Genesis 7 – God’s flood, continued

Existing physical evidence, continued

• The hydrology
  • Plate tectonics
  • Where did the water come from?
    • Hurricane Harvey in 2018 dropped sixty inches of rain over four days. This level of rain over 40 days over the entire earth would put fifty feet of water over the entire surface of the earth.
• The landforms
  • Genesis 7:11 – What was the deep? This word almost always refers to a body of water.
    • The power of God
      • Mr. St. Helens volcano
      • The Hunga-Tonga volcano
  • The ark rested on Ararat after 150 days and the floodwaters receded.
  • If thousands of feet of water started draining off of the earth, wouldn’t there be evidence?
  • Large volumes of water do not cause damage. Moving water does.
    • If the Grand Canyon were filled to the brim and suddenly allowed to drain, the flow would reach 273 ft./sec.
  • Where did the water go?
    • God could have made it disappear.
    • God could have sent it back to where it came from.
    • Psalms 104:8-10.

If you are in an unlawful situation …

• Love God and lean on brethren.
  • Acts 17:11
  • Matthew 19:10-12
  • I Corinthians 7:11
  • Matthew 12:46-50
  • Romans 8:18

If you have never been married …

• Be wise and choose carefully.
  • Mark 10:11-12
  • Luke 8:13; 16:18
  • We must be deeply convinced that marriage is permanent.
  • Are you and your prospective spouse free to be married?

If you are lawfully married …

• Work on your marriage!
  • Ephesians 5:28-29
  • Titus 2:3-4
  • Marriages need maintenance.

Acts 4, continued

• Acts 4:23-30 – Despite the persecution, they continued to pray for boldness.
• Acts 4:32-35 – Some use this passage to promote communism, but that is not what is being taught here. We know from other scriptures that each should work for his own food. This is talking about common treasury controlled by the apostles.

Acts 5

• Acts 5:1-6 – The sin here was lying to the Holy Spirit.
  • Acts 5:4 – Note that this verse combined with v3 equates the Holy Spirit to God.
• Acts 5:9 – Peter says they “test(ed) the Spirit of the Lord.” God does not look kindly on those who try to see what they can get away with.
• Acts 5:12 – In Acts 1-5 so far, the apostles alone have been working all the miracles.

[Due to technical difficulties, the first few minutes of this lesson were not recorded. Sorry about that! -MRW]

Introduction

• This is such an emotional topic, but we must remain objective and appeal to God’s word.
• Mark 6:17, 21 – John ended up being beheaded because he called out the marriage as unlawful.

What should happen in an unlawful marriage?

• Luke 16:18
• They must divorce and repent of their adultery. I Corinthians 6:9
• “But marriage itself is holy. No one should be told to divorce.”
  • Ezra 9-10 – These marriages were unlawful and had to be broken up.
  • Mark 6:17-18

Are divorced people still “marriage in God’s eyes?”

• I know of no passage that uses or implies that wording or concept. Sometimes we might say that because we’re trying to communicate the fact that God doesn’t approve.
• Luke 16:18
• Romans 7:2-3
• Mark 10:11-12
• These people were really divorced and actually marriage to other people. They were married to one person, yet bound to another, thus it is adultery.
• Matthew 19:9 – These divorces and marriages are real.

What about marriages and divorces before one was ever a Christian?

• God’s laws are for everyone, both Christians and non-Christians.
• Mark 6:17-18 – Herod and his wife were not Christians, but they were in sin.
• I Corinthians 6:9-11
• If God’s laws do not apply to non-Christians, why are people told to repent before they are baptized (Acts 2:38)?
• And why would you even get baptized and become a Christian, if prior to that you have no sin and therefore no need of salvation?

Does forgiveness change the situation?

• Acts 2:38; 8:22; 26:20
• There is still a need to repent and not keep sinning.
• If I steal a car…
  • Then I pray for forgiveness ….
  • Can I keep the car?
  • No – it is still a sin for me to have it.
• If I take an unlawful wife …
  • They I pray for forgiveness …
  • Can I keep the wife?
  • No – it is still a sin for me to have her.

Does I Corinthians 7:15 give another exception?

• I Corinthians 7:10-17
  • I Corinthians 7:10 – “Leave” here means “divorce.”
  • I Corinthians 7:11 – This does not imply approval of the divorce. See I John 2:1.
  • I Corinthians 7:12-13 – It is okay for a Christian to be married to a non-believer.
  • I Corinthians 7:14 – This cannot be saying that an unbelieving spouse can be saved by the believing spouse (II Corinthians 5:10). It is merely saying that the marriage is legitimate.
  • I Corinthians 7:15 – There is no permission for remarriage here. Matthew 5:32

Does I Corinthians 7:27-28 give another exception?

• I Corinthians 7:27 – “Released” here cannot mean “divorced for any reason” because it would contradict what Paul just wrote in I Corinthians 7:10-17.

Can the innocent party divorce years after the divorce?

• Suppose that:
  • A man divorces his wife (not for fornication)
  • Years later, he remarries.
  • Can the wife now divorce him for fornication and remarry with God’s approval (Matthew 19:9)?
• No. You can’t divorce someone you’re not married to.
• Luke 16:18

Conclusion

Nothing is greater than fellowship with God; nothing lasts longer than heaven.

Genesis 6 – Animals, continued:

• God gives instructions about how many animals to bring according to their kind (H4327 – min)
  • After their kind
  • Same phrase as used in Days 3, 5, and 6 to describe plants and animals.
  • Does the application of the phrase “after its kind” support evolution?
• How did Noah and his family take care of the animals?
  • Hibernation?
  • God told Noah to feed the animals

Genesis 7 – God’s flood

• Noah and his family and the animals go into the ark.
• When did they go into the ark and when did it start to rain? Is there a discrepancy?
• Genesis 7 is made up of four paragraphs: Genesis 7:1-5, Genesis 7:6-10, Genesis 7:11-16, and Genesis 7:17-24.
  • The first three contain repeating information about:
    • Noah and his family entering the ark
    • The animals entering the ark
    • The flood coming upon the earth
    • Noah did as God commanded.
  • The fourth paragraph describes what happened to everyone else except Noah and his family.
• God’s flood was a catastrophic, earth-changing event.
• If God flooded the entire globe, wouldn’t there be evidence? Acts 17:23-28
• Absolutely! If we can show people the evidence, then we can teach the truth.
  • Thomas in John 20:24
• Existing physical evidence
  • Hydrology and hydraulics
  • Landforms
  • Geology
• Evidence of God’s power
  • Mount St. Helens volcano
• How could 40 days and 40 nights of rain flood the entire earth?
• What did the earth look like before the flood?
  • Supercontinent?
  • Mountains?
  • Canyons?
  • Ocean depth?
• How much water?
  • We estimate there is currently 332.5 million cubic miles of water on earth.
  • If we assume a pre-flood average mountain height of 5300 ft., this would require about 335.3 million cubic miles of water, which is within about one percent of the current estimated total.