I. NOAH OBEYS COMMAND TO ENTER THE ARK.
1. Noah saw God's favor in his command 1.
* Noah experienced severe temptations and needed comfort 1-2.
2. What God wished to teach Noah by calling him to enter the ark 3.
3. Whether God spoke this commandment directly to Noah 4-5.
* When God speaks to us through men it is to be viewed as God's
Word 4-5.
* The thoughts of the Jews on the seven days 6.
* The office of the ministry.
a. Through it God deals with mankind 7.
b. Why we should not despise the office and expect revelations
direct from God 8-9.
* God speaks with man in various ways 9.
* Corruption and destruction of the first world.
a. The ruin of the first compared with that of the last world
10-13.
* The need of posterity to pray that they retain pure doctrine
12.
b. Why so few righteous persons were found in Noah's day 12.
* The efforts of the pope and bishops to crush the Gospel 13.
c. First world severely punished, neither old nor young were
spared 14-15.
d. Punishment of first world greatly moved Peter when he wrote
about it 16-17.
* Peter's record of sermon Christ delivered to the spirits of the
first world in prison 16-17.
a. Who are to be understood here by the unbelieving world 18.
b. Peter here shows the wrath and long suffering of God 19.
c. Nature and manner of this sermon 20.
* Apostles had special revelations we cannot grasp 20-21.
4. How Noah was righteous before God 22.
5. How the world laughed at him while executing God's command, God
then comforted him 23-24.
6. Greatness of Noah's faith and steadfastness in executing this
command 25-26.
* Luther's confession he would have been too weak for such a work
25-26.
* The great firmness of John Huss and Jerome of Prague 27.
* We are to comfort ourselves when all the world forsakes and
condemns us 28.
7. God commands Noah to take the animals he names along into the
ark 29.
* Why God so often repeats the same thing 29.
a. What is to be understood by Behemoth 30.
b. How many of each kind entered the ark 31.
* The rain at the flood was exceptional 32.
* The flood is a token of God's righteousness and from it we
conclude God will punish the sins of the last world 33.
8. By what may we learn Noah's faith and obedience to God 34.
* Why God did not save Noah in some other way 34.
I. NOAH OBEYS COMMAND TO ENTER THE ARK.
V. 2a. _And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into
the ark._
1. As soon as that extraordinary structure, the ark, was built, the
Lord commanded Noah to enter it, because the time of the deluge, which
the Lord announced one hundred and twenty years before, was now at
hand. All this convinced Noah that God was taking care of him; and not
only this, but also, as Peter says (2 Pet 1, 19), gave him an ample
and abundant word to support and confirm his faith in such great
straits. Having foretold the deluge for more than a century, he
doubtless was bitterly mocked by the world in many ways.
2. As I have said repeatedly, God's wrath was incredible. It could not
be grasped by the human mind, in that original age of superior men,
that God was about to destroy the whole human race, except eight
souls. Noah, being holy and just, a kindly and merciful man, often
struggled with his own heart, hearing with the greatest agitation of
mind the voice of the Lord, threatening certain destruction to all
flesh. It was needful, then, that repeated declaration should confirm
his agitated faith, lest he might doubt.
3. God's command to enter the ark amounted to this: "Doubt not, the
time of punishment for the unbelieving world is close at hand. But
tremble not, do not fear, for faith is at times very weak in the
saints. I shall take care of you and your house." To us such promise
would have been incredible, but we must admit that all things are
possible with God.
4. Notice Moses' peculiar expression again: "Jehovah said." It gives
me particular pleasure that these words of God did not sound from
heaven, but were spoken to Noah through the ministry of man. Although
I would not deny that these revelations may have been made by an
angel, or by the Holy Spirit himself, yet where it can plausibly be
said that God spoke through men, there the ministry must be honored.
We have shown above that many of God's words according to Moses, were
spoken through Adam; for the Word of God, even when spoken by man, is
truly the Word of God.
5. Now, as Methuselah, Noah's grandfather, died in the very year of
the deluge, it would not be inapt to infer that (since Lamech, Noah's
father, had died five years before the flood,) this was, so to speak,
Methuselah's last word and testament to his grandson, a dying
farewell. Perhaps he added some remarks as these: My son, as thou hast
obeyed the Lord heretofore, and hast awaited this wrath in faith, and
hast experienced God's faithful protection from the wicked, henceforth
firmly believe that God will take care of thee. The end is now at
hand, not mine alone, which is one of grace, but the end of all
mankind, which is one of wrath. For after seven days the flood will
begin, concerning which thou hast long and vainly warned the world.
After this manner, I think, spoke Methuselah, but the words are
attributed to God, because the Spirit of God spoke through the man.
Thus I like to interpret these instances to the honor of the ministry
wherever, as in this case, it can appropriately be done. Since it is
certain that Methuselah died in the very year of the flood, the
supposition is harmless that these were his last words to Noah, his
grandson, who heard his words and accepted them as the Word of God.
6. The Jews' peculiar idea concerning these seven days is that they
were added to the one hundred and twenty years in honor of Methuselah,
that therein his posterity might bewail his death. This is a harmless
interpretation, for the patriarch's descendants did not fail to do
their duty, particularly his pious children.
7. But the first view concerning the ministry of the Word, is not only
plausible, but also practical. God does not habitually speak
miraculously and by revelation, particularly where, he has instituted
the ministry for this very purpose of speaking to men, teaching,
instructing, consoling and entreating them.
8. In the first place, God entrusts the Word to parents. Moses often
says: "Thou shalt tell it to thy children." Then to the teachers of
the Church is it entrusted. Abraham says (Lk 16, 29): "They have Moses
and the prophets; let them hear them." We must expect no revelation,
be it inward or outward, where the ministry is established; otherwise
all ranks of human society would be disturbed. Let the pastor preach
in Church; let the magistrate rule the State; let parents control the
house or family. Such are the ministries of men instituted by God. We
should make use of them and not look for new revelations.
9. Still I do not deny that Noah heard God speak after Methuselah's
death. God speaks ordinarily through the public ministry--through
parents and the teachers of the Church--and in rare cases by inward
revelation, through the Holy Spirit. It is well that we remember not
to overlook the Word in vain expectation of new revelations, as the
fanatics do. Such a course gives rise to spirits of error, a source of
disturbance to the whole world, as the example of the Anabaptists
proves.
V. 1b. _For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation._
10. This is truly a picture of the primitive, ancient world, as Peter
calls it. 2 Pet 2, 5. His appellation carries the thought of a
peculiarity of that particular age, which is foreign to the people of
our own. Could words be more appalling than these, that Noah alone was
righteous before the Lord? The world is similarly pictured in Ps 14,
2-3, where we read that the Lord looked down from heaven to see if
there were any that did understand, that did seek God. But he says:
"They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one."
11. Similar to this judgment upon the world was Christ's declaration
as to the last days. He says: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth?" Lk 18, 8. It is a fearful thing to live in
such an evil and godless world. By the goodness of God, since we have
the light of his Word, we are still in the golden age. The sacraments
are rightfully administered in our Churches, pious teachers proclaim
the Word purely, and, though magistrates be weak, wickedness is not
desperately rampant. But Christ's prophecy shows that there will be
evil times when the Lord's day approaches. Wholesome teaching nowhere
will be found, the Church being dominated by the wicked, as today the
plans of our adversaries are a menace. The pope and the wicked princes
zealously strive totally to destroy the ministry of the Word,
oppressing or corrupting the true ministries, that everyone may
believe whatever pleases him.
12. So much the more diligently should we pray for our posterity, and
take earnest heed that a more wholesome doctrine be transmitted to
them. If there had been more godly teachers in the days of Noah, there
might have been more righteous people. The fact that Noah alone was
proclaimed a righteous man makes it evident that the godly teachers
had been either destroyed or corrupted, leaving Noah the sole preacher
of righteousness, as Peter calls him, 2 Pet 2, 5. Since government had
been turned into tyranny and the home vitiated by adultery and
whoredom, how could punishment be delayed any longer?
13. Such danger awaits us also if the last days are to be like the
days of Noah. Truly, the popes and bishops strenuously endeavor to
suppress the Gospel and to ruin the Churches which have been
rightfully established. Thus does the world assiduously press onward
to a period similar to the age of Noah, when, with the light of the
Word extinguished, all shall go astray in the darkness of wickedness.
For without the preaching of the Word, faith cannot endure nor prayer,
nor the purity of the sacraments.
14. Such, according to Moses, was the condition of the ancient world
in Noah's day, when the world was young and at its best. The greatest
geniuses flourished everywhere and people were well educated by
experience because they lived so long. What will be our fate in the
frenzy, so to speak, that shall befall the world in its dotage? We
should remember to care for our posterity and continually pray for it.
15. As the first world was most corrupt, it was thus subject to
terrible punishment. Adults perished who provoked God to anger by
their wicked deeds, also those of an innocent age, who had knowledge
and were unable to distinguish between their right hand and their
left. Many, doubtless, were deceived by their own guilelessness; but
God's wrath does not discriminate, it falls upon and destroys alike
adults and infants, the crafty and the guileless.
16. This awful punishment appears to have moved even the Apostle
Peter. Like one besides himself, he uses words which we today are not
able to understand. He says: Christ, having been made alive in the
Spirit, also "went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that
aforetime were disobedient, when the long suffering of God waited in
the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is,
eight souls, were saved through water," etc. (1 Pet 3, 19-20).
17. A strange declaration, and an almost fanatical saying, by which
the Apostle describes this event! By these words, Peter assures us
that there was a certain unbelieving world to whom the dead Christ
preached after their death. If this is true, who would doubt that
Christ took Moses and the prophets with him to those who were fettered
in prison, in order to change the unbelieving world into a new and
believing one? This seems to be intimated by Peter's words, though I
should not like to make this assertion authoritatively.
18. But doubtless those whom he calls an unbelieving world were not
the wicked despisers of his Word nor the tyrants. If they were
overwhelmed in their sins, these were certainly condemned. The
unbelieving world of which he speaks seems rather to be the children
and those whose lack of judgment precluded belief. These were at that
time, seized and carried away headlong to their destruction, by the
offenses of the world, as if in the power of a rapid stream, only
eight souls being saved.
19. In this way does Peter magnify the awful intensity of God's wrath.
At the same time he praises his long-suffering in that he did not
deprive those of the Word of salvation who at the time did not or
could not believe because they hoped in the patience of God and would
not be convinced that he would visit such fearful and universal
punishment upon the world.
20. How this came to pass is beyond our understanding. We know and
believe that God is wonderful in all his works and has all power.
Therefore he who in life preached to the living, could also in death
preach to the dead. All things hear, feel and touch him, though our
human minds can not understand the process. Nor is it to our discredit
when we are ignorant of some of the mysteries of Holy Writ. The
apostles had each his own revelation, and contention concerning them
would be presumptuous and foolish.
21. Such was the revelation of Christ given to the spirits that
evidently perished in the flood, and we may perhaps, not
inappropriately connect it with that article of our creed which speaks
of the descent of Christ into hell. Such was also Paul's revelation
concerning paradise, the third heaven (2 Cor 12, 2-4), and certain
other matters of which we may be ignorant without shame. It is false
pride to profess to understand these things. St. Augustine and other
teachers give their fancy loose rein when they discuss these passages.
May it not be that the apostles had revelations which St. Augustine
and others did not have? But let us return to Moses.
22. A truly fearful description of the world is vouchsafed in this
declaration of God that he saw Noah alone to be righteous before him,
in spite of the small children and those others who had innocently
been misled. Let us particularly note the term, "Before me." It
signifies that Noah was blameless not only as regards the second table
of the Law, but also as regards the first. He believed in God, and
hallowed, preached and called upon his name; he gave thanks to God; he
condemned godless teachings. For, to be righteous before God means to
believe God and to fear him, and not, as they taught in popedom, to
read masses, to free souls from purgatory, to become a monk, and like
things.
23. This term "Before me" has reference also to the condemnation of
the ancient world. Having neglected the worship demanded by the first
table, they criminally transgressed also the second. Not only did they
mock Noah as a fool, but they went so far as to condemn his teaching
as heresy. Meanwhile they ate, drank, and celebrated festivals in
security. Before the world, accordingly, Noah was not righteous;
measured by her code he was a sinner.
24. Hence God, or the grandfather, Methuselah, consoles Noah with the
Word of counsel to disregard the blind and wicked verdict of the
world, neither to care for her views and utterances, but to close eyes
and ears while heeding alone the Word and verdict of God, believing
himself to be righteous before God, or approved and acceptable to him.
25. And Noah's faith was truly great; he could rely upon God's
utterance. I, forsooth, should not have believed. I realize what
weight the whole world's hostile and condemnatory judgment must carry.
We are condemned in the judgment of the Pope, the Sacramentarians, and
the Anabaptists, but this is mere play and pleasure, compared to what
the righteous Noah had to bear, who found not a single person in the
whole world to approve of his religion or life, except his own sons
and his pious grandfather. We have, the endorsement of many Churches,
by God's grace, and our princes fear no danger in defense of their
doctrine and religion. Noah had no such protectors, and he saw his
enemies living in peaceful leisure and enjoyment. If I had been he, I
surely should have said: Lord, if I am righteous, if I am well
pleasing to thee and if those people are wicked and displeasing to
thee, why, then, dost thou enrich them? Why dost thou heap upon them
all manner of favors, while I, with my family, am greatly harassed and
almost without assistance? In short, I should have despaired in such
great afflictions unless the Lord had given me that spirit which Noah
had.
26. Therefore, Noah is a brilliant and admirable example of faith, who
opposed the judgments of the world with an heroic steadfastness of
mind in the assurance that he was righteous while all the rest of the
world was wicked.
27. Often when I think of those most holy men, John Huss and Jerome of
Prague, I view with astonishment the courage of their souls, as they,
only two in number, set themselves against the judgment of the whole
world, of pope, emperor, bishops, princes, universities and all the
schools throughout the empire.
28. It is helpful often to reflect upon such examples. Since the
prince of the world battles against us, endeavoring to kindle despair
in us with his fiery darts, it behooves us to be well armed, lest we
succumb to the enemy. Let us say with Noah: I know that I am righteous
before God, even though the whole world condemn me as heretical and
wicked, yea, even desert me. Thus did the apostles desert Christ,
leaving him alone; but he said (Jn 16, 32): "I am not alone." Thus did
the false brethren desert Paul. Hence, this is no uncommon danger, and
it is not for us to despair; but with courage to uphold the true
doctrine, in spite of the world's condemnation and curse.
Vs. 2-3. _Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and
seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean
two, the male and his female. Of the birds also of the heavens, seven
and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all
the earth._
29. It is evident that God takes pleasure in speaking to Noah. Hence,
he does not confine himself to a single command, but repeats the same
things in the same words. To human reason such repetition appears to
be absurd talkativeness, but to a soul struggling against despair the
will of God cannot be repeated too often, nor can too exhaustive
instruction be given relative to the will of God. God recognizes the
state of a soul that is tempted, and hence makes the same statements
again and again, so that Noah may learn from frequent conversations
and conferences that he is not only not forsaken though the whole
world forsake him, but that he has a friend and protector in God who
so loves him that he never seems to weary of conversing with him. This
is the cause of the statements being repeated. However, as has been
explained, God spoke with Noah not from heaven but through men.
30. In respect to the language, this passage shows that _ha-behemah_
signifies not only cattle, the larger animals, but also the smaller
ones which were commonly used for sacrifice, as sheep, goats and the
like. The custom of offering sacrifices was not first instituted by
Moses, but was in the world from the beginning, being handed down, as
it were, by the patriarchs to their posterity; as shown by the example
of Abel, who brought of his first fruits an offering to God.
31. As to the remainder of the passage, we explained at the end of the
sixth chapter how to harmonize the discrepancies apparent in the fact
that here seven beasts of each kind are ordered to be taken into the
ark while only two of each kind are mentioned there. To repeat is not
necessary. Since Noah was saved by a miracle, he thought that a
seventh animal should be added to the three pairs of clean beasts as a
thank-offering to God, after the flood, for his deliverance.
V. 4. _For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made
will I destroy from off the face of the ground._
32. Here you see God's care to give Noah complete assurance. He sets a
limit of seven days, after which will follow a rain of forty days and
forty nights. God speaks with peculiar significance when he says that
it shall rain. It was not a common rain, but fountains of the deep as
well as the windows of heaven were opened; that is, not only did a
great mass of rain fall from heaven, but also an immense amount of
water streamed forth from the earth itself. And an immense amount of
water was necessary to cover the highest mountain tops to a depth of
fifteen cubits. It was no ordinary rain, but the rain of God's wrath,
by which he set out to destroy all life upon the face of the earth.
Because the earth was depraved, God despoiled it, and because the
godless people raged against the first and second tables of the
commandments, therefore God also raged against them, using heaven and
earth as his weapons.
33. This story is certain proof that God, though long-suffering and
patient, will not allow the wicked to go unpunished. As Peter says (2
Pet 2, 5), if he "spared not the ancient world," how much less will he
spare the popes or the emperors who rage against his Word? How much
less will he spare us who blaspheme his name when our life is unworthy
of our calling and profession, when we freely and daily sin against
our consciences? Let us, then, learn to fear the Lord, humbly to
accept his Word and obey it; otherwise punishment will overtake also
us, as Peter threatens.
Vs. 5-10. _And Noah did according unto all that Jehovah commanded him.
And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon
the earth. 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. Of
clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of birds, and of
everything that creepeth upon the ground, there went in two and two
unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. And it
came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were
upon the earth._
34. This is clear from what precedes. Noah's faith is praiseworthy in
that he obeyed the Lord's command and unwaveringly entered the ark
with his sons and their wives. God truly could have saved him in
innumerable other ways; he did not employ this seemingly absurd method
because he knew no other. To him who kept Jonah for three days in the
midst of the sea and in the belly of the whale, what do you think is
impossible? But Noah's faith and obedience are to be commended because
he took no offense at this plan of salvation divinely shown to him,
but embraced it in simple faith.
II. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION BY FLOOD.
* Why Moses so often repeats and expresses in few words what other
writers describe at length 35-39.
* Noah's grief because of the approaching calamity 38.
* The way of coarse and satiated spirits 39.
1. When did the flood commence.
a. Some think it began in the spring 40.
b. Others think it began in the autumn 41.
c. Which is the more probable 42.
* What to think of the Jews reckoning the year has two
beginnings 44.
2. How the flood continued.
a. Must distinguish the fountains of the earth, the windows of
heaven and the rain 45.
* Of the earth and the water.
(1) Why the water does not overflow the earth since the earth
floats in the water 46.
(2) Why the water above the earth does not fall and overflow
the earth 47-48.
(3) How the prophets wondered at this as a miracle, but we in
our day give it little thought 49.
b. How were the fountains broken up, how can such a work be
ascribed to God 50-51.
* Overflowing of the German fountains at Halle 51.
c. How were the windows of heaven opened 52.
(1) What is meant by the windows of heaven 53.
(2) Why such words used here 53.
3. Flood covered and destroyed the whole earth 54.
4. Why God sent the deluge 54.
* Why God so often repeats the same thing 55-60.
* What is meant by Zippor 55.
* How God's wrath as seen in the deluge was very great 56-57.
5. The deluge was a terrible spectacle; Noah and his sons took
courage from it 58-60.
* Noah's glorious faith at the sight of the deluge 60.
* Noah's long ship voyage; how he was comforted 61.
6. How the world's destruction harmonizes with God's promises: how
the promises to the Church agree with his threatenings 62ff.
* God's threatenings and man's unbelief.
a. Why the first world believed not the threatenings about the
deluge 62ff.
b. Why the Jews believe not the threatenings of the prophets 63.
c. Why the Papists believed not the threats against them 64.
* God's Church and her maintenance.
a. The world understands not how the church is maintained 66.
b. What is the true form of the true Church 66.
c. God's promises not rescinded when rejected; who bear the name
of the Church 67-68.
7. Whether God fully rescinded through the flood the rule over the
earth he once gave man 69.
* How God preserved his Church through the deluge 69.
8. The deluge was apparently against God's promise 70.
* God allows nothing to hinder the punishment of the impenitent
71-73.
* By what means Papists adorn themselves and how it is all in vain
72.
* Why we should not rely on present, temporal things, but upon
God's Word 73.
* The marks of a true Church.
a. What they are not and what they are 74-76.
b. Papists have characteristics Holy Scriptures give as marks of
Antichrist 75.
c. Church born of God's Word and is to be known by that Word 76.
d. Rule to be observed in the marks of the true Church 77.
e. How far one may consider the Papists the true church, and how
far not 78-79.
f. The true church is where the Word is, although few belong to
it and it has no temporal power 79.
g. Whether the Evangelicals can justly be accused of falling
from the old church 80.
h. How and why the Evangelical or Gospel Church is really the
true Church 81.
* How Noah retained all and remained lord of the world although
the deluge destroyed everything 81.
II. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION.
Vs. 11-12. _In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all
the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven
were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty
nights._
35. We see that Moses uses a great many words, which results in
tiresome repetition. How often he mentions the animals! how often the
entrance into the ark! how often the sons of Noah who entered at the
same time! The reason for this must be left to the spiritually minded;
they alone know and see that the Holy Spirit does not repeat in vain.
36. Others, however, who are more materially minded may think that
Moses, being moved, when he wrote the passage, by the greatness of
God's wrath, desired to enforce its truths by repetition; for
reiteration of statements is soothing to troubled minds. Thus did
David repeat his lament over his son Absalom, 2 Sam 18, 33. So viewed,
this narrative shows depth of feeling and extreme agitation of mind.
This example of wrath so impresses the narrator that for emphasis he
mentions the same thing again and again, and in the same words.
37. This is not the custom of poets and historians. Their emotions are
factitious; they are diffuse in their descriptions; they pile up words
for mere effect. Moses husbands his words, but is emphatic by
repetition that he may arouse the reader's attention to the importance
of the message and compel him to feel his own emotions instead of
reading those of another.
38. Evidently Moses did not only wish to convey by persistent
repetition the extreme agitation of his own mind, but also of that of
Noah himself, who, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and burning with
love, necessarily deplored the calamity when he saw that he could not
avert it. He foresaw the doom of the wisest and most distinguished and
eminent men. Thus did David mourn when he could not call back Absalom
to life. So Samuel mourned when he despaired of saving Saul.
39. The text is not a mere tautology or repetition. The Holy Spirit
does not idly repeat words, as those superficial minds believe, which,
having read through the Bible once, throw it aside as if they had
gathered all its contents. Yet these very repetitions of Moses contain
a statement more startling than any to be found in heathen
records--that Noah entered the ark in the six hundredth year, the
second month and the second day of his life.
40. Opinions differ as to the beginning of the year. One is, that the
year begins at the conjunction of the sun and the moon which occurs
nearest to the vernal equinox. Thus this month is called the first by
Moses in Exodus. If the flood set in on the seventeenth day of the
second month, it must have continued almost to the end of April, the
most beautiful season of the year, when the earth seemingly gathers
new strength, when the birds sing and the beasts rejoice, when the
world puts on a new face, as it were, after the dreary season of
winter. Death and destruction must have come with added terror at that
season which was looked forward to as a harbinger of joy and the
apparent beginning of a new life. This view is substantiated by the
words of Christ in Matthew 24, 38, where he compares the last days of
the world to the days of Noah and speaks of feasting, marriage and
other signs of gladness.
41. A second opinion makes the year begin with that new moon which is
nearest to the autumnal equinox, when all the harvest has been
gathered from the fields. Its advocates declare this to be the
beginning of the year, because Moses calls that month in which such
new moon occurs, the end of the year. They call this autumnal equinox
the beginning of the civil year, and the vernal equinox the beginning
of the holy year. The Mosaic ceremonies and festivals extend from the
latter season up to the autumnal equinox.
42. If Moses in this passage is speaking of the civil year, then the
flood occurred in September or October, an opinion I find Lyra held.
It is true that fall and winter are more liable to rains, the signs of
the zodiac pointing to humidity. Again, as Moses writes further on, a
dove was sent forth in the tenth month and brought back a green olive
branch. This fact seems to harmonize with the view that the deluge
began in October.
43. But I cannot endorse this argument of the Jews, assuming two
beginnings of the year. Why not make four beginnings, since there are
four distinct seasons according to the equinoxes and solstices? It is
safer to follow the divine order, making April the first month,
starting with the new moon which is nearest to vernal equinox. The
Jews betray their ignorance in speaking of an autumnal beginning of
the year: the autumnal equinox is necessarily the end of the year.
Moses so calls it for the reason that all field labors had then ceased
and all products had been gathered and brought home.
44. Hence, it is my belief that the flood began in the spring, when
all minds were filled with hope of the new year. Such is the death of
the wicked that when they shall say, "Peace and safety," they perish.
1 Thes 5, 3. Nor is any inconsistence shown in the fact that the green
olive branch is afterward mentioned, for certain trees are evergreen,
as the boxwood, fir, pine, cedar, laurel, olive, palm and others.
45. But what does Moses mean by saying that the fountains of the great
deep burst, and that the windows of heaven were opened? No such record
is found in all pagan literature, although the heathen searched with
zeal the mysteries of nature. One discrimination should be made as
regards the abysses of the earth, the floodgates or windows of heaven,
and the rain. Rain, as we know it, is a common phenomenon, while that
of bursting floodgates and abysses is both unfamiliar and amazing.
46. Almost all interpreters are silent on this point. We know from
Holy Writ that God, by his Word, established a dwelling-place for man
and other living beings on dry land, above the water, contrary to
nature; for it is opposed to natural law that the earth, being placed
in water, should rise up out of it. If you cast a clod into the water,
it sinks at once. But the dry land stands up out of the water by
virtue of the Word, which has set bounds for the sea, as Solomon (Prov
8, 27) and Job (ch 38, 11) declare. Unless the water were restrained
by the power of the Word, with a bound, as it were, they would
overflow and lay waste everything. Thus is our life guarded every
single moment, and wonderfully preserved by the Word. We have an
illustration in partial deluges, when at times entire states or
regions are flooded, proving that we should daily suffer such
unpleasant things if God did not take care of us.
47. But just as there are waters below us, and beneath the earth, so,
too, are there waters above us, and beyond the sky. If they should
descend, obeying natural law, destruction would result. The clouds
float as if suspended in space. When at times they descend, how great
the terror they cause! But imagine the result of a universal collapse!
How they would burst, in obedience to the law of their nature, did
they not remain in place above us, suspended, as it were, by the Word!
48. Thus we are girt about on all sides by water, shielded only by a
frail ceiling of unsubstantial material--the air that we
breathe--which bears up the clouds and carries that weight of water,
not in obedience to the laws of nature, but by the command of God, or
by the power of the Word.
49. When the prophets think of these things they are lost in
admiration. It is contrary to nature that such a weight should remain
in suspension above the earth. But we, blinded by daily witnessing of
such wonders, neither observe nor admire them. That we are not at any
moment overwhelmed by waters from above or from below, we owe to the
divine majesty which orders all things and preserves all creatures so
wonderfully, and he ought to be the object of our praise.
50. Startling and significant are the words Moses uses--the fountains
of the great deep were broken up. The conception he would convey is
that they had been closed by God's power and sealed, as it were, with
God's seal, as today; and that God did not open them with a key, but
rent them with violence, so that the ocean, in a sudden upheaval,
covered everything with water. It is not to be supposed that God moved
his hand, because the fountains of the deep are said to have been
broken up. It is the custom of Scripture to adapt itself to our
understanding in the phraseology employed, and that under
consideration here denotes that God gives leave to the waters in that
he no longer restrains or coerces them but suffers them to rage and
break forth unchecked according to their nature. That is the reason
the ocean seemed to swell and boil. In the salt works in our
neighborhood there is a spring named after the Germans, which, if it
is not pumped out at certain times, swells and overflows with terrific
force.
51. They say that in olden times the town of Halle was once destroyed
by a violent overflow of a spring of the kind described. If a single
spring could work such destruction what would be the result of the
uncurbed power of ocean and seas? Thus mankind was destroyed before
they even knew their danger. Whither should they flee when the waters
poured in upon them with such force?
52. But this is not all: the windows of heaven also were opened.
Moses' word implies that to that time the windows were closed as they
are closed today. Indeed, the world thought such opening impossible;
their sins, however, made it possible.
53. Moses' use here of the word "windows" signifies the literal
opening of heaven. With rain as we know it, the water appears to fall
by drops from the pores of the rain-clouds, but at the time of the
flood it came down with great force, not through pores, but through
windows, like water poured from a vessel with one movement, or as when
water-skins burst in the middle. Moses uses this figure of speech for
the sake of effect, so that those occurrences are brought to our
vision.
54. A volume of water, therefore, swept over the earth, from the sky
as well as from the innermost parts of the earth, until at last the
whole earth was covered with water, and the fertile soil, or the
entire face of the earth was destroyed by the briny flood. A like
instance occurs nowhere in any book. The Holy Scriptures alone teach
us that these things were visited upon the world sinning in imagined
security, and that to this day the waters suspended in the clouds are
restrained only by the kindness of God. Otherwise they would descend
in vast volume, as in the flood, according to the law of their nature.
Vs. 13-16. _In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and
Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and three wives of his
sons with them, into the ark; they, and every beast after its kind,
and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind,
every bird of every sort. And, they went in unto Noah and the ark, two
and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. And they that went
in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him._
55. Here Moses begins to be remarkably verbose. His wordiness hurts
tender ears when he so often and apparently without any use repeats
the same things. It is not sufficient to say "all birds," but he names
three kinds of birds. Of these, the term _zippor_ is usually said to
mean "a sparrow," but this passage shows clearly that it is a generic
term, doubtless so called from the sound, _zi, zi_. He also names
three kinds of beasts. Also, when speaking of the flood itself, he is
very wordy, saying that the waters prevailed, that they increased,
that they flooded and covered the face of the earth. Finally, when he
tells of the effect of this flood, he makes similar repetition: "All
flesh expired, died, was destroyed," etc.
56. But I said above (para 37) that Moses repeats these things
contrary to his style, in order to force the reader to pause and more
diligently learn and meditate upon this great event. We cannot fully
comprehend the wrath which destroys, not man alone, but all his
possessions. Moses wishes to arouse hardened and heedless sinners by
such a consideration of God's wrath.
57. Hence, these words are not idle, as a shallow and unspiritual
reader might judge. They rather challenge us to fear God, and call
attention to the present so that, sobered by the thought of such
wrath, we may make an earnest beginning in the fear of God, and cease
from sin. For not without many tears does Moses appear to have written
this account! So utterly is he with eyes and mind absorbed in this
horrible spectacle of wrath that he cannot but repeat the same
statements again and again. Doubtless he does this with the purpose to
thrust such darts of divine fear, so to speak, into the souls of pious
readers.
58. It may be well to transport ourselves in thought into the time of
the event. What do you think would be our state of mind if we had been
put into the ark, if we had seen the waters spreading everywhere with
overwhelming force and the wretched human beings perishing without
possibility of help? Let us remember that Noah and his sons were also
flesh and blood; that is, they were men who, as that person in the
comedy (Terence, Heaut. 1: 1, 25) says, thought nothing human was
foreign to themselves. They were in the ark for forty days before it
was lifted off the earth. In those days were destroyed all the human
beings and animals living upon the earth. This calamity they saw with
their own eyes; who would doubt that they were violently stirred by
the sight?
59. Furthermore, the ark floated upon the waters for one hundred and
fifty days, buffeted on all sides by the waves and winds. There was no
hope for any harbor, or for any meeting with men. As exiles,
therefore, as vanished from the earth, as it were, they were driven
here and there by currents and winds. Is it not a miracle that those
eight human beings did not die from grief and fear? Truly, we are made
of stone if we can read this story with dry eyes.
60. What outcry, sorrow and wailing if from the shore we see a small
boat overturned, and human beings miserably perishing! Here, however,
not one boat-load, but the entire world of men perish in the waters; a
world composed not only of grown persons, but also babes; not only of
criminal and wicked ones, but also simple-hearted matrons and virgins.
They all perished. Let us believe that Moses told the tale of this
calamity with such redundancy of words in order that we might be
impelled to give earnest attention to this important event. Noah's
faith was truly of a rare kind, since he consoled himself and his
family with the hope of promised seed and dwelt more upon this promise
than the destruction of all the rest of the world.
Vs. 16-24. _And Jehovah shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon
the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was
lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and increased
greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high
mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen
cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle,
and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and
every man: all, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of
life, of all that was on the dry land, died. And every living thing
was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, both man, and
cattle, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; and they were
destroyed from the earth: and Noah only was left, and they that were
with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred
and fifty days._
61. For forty days the ark stood in some plain. By that time the
waters had risen to such an extent that they lifted the ark, which
then floated for one hundred and fifty days. A long sea voyage indeed,
and one of great mourning and tears. Yet the occupants upheld
themselves by faith, not doubting the kindness of God toward them.
They had experienced his goodness when building the ark, when
preparing the food, when getting ready other things needful for this
occasion, and finally when the Lord closed the ark after the flood
came in its power.
62. The question arises, how can God be truthful here? He had set man
as master over the earth to cultivate and rule it. God did not create
the earth to lie waste, but to be inhabited and give its fruits to
men. How can we reconcile such purpose of the creator with the fact
that he destroyed all mankind except eight souls? I have no doubt that
this argument influenced the descendants of Cain as well as the wicked
posterity of the righteous generation not to believe Noah when he
proclaimed the flood. How can we harmonize God's promise to Adam and
Eve, "You shall rule the earth," and his words here to Noah, "The
water shall overpower all men, and destroy them all." So the
unbelievers decided that Noah's preaching was wicked and heretical.
63. In like manner the books of the prophets bear witness that the
threats of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivity were not believed by
the priests and kings, who knew this grand promise: "This is my
resting-place forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it," Ps
132, 14; and that other, by Isaiah: "Here is my fire, and my
hearth-stone," Is 31, 9. To them it was incredible that either the
State or the temple should be overthrown by the gentiles. And the
Jews, miserable outcast though they be, even to this day hold fast the
promise that they are God's people and heirs of the promises given
Abraham and the fathers.
64. Thus is the pope puffed up with the promises given to the Church:
"I am with you unto the end of the world," Mt 28, 20; "I will not
leave you desolate," Jn 14, 18; "I made supplication for thee, that
thy faith fail not," Lk 22, 32; and others. Though he sees and feels
the wrath of God, yet, caught in these promises, he dreams, and
likewise his followers, that his throne and power are secure. Hence
the Papists blatantly use the name of the Church to overwhelm us,
promising themselves the utmost success, as if they could force God to
establish the Church according to their dreams and desires.
65. Fitly, then, do we here raise the question how the flood, by which
all mankind perished, agrees with the will of God, who created human
nature and gave it the promise and endowment of dominion. The answer
to this question will likewise settle the one concerning the Church.
It is this: God remains truthful, preserving, ruling and governing his
Church though in a manner transcending the observation and
understanding of the world. He permits the Roman pontiff and his
adherents to think that the pope is the Church. He suffers him to feel
secure and to enjoy his dignity and title. But in fact God has
excommunicated the pontiff, because he rejects the Word and
establishes idolatrous worship.
66. On the other hand, God has chosen for himself another Church,
which embraces the Word and flees idolatry, a Church so oppressed and
shamefully afflicted that it is not considered a Church but a band of
heretics and the devil's school. Thus Paul writes to the Romans (ch 2,
17) that the Jews do not fear God yet they glory in the Law and in
God, at the same time denying, blaspheming and offending God. And
while the Jews, who take pride in being God's people, are doing this,
God prepares for himself a Church from the gentiles, who truly glory
in God and embrace his Word.
67. But who should dare to accuse God of untruthfulness because he
preserves the Church in a manner unknown and undesired by man? Of
similar nature were the promises concerning the preservation of
Jerusalem and the temple. These promises were not violated when that
city and temple were laid waste by the Babylonians. For God
established another Jerusalem and another temple in the Spirit and by
the Word; Jeremiah promised (Jer 29, 10-11) that the people should
return after seventy years and that then both the temple and the
nation should be re-established.
68. As regards the Jews, these were destroyed at that time, but not as
regards God who had promised in his Word that they should be rebuilt.
The Jews argue correctly that God will not desert the nation and
temple; but God keeps his promise in a way foreign to the thought of
the Jews, who believed that the nation would not be destroyed because
the promise said: "This is my resting-place forever." God permitted
destruction in order to punish the sins of his people, and yet he
preserved and protected the Church when the pious were brought back by
Cyrus and built the temple.
69. In like manner, dominion over the world was given to man in the
beginning of creation. This is taken away in the flood, not forever,
but for a time, and that not altogether. Though the greater part of
the world perishes, yet man retains his mastery; and this mastery is
preserved to mankind, not as represented by a multitude, as the world
desired and believed, but by a few persons--eight souls--a thing which
seemed incredible to the world.
70. Hence God did not lie; he kept his promise, but not as the world
would have had it. He destroyed the sinners and saved the righteous
few, which, like a seed, he thereafter multiplied in many ways.
71. The Papists should keep before their eyes this judgment of God. It
teaches that neither numbers nor power nor his own promise is allowed
to prevent him from punishing the impenitent. Otherwise he would have
spared the first world and the offspring of the patriarchs to whom he
had granted dominion over the earth. Now he destroys all and saves
only eight.
72. Is it wonderful, then, that he deals with the Papists in the same
way? Though they boast of rank, dignity, numbers, and power, yet,
because they trample the Word of God under foot and rage against it,
God will cast them away, choosing for himself another Church, which
will humbly obey the Word and accept with open arms the gifts of
Christ which the pope's Church, trusting in its own merits, haughtily
spurns.
73. Therefore none should trust in the good things of present
possession, though they be promised by the divine Word. We must look
to the Word itself and trust in it alone. Those who set the Word aside
and put their trust in present things, will not go unscathed in their
fall from faith, however much they may boast of power and numbers.
This truth is shown by the flood, by the captivity of the Jews and
their present misfortune, and by the seven thousand men in the kingdom
of Israel.
74. The proof is sufficiently strong, that great numbers do not make a
Church. Nor must we trust in holiness of origin, in forefathers, or in
the gifts of God which we enjoy. We must look to the Word alone and
judge thereby. Those alone who truly embrace the Word will be as
immovable forever as Mount Zion. They may be few in number and
thoroughly despised by the world, as were Noah and his children. But
God, through these few, preserved to man the truth of that promised
mastery when he had not even room to set his foot upon the earth.
75. Our enemies, setting aside the Word, make much of number, outward
appearance, and persons. But the apostles foretold that the Antichrist
will be a respecter of persons, that will rely upon numbers and
ancient origin, that he will hate the Word and corrupt God's promises
and that he will kill those who cling to the Word. Shall we, then,
consider such people to be the Church?
76. The Church is a daughter born from the Word, not the mother of the
Word. Therefore, whoever loses the Word and looks to men instead,
ceases to be the Church and lapses into utter blindness; nor will
either great numbers or power avail. They who keep the word, as did
Noah and his family, are the Church, though they be few in number,
even but eight souls. The Papists at this time surpass us in numbers
and rank; we not only are cursed, but suffer many things. But we must
endure until the judgment, when God will reveal that we are his
Church, and the Papists the church of Satan.
77. So, then, we must observe that rule in 1 Sam 16, 7, where the Lord
says to Samuel: "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his
stature; because I have rejected him: for Jehovah seeth not as man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh
on the heart."
78. Let us not, therefore, give heed to the greatness and might of the
pope, who boasts that he is the Church, proclaiming the apostolic
succession and the majesty of his person. Let us look to the Word. If
the pope embraces it, let us judge him to be the Church; but if he
does violence to it, let us judge him to be the slave of Satan.
79. Paul says (1 Cor 2, 15) that the spiritual person judgeth all
things. If I were the only one on the face of the earth to keep the
Word, I should be the Church, and rightfully pass judgment upon all
the rest of the world that they were not the Church. Our enemies have
the office without the Word, and really have nothing. We, on the other
hand, have the Word, though we have nothing; yet we have everything
through the Word. Therefore, either let the pope, the cardinals and
the bishops come over to our side, or let them cease to boast that
they are the Church, which they cannot be without the Word, since it
is begotten only by the Word.
80. We bear a great load of hatred, being accused of having deserted
the ancient Church. The Papists, on the other hand, boast that they
have remained true to the Church, and they want to leave everything to
the judgment of the Church. But we are accused falsely. To speak the
truth, we must say that we departed from the Word when we were still
in their Church and now we have returned to the Word and have ceased
to be apostates from the Word.
81. Therefore though in their judgment they rob us of the title of the
Church, still we retain the Word, and through the Word we have all
ornaments of the true Church. For whoever has the Creator of all, must
needs also possess the creatures themselves. In this sense Noah
remained master of the world, though the waters prevailed, and the
earth perished. Though he lost his property, yet, because he retained
the Word by which everything was created, it may truly be said he
retained everything.