The Book of Job is one of the “oldest” books written in the Bible

Ø  God speaks to Job about Dinosaur’s…

·         Behemoth, His greatest land creature – Job 40:15-24

Job 40:15-19 ¹⁵ "Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. ¹⁶ What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! ¹⁷ His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. ¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. ¹⁹ He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

·         Leviathan, His greatest sea creature – Job 41:1-34

Job 41:1-2 ¹ "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? ² Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Job 41:9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. Job 41:14-15 ¹⁴ Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? ¹⁵ His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;  Job 41:18-21 ¹⁸ His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. ¹⁹ Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. ²⁰ Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. ²¹ His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.  Job 41:31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.  Job 41:33 Nothing on earth is his equal-- a creature without fear.

Ø  Job speaks of “base” men of his day, Cavemen

 Job 30:3-8 ³ Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night. ⁴ In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree. ⁵ They were banished from their fellow men, shouted at as if they were thieves. ⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. ⁷ They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth. ⁸ A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.

·         After the flood, after Babel / language change… banished, rejected, forced to live primitive…

·         We see evidence worldwide today… yet man is “willfully ignorant” 2Pet 3:5… God still longsuffering

2 Peter 3:3-7 ³ First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.(EVOLUTION)" ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

 “Noah came out of the ark…”

·         After 371 days, Noah left the ark to a “new world” – dramatically changed in many ways…

·         Oceans more extensive, less land mass, vapor barrier dissipated, winds, storms, rain & snow now possible, environment more hostile, seismic instability, land barren of vegetation

Genesis 8:18-19 ¹⁸ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. ¹⁹ All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds--everything that moves on the earth--came out of the ark, one kind after another.

1.  Noah worships the Lord and God is pleased – Gen 8:20-21

Genesis 8:20-21a ²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. ²¹ The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma…” 

·         First mention of an “altar” – sacrifice of praise, propitiation & thanksgiving… God heard/smelled…

·         Noah a man of faith… God saw his heart and was pleased… never to curse the ground again v21…

2.  The earth tilts 23.5 degrees, seasons begin – Gen 8:22 is an interesting verse…

Genesis 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

·         We see not only seasons but “principle of uniformity” a regularity of nature – orbits, rotation, hydrologic cycle… uniformity in physical processes can be counted on…

3.  God blesses Noah and his sons and gives Instructions…

Genesis 9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:2 The fear and dread (TERROR) of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands.

o   Why? Possibly because animals multiply faster than man… they would have exterminated man??

o   Interesting, cattle/livestock/domesticated animals not mentioned… others flee as man approached

Genesis 9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

o   Reasons?? Affords greater protein, show great gulf between man/animals (evolution, paganism…)

o    One restriction – no life blood… something about the blood… atonement/forgiveness of sin. Heb 9:26

Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.

o   God established human Gov’t with authority for capital punishment… emphasis on justice

o   Judicial executions are mandated by God… modern liberal objects to capital punishment…

4.  God’s Covenant Promise sealed with a “rainbow” – 9:8-17

Genesis 9:15-16 ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

o   Fossil bearing rocks attests to the flood… the rainbow remind us that He will never do it again

o   An everlasting covenant… reminds us of God’s promises from eternity to eternity – beginning / end

5.  Family Crisis: Gen 9:20-24

Noah’s drunkenness, shame and his rebellious (& carnally minded) son Ham

Genesis 9:20-22 ²⁰ Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. ²¹ When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside.

o   Scripture does not hesitate to call attention to failures of God’s chosen men… let his guard down

o   Man is still sinners, Satan is still tempting… Little relaxation, comforts of the flesh…

o   Fermentation is a decay process… in scripture it’s symbolic of corruption… physically/morally

o   Ham a believer, “saw” sense of gazed at with satisfaction… he saw his fathers weakness and rejoiced… an attitude of resentment… toward his father and ultimately God Himself

o   Went and told his two brothers (literally “with delight”)… brothers reacted quite differently – respect.

6.  Noah’s Threefold Prophecy… Gen 9:25-27

Genesis 9:25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."

o   Directed first toward Ham (in the person of his son Canaan) Who God blessed in 9:1 – can’t curse

o   Canaanites – opposed entry into the promised land, very wicked & corrupt, morally degraded, practiced infant sacrifices, engaged in perverted sex worship…

Genesis 9:26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

o   A love for the Lord God and faith in His promises… greatest blessing for mankind – Jesus Christ

Genesis 9:27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."

o   Gentiles sharing in Shem’s blessing… Jesus rejected by the Jews… salvation came to the gentile

7.  We see Noah’s sin… then he died – Gen 9:28-29

Genesis 9:28-29 ²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.

o   If no “gaps” in the genealogies of Gen 11… Noah lived until Abraham was about 58 yrs old

o   Noah lived till after Babel and the dispersion of the nations/languages

o   Noah sinned… then we see maybe 300 years of “silence” then he died… Noah didn’t finish strong

o   How are you doing in your walk with Christ?  Do you sense you’re going stronger or weaker?

Finishing Strong as a Christian…

Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. KJV