Brief Summary:
- Chapter 8: The flood is subsided and God makes a covenant with Noah that he’s not going to do that again – like, you know, remove every mankind
- Chapter 9: Continuation of God blessing Noah and Noah’s descendants
- Chapter 10: Noah’s descendants
- Chapter 11: The Tower of Babel
Key Observations:
Continued Obedience
Chapter 8, verse 15 – God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark.” What I clearly see is a normal human intention – when we see the flood has stopped, we want to go outside. a. Because you are in the ark for a long time b. You are with your family inside the ark for a long time – imagine that, spending so much time with your family in the same place. When you are given an opportunity, you just want to go out
But Noah didn’t do that. So it’s interesting to see how we have to obey God throughout our life. It’s not good to just start well, but continue well in obedience.
God of Second Chances
Chapter 8 verse 17 – God says “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” God is a God of second chances. This was God’s initial commandment when he created the first man and woman. It’s recorded in chapter 1 verse 22, and again in verse 28. Now after he has blotted out every human from the earth – I mean, every living thing from the earth – and when only Noah has found favor, God gives us a second chance, commanding us to be fruitful and multiply. So praise God for the second chances in our lives.
Altar of Gratitude
Verse 20 – When Noah came outside, the first thing Noah was to build an altar and offer burnt offering. How does Noah even know how to build an altar? Where did this building an altar concept come from? And burnt offering – who taught Noah to give a burnt offering?
That being said, the observation here is that he worshiped God as a response, as a sign of gratitude for the second chance that has been given to him.
Frailty of Mankind
Verse 21 – Noah drank wine and became drunk and lay naked in his tent. What a pathetic human race that I belong to. God spared us, God gave us a second chance. And we, just like Noah, responded well by worshiping him. But then, as days go by, we derail, we sin, we fall short of his glory and then become arrogant.
Arrogance of Mankind
Chapter 11 – We see the pride of mankind in verse 4 where the emphasis is on the word “us.” They said “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, and let us make a name for ourselves” so that they will not be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. But the Lord’s intention is that they get dispersed. So as we continue reading, God comes and confuses them – they end up not understanding each other. In verse 9, the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Application:
• Believe in a God of second chances.
• It’s good that we start in obedience, but it is essential to continue in obedience.
• Realize the frailty and the arrogance of mankind. To self reflect – how frail I am, how many times I’ve failed. And my arrogance – how many times that I’ve thought that I could do life without God.
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