The Green Forest tribune., 1913-01-31

life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom. 6:23 R. v.
 The first great fact recorded in the | book of Genesis Is that of Creation, which may be divided into several les ser facts. The second great fact is that of the Fall, which began with the temptation and ended with the exclu- sion from Paradise. In this lesson we come to the third great fact, the Flood, the account of which embraces the fifth to the ninth chapters. Chap ter five gives us Noah's genealogy; six, the history of the building of the ark; seven, the occupancy of the ark; eight, Noah's departure from the ark, and nine, Gods covenant with Noah.
 In this lesson sin f1ourishes like the proverbial green bay tree. Every | imagination of the thoughts of mans heart was only evil continually" " 5. These thoughts were crystallized into the lives of men, for we read that the earth was filled with violence" Viewing this awful development of sin, God was so deply grieved in his heart that he turned aside (repented) from his plan and purpose thus far, to determination to destroy man (v. D. Noah, however, found grace In Gods sight, as we see from V. g, even in the midst of these adverse circum- stances. Environment is powerful but not all-powerful, and 1t Is never a match for Gods grace. We must not gather from this verse that Noah was faultless, but rather than he sought to conform his life to Gods will and not to the standards of those among whom he dwelt Noah gave himself to a whole-hearted service to God. We are told that the foundation of Noah's acceptance before God was his faith, Heb. 11;7, like his great grand father Enoch, he had walked with God" (5:22). Noah stood absolutely alone and was thus thrown upon com panionship with God, compare V. g with John 1:3.
 Given Due Warning
 God could no longer endure the sins of men, their iniquity was full therefore God determined to destroy them. He did not, however, cut them of, for we read that they had 120 years announcement of the coming of the flood (v. 19), time enough in which to repent. They also had a faithful preacher to warn them dur ing this time, 2 Peter 2:5 But their apostasy was complete and they would have none of Gods mercy nor heed his warning, Prov. 29:1. Noah's obedience as he built the ark was a daily reminder of the impending Mood @zs
 The ark was fat-bottomed chest 450 feet long, 75 feet broad and 45 feet deep, built of cyprus (gopher wood) and coated with pitch Under the caves of the roof was an open space for ventilation and it's three decks were divided into compart- ments
 AS to the eight souls" q Peter 3:20l who entered the ark we need to remember that usually children and servants are understood without men, ton in such enumerations. We are not to infer that of all created animals two of each entered the ark. The flood certainly was not universal and hence such miracle was uncalled for
 Attention has been called to the fact that zoologists tell us there are in reality less than 400 distinct species of animal life. Further, we must compare Chapters 7:2, 3 and 6:19. These animals were preserved for fu- ture increase, also for sacrifice. Exo- dus gives ten such clean beasts. Therefore of those for sacrifice Noah had but seventy in all. Modern ships carry hundreds of beasts with their food besides hundreds of human be- ings.
 Attention has been called to the detailed instruction Noah received for the building of the ark. yet God Is ready and willing to give us as work if we will walk as consistently with him as did Noah.
 Race Swept Away.
 At last the flood arrived at the ex- act moment prophesied. It's cause seems to be twofold subsistence of the ground and a downpour of rain. The Euphrates valley where this event took place fills all the necessary conditions. Subsistence would allow an inundation from the sea- Such an inundation took place in 1911 In the Yangtse valley and another in 1901 rendered more than ten million people homeless; the water rising from 50 to 90 feet. All that the account de- mands, however, Is that a corrupt race was swept away and that God saved his righteous servant and his household. It is the privilege of ev- cry believer in God to save his house. hold. See Acts 16:31, 2:9; l. Cor. TIA.
 The only way God could insure the purity of the race was to destroy ir- revocably the impure. This seeming severity was the essence of tender ness and another evidence of the love of God
 Skeptics have read into the story of the flood much extraneous matter. Some have sought to prove that be- cause nearly every race under the sun has flood tradition therefore the writer of Genesis is merely passing on "Babylonian tradition" It is far more reasonable to believe that these traditions are corrupted forms of the true account found in the Bible. Few of these traditions but are full of poly theiStic yagaries as for instance the