but of necessary justice, for the
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maintaining of the honour of God's government.
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Now here we have an account of two
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things which occasioned the wickedness of
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the old world:--
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1. The increase of mankind:
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<I>Men began to multiply upon the face of the
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earth.</I> This was the effect of the blessing
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:28"><I>ch.</I> i. 28</A>),
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and yet man's corruption so abused
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and perverted this blessing that it was turned
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into a curse. Thus sin takes occasion by
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the mercies of God to be the more exceedingly
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sinful.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+29:16">Prov. xxix. 16</A>,
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<I>When the wicked are
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multiplied, transgression increaseth.</I> The more
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sinners the more sin; and the multitude of offenders
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emboldens men. Infectious diseases
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are most destructive in populous cities;
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and sin is a spreading leprosy. Thus in the
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New-Testament church, <I>when the number of
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the disciples was multiplied, there arose a
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murmuring</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+6:1">Acts vi. 1</A>),
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and we read of a
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nation that was multiplied, not to the increase
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of their joy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:3">Isa. ix. 3</A>.
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Numerous families
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need to be well-governed, lest they become
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wicked families.
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2. Mixed marriages
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>The sons of God</I> (that is, the professors of
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religion, who were called by the name of the
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Lord, and called upon that name), <I>married
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the daughters of men,</I> that is, those that were
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profane, and strangers to God and godliness.
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The posterity of Seth did not keep by themselves,
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as they ought to have done, both for
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the preservation of their own purity and in
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detestation of the apostasy. They intermingled
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themselves with the excommunicated
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race of Cain: <I>They took them wives of all
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that they chose.</I> But what was amiss in these
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marriages?
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(1.) They chose only by the
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eye: <I>They saw that they were fair,</I> which was
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all they looked at.
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(2.) They followed the
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choice which their own corrupt affections
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made: they took <I>all that they chose,</I> without
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advice and consideration. But,
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(3.) That
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which proved of such bad consequence to
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them was that they <I>married strange wives,
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were unequally yoked with unbelievers,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+6:14">2 Cor. vi. 14</A>.
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This was forbidden to Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:3,4">Deut. vii. 3, 4</A>.
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It was the unhappy occasion of
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Solomon's apostasy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:1-4">1 Kings xi. 1-4</A>),
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and was of bad consequence to the Jews after
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their return out of Babylon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+9:1,2">Ezra ix. 1, 2</A>.
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Note, Professors of religion, in marrying
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both themselves and their children, should
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make conscience of keeping within the bounds
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of profession. The bad will sooner debauch
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the good than the good reform the bad.
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Those that profess themselves the children
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of God must not marry without his consent,
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which they have not if they join in affinity
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with his enemies.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge6_3"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, My spirit
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shall not always strive with man, for
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that he also <I>is</I> flesh: yet his days
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shall be a hundred and twenty years.</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This comes in here as a token of God's
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displeasure at those who married strange
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wives; he threatens to withdraw from them
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his Spirit, whom they had grieved by such
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marriages, contrary to their convictions:
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fleshly lusts are often punished with spiritual
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judgments, the sorest of all judgments. Or
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as another occasion of the great wickedness
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of the old world; the Spirit of the Lord,
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being provoked by their resistance of his
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motions, ceased to strive with them, and then
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all religion was soon lost among them. This
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he warns them of before, that they might not
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further vex his Holy Spirit, but by their
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prayers might stay him with them. Observe
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in this verse,</P>
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<P>
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I. God's resolution not always to strive
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with man by his Spirit. The Spirit then
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strove by Noah's preaching
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+3:19,20">1 Pet. iii. 19, 20</A>)
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and by inward checks, but it was in vain
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with the most of men; therefore, says God,
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<I>He shall not always strive.</I> Note,
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1. The
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<A NAME="Page52"> </A>
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blessed Spirit strives with sinners, by the
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convictions and admonitions of conscience,
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to turn them from sin to God.
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2. If the
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Spirit be resisted, quenched, and striven
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against, though he strive long, he will not
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strive always,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:17">Hos. iv. 17</A>.
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3. Those are
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ripening apace for ruin whom the Spirit of
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grace has left off striving with.</P>
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<P>
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II. The reason of this resolution: <I>For that
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he also is flesh,</I> that is, incurably corrupt, and
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carnal, and sensual, so that it is labour lost
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to strive with him. Can the Ethiopian
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change his skin? <I>He also,</I> that is, All, one
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as well as another, they have all sunk into
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the mire of flesh. Note,
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1. It is the corrupt
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nature, and the inclination of the soul towards
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the flesh, that oppose the Spirit's
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strivings and render them ineffectual.
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2. When a sinner has long adhered to that
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interest, and sided with the flesh against the
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Spirit, the Spirit justly withdraws his agency,
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and strives no more. None lose the Spirit's
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strivings but those that have first forfeited
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them.</P>
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<P>
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III. A reprieve granted, notwithstanding:
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<I>Yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty
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years;</I> so long I will defer the judgment
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they deserve, and give them space to prevent
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it by their repentance and reformation. Justice
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said, <I>Cut them down;</I> but mercy interceded,
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<I>Lord, let them alone this year also;</I>
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and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve
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was obtained for six-score years. Note, The
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time of God's patience and forbearance towards
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provoking sinners is sometimes long,
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but always limited: reprieves are not pardons;
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though God bear a great while, he will not
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bear always.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge6_5"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 There were giants in the earth
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in those days; and also after that,
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when the sons of God came in unto
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the daughters of men, and they bare
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<I>children</I> to them, the same <I>became</I>
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mighty men which <I>were</I> of old, men
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of renown.
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5 And G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> saw that
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the wickedness of man <I>was</I> great in
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the earth, and <I>that</I> every imagination
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|
of the thoughts of his heart <I>was</I> only
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evil continually.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a further account of the
|
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corruption of the old world. When the <I>sons
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of God</I> had matched with the <I>daughters of
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men,</I> though it was very displeasing to God,
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yet he did not immediately cut them off, but
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waited to see what would be the issue of
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these marriages, and which side the children
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would take after; and it proved (as usually
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it does), that they took after the worst side.
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Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The temptation they were under to
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oppress and do violence. They were <I>giants,</I>
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and they were <I>men of renown;</I> they became
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too hard for all about them, and carried all
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before them, 1. With their great bulk, as
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the sons of Anak,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+13:33">Num. xiii. 33</A>.
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2. With
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their great name, as the king of Assyria,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:11">Isa. xxxvii. 11</A>.
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These made them the <I>terror
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of the mighty in the land of the living;</I> and,
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thus armed, they daringly insulted the rights
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of all their neighbours and trampled upon
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all that is just and sacred. Note, Those
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that have so much power over others as to
|
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be able to oppress them have seldom so
|
|
much power over themselves as not to oppress;
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great might is a very great snare to many.
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This degenerate race slighted the honour
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their ancestors had obtained by virtue and
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|
religion, and made themselves a great name
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by that which was the perpetual ruin of
|
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their good name.</P>
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<P>
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II. The charge exhibited and proved
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against them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The evidence produced
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was incontestable. God saw it, and that
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was instead of a thousand witnesses. God
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sees all the wickedness that is among the
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children of men; it cannot be concealed from
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him now, and, if it be not repented of, it
|
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shall not be concealed by him shortly. Now
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|
what did God take notice of?
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1. He observed
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|
that the streams of sin that flowed along in
|
|
men's lives, and the breadth and depth of
|
|
those streams: He <I>saw that the wickedness
|
|
of man was great in the earth.</I> Observe the
|
|
connection of this with what goes before:
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the oppressors were <I>mighty men and men of
|
|
renown;</I> and, <I>then, God saw that the wickedness
|
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of man was great.</I> Note, The wickedness
|
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of a people is great indeed when the
|
|
most notorious sinners are men of renown
|
|
among them. Things are bad when bad
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|
men are not only honoured notwithstanding
|
|
their wickedness, but honoured for their
|
|
wickedness, and the vilest men exalted.
|
|
Wickedness is then great when great men
|
|
are wicked. Their wickedness was great,
|
|
that is, abundance of sin was committed in
|
|
all places, by all sorts of people; and such
|
|
sin as was in its own nature most gross, and
|
|
heinous, and provoking; it was committed
|
|
daringly, and with a defiance of heaven, nor
|
|
was any care taken by those that had power
|
|
in their hands to restrain and punish it.
|
|
This God saw. Note, All the sins of sinners
|
|
are known to God the Judge. Those that
|
|
are most conversant in the world, though
|
|
they see much wickedness in it, yet they
|
|
see but little of that which is; but God sees
|
|
all, and judges aright concerning it, how
|
|
great it is, nor can he be deceived in his
|
|
judgment.
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2. He observed the fountain of
|
|
sin that was in men's hearts. Any one might
|
|
see that <I>the wickedness of man was great,</I> for
|
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they declared their sin as Sodom; but God's
|
|
eye went further: <I>He saw that every imagination
|
|
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
|
|
continually</I>--a sad sight, and very offensive
|
|
to God's holy eye! This was the bitter root,
|
|
the corrupt spring: all the violence and
|
|
oppression, all the luxury and wantonness,
|
|
that were in the world, proceeded from the
|
|
corruption of nature; lust conceived them,
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page53"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:15">Jam. i. 15</A>.
|
|
See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:19">Matt. xv. 19</A>.
|
|
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|
(1.) The heart was naught; it was deceitful and desperately
|
|
wicked. The principles were corrupt,
|
|
and the habits and dispositions evil.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The thoughts of the heart were so.
|
|
Thought is sometimes taken for the settled
|
|
judgment or opinion, and this was bribed,
|
|
and biased, and misled; sometimes it signifies
|
|
the workings of the fancy, and these were
|
|
always either vain or vile, either weaving the
|
|
spider's web or hatching the cockatrice's egg.
|
|
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|
(3.) The imagination of the thoughts of the
|
|
heart was so, that is, their designs and
|
|
devices were wicked. They did not do evil
|
|
through mere carelessness, as those that
|
|
walk at all adventures, not heeding what
|
|
they do; but they did evil deliberately and
|
|
designedly, contriving how to do mischief.
|
|
It was bad indeed; for it was only evil, continually
|
|
evil, and every imagination was so.
|
|
There was no good to be found among them,
|
|
no, not at any time: the stream of sin was
|
|
full, and strong, and constant; and God saw
|
|
it; see
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:1-3">Ps. xiv. 1-3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_6"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_7"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mankind Threatened with Destruction.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2469.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And it repented the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> that
|
|
he had made man on the earth, and
|
|
it grieved him at his heart.
|
|
7 And
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, I will destroy man
|
|
whom I have created from the face of
|
|
the earth; both man, and beast, and
|
|
the creeping thing, and the fowls of
|
|
the air; for it repenteth me that I
|
|
have made them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. God's resentment of man's
|
|
wickedness. He did not see it as an unconcerned
|
|
spectator, but as one injured and
|
|
affronted by it; he saw it as a tender father
|
|
sees the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious
|
|
and disobedient child, which not
|
|
only angers him, but grieves him, and makes
|
|
him wish he had been written childless.
|
|
The expressions here used are very strange:
|
|
<I>It repented the Lord that he had made man
|
|
upon the earth,</I> that he had made a creature
|
|
of such noble powers and faculties, and had
|
|
put him on this earth, which he built and
|
|
furnished on purpose to be a convenient,
|
|
comfortable, habitation for him; <I>and it
|
|
grieved him at his heart.</I> These are expressions
|
|
after the manner of men, and
|
|
must be understood so as not to reflect upon
|
|
the honour of God's immutability or felicity.
|
|
|
|
1. This language does not imply
|
|
any passion or uneasiness in God (nothing
|
|
can create disturbance to the Eternal Mind),
|
|
but it expresses his just and holy displeasure
|
|
against sin and sinners, against sin as odious
|
|
to his holiness and against sinners as obnoxious
|
|
to his justice. He is pressed by
|
|
the sins of his creatures
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+2:13">Amos ii. 13</A>),
|
|
wearied
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:24">Isa. xliii. 24</A>),
|
|
broken
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+6:9">Ezek. vi. 9</A>),
|
|
grieved
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:10">Ps. cxv. 10</A>),
|
|
and here <I>grieved to
|
|
the heart,</I> as men are when they are wronged
|
|
and abused by those they have been very
|
|
kind to, and therefore repent of their kindness,
|
|
and wish they had never fostered that
|
|
snake in their bosom which now hisses in
|
|
their face and stings them to the heart.
|
|
Does God thus hate sin? And shall we not
|
|
hate it? Has our sin grieved him to the
|
|
heart? And shall we not be grieved and
|
|
pricked to the heart for it? O that this
|
|
consideration may humble us and shame us,
|
|
and that we may look on him whom we
|
|
have thus grieved, and mourn!
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+12:10">Zech. xii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. It does not imply any change of God's
|
|
mind; for <I>he is in one mind, and who can
|
|
turn him?</I> With him <I>there is not variableness.</I>
|
|
But it expressed a change of his way.
|
|
When God had made man upright, <I>he rested
|
|
and was refreshed</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+31:17">Exod. xxxi. 17</A>),
|
|
and his
|
|
way towards him was such as showed he
|
|
was pleased with the work of his own hands;
|
|
but, now that man had apostatized, he could
|
|
not do otherwise than show himself displeased;
|
|
so that the change was in man,
|
|
not in God. God repented that he had
|
|
made man; but we never find him repenting
|
|
that he redeemed man (though that was a
|
|
work of much greater expense), because
|
|
special and effectual grace is given to secure
|
|
the great ends of redemption; so that those
|
|
<I>gifts and callings are without repentance,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:29">Rom. xi. 29</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God's resolution to destroy man for
|
|
his wickedness,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. When God
|
|
repented that he had made man, he resolved
|
|
to destroy man. Thus those that truly repent
|
|
of sin will resolve, in the strength of
|
|
God's grace, to mortify sin and to destroy
|
|
it, and so to undo what they have done
|
|
amiss. We do but mock God in saying
|
|
that we are sorry for our sin, and that it
|
|
grieves us to the heart, if we continue to
|
|
indulge it. In vain do we pretend a change
|
|
of our mind if we do not evidence it by a
|
|
change of our way.
|
|
|
|
2. He resolves to destroy
|
|
man. The original word is very significant:
|
|
<I>I will wipe off man from the earth</I>
|
|
(so some), as dirt or filth is wiped off from
|
|
a place which should be clean, and is thrown
|
|
to the dunghill, the proper place for it. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:13">2 Kings xxi. 13</A>.
|
|
Those that are the spots
|
|
of the places they live in are justly wiped
|
|
away by the judgments of God. <I>I will blot
|
|
out man from the earth</I> (so others), as those
|
|
lines which displease the author are blotted
|
|
out a book, or as the name of a citizen is
|
|
blotted out of the rolls of the freemen, when
|
|
he is dead or disfranchised.
|
|
|
|
3. He speaks
|
|
of man as his own creature even when he
|
|
resolves upon his ruin: <I>Man whom I have
|
|
created.</I> "Though I have created him, this
|
|
shall not excuse him,"
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:11">Isa. xxvii. 11</A>.
|
|
<I>He that made him will not save him;</I> he that is
|
|
our Creator, if he be not our ruler, will be
|
|
our destroyer. Or, "Because I have created
|
|
him, and he has been so undutiful and ungrateful
|
|
to his Creator, therefore I will destroy
|
|
him:" those forfeit their lives that do
|
|
not answer the end of their living.
|
|
|
|
4. Even
|
|
the brute-creatures were to be involved in
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page54"> </A>
|
|
|
|
this destruction--<I>Beasts, and creeping things,
|
|
and the fowls of the air.</I> These were made for
|
|
man, and therefore must be destroyed with
|
|
man; for it follows: <I>It repenteth me that I
|
|
have made them;</I> for the end of their creation
|
|
also was frustrated. They were made that
|
|
man might serve and honour God with
|
|
them; and therefore were destroyed because
|
|
he had served his lusts with them, and made
|
|
them subject to vanity.
|
|
|
|
5. God took up
|
|
this resolution concerning man after his
|
|
Spirit had been long striving with him in
|
|
vain. None are ruined by the justice of
|
|
God but those that hate to be reformed by
|
|
the grace of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_10"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>8 But Noah found grace in the
|
|
eyes of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
9 These <I>are</I> the
|
|
generations of Noah: Noah was a
|
|
just man <I>and</I> perfect in his generations,
|
|
<I>and</I> Noah walked with God.
|
|
10 And Noah begat three sons,
|
|
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here Noah distinguished from
|
|
the rest of the world, and a peculiar mark of
|
|
honour put upon him.
|
|
|
|
1. When God was
|
|
displeased with the rest of the world, he favoured
|
|
Noah: <I>But Noah found grace in the
|
|
eyes of the Lord,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
This vindicates God's
|
|
justice in his displeasure against the world,
|
|
and shows that he had strictly examined the
|
|
character of every person in it before he pronounced
|
|
it universally corrupt; for, there
|
|
being one good man, he found him out, and
|
|
smiled upon him. It also magnifies his
|
|
grace towards Noah that he was made a vessel
|
|
of God's mercy when all mankind besides
|
|
had become the generation of his wrath:
|
|
distinguishing favours bring under peculiarly
|
|
strong obligations. Probably Noah did not
|
|
find favour in the eyes of men; they hated
|
|
and persecuted him, because both by his life
|
|
and preaching he <I>condemned the world. But
|
|
he found grace in the eyes of the Lord,</I> and
|
|
this was honour and comfort enough. God
|
|
made more account of Noah than of all the
|
|
world besides, and this made him greater
|
|
and more truly honourable than all the
|
|
giants that were in those days, who became
|
|
mighty men and men of renown. Let this
|
|
be the summit of our ambition, to <I>find grace
|
|
in the eyes of the Lord;</I> herein let us labour,
|
|
that, present or absent, we may be accepted
|
|
of him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:9">2 Cor. v. 9</A>.
|
|
Those are highly favoured
|
|
whom God favours.
|
|
|
|
2. When the
|
|
rest of the world was corrupt and wicked,
|
|
Noah kept his integrity: <I>These are the generations
|
|
of Noah</I> (this is the account we have
|
|
to give of him), <I>Noah was a just man,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
This character of Noah comes in here either,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As the reason of God's favour to him;
|
|
his singular piety qualified him for singular
|
|
tokens of God's loving-kindness. Those
|
|
that would find grace in the eyes of the
|
|
Lord must be as Noah was and do as Noah
|
|
did; God loves those that love him: or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) As the effect of God's favour to him. It was
|
|
God's good-will to him that produced this
|
|
good work in him. He was a very good
|
|
man, but he was no better than the grace of
|
|
God made him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:10">1 Cor. xv. 10</A>.
|
|
Now observe
|
|
his character.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He <I>was a just man,</I> that
|
|
is, justified before God by faith in the promised
|
|
seed; for he was an <I>heir of the righteousness
|
|
which is by faith,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:7">Heb. xi. 7</A>.
|
|
He was
|
|
sanctified, and had right principles and dispositions
|
|
implanted in him; and he was
|
|
righteous in his conversation, one that made
|
|
conscience of rendering to all their due, to
|
|
God his due and to men theirs. Note,
|
|
None but a downright honest man can
|
|
find favour with God. That conversation
|
|
which will be pleasing to God must be governed
|
|
by <I>simplicity and godly sincerity,</I> not
|
|
by <I>fleshly wisdom,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+1:12">2 Cor. i. 12</A>.
|
|
God has
|
|
sometimes chosen the foolish things of the
|
|
world, but he never chose the knavish things
|
|
of it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He was <I>perfect,</I> not with a sinless
|
|
perfection, but a perfection of sincerity;
|
|
and it is well for us that by virtue of the
|
|
covenant of grace, upon the score of Christ's
|
|
righteousness, sincerity is accepted as our
|
|
gospel perfection.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He <I>walked with God,</I>
|
|
as Enoch had done before him. He was
|
|
not only honest, but devout; he <I>walked,</I> that
|
|
is, he acted with God, as one always under
|
|
his eye. He lived a life of communion with
|
|
God; it was his constant care to conform
|
|
himself to the will of God, to please him,
|
|
and to approve himself to him. Note, God
|
|
looks down upon those with an eye of favour
|
|
who sincerely look up to him with an eye of
|
|
faith. But,
|
|
|
|
[4.] That which crowns his
|
|
character is that thus he was, and thus he
|
|
did, <I>in his generation,</I> in that corrupt degenerate
|
|
age in which his lot was cast. It is
|
|
easy to be religious when religion is in
|
|
fashion; but it is an evidence of strong faith
|
|
and resolution to swim against a stream to
|
|
heaven, and to appear for God when no one
|
|
else appears for him: so Noah did, and it
|
|
is upon record, to his immortal honour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Depravity of the World.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2448.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 The earth also was corrupt before
|
|
God, and the earth was filled
|
|
with violence.
|
|
12 And God looked
|
|
upon the earth, and, behold, it was
|
|
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted
|
|
his way upon the earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The wickedness of that generation is here
|
|
again spoken of, either as a foil to Noah's
|
|
piety--he was just and perfect, when all the
|
|
earth was corrupt; or as a further justification
|
|
of God's resolution to destroy the
|
|
world, which he was now about to communicate
|
|
to his servant Noah.
|
|
|
|
1. All kinds of
|
|
sin was found among them, for it is said
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
|
|
that the earth was,
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>Corrupt before
|
|
God,</I> that is, in the matters of God's worship;
|
|
either they had other gods before him,
|
|
or they worshipped him by images, or they
|
|
were corrupt and wicked in despite and
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page55"> </A>
|
|
|
|
contempt of God, daring him and defying him
|
|
to his face.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>The earth was also filled
|
|
with violence</I> and injustice towards men.
|
|
There was no order nor regular government;
|
|
no man was safe in the possession of that
|
|
which he had the most clear and incontestable
|
|
right to, no, not the most innocent life;
|
|
there was nothing but murders, rapes, and
|
|
rapine. Note, Wickedness, as it is the
|
|
shame of human nature, so it is the ruin of
|
|
human society. Take away conscience and
|
|
the fear of God, and men become beasts and
|
|
devils to one another, like the fishes of the
|
|
sea, where the greater devour the less. Sin
|
|
fills the earth with violence, and so turns the
|
|
world into a wilderness, into a cock-pit.
|
|
|
|
2. The proof and evidence of it were undeniable;
|
|
for <I>God looked upon the earth,</I> and was
|
|
himself an eye-witness of the corruption that was
|
|
in it, of which before,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
The righteous
|
|
Judge in all his judgments proceeds
|
|
upon the infallible certainty of his own omniscience,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:13">Ps. xxxiii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. That which
|
|
most aggravated the matter was the universal
|
|
spreading of the contagion: <I>All flesh had
|
|
corrupted his way.</I> It was not some particular
|
|
nations or cities that were thus wicked,
|
|
but the whole world of mankind were so;
|
|
there was none that did good, no, not one
|
|
besides Noah. Note, When wickedness has
|
|
become general and universal ruin is not far
|
|
off; while there is a remnant of praying
|
|
people in a nation, to empty the measure as
|
|
it fills, judgments may be kept off a great while;
|
|
but when all hands are at work to
|
|
pull down the fences by sin, and none stand
|
|
in the gap to make up the breach, what can
|
|
be expected but an inundation of wrath?</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Prediction of the Deluge.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2448.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 And God said unto 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.
|
|
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood;
|
|
rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
|
|
and shalt pitch it within and without
|
|
with pitch.
|
|
15 And this <I>is the fashion</I>
|
|
which thou shalt make it <I>of:</I> The
|
|
length of the ark <I>shall be</I> three hundred
|
|
cubits, the breadth of it fifty
|
|
cubits, and the height of it thirty
|
|
cubits.
|
|
16 A window shalt thou
|
|
make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt
|
|
thou finish it above; and the door of
|
|
the ark shalt thou set in the side
|
|
thereof; <I>with</I> lower, second, and
|
|
third <I>stories</I> shalt thou make it.
|
|
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring
|
|
a flood of waters upon the earth, to
|
|
destroy all flesh, wherein <I>is</I> the breath
|
|
of life, from under heaven; <I>and</I> every
|
|
thing that <I>is</I> 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.
|
|
19 And of every living thing of all
|
|
flesh, two of every <I>sort</I> shalt thou
|
|
bring into the ark, to keep <I>them</I> alive
|
|
with thee; they shall be male and
|
|
female.
|
|
20 Of fowls after their kind,
|
|
and of cattle after their kind, of every
|
|
creeping thing of the earth after his
|
|
kind, two of every <I>sort</I> shall come
|
|
unto thee, to keep <I>them</I> alive.
|
|
21 And take thou unto thee of all food
|
|
that is eaten, and thou shalt gather
|
|
<I>it</I> to thee; and it shall be for food
|
|
for thee, and for them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here it appears indeed that Noah <I>found
|
|
grace in the eyes of the Lord.</I> God's favour
|
|
to him was plainly intimated in what he
|
|
said of him,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>,
|
|
where his name is
|
|
mentioned five times in five lines, when
|
|
once might have served to make the sense
|
|
clear, as if the Holy Ghost took a pleasure
|
|
in perpetuating his memory; but it appears
|
|
much more in what he says to him in these
|
|
verses--the informations and instructions
|
|
here given him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God here makes Noah the <I>man of his
|
|
counsel,</I> communicating to him his purpose to
|
|
destroy this wicked world by water. As, afterwards,
|
|
he told Abraham his resolution concerning
|
|
Sodom
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:17"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 17</A>,
|
|
<I>Shall I hide from
|
|
Abraham?</I>) so here "Shall I hide from Noah
|
|
<I>the thing that I do,</I> seeing that he shall <I>become
|
|
a great nation?</I>" Note, <I>The secret of
|
|
the Lord is with those that fear him</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:14">Ps. xxv. 14</A>);
|
|
it was with <I>his servants the prophets</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:7">Amos iii. 7</A>),
|
|
by a spirit of revelation, informing
|
|
them particularly of his purposes;
|
|
it is with all believers by a spirit of wisdom
|
|
and faith, enabling them to understand and
|
|
apply the general declarations of the written
|
|
word, and the warnings there given. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God told Noah, in general, that he
|
|
would destroy the world
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
<I>The end of
|
|
all flesh has come before me; I will destroy
|
|
them;</I> that is, the ruin of this wicked
|
|
world is decreed and determined; <I>it has
|
|
come,</I> that is, it will come surely, and come
|
|
quickly. Noah, it is likely, in preaching to
|
|
his neighbours, had warned them, in general,
|
|
of the wrath of God that they would bring
|
|
upon themselves by their wickedness, and
|
|
now God seconds his endeavours by a particular
|
|
denunciation of wrath, that Noah
|
|
might try whether this would work upon
|
|
them. Hence observe, (1.) That God <I>confirmeth
|
|
the words of his messengers,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:26">Isa. xliv. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That <I>to him that has,</I> and
|
|
uses what he has for the good of others, <I>more
|
|
shall be given,</I> more full instructions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page56"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He told him, particularly, that he would
|
|
destroy the world by a flood of waters:
|
|
<I>And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of
|
|
waters upon the earth,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
God could
|
|
have destroyed all mankind by the sword of
|
|
an angel, a flaming sword turning every way,
|
|
as he destroyed all the first-born of the
|
|
Egyptians and the camp of the Assyrians;
|
|
and then there needed no more than to set a
|
|
mark upon Noah and his family for their
|
|
preservation. But God chose to do it by a
|
|
<I>flood of waters,</I> which should drown the
|
|
world. The reasons, we may be sure, were
|
|
wise and just, though to us unknown. God
|
|
has many arrows in his quiver, and he may
|
|
use which he please: as he chooses the rod
|
|
with which he will correct his children, so
|
|
he chooses the sword with which he will cut
|
|
off his enemies. Observe the manner of
|
|
expression: "<I>I, even I, do bring a flood;</I> I that
|
|
am infinite in power, and therefore <I>can</I> do
|
|
it, infinite in justice, and therefore <I>will</I> do it."
|
|
|
|
(1.) It intimates the certainty of the judgment:
|
|
<I>I, even I,</I> will do it. That cannot but
|
|
be done effectually which God himself undertakes
|
|
the doing of. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:10">Job xi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It intimates the tendency of it to God's
|
|
glory and the honour of his justice. Thus
|
|
he will be magnified and exalted in the earth,
|
|
and all the world shall be made to know that
|
|
he is the God <I>to whom vengeance belongs;</I>
|
|
methinks the expression here is somewhat
|
|
like that,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24">Isa. i. 24</A>,
|
|
<I>Ah, I will ease me of
|
|
mine adversaries.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God here makes Noah the <I>man of his
|
|
covenant,</I> another Hebrew periphrasis of a
|
|
friend
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
<I>But with thee will I establish
|
|
my covenant.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. The covenant of providence,
|
|
that the course of nature shall be continued
|
|
to the end of time, notwithstanding the interruption
|
|
which the flood would give to it.
|
|
This promise was immediately made to Noah and
|
|
his sons,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:8-11"><I>ch.</I> ix. 8</A>,
|
|
&c. They were as
|
|
trustees for all this part of the creation, and
|
|
a great honour was thereby put upon him
|
|
and his.
|
|
|
|
2. The covenant of grace, that
|
|
God would be to him a God and that out of
|
|
his seed God would take to himself a people.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) When God makes a covenant,
|
|
he establishes it, he makes it sure, he makes
|
|
it good; his are everlasting covenants.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The covenant of grace has in it the recompence
|
|
of singular services, and the fountain
|
|
and foundation of all distinguishing favours;
|
|
we need desire no more, either to make up
|
|
our losses for God or to make up a happiness
|
|
for us in God, than to have his covenant
|
|
established with us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. God here makes Noah a monument
|
|
of sparing mercy, by putting him in a way to
|
|
secure himself in the approaching deluge,
|
|
that he might not perish with the rest of the
|
|
world: <I>I will destroy them,</I> says God, <I>with
|
|
the earth,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
"But <I>make thee an ark;</I>
|
|
I will take care to preserve thee alive."
|
|
Note, Singular piety shall be recompensed
|
|
with distinguishing salvations, which are in
|
|
a special manner obliging. This will add
|
|
much to the honour and happiness of glorified
|
|
saints, that they shall be saved when
|
|
the greatest part of the world is left to perish.
|
|
Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God directs Noah to <I>make an ark,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:14-16"><I>v.</I> 14-16</A>.
|
|
This ark was like the hulk of a
|
|
ship, fitted not to sail upon the waters
|
|
(there was no occasion for that, when there
|
|
should be no shore to sail to), but to float
|
|
upon the waters, waiting for their fall. God
|
|
could have secured Noah by the ministration
|
|
of angels, without putting him to any care,
|
|
or pains, or trouble, himself; but he chose
|
|
to employ him in making that which was to
|
|
be the means of his preservation, both for
|
|
the trial of his faith and obedience and to
|
|
teach us that none shall be saved by Christ
|
|
but those only that <I>work out their salvation.</I>
|
|
We cannot do it without God, and he will
|
|
not without us. Both the providence of
|
|
God, and the grace of God, own and crown
|
|
the endeavours of the obedient and diligent.
|
|
God gave him very particular instructions
|
|
concerning this building, which could not
|
|
but be admirably well fitted for the purpose
|
|
when Infinite Wisdom itself was the architect.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It must be made of <I>gopher-wood.</I>
|
|
Noah, doubtless, knew what sort of wood
|
|
that was, though we now do not, whether
|
|
cedar, or cypress, or what other.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He
|
|
must make it three stories high within.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He must divide it into cabins, with partitions,
|
|
places fitted for the several sorts of
|
|
creatures, so as to lose no room.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Exact
|
|
dimensions were given him, that he might
|
|
make it proportionable, and might have room
|
|
enough in it to answer the intention and no
|
|
more. Note, Those that work for God must
|
|
take their measures from him and carefully
|
|
observe them. Note, further, It is fit that
|
|
he who appoints us our habitation should
|
|
fix the bounds and limits of it.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He must
|
|
<I>pitch it within and without</I>--without, to shed
|
|
off the rain, and to prevent the water from
|
|
soaking in--within, to take away the bad
|
|
smell of the beasts when kept close. Observe,
|
|
God does not bid him paint it, but
|
|
pitch it. If God gives us habitations that
|
|
are safe, and warm, and wholesome, we are
|
|
bound to be thankful, though they are not
|
|
magnificent or nice.
|
|
|
|
(6.) He must make a
|
|
little window towards the top, to let in light,
|
|
and (some think) that through that window
|
|
he might behold the desolations to be made
|
|
in the earth.
|
|
|
|
(7.) He must make a door in
|
|
the side of it, by which to go in and out.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. God promises Noah that he and his
|
|
shall be preserved alive in the ark
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
<I>Thou shalt come into the ark.</I> Note, What
|
|
we do in obedience to God, we ourselves are
|
|
likely to have the comfort and benefit of.
|
|
<I>If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.</I>
|
|
Nor was he himself only saved in the ark,
|
|
but <I>his wife, and his sons, and his sons' wives.</I>
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The care of good parents; they
|
|
are solicitous not only for their own
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page57"> </A>
|
|
|
|
salvation, but for the salvation of their families,
|
|
and especially their children.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The
|
|
happiness of those children that have godly
|
|
parents. Their parents' piety often procures
|
|
them temporal salvation, as here; and it
|
|
furthers them in the way to eternal salvation,
|
|
if they improve the benefit of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. God here makes Noah a great blessing
|
|
to the world, and herein makes him an eminent
|
|
type of the Messiah, though not the
|
|
Messiah himself, as his parents expected,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+5:29"><I>ch.</I> v. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. God made him a preacher to the
|
|
men of that generation. As a watchman, he
|
|
received the word from God's mouth, that
|
|
he might give them warning,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:17">Ezek. iii. 17</A>.
|
|
Thus, <I>while the long-suffering of God waited,</I>
|
|
by his Spirit in Noah, he <I>preached to</I> the old
|
|
world, who, when Peter wrote, were <I>spirits in
|
|
prison</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+3:18-20">1 Pet. iii. 18-20</A>),
|
|
and herein he was
|
|
a type of Christ, who, in a land and age
|
|
wherein all flesh had corrupted their way,
|
|
went about preaching repentance and warning
|
|
men of a deluge of wrath coming.
|
|
|
|
2. God made him a saviour to the inferior creatures,
|
|
to keep the several kinds of them from
|
|
perishing and being lost in the deluge,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:19-21"><I>v.</I> 19-21</A>.
|
|
This was a great honour put upon
|
|
him, that not only in him the race of mankind
|
|
should be kept up, and that from him
|
|
should proceed a new world, the church, the
|
|
soul of the world, and Messiah, the head of
|
|
that church, but that he should be instrumental
|
|
to preserve the inferior creatures, and
|
|
so mankind should in him acquire a new
|
|
title to them and their service.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He was
|
|
to provide shelter for them, that they might
|
|
not be drowned. <I>Two of every sort, male
|
|
and female,</I> he must take with him into
|
|
the ark; and lest he should make any difficulty
|
|
of gathering them together, and getting
|
|
them in, God promises
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>)
|
|
that they shall
|
|
of their own accord come to him. He that
|
|
makes the ox to know his owner and his
|
|
crib then made him know his preserver and
|
|
his ark.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He was to provide sustenance
|
|
for them, that they might not be starved,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
He must victual his ship according to
|
|
the number of his crew, that great family
|
|
which he had now the charge of, and according
|
|
to the time appointed for his confinement.
|
|
Herein also he was a type of Christ,
|
|
to whom it is owing that the world stands,
|
|
by whom all things consist, and who preserves
|
|
mankind from being totally cut off
|
|
and ruined by sin; in him the holy seed is
|
|
saved alive, and the creation rescued from
|
|
the vanity under which it groans. Noah
|
|
saved those whom he was to rule, so does
|
|
Christ,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+5:9">Heb. v. 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge6_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 Thus did Noah; according to all
|
|
that God commanded him, so did he.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Noah's care and diligence in building the
|
|
ark may be considered,
|
|
|
|
1. As an effect of his
|
|
faith in the word of God. God had told him
|
|
he would shortly drown the world; he believed
|
|
it, feared the threatened deluge, and,
|
|
in that fear, prepared the ark. Note, We
|
|
ought to mix faith with the revelation God
|
|
has made of his wrath against all ungodliness
|
|
and unrighteousness of men; the
|
|
threatenings of the word are not false alarms.
|
|
Much might have been objected against the
|
|
credibility of this warning given to Noah.
|
|
"Who could believe that the wise God, who
|
|
made the world, should so soon unmake it
|
|
again, that he who had drawn the waters off
|
|
the dry land
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:9,10"><I>ch.</I> i. 9, 10</A>)
|
|
should cause them
|
|
to cover it again? How would this be reconciled
|
|
with the mercy of God, which is
|
|
over all his works, especially that the innocent
|
|
creatures should die for man's sin?
|
|
Whence could water be had sufficient to
|
|
deluge the world? And, if it must be so,
|
|
why should notice be given of it to Noah
|
|
only?" But Noah's faith triumphed over
|
|
all these corrupt reasonings.
|
|
|
|
2. As an act
|
|
of obedience to the command of God. Had
|
|
he consulted with flesh and blood, many objections
|
|
would have been raised against it.
|
|
To rear a building, such a one as he never
|
|
saw, so large, and of such exact dimensions,
|
|
would put him upon a great deal of care, and
|
|
labour, and expense. It would be a work of
|
|
time; the vision was for a great while to
|
|
come. His neighbours would ridicule him
|
|
for his credulity, and he would be the song
|
|
of the drunkards; his building would be
|
|
called <I>Noah's folly.</I> If the worst came to the
|
|
worst, as we say, each would fare as well as
|
|
his neighbours. But these, and a thousand
|
|
such objections, Noah by faith got over. His
|
|
obedience was ready and resolute: <I>Thus did
|
|
Noah,</I> willingly and cheerfully, without murmuring
|
|
and disputing. God says, <I>Do this,</I>
|
|
and he does it. It was also punctual and
|
|
persevering: he did all exactly according to
|
|
the instructions given him, and, having
|
|
begun to build, did not leave off till he had
|
|
finished it; so did he, and so must we do.
|
|
|
|
3. As an instance of wisdom for himself,
|
|
thus to provide for his own safety. He
|
|
feared the deluge, and therefore prepared the
|
|
ark. Note, When God gives warning of
|
|
approaching judgments, it is our wisdom and
|
|
duty to provide accordingly. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+9:20-21,Eze+3:18">Exod. ix. 20, 21; Ezek. iii. 18</A>.
|
|
We must prepare to
|
|
meet the Lord in his judgments on earth, flee
|
|
to his name as a strong tower
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:10">Prov. xviii. 10</A>),
|
|
enter into our chambers
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:20,21">Isa. xxvi. 20, 21</A>),
|
|
especially prepare to meet him at death
|
|
and in the judgment of the great day, build
|
|
upon Christ the Rock
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:24">Matt. vii. 24</A>),
|
|
go into Christ the Ark.
|
|
|
|
4. As intended for
|
|
warning to a careless world; and it was fair
|
|
warning of the deluge coming. Every blow
|
|
of his axes and hammers was a call to repentance,
|
|
a call to them to prepare arks too.
|
|
But, since by it he could not convince the
|
|
world, by it he condemned the world,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:7">Heb. xi. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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