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men, that they were fair; and they took them, to them; the same became mighty
wives of all which they chose.
were of old, men of renown.

3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children

Job 31. 1. c Deut. 7. 3, 4. Ezra 9 2. Neh. 13. 26, 27, 2 Cor. 6. 14. d Neh. 9. 30. Is. 5. 4. 63. 10. Jer. 11, 7, 11. 1 Pet. 3. 20. e Ps. 78. 39. ƒ Pa. 14. 2. 53.2.

Rom. 3. 9.

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men, which 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination sof the thoughts of his heart was only evil 'continually.

6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. or, the whole imagination: The Hebrew word signifies not only the imagingtion, but also the purposes and desires. g c. 8. 21. Deut. 29. 19. Ez. 8. 9, 12. Matt. 15. 19. † every day.

yet he did not immediately cut them off, but waited to see what the issue of these marriages would be, and which side the children would take after; and it proved, (as it usually does,) that they took after the worst side. Here is,

1. The increase of mankind. Men began to multiply upon the face of the earth. This was the effect of the blessing, ch. 1. 28, and yet man's corruption so abused and perverted this blessing, that it turned into a curse. Thus sin takes occasion by the mercies of God to be the more exceeding sinful. Prov. 29, 16, When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth.lence; they were giants, they were men of renown; they beThe more sinners, the more sin; and the multitude of offenders imboldens men: infectious diseases are most destructive in populous cities; and sin is a spreading leprosy. Thus in the New-Testament Church, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring, Acts 6. 1, and we read of a nation that was multiplied, not to the increase of their joy, Is. 9. 3. Numerous families need to be well governed, lest they should become wicked families.

I. The temptation they were under to oppress and do viocame too hard for all about them, and carried all before them, 1. With their great bulk, as the sons of Anak, Num. 13. 33, and 2. With their great name, as the king of Assyria, Is. 37. 11. These made them the terror of the mighty in the land of the living; and thus armed, they daringly insulted the rights of all their neighbours, and trampled upon all that is just and sacred. Note, Those that have so much power over others as to be able to oppress them, have seldom so much power over 2. Mixed marriages, v. 2: The sons of God, that is, the themselves as not to oppress; great might is a very great snare professors of religion, who were called by the name of the to many. This degenerate race slighted the honour their anLord, and called upon that name, married the daughters of men, cestors had obtained by virtue and religion, and made themthat is, those that were profane, and strangers to God and god-selves a great name by that which was the perpetual ruin of liness. The posterity of Seth did not keep by themselves, as their good name. they ought to have done, both for the preservation of their own purity, and in detestation of the apostacy; they intermingled themselves with the excommunicated race of Cain; they took them wives of all that they chose. But what was amiss in these marriages? (1.) They chose only by the eye; they saw that they were fair, which was all they looked at. (2.) They followed the choice which their own corrupt affections made; they took all that they chose, without advice and consideration. But, (3.) That which proved of such bad consequence to them, was, that they married strange wives, were unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Cor. 6. 14. This was forbidden to Israel, Deut. 7.3, 4. It was the unhappy occasion of Solomon's apostacy, 1 Kings 11. 1-4, and was of bad consequence to the Jews after their return out of Babylon, Ezra 9. 1, 2. Note, Professors of religion, in marrying both themselves and their children, should make conscience of keeping within the bounds of profession. The bad will sooner debauch the good than the good reform the bad. Those that profess themselves the children of God, must not marry without his consent, which they have not, if they join in affinity with his enemies.

V. 3. This comes in here, 1. As a token of God's displeasure at those who married strange wives; he threatens to withdraw his Spirit from them, whom they had grieved by such marriages, contrary to their convictions. Fleshly lusts are often punished with spiritual judgments, the sorest of all judgments. Or, 2. As another occasion of the great wickedness of the old world; the Spirit of the Lord, being provoked by their resistance of his motions, ceased to strive with them, and then all religion was soon lost among them. This he warns them of before, that they might not further vex his holy Spirit, but by their prayers might stay him with them. Observe in this verse,

1. God's resolution not always to strive with man by his Spirit. The Spirit then strove by Noah's preaching, 1 Pet. 3. 19, 20, and by inward checks; but it was in vain with the most of men; therefore, says God, He shall not always strive. Note, (1.) The blessed Spirit strives with sinners, by the convictions and admonitions of conscience, to turn them from sin to God. (2.) If the Spirit be resisted, quenched, and striven against; though he strive long, he will not strive always, Hos. 4. 17. (3.) Those are ripening apace for ruin, whom the Spirit of grace has left off striving with.

2. The reason of that resolution; For that he also is flesh, that is, incurably corrupt, and carnal, and sensual, so that it is Labour lost to strive with him. Can the Ethiopian change his skin? He also, that is, All, one as well as another, they are all sunk into the mire of flesh Note, (1.) It is the corrupt nature, and the inclination of the soul toward the flesh, that oppose the Spirit's strivings, and render them ineffectual. (2.) When a sinner has long adhered to that interest, and sided with the fish against the Spirit, the Spirit justly withdraws his agency, and strives no more. None lose the Spirit's strivings, but those that have first forfeited them.

3. A reprieve granted, notwithstanding; yet his days shall be 120 years; so long I will defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said, Cut them down; but mercy interceded, Lord, let them alone this year also; and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six-score years. Note, The time of God's patience and forbearance toward provoking sinners is sometimes long, but always limited: reprieves are not pardons; though God bear a great while, he will not bear always.

V. 4, 5. We have here a further account of the corruption of the old world. When the sons of God had matched with the daughters of men, though it was very displeasing to God, VOL. I.-7

II. The charge exhibited and proved against them, v. 5. The evidence produced was incontestable; God saw it, and that is instead of a thousand witnesses. God sees all the wickedness that is among the children of men; it cannot be concealed from him now, and if it be not repented of, it shall not be concealed by him shortly. Now, what did God take notice of?

1. He observed all the streams of sin that flowed along in men's lives, and the breadth and depth of those streams; he saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Observe the connexion of this with what goes before; the oppressors were mighty men, and men of renown; and then God saw that the wickedness of man was great. Note, The wickedness of a people is great indeed, when the most notorious sinners are men of renown among them. Things are bad, when bad 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; and committed daringly, and with a defiance of heaven; nor was any care taken by those who 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.

2. He observed the fountain of sin that was in men's hearts: any one might see that the wickedness of man was great, for they declared their sin as Sodom; but God's eye went further; he saw that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 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, Jam. 1. 15. See Matt. 15. 19. (1.) The heart was naught: that 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 that was bribed, and biassed, and misled; sometimes for the workings of the fancy, and those were always either vain or vile, either weaving the spider's web, or hatching the cockatrice's eggs. (3.) The imagination of the thoughts of the heart was so, that is, their designs and devices were wicked. They did not do evil only through 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 Ps. 14. 1-3.

V. 6, 7. Here is, I. God's resentment of man's wickedness; he did not see it as an unconcerned spectator, but as one inju red 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. It repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth, 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; and it grieved him at his heart. These are expressions after the manner of mer, and must be understood ( 49 )

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

7 And the LORD 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.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

⚫ from man unto beast.

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.

13 And God said unto Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with

tor, upright. A 1 Pet. 4. 7.

so as not to reflect upon the honour of God's immutability or him greater and more truly honourable than all the giants that felicity. were in those days, who became mighty men, and men of re1. It does not bespeak any passion or uneasiness in God, nown. Let this be the top of our ambition, to find grace in (nothing can create disturbance to the eternal mind;) but it the eyes of the Lord; herein let us labour, that, present or abbespeaks his just and holy displeasure against sin and sinners; sent, we may be accepted of him, 2 Cor. 5. 9. Those are against sin as odious to his holiness, and against sinners as ob-highly favoured, whom God favours. noxious to his justice. He is pressed by the sins of his creatures, Am. 2. 13; wearied, Is. 43. 24; broken, Ez. 6. 9; grieved, Ps. 95. 10, and here, grieved to the heart, 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 not we hate it? Has our sin grieved him to the heart? And shall not we be grieved and pricked to the heart for it? O that this consideration might humble us, and shame us, and that we may look on him whom we have thus grieved, and mourn! Zech. 12. 10.

2. It does not bespeak any change in God's mand; for he is in one mind, and who can turn him? With him there is no variableness. But it bespeaks a change of his way; when God had made man upright, he rested and was refreshed, Ex. 31. 17, and his way toward him was such as showed he was pleased with the work of his own hands; but now that man was 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 gifts and callings are without repentance, Rom. 11. 29.

II. God's resolution to destroy man for his wickedness, v. 7. Observe, 1. When God repented that he had made man, he resolved to destroy man. Thus they 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 will wipe off man from the earth, (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 2 Kings 21.13. Those that are the spots of the places they live in, are justly wiped away by the judgments of God. I will blot out man from the earth, (so others,) as those lines are blotted out of a book, which displease the author; 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 then, when he resolves upon his ruin, Man whom I have created; "Though I have created him, that shall not excuse him." Is. 27. 11, He that made him, will not save him; he that is our Creator, if he shall not be our Ruler, will be our Destroyer. Or, "Because I have created him, and he has been so undutiful and so 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 this destruction, Beasts and creeping things, and the fowl of the air. These were made for man, and therefore must be destroyed with man; for it follows, It repenteth me that I have made them; 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 men, after his spirit had been long striving with them in vain. None are ruined by the justice of God but those that hate to be reformed by the grace of God.

2. When the rest of the world was corrupt and wicked, Noah kept his integrity, v. 9, These are the generations of Noah: this is the account we have to give of him; Noah was a just man. 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, 1 Cor. 15. 10. Now observe his character; [1.] He was a just man, that is, justified before God by faith in the promised Seed; for he was an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Heb. 11. 7. 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 their's. Note, None but a downright honest man, can find favour with God; that conversation which will be pleasing to God, must be governed by simplicity and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom, 2 Cor. 1. 12. God has sometimes chosen the foolish things of the world, but he never chose the knavish things of it. [2.] He was perfect, 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 walked with God, as Enoch had done before him; he was not only honest, but devout: he walked, 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, in his generation, 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 Gou, when no one else appears for him: so Noah did, and it is upon record, to his immortal honour.

V. 11, 12. The wickedness of that generation is here again spoken of, 1. As a foil to Noah's piety; he was just and perfect, when all the earth was corrupt: or, 2. 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 kind of sin was found among them, for v. 11, it is said that the earth was, (1.) Corrupt before God, 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 contempt of God, daring him and defying him to his face. (2.) The earth was also filled with violence, and injustice toward men; there was no order or 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, nothing but murders, rapes, and rapine. Note, Wickedness, as it is the shame of the human nature, so it is the ruin of human society; it takes 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 lesser. Sin fills the earth with violence, and so turns the world into a wil derness, into a cockpit.

2. The proof and evidence of it were undeniable; for God looked upon the earth, and was himself an eyewitness of the corruption that was in it, of which before, v. 5. The righteous judge in all his judgments proceeds upon the infallible certainty of his own omniscience, Ps. 33. 13.

V. 8-10. 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, v. 8, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This vindicates God's justice in his displeasure against the world, and shows that he had strictly examined the charac- 3. That which most aggravated the matter, was the universal ter of every person in it, before he pronounced it universally spreading of the contagion. All flesh had corrupted his way. corrupt; for, there being one good man, he found him out, and It was not some particular nations or cities that were thus smiled upon him. It also magnifies his grace towards Noah, wicked, but the whole world of mankind were so; there was that he was made a vessel of God's mercy, when all mankind none that did good, no, not one, beside Noah. Note, When besides were become the generation of his wrath: distinguish-wickedness is become general and universal, ruin is not far ing favours bring under peculiarly strong obligations. Proba- off; while there is a remnant of praying people in a nation to bly, Noah did not find favour in the eyes of men; they hated and empty the measure as it fills, judgments may be kept off a persecuted him, because both by his life and preaching he con- great while; but when all hands are at work to pull down the demned the world; but he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, fences by sin, and none stand in the gap to make up the breach, and that was honour and comfort enough. God made more ac- what can be expected but an inundation of wrath? count of Noah than of all the world besides; and this made

V. 13-21. Here it appears indeed that Noah found grace

violence through them: and, behold, I will destroy | is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every them with the earth. thing that is in the earth shall die.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher-wood: roomst shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be 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: with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein

⚫or, from the earth. nests.

in the eyes of the Lord; God's favour to him was plainly intimated in what he said of him, v. 8-10, 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.

1. God here makes Noah the man of his counsel; communicating to him his purpose to destroy this wicked world by water, as, afterward, he told Abraham his resolution concerning Sodom, ch. 18. 17, Shall I hide from Abraham? So here, Shall I hide from Noah, the thing that I do, seeing that he shall become a great nation? Note, The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Ps. 25. 14; it was with his servants the prophets, Am. 3. 7, by a spirit of revelation, informing them particularly of his purposes; it is with all believers, by a spirit of wisdom and faith, enabling to understand and apply the general declarations of the written word, and the warnings there given. Now, 1. God told Noah, in general, that he would destroy the world, v. 13, The end of all flesh is come before me; I will destroy them, that is, The ruin of this wicked world is decreed and determined; it is come; that is, it will come surely, and come quickly. Noah, it is likely, in preaching to his neigh bours, had warned them, in general, of the wrath of God that they would bring upon themselves by their wickedness, and now God seconds it by a particular denunciation of wrath, that Noah might try if that would work upon them; whence observe, (1.) That God confirmeth the words of his messengers, Is. 44. 26. (2.) That to him that has, and uses what he has for the good of others, more shall be given, more full instructions. 2. He told him particularly, that he would destroy the world by a flood of waters, v. 17; And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth. 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 flood of waters, 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 pleases: 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, even I, do bring a flood; I that am infinite in power, and therefore can do it, infinite in justice, and therefore will do it. (1.) It bespeaks the certainty of the judgment; I, even I, will do it; that cannot but be done effectually, which God himself undertakes the doing of; see Job 11. 10. (2.) It bespeaks 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 to whom vengeance belongs: methinks the expression here is somewhat like that, Is. 1. 24, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries.

II. God here makes Noah the man of his covenant, another Hebrew periphrasis of a friend, v. 18, But with thee will I establish my covenant. 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, ch. 9. 8, &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 are, he makes it good; his are everlasting covenants. (2.) The covenant of grace has in it the recompense 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.

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 will destroy them, says God, with the earth, v. 13. "But make thee an ark; I will take care to preserve thee alive." Note, Singular piety shall be recompensed with distinguishing salvations, which

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 sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them 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 sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee and for them.

i Ps. 93. 3, 4. Am. 9.6. c. 7. 8, 9.

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, 1. God directs Noah to make an ark, v. 14-16. 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 work out their salvation; 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 gopher-wood: Noah, doubtless knew what sort of wood that was, though now we 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 are given him, that he might make it proportionable, and might have room enough in it to answer the intention, and no more. Note, [1.] Those that work for God, must take their measures from him, and carefully observe them. [2.] It is fit that he who appoints us our habitation, should fix the bounds and limits of it. (5.) He must pitch it within and without; without, to shed off the rain, and to prevent the water from soaking in; within, to take away the ill smell of the beasts, when kept close. Observe, God does not bid him paint it, but pitch it. If God give 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 toward 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.

2. God promises Noah, that he and his should be preserved alive in the ark, v. 18, Thou shalt come into the ark. Note, What we do in obedience to God, we ourselves are likely to have the comfort and benefit of; If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. Nor was he himself only saved in the ark, but his wife, and his sons, and his sons' wives. Observe, (1.) The care of good parents; they are solicitous not only for their own 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.

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, ch. 5. 29.

1. God made him a preacher to the men of that generation, As a waichman, he received the word from God's mouth, that he might give them warning, Ez. 3. 17. Thus while the longsuffering of God waited, by his spirit in Noah, he preached to the old world, who, when St. Peter wrote, were spirits in prison, 1 Pet. 3. 18-20, 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, v. 19-21. 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 that 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. Two of every sort, male and female, 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, v. 20, that they should of their own

22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

CHAPTER VII.

In this chapter, we have the performance of what was foretold in the foregoing chapter, both concerning the destruction of the old world, and the salvation of Noah; for we may be sure that no word of God shall fall to the ground. There we left Noah busy about his ark, and full of care to get it finished in time, while the rest of his neighbours were laughing at him for his pains. Now here we see what was the end thereof; the end of his care, and of their carelessness. And this famous

period of the old world gives us some idea of the state of things, when the world that now is, shall be destroyed by fire, as that was by water. See 2 Pet. 3. 6, 7. We have, in this chapter, I. God's gracious call to Noah to come into the ark, v. 1, and to bring the creatures that were to be preserved alive, along with him, v. 2, 3, in consideration of the deluge at hand, v. 4. II. Noab's obedience to this

heavenly vision, v. 5. When he was six hundred years old, he came with his family into the ark, v. 6, 7, and brought the creatures along with him, v. 8, 9, an account of which is repeated, v. 13-16, to which is added God's tender care to

k Heb. 11. 7. a 1 Pet. 3. 20. 2 Pet. 2.5.

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, v. 21. 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, Heb. 5. 9.

shut him in. III. The coming of the threatened deluge, v. 10, the causes of it, v. 11, 12, the prevalency of it, v. 17-20. IV. The dreadful desolations that were made by it in the death of every living creature upon earth, except those that were in the ark, v. 21-23. V. The continuance of it in full sea, before it began to ebb, one hundred and fifty days, v. 24.

AND the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and

all thy house into the ark: for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by Sevens, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

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b Lev. 11. seven seven.

every condition. This was it that made Noah's ark, which was a prison, to be to him not only a refuge, but a palace. (3.) Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and now he was himself preserved alive in it. Note, What we do in obedience to the command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, first or last. (4.) Not he only, but his house also, his wife and children, are called with him into the ark. Note, It is good to belong to the family of a godly man; it is safe and comfortable to dwell under such a shadow. One of Noah's sons was Ham, who proved afterward a bad man, yet he was saved in the ark; which intimates, [1.] That wicked children often fare the better V. 22. Noah's care and diligence in building the ark may for the sake of their godly parents. [2.] That there is a mixbe considered, ture of bad with good in the best societies on earth, and we 1. As an effect of his faith in the word of God: God had told are not to think it strange; in Noah's family there was a Ham, him he would shortly drown the world; he believed it, feared and in Christ's family there was a Judas: there is no perfect the threatened deluge, and, in that fear, prepared the ark. purity on this side heaven. (5.) This call to Noah was a type Note, We ought to mix faith with the revelation God has made of the call which the Gospel gives to poor sinners. Christ is of his wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of an ark already prepared, in whom alone we can be safe, when men; the threatenings of the word are not false alarms. Much death and judgment come; now the burden of the song is, might have been objected against the credibility of this warn- Come, come" the word says, "Come" ministers say, ing given to Noah. "Who could believe that the wise God,"Come" the Spirit says, "Come, come into the ark." who made the world, should so soon unmake it again; who had drawn the waters off the dry land, ch. 1. 9, 10, 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 would 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 Noah's folly; 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. Thus did Noah willingly and cheerfully, without murmuring and disputing. God says, Do this, 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 give 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 Ex. 9. 20, 21. Ez. 3. 18. We must prepare to meet the Lord in his judgments on earth, flee to his name as a strong tower; Prov. 18. 10; enter into our chambers, Is. 26. 20, 21, especially prepare to meet him at death, and in the judgment of the great day, build upon Christ the Rock, Matt. 7. 24; 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, Heb. 11. 7.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII.

V. 1-4. Here is,

I. A gracious invitation of Noah and his family into a place of safety, now that the flood of waters was coming on, v. 1.

1. The call itself is very kind, like that of a tender father to his children, to come in doors, when he sees night or a storm coming; Come thou, and all thy house, that small family that thou hast, into the ark. Observe, (1.) Noah did not go into the ark till God bade him; though he knew it was designed for his place of refuge, yet he waited for a renewed command, and had it. It is very comfortable to follow the calls of Providence, and to see God going before us in every step we take. (2.) God does not bid him go into the ark, but come into it, implying that God would go with him, would lead him into it, accompany him in it, and in due time bring him safe out of it. Note, Wherever we are, it is very desirable to have the presence of God with us, for that is all in all, to the comfort of

2. The reason for this invitation is a very honourable testimony to Noah's integrity, For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Observe, (1.) Those are righteous indeed, that are righteous before God, that have not only the form of godliness by which they appear righteous before men, who may easily be imposed upon, but the power of it, by which they approve themselves to God, who searches the heart, and cannot be deceived in men's character. (2.) God takes notice of, and is pleased with, those that are righteous before him; Thee have I seen. In a world of wicked people, God could see one righteous Noah; that single grain of wheat could not be lost, no not in so great a heap of chaff. The Lord knows them that are his. (3.) God that is a witness to, will shortly be a witness for, his people's integrity; he that sees it will proclaim it before angels and men, to their immortal honour. They that obtain mercy to be righteous, shall obtain witness that they are righteous. (4.) God is, in a special manner, pleased with those that are good in bad times and places. Noah was therefore illustriously righteous, because he was so in that wicked and adulterous generation. (5.) Those that keep themselves pure in times of common iniquity, God will keep safe in times of common calamity; those that partake not with others in their sins, shall not partake with them in their plagues; those that are better than others are, even in this life, safer than others, and it is better with them.

II. Here are necessary orders given concerning the brute creatures that were to be preserved alive with Noah in the ark, v. 2, 3. They were not capable of receiving the warning and directions themselves, as man was, who herein is taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser than the fourls of heaven-that he is endued with the power of foresight; therefore man is charged with the care of them: being under his dominion, they must be under his protection; and though he could not secure every individual, yet he must carefully preserve every species, that no tribe, no not the least considerable, might entirely perish out of the creation. Observe in this, 1. God's care for man, and for his comfort and benefit; we do not find that Noah was solicitous of himself about this matter; but God consults our happiness more than we do ourselves. Though God saw that the old world was very provoking, and foresaw that the new one would be little better; yet he would-preserve the brute creatures for man's use: Doth God take care for oxen? 1 Cor. 9. 9. Or was it not rather for man's sake that this care was taken? 2. Even the unclean beasts (which were least valuable and profitable) were preserved alive in the ark; for God's tender mercies are over all his works, and not only over those that are of the most eminence and use. 3. Yet more of the clean were preserved than of the unclean, (1.) Because the clean were most for the service of man; and therefore, in favour to him, more of them were preserved, and are still propagated. Thanks be to God, that there are not herds of lions as there are of oxen, nor flocks of tigers as there are of sheep. (2.) Because the clean were for sacrifice to God; and therefore in honour to him, more of them were preserved, three couple for breed, and the odd seventh for sacrifice, ch. 8. 20. God gives us six for one in earthly things, as in the distribution of the days of the week, that in spiritual things we should be all for him. What is de

4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain | clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and upon the earth, every living substance that I have made will I *destroy from off the face of the earth.

5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7 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.

8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not • blot out. for, on the seventh day.

voted to God's honour, and used in his service, is particularly blessed and increased.

III. Here is notice given of the now imminent approach of the flood, v. 4, Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain. 1. "It shall be seven days yet, before I do it." After the 120 years were expired, God grants them a reprieve of seven days longer; both to show how slow he is to anger, and that punishing work is his strange work, and also to give them some further space for repentance; but all in vain; these seven days were trifled away, after all the rest; they continued secure and sensual until the day that the flood came. 2. "It shall be but seven days." While Noah told them of the judgment at a distance, they were tempted to put off their repentance, because the vision was for a great while to come; but now he is ordered to tell them that it is at the door, that they have but one week more to turn them in, but one sabbath more to improve; to see if that will now, at last, awaken them to consider the things that belonged to their peace, which otherwise would soon be hidden from their eyes. But it is common for those who have been careless of their souls during the years of their health, when they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the seven days, of their sickness, when they see it approaching, their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

V. 5-10. Here is Noah's ready obedience to the commands that God gave him. 1. He went into the ark, upon notice that the flood would come after seven days, though, probably, as yet there appeared no visible sign of its approach, no cloud arising that threatened it, nothing done toward it, but all continued serene and clear; for as he prepared the ark by faith in the warning given, that the flood would come, so he went into it by faith in this warning, that it would come quickly, though he did not see that the second causes had yet begun to work. In every step he took, he walked by faith, and not by sense. During these seven days, it is likely, he was settling himself and his family in the ark, and distributing the creatures into their several apart ments, which was the conclusion of that visible sermon which he had long been preaching to his careless neighbours, and which, one would think, might have awakened them; but, not obtaining that desired end, it left their blood upon their own heads. 2. He took all his family along with him; his wife, to be his companion and comfort; (though it should seem that, after this, he had no children by her :) his sons, and his sons' wives, that by them not only his family, but the world of mankind, might be built up. Observe, Though men were to be reduced to so small a number, and it would be very desirable to have the world speedily repeopled, yet Noah's sons were to have each of them but one wife, which strengthens the arguments against having many wives; for from the beginning of this new world it was not so: as, at first, God made, so now he kept alive, but one woman for one man; see Matt. 19. 4, 8.

3. The brute-creatures readily went in with him: the same hand that at first brought them to Adam to be named, now brought them to Noah to be preserved; the ox now knew his owner, and the ass his protector's crib, nay, even the wildest creatures flocked to it; but man was become more brutish than the brutes themselves, and did not know, did not consider, Is. 1. 3.

V. 11, 12. I. The date of this great event; this is carefully recorded, for the great certainty of the story.

1. It was in the 600th year of Noah's life, which, by computation, appears to be 1656 years from the creation. The years of the old world are reckoned, not by the reigns of the giants, but by the lives of the patriarchs; saints are of more account with God than princes: The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. Noah was now a very old man, even as men's years went then. Note, (1.) The longer we live in this world, the more we see of the miseries and calamities of it; it is therefore spoken of as the privilege of those that die young, that their eyes shall not see the evil which is coming, 2 Kings 22. 20. (2.) Sometimes God exercises his old servants with extraordinary trials of obedient patience. The oldest of Christ's soldiers must not promise themselves a discharge from their warfare, till death discharge them. Still they must gird on their harness, and not boast as though they had put it As the year of the deluge is recorded, so,

off.

2. We are told that it was in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, which is reckoned to be about the beginning of November; so that Noah had had a harvest just before, from which to victual his ark.

9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it came to pass, after tseven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

God

e c. 8. 2. Prov. 8. 28. Matt. 24. 38. 1 Thes. 5. 3. or, flood-gates. II. The second causes that concurred to this deluge; in the self-same day that Noah was fixed in the ark, the inundation began. Note, 1. Desolating judgments come not, till God has provided for the security of his own people; see ch. 19. 22, I can do nothing till thou be come thither: and we find, Rev. 7. 3, the winds are held till the servants of God are sealed. 2. When good men are removed, judgments are not far off; for they are taken away from the evil to come, Is. 57. 1. When they are called into the chambers, hidden in the grave, hidden in heaven, then God is coming out of his place to punish, Is. 26. 20, 21. Now see what was done on that day, that fatal day to the world of the ungodly. 1. The fountains of the great deep were broken up. Perhaps there needed no new creation of waters; what were already made to be, in the common course of providence, blessings to the earth, were now by an extraordinary act of divine power, made the ruin of it. God has laid up the deep in storehouses, (Ps. 33. 7,) and now he broke up those stores. As our bodies have in themselves those humours, which, when God pleases, become the seeds and springs of mortal diseases; so the earth had in its bowels those waters, which, at God's command, sprang up, and flooded it. had, in the creation, set bars and doors to the waters of the sea, that they might not return to cover the earth, (Ps. 104. 9. Job 38. 9-11,) and now he only removed those ancient landmarks, mounds, and fences; and the waters of the sea returned to cover the earth, as they had done at first, ch. 1. 9. Note, All the creatures are ready to fight against sinful man, and any of them is able to be the instrument of his ruin, if God do but take off the restraints by which they are held in, during the day of God's patience. 2. The windows of heaven were opened, and the waters which were above the firmament were poured out upon the world; those treasures which God has reserved against the day of trouble, the day of battle and war, Job 38. 22, 23. The rain, which ordinarily descends in drops, then came down in streams, or spouts, as they call them in the Indies, where clouds have been often known to burst, as they express it there, when the rain descends in a much more violent torrent than we have ever seen in the greatest shower. We read, Job 26. 8, that God binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them; but now the bond was loosed, the cloud was rent, and such rains descended as were never known before or since, in such abundance, and of such continuance: the thick cloud was not, as ordinarily it is, wearied with waterings, (Job 37. 11,) that is, soon spent and exhausted; but still the clouds returned after the rain, and the divine power brought in fresh recruits. It rained, without intermission or abatement, forty days and forty nights, (v. 12.) and that, upon the whole earth at once, not, as sometimes, upon one city, and not upon another. God made the world in six days, but he was forty days in destroying it; for he is slow to anger: but though the destruction came slowly and gradually, yet it came effectually. Now learn from this, (1.) That all the creatures are at God's disposal, and that he makes what use he pleases of them, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy, as Elihu speaks of the rain, Job 37. 12, 13. (2.) That God often makes that which should be for our welfare, to become a trap, Ps. 69. 22. That which usually is a comfort and benefit to us, becomes, when God pleases, a scourge and a plague to us. Nothing is more needful or useful than waters, both the springs of the earth, and the showers of heaven; and yet now, nothing is more hurtful, nothing more destructive: every creature is to be what God makes it. (3.) That it is impossible to escape the righteous judgments of God, when they come against sinners with commission; for God can arm both heaven and earth against them; see Job 20. 27. God can surround men with the messengers of his wrath, so that if they look upward, it is with horror and amazement; if they look to the earth, behold, trouble and darkness, Is. 8. 21, 22. Who then is able to stand before God, when he is angry? (Lastly,) In this destruction of the old world by water, God gave a specimen of the final destruction of the world that now is, by fire; we find the apostles setting the one of these over against the other, 2 Pet. 3. 6, 7. As there are waters under the earth, so Etna, Vesuvius, and other volcanoes, proclaim to the world that there are subterraneous fires too; and fire often falls from heaven, many desolations are made by lightning; so that when the time predetermined comes, between these two fires the earth and all the works therein shall be burnt up; as the flood was brought upon the old world out of the fountains of the great deep, and through the windows of heaven.

V. 13-16. Here is repeated what was related before of

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