05.10.2026. Sunday Sermon by Pastor Jeungbok Lee
Text: Genesis 7:1–12, 16–17; Matthew 24:38–39, 44
Title: The Judgment of the Flood and Noah
Genesis 7:1–12, 16–17
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, male and his female, and of the animals that are not clean two, male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him. Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
16–17
Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
Matthew 24:38–39, 44
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
44- For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Introduction: God’s judgment is already right before our eyes.
The world filled with sin had reached the point where the day of judgment was now at hand. Yet the people of Noah’s time were still living ordinary lives for themselves—eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Noah, who had been building the ark on the mountain for one hundred years, was no longer a warning to them. He was simply a strange man in their eyes.
But when God’s appointed time came, God said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household.” And seven days later, the judgment began. Once the door of the ark was shut, there would be no more opportunity.
1. Noah obeyed until the very last moment.
Genesis 7:1, 6–12
1- Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.”
6- Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
1.1) Noah and his family built the ark in obedience to God’s command, and they obeyed until the very last moment.
That day was a bright day without rain. God told Noah to “enter” the ark. Noah immediately entered the ark.
There is an order we must understand in order to understand Noah’s immediate obedience. Noah’s obedience began with God’s grace. Because Noah had received grace from God, he was able to live a righteous life and walk with God. And Noah obeyed God’s command to build a huge ship, something the people of his time considered strange. Finally, he obeyed God’s command to enter the ark even at the last moment.
1.2) Noah’s obedience is something that all believers must imitate.
Today, many people say that they believe in Jesus. Yet there is no obedience. They do not read the Word. They do not pray. More seriously, they do not worship.
Let me give one example through an evangelistic revival meeting. Such meetings have moving praise songs, loud congregational prayers, and emotionally compelling preaching. In a very short period of time, people hear that Jesus is the Savior. Afterwards, those who wish to accept Jesus are invited to come forward and receive Him.
However, statistics one year later showed that only 6% regularly attended church. And several years later, among that 6%, only another 10–15% continued attending church.
They confessed faith in Jesus, yet they do not worship God.
Those who have truly received grace obey God’s Word and worship Him. Like Noah, they become people who build the ark for one hundred years in obedience. A believer who has truly received grace always reads the Word and obeys it. Obedience is the mark of one who has received grace.
2. God saw Noah’s righteousness.
Genesis 7:1
“For you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.”
2.1) If we interpret that God “saw” righteousness in Noah as meaning that God “discovered” righteousness in him, then it would mean that Noah was saved because of his works.
That interpretation completely distorts the truth of Christianity.
To emphasize again, Noah was able to live as a righteous man because God first came to Noah and bestowed grace upon him. Noah, who had received grace, became a righteous man who obeyed all of God’s commands.
Therefore, it was not that God saw (or discovered) Noah’s righteousness as the result of Noah’s obedience and then granted him salvation.
2.2) The correct interpretation is to understand “God saw” as meaning “God chose.”
In 1 Samuel 16:1, when God commanded the prophet Samuel to anoint David instead of Saul as king over Israel, the LORD used the same word, saying, “I have seen for Myself a king among his sons.”
The meaning is that God had “chosen” King David for His purpose.
Therefore, in Genesis 7:1, since the same word is used, “saw” can also be interpreted as “chose.” In other words, the meaning would be: “Because you are righteous before Me in this wicked generation, I have chosen you.”
God chose Noah in order to reveal righteousness in contrast to the corruption of the people of that time.
Christians have become righteous by faith in Jesus Christ through God’s choosing.
3. We need a correct understanding of the salvation of Noah’s family members.
Noah was a righteous man who had received grace from God and was blameless in his generation. His life was one of daily walking with God. Naturally, he lived differently from the people of his time.
Therefore, no reader of Scripture questions Noah’s salvation.
However, questions arise regarding Noah’s wife, his three sons, and his three daughters-in-law. Were they saved simply because they were Noah’s family, or because they themselves possessed righteousness?
3.1) The ultimate reason Noah’s family was saved was entirely the grace of God.
God established Noah as the representative of humanity to be saved from the sinful world—that is, as a covenantal head.
Genesis 6:18
“But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”
Within the covenant God established with Noah, all of Noah’s family became recipients of God’s grace through Noah.
God appoints one person as a representative and leads that family or community into salvation.
The term “covenantal representation” explains this well. Whenever God establishes an important covenant, He establishes it with the representative of the community.
For example, the first Adam entered into covenant with God as the representative of all humanity. Through Adam’s disobedience, all people became sinners.
But Jesus Christ, the last Adam, became the representative of salvation for humanity and bore the sins of all people, dying on the cross. Therefore, everyone who believes becomes righteous in Jesus and receives salvation.
Noah’s family received salvation by God’s grace within the covenant represented by Noah.
3.2) However, it is important to harmonize the principle of family salvation with the understanding of individual salvation.
It is clear that even someone born into a believing family may fail to receive salvation.
Noah, as the covenant representative, saved his family from the judgment of the flood. Yet Ham’s son Canaan, a descendant of Noah, came under a curse.
Among the first generation of Israelites who were delivered from Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land.
Therefore, every believer must personally receive the grace God offers.
God extended the grace of salvation to Noah and his family. But only those who actually walked into the ark were saved.
Lot’s wife is an example. While Sodom and Gomorrah were being destroyed, God’s angels forcibly led them out of the city. Yet Lot’s wife could not forget the city and looked back, becoming a pillar of salt.
Likewise, when someone in a Christian family believes in Jesus and is saved, God’s grace of salvation comes upon that family. Their children are brought closer to the opportunity of salvation. Yet each child must sincerely believe in Jesus Christ personally. Only then can they enjoy the grace of salvation.
The same principle appears in the family of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. In Acts 16:31, Paul clearly said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Afterward, in verse 32, Paul “spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.” Then in verse 33, they all received baptism as evidence that they sincerely believed in Jesus Christ.
Thus, beginning with the jailer, the entire family came to salvation.
The reason a correct understanding of family salvation is important is because while the faith of parents gives children a great opportunity for salvation, the children themselves must personally accept Jesus Christ.
3.3) Now regarding the salvation of infants who do not possess cognitive ability.
Today, because medical facilities, medicine, and hygiene have greatly improved, infant death is rare. But in the past, many infants died shortly after birth.
John Owen, a seventeenth-century English Puritan, served as vice-chancellor of Oxford University and was an advisor and preacher to Oliver Cromwell. Eleven children were born to him. Yet not one survived to adulthood.
The repeated deaths of his children brought him deep sorrow. Nevertheless, as a theologian and preacher, he had to explain the meaning of infant death and salvation.
First, Owen clearly taught that life and death are entirely under God’s sovereignty and are not matters of chance. Even in suffering, he firmly confessed that God is righteous.
Second, regarding the salvation of infants who die, he approached the matter carefully within the framework of covenant relationship. He did not absolutely declare that all children of believing parents are certainly saved. Yet he placed hope in God’s mercy toward children within the covenant.
Third, he taught that because of Adam’s original sin, all people are born sinners. Thus, infants too are born as sinners. However, through God’s merciful election, God’s saving grace may come upon those children.
Therefore, he could not give a definitive answer regarding whether infants who die are saved. Yet he held hope that God would show greater mercy to covenant families and that children born to believing parents who die young would receive salvation.
Of course, such a possibility also exists for children in unbelieving families. Nevertheless, it is certain that believing families have greater hope.
Still, the salvation of children who cannot yet properly express their own will rests entirely upon God’s mercy.
God even showed mercy to Abijah, the son of King Jeroboam, who had led northern Israel into idolatry. When Abijah became sick and died without being able to speak, his heart nevertheless held a good desire toward the LORD God. Therefore, the LORD allowed him to be buried honorably in a tomb (1 Kings 14:13).
At that time, being properly buried in a tomb signified that one had lived rightly as an Israelite.
4. When Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark, God shut the door of the ark. Then He sent rain for forty days.
Genesis 7:16–17
Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
The preparation period for entering the ark lasted seven days. Then rain fell for forty days.
God sent to Noah the animals whose lives were to be preserved in the ark. Noah and his family brought the animals into the ark one by one. This process lasted seven days.
For seven days, many animals and birds of the sky came. It must have been an astonishing sight, and many people likely gathered to watch.
Now judgment had truly come right before their eyes.
Yet people still did not listen to Noah’s warning about God’s judgment.
The moment Noah, his family, and all the animals had entered the ark, God Himself shut the door of the ark. The door of salvation closed with finality.
The door shut by God could not be opened by anyone. No one could enter the ark anymore. The opportunity for salvation had ended.
Remember this well: God’s judgment will surely come. There is opportunity only until God’s judgment arrives.
5. Conclusion
The judgment of the flood in Noah’s day was a real historical event, but at the same time it foreshadows a greater coming judgment.
Jesus clearly said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37).
People will continue eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, living as though nothing will ever happen. But the Lord will return at an unexpected time.
After the Lord comes, there will no longer be any opportunity for salvation. When the door of salvation is shut, those outside will want to enter, but they will not be able.
Until Jesus returns, the door of salvation remains open. Anyone who confesses his sins to God and believes in Jesus will be saved.
But after Jesus comes, there will be no more opportunity.
Therefore, while the door of salvation is still open, may all of us believers become those who proclaim this blessed and urgent news of salvation to the people around us.
Let us pray.
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