The very water which swept away the wickedness of the world, became the means whereby this man of faith was saved. What a wonderful description of what baptism does for us - 1Peter 3:21. What we do in obedience to the command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, [Noah's name means Comfort], first or last.

7:5 That Noah did ‘according unto all the God commanded him’ is one of the three occasions this is said of him (6:22, 7:7, 7:16) marking his total compliance with the command of God – this is why it was said of him that he ‘walked with God’ (6:9)

8:21 Burning animals do not smell sweet. The smell is most unpleasant. However it was the obedience that the sacrifice demonstrated that rose as an acceptably odour to God. God’s perspective is so often different from ours!

8:4-12 - Perhaps we have an echo of Christ with a wooden ark passing through the water (of baptism and burial with Christ?) and resting 3 days after the passover and then a window (Christ?) was opened for 40 days just as Christ stayed 40 days before ascending. Then we have the unclean raven (sin, flesh?) being replaced by the clean dove (righteousness, spiritual, Christ?). Also, when Christ returns there will be a millenial 7th "day" of rest; in verses 4 -12 are 3 mentions of 7 and of course we have 7 of every kind of clean animal chosen; the very name "Noah" means "rest". Gen 8:13 - we have mention of a "covering" [(4372) Heb. "mikceh"] of the ark and additional mentions of  this same word "covering" (Exo 26:14;35:11;36:19;39:34;Num 3:25) as skins and rams' skins dyed red covering the tabernacle perhaps echoing the covering of sins by Christ's sacrifice.

Gen 7:11;8:2 - what were these fountains of the deep? Geysers, Tsunamis?

Other selected mentions of rain: Deut 28:12,24; 32:2; Isa 55:10-11; Jer 14:3,4,22; James 5:7,17,18; Eze 34:26; Psa 72:1-8.

The nature/inclination of man is evil - Gen 8:21.

7:1 In declaring Noah as ‘righteous’ we have the evidence for the assertion that Noah built the ark by faith Heb 11:27

8:22 God’s promise that ‘day and night shall not cease’ is used in Jer 33:20 as a test that men can used about the existence of Israel as an evidence that God exists and keeps His word.

8:21 The sweet savour of the animals actually represents the life of service of the believer – 2Cor 2:15

God had obviously already given instructions about which animals were clean & which unclean. Up until now, it would appear the only purpose was for sacrifice Gen 8:20 as it wasn't until after the Flood that it would appear that they began to eat meat Gen 9:3 (perhaps that is when certain animals also became carniverous? cp Gen 1:29,30).  It would also seem from Gen 9:2 that the creatures & man lived together in harmony, & without preying on one another, which would have made it easy for them to cohabit on the ark.

7:2    Noticed that in the days of Noah there were ‘clean’ and  ‘not clean’ beasts before the law of Moses. This indicates that God had revealed much to those before Moses. The law of Moses, in this respect, formalised for the nation what had been true for mankind before the flood.

7:5   When Noah was six hundred years old we are only 1656 years after creation.

7:16  Note that it was God who "closed the door".  Doubtless many people came rushing to the ark, asking to be allowed entry as they saw the floodwaters rising and realsied that Noah's warnings were correct.  However, Noah wasn't able to allow entry at this late stage, because God had shut him in.

It's sometimes tempting to make a mental decision regarding the type of person who will be in the Kingdom, but that's not our decision to make.  God will determine the make-up of the citienship of the Kingdom.  All we can do is follow His commandments and rely on his mercy.

7:11 The opening of the windows of heaven is a metaphor used by the prophet – Isa 24:18 – to speak of a later judgement.

Thus it can be seen that the word can be translated into English. From the three other uses of the word we can work out it's meaning.

The next words A Psalm of David are inspired also, and are the superscription of Psalm 9. This Psalm is a prayer of David pleading that God might soon interrupt the affairs of mankind to establish the Kingdom of His glory here on earth.

v.20 "Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men." - 3,000 years after David penned his prayer, the world has finally reached the point where "men's hearts are failing them for fear... for there is distress upon the nations with perplexity" - Luke 21:25-26. The unprecedented campaigns of terrorism and violence among the nations, as described in Jeremiah 25:32 - 33, will lead the governments of this world at last to the conclusion that it is impossible for them to solve the problems of the future, there is no way out for them, they are but men, and they need the God of Heaven to establish a righteous government on this earth to properly govern the nations.

Psalm 10 - David describes in this Psalm, why the world will end up in the state described by him in Psalm 9:20. He complains to God of the oppressions which the poor suffer from the wicked man, whom he describes as the hater of the poor, Psa 10:2; proud, Psa 10:3; one who will not seek God, Psa 10:4; and is regardless of his judgements, Psa 10:5; self-confident, Psa 10:6; blasphemous and deceitful, Psa 10:7; strives by subtlety and treachery to destroy the poor, Psa 10:8-10; and supposes that God is regardless of his conduct, Psa 10:11. The psalmist calls earnestly on God to preserve the poor and humble, and cast down the oppressor, Psa 10:12-15. He foresees that his prayer is heard; that judgment will be executed, and the poor delivered, Psa 10:16-18.

9:20 Man needs to understand that he is ‘but men’ Human nature abrogates to itself notions of invincibility. We must take care that we do not follow in their steps. Our sufficiency is not of ourselves. It is of God.

10:7 ‘mouth is full of cursing and deceit’ is quoted by Paul (Rom 3:14) as part of his proof that all are sinners.

Why do the wicked oppress the poor whilst God stands back? The poor cry out under their oppression, but God doesn't judge the wicked straight away, rather waits (10:1). Why? David points out an interesting truth here: God waits for a reason. In v. 4-6 we get the mindset of the wicked man "I will never be caught". This mindset is developed because God doesn't judge the wicked man's evil deeds at the time he does them, therefore he believes he will never be judged (v.11 and 13).

It is important for the wicked to keep believing that, because they will eventually be judged for it. If God were to punish straight away, then how would he be able to tell who wanted to serve Him, and who didn't? Everyone would serve Him out of fear! Likewise, the righteous are not rewarded immediately. If they were, then everyone would be doing good because of the reward, and then how would God know who was doing it out of love for Him?

9:4        David recognised that his ‘cause’ was maintained by his God. How often do we think that we have justified ourselves in the things we might do?

The author of Ps 10 is probably David. David's relates his own anguish but also reflects that of Jesus (the greater David).  David felt alone at times, abandoned by the LORD (10:1).  Likewise, at his crucifixion, Jesus cried out, quoting Ps.22: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46).  The LORD came down to witness His Son's crucifixion (Psa 18:9-15; cf. Matt 27:45,51; John 12:29).  But, Jesus had to bear the crucifixion on His own.  At times, we might feel abandoned and wonder where God is.  He knows all about us and what is happening to us.  Sometimes he might want us bear a particular burden.  His assurance is, though, that He will not give us anything we cannot handle (1Cor 10:13).

9:5      In saying that God had ‘rebuked the heathen’ we must be reading a prayer of thanksgiving of David at the defeat of the army of one of his enemies. God has promised that Israel will never cease to be a people – Jer 30:11 - but David sees the contrast of this with his enemies.

9:6-7 Notice the contrast. The Lord will endure ‘forever’ whilst the enemy will be forgotten. This is the overall picture of redemption. There will come a time when the great enemy – death – is abolished and will be remembered no more. The way in which God deals with the nations is a cameo of His great plan and purpose.

6:3   That Jesus thought that the leaders did things to be praised of men is seen in his condemnation of them Matt 23:5

6:31 ‘Therefore’ shows that there is a logical relationship between the way that God cares for creation and His care for us. If we ever doubt that He cares for us then we can see ample evidence that he does simply by looking at the birds around us.

6:9     ‘Our father’ echoes 1Chron 29:10. Notice the rest of David’s prayer. There are element like we find in Jesus’ prayer here.

6:4 This warning given here about not making a show of one’s works of faith, leaving thing in God’s hand is the basis of Paul’s comments – 1Cor 4:5- where he speaks of the way that God will act against the background of those in Corinth who sought their own glory now.

Secret and Open Goodness

"Do not your alms before men, to be seen of them" (Matt.6:1) vs "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works" (Matt.5:16).

New Testament scripture calling upon believers to be active doers of good: Acts 9:36;Titus 2:14;Acts 26:20;James 2:14-17;2Cor 8:2-4;2Cor 9:1-2,6-7;1Pet 2:12;Gal 6:10;Luke 10:33-35;1Tim 6:18;Heb 13:16;Luke 6:35.

New Testament scripture calling upon believers to not do their alms before men, to be seen of them: Matt 6:1-6,16-18;Matt 23:5-9.

The "to be seen of them" is key. It is the self-display, pride, self-advertising and self-promotion that is condemned. There may be circumstances where our "alms" (i.e. any good that we can offer) can't be done without attracting some publicity. Better that than to make anonymity an excuse for doing nothing.

The above was gleaned from Balancing The Book: A Study of Biblical Paradoxes by Len Richardson, pp 21-25.

The Christian And The State

"No man can serve two masters..." (Matthew 6:24)  vs  "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21)

In the first quotation Jesus appears to be saying that believers are to give undivided attention to serving God alone while in the second quotation it seems there is a compromise reached between what is due the state and what is due God.

Matt 6:19-21 supplements the context of Matt 6:24 and refers to temporal material treasures vs the blessings of eternal life and a permanent inheritance in God's Kingdom. It is about our obligation to God. It has nothing to do with the state. The two masters are not God and the state but God and money. We can't serve God and money. God will look out for our needs Matt 6:31-33 but we have to put Him first - not an easy thing if one loves money Mark 10:17-22;1Tim 6:10.

The second quote Matt 22:21 is about what is due God and what is due the state. Caesar is due his taxes and we are to obey and submit to governing authorities Rom 13:1-7;Titus 3:1-2;1Pet 2:13-17 but God is due the worship of our hearts. If there is a clash of loyalties our first allegiance is to God Acts 4:18-20; 5:27-29.

Much of the above was gleaned from Balancing The Book: A Study of Biblical Paradoxes by Len Richardson, pps 56-61.

Does God Tempt Men?

"Lead us not into temptation" (Matt 6:13) vs "God cannot be tempted...neither tempteth he any man" (James 1:13).

In modern English, we use "temptation" to mean incitement to do wrong. There is always the underlying assumption that one is being provoked to something evil. But when we read esp. in the KJV that men were "tempted" it sometimes meant a provocation to do evil but other times it meant to be put to the test and in certain cases it meant both. In the Heb and Grk words translated as "tempt" or "temptation" there is this underlying concept of "testing" or "putting to the test". The more modern versions of the Bible tend to clarify these usages better.

When Israel "tempted" God (KJV Exo 17:7) it was challenging God to prove he could fulfil His  promise to supply their needs. Similarly, "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted" (KJV 1Cor 10:9) was changed in the RSV to read "We must not put the Lord to the test as some of them did". The Bible has situations where it would be clearly inappropriate to use the word "tempt" in the sense of a provocation to sin.

With the clarification above we read "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life" (James 1:12). The idea of temptation here is being put to the test or remaining steadfast under trial. The other form of temptation (i.e. "provocation to do evil") is demonstrated in James 1:13-15 where it refers to God not inciting men to do evil but that evil comes from within (Mark 7:21-23). So God will allow us to be put to the test in the sense of enduring suffering but our sinful thoughts come from our own internal inclinations not from any external force be it God or some imaginary devil. When we pray "Lead us not into temptation" (Matt 6:13) we are using the word temptation in the sense of trial or testing for God doesn't incite us to do evil. Abraham proved himself equal to the test or trial, "Now it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham" (Gen 22:1). And we read of the clarified intent, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac..." (Heb 11:17).

We have assurance that we will not be given a trial beyond our ability to endure (1Cor 10:13).

Much of the above was gleaned from Balancing The Book: A Study Of Biblical Paradoxes by Len Richardson, pps 86-90.

WATCH WHAT WE LOOK AT

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt 6:22-23)

Most of what goes into our minds is visual. The things we hear, smell, taste or feel have much less impact on us than the things we see. We have a choice about what we view, at least most of the time we do. We have a choice of what books we read, what television programmes, DVD's or movies we watch, what websites we visit and a choice in the places we go. If we restrict our eyes to viewing only good and helpful things, then the things we remember and the things we say about them later on will also be good.

But if we read books about murder, watch television programmes about lust, and visit websites that explain how to cook illicit drugs, just imagine where our thoughts are going to be most of the time! As Jesus said, if our eyes have taken in the darkness of the world, then the darkness inside us will be very dark indeed.

So let's watch what we look at. Fill our minds with the Good Book, with the beauty of God's creation and with the love of families and fellow believers. With this in our view we will be on track to live a pure Christian life.

6:29 Humanly speaking Solomon was far more magnificent that the flowers of the field. However from God’s perspective things are different. What do we value?