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Let us pray. I set my rainbow in the cloud and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9 13 Heavenly Father, your promises are trustworthy and never fail. We can rest assured that you keep your word and remain faithful to your people even when things seem dark. Help us to rest in your promises, Lord.
Help us to remain still and trust that your word will prevail when we feel uneasy or frightened. May your word make us steady, unwavering, and strong in the face of evil. Remind us that those in a covenant relationship with you have access to your peace and strength at all. When the chaos of culture presses against us, may these truths keep us strong. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Thank you for praying with me today. Stay tuned now for another episode of Stories of the Messiah with Rabbi Schneider. Ah, the sounds of back to school time.
There's plenty to uh about this time of year. So let Cane's take something off your plate by putting something on it. Like the most craveable hand-battered cooked-to-order chicken fingers and cane sauce. It's going to be a great school year. Raising Cane's chicken fingers. One love. Humanity was still young, but sin had matured within the hearts of God's image bearers. The earth became riddled with cancerous corruption.
Sin settled deep roots, choking out their convictions. Heavenly beings fallen from heaven interwove themselves into the fabric of humanity, pulling them even further from their creator. Kings and warlords arose with the heart of Cain and spited God by thrashing against his children. Violence had spread throughout the land like a plague. Humanity was bent on eating itself alive.
With every passing generation, the likelihood of humans destroying themselves increased. So, with a heart of justice, God chose to cleanse the earth of their corruption. He scoured the land for one that still loved him, one to preserve and protect from the wrath to come, one who had not yet been perverted and twisted by sin. There was such a man from the line of Seth. His name was Noah.
Welcome to another episode of Stories of the Messiah podcast. I'm Rabbi Schneider with Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I am passionate about how the Old and New Testaments tie together, ultimately pointing toward the glory of Christ. If this podcast has blessed you thus far, please take a moment to leave a comment and review. Doing so will make sure that others will discover these life-changing stories.
This season of Stories of the Messiah is called Jesus the Greater. We are going through the Bible and visiting stories of terror, judgment, hope, and redemption. It is my hope that as we verse these ups and downs of these famous characters, we could catch a glimpse of an even greater overreaching story happening. Each hero in the Bible is an image of someone even more significant, someone greater. Today we visit the story of Noah.
The earth has been blighted with corruption and sin, and God is determined to wipe it all out. He chooses one man to be preserved through judgment. This man's story of salvation will ultimately point toward Christ and his powerful work on the cross. So let's dive in and be immersed in this cinematic retelling of Genesis 6-9 to see that Jesus is the greater Noah. The chill of the evening breeze bittered Noah's cheeks.
He gazed up at the unhindered night sky and prayed. The firmament was utterly covered in stars. The galaxy stretched over the horizon before him. Noah was in awe of God's glory. He often met God on that hill, tucked away from the madness of the world. There, cutting through the silence, God spoke to Noah in the breeze.
He gave Noah a warning, a vision, and a calling. God's voice reverberated through Noah's entire being. Violence, corruption, all flesh on the earth has descended into depravity. Noah listened intently, feeling the heat of God. He felt anger, disappointment, and sorrow. I have determined to destroy it all, Noah, God said, and I have called you to be preserved from it.
Noah's eyes started to fog and his hands begun to quiver. He saw visions of a tempest consuming the land. He heard screams coming from flooded cities and animals running in fear. All was going to be destroyed. He looked up with his hands outstretched. "What must I do?" he whispered with a quivering voice. "You will make a vessel for your family and the beasts of the land. It shall keep you safe from the coming storm. For behold,
I will bring forth a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all in its wake. The breath of life I gave in the beginning will be taken from them." Noah fell to his knees and began to pant. He gripped his chest and looked up at God. It was almost too much. God's will was clear and unwavering. He spoke again to Noah, saying, "I will establish my covenant with you, Noah. You will come into the ark with your wife, your sons, and their wives.
Noah rose and looked at his hands. Could he create a vessel of salvation for the world? Was he able? He looked at the horizon. Clouds were amassing in the distance. A storm was coming, whether Noah felt prepared for it or not.
Wood and nails. Noah and his sons labored for weeks, scarring their hands with wood and nails. The ark was a wooden vessel designed to keep them safe from the impending judgment of God. So they built it exactly as God commanded, without delay or groaning. With the joy of salvation before them, they endured the ridicule of onlookers and the pain of labor.
More dark clouds hovered over the land each day, like vultures with wings outstretched and prepared to descend. Finally, the time had come. God's judgment on the world was impending. A pair of each animal emerged from the forest and mountains. God's guiding hand helped them in, and then his voice returned to the heart of Noah. In tandem with the thundering clouds above, the voice of God boomed and said, Into the ark!
for I have seen your righteousness before me." Noah and his family ran into the ark and God shut the door. They would be protected from the damnation about to descend on the earth. Judgment would pass over them as the cleansing power of God swept over the land. Water fell from the skies and the springs of the earth burst open violently. The water rose over the mountains and all the corruption of evil kingdoms was swept away
God's life-giving breath was taken from them. All was destroyed. All but the Ark and those within it. Forty days passed, and the rain relented its continuous onslaught. The world was still ominous, quiet, and sad for a while. Yet underneath the silence there were echoes of hope. An inkling of new beginnings ready to emerge from the water.
After many months, the water had receded enough for the Ark to rest on the side of a mountain. Once the land was safe enough to traverse, Noah opened the door. Rays of sunlight cascaded down the trickling streams, bringing vibrant life to the earth below. From the dark and cold Ark, Noah emerged. The land was pure once again, teeming with new possibilities.
As Abel had done many generations before, Noah sacrificed to the Lord on that hill. He offered thanksgiving to God for his salvation. God's favor was upon Noah and his sons. He promised never to flood the earth again. As a symbol of his promise, he painted a vibrant bow of light across the sky. The rainbow memorialized God's faithfulness, a beacon of light and hope for every generation.
It was for them to remember that there is salvation from judgment. The rainbow carries that promise of salvation today, a beacon of hope and light to those caught in darkness, a promise of redemption. The evil of humanity would not end with the flood. Sin would return, but God's passionate plan to reserve and protect those who call upon Him would endure. Evil abounds, but the promises of God never waver.
The rainbow was an emblem of light, transporting us to another time when the ultimate salvation would come. Wood and nails would scar another's hands, and a greater hero would come to bring about salvation. Did you notice that Noah's story isn't really about Noah at all? We don't hear much about him except that he did as God asked. Why do you think that is?
I believe this story is masterfully crafted to remind us that God is both the bringer of judgment and the author of salvation. Noah is not the hero in the story. God is. Noah, his family, and the animals are recipients of God's grace. He allowed them to be kept safe in the boat. He couldn't allow sin to continue its cancerous spread throughout the ancient world. Humanity would have been lost before it ever began.
So God planned to cleanse the earth of sin's corruption. But he offered a way out for one man who still listened to his voice, Noah. Noah and his family were given salvation from judgment in the form of an ark shaped by wooden nails. After the flood subsided and the wildflowers dried, Noah and his family emerged with the animals. Like a warrior who puts away his bow, God sets a rainbow in the sky as a promise.
This story is rich with symbolism, ultimately pointing us toward a hopeful future. First, the flood symbolizes the chaotic and dark life apart from God and His eternal judgment of sin. The ark, made of trees and filled with animals, symbolizes the Garden of Eden. It's a haven and place where the favor of God is preserved. Lastly, we have the rainbow, a symbol of God's restorative promise and salvation.
The image of the rainbow has been taken to mean other things in this day and age. The world has taken an image of God's promise and skewed it. If you visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com, you'll find that I'm passionate about reclaiming the true meaning of the rainbow.
The story of Noah and the salvation God offers through the ark ought to instill in all of us a greater appreciation of what the rainbow really represents. It represents deliverance, new beginnings, and salvation. And ultimately, it points us towards God's promise of salvation through Jesus. Wood. Jesus gripped the splintered cross firmly in his hands and thrust it onto his shoulders. Its jagged edges dug into his wounded back.
With shaking legs, he marched up the hill called Calvary, ready to endure shame and agony for the sake of salvation. He carried the cross to his execution, where Roman centurions awaited him with hammers and nails. Nails! The soldiers drove them into his hands and feet and attached him to the cross. That rugged cross, a wooden tool for torment.
The Persians designed crucifixion to torture criminals who had committed crimes against the king. If crucifixion was a tool for the Persians, it was an art form for the Romans. They had become masters of torture and perfected crucifixion as the worst of all fates. Jesus was raised high on the cross. Markers stood below him, spitting in his direction.
"He saved the others, let him save himself!" they ridiculed, utterly unaware of the cosmic shift happening around them. The rains of judgment were brewing and about to descend on God's chosen hero. Jesus looked at the crowd and prayed to the Lord. "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they're doing." Jesus hung there, nailed to wood, enduring the judgment of God.
He did this so that the corruption prevailing in the hearts of humanity would be cleansed and anyone who believed in him would be preserved from the judgment of God. Jesus looked into the heavens and declared, "It is finished!" roaring victory over sin and death. Three days passed and the gardens surrounding Jesus' tomb teemed with life.
Rays of sunlight cascaded down like trickling streams, bringing vibrant life to the earth below. From the dark and cold tomb, Jesus emerged. The Holy Spirit had risen him from the grave. The same Spirit carries the promise of salvation today. A beacon of hope and light to those caught in darkness. A promise of redemption. Wooden nails? Were you able to pick up the connection?
Noah crafted the ark from wood and nails as a vessel of salvation. Noah and his family were preserved from God's righteous judgment through the ark. Likewise, Jesus used wood and nails to craft his own vessel of salvation. He hung on the cross and endured the wrath of God, all so that you and I could experience redemption. Those who trust in the saving work of Jesus are saved from the eternal condemnation of sin.
While Noah was a recipient of salvation, Jesus was the author. Through Noah, even more evil and corruption would continue throughout the world. But there was a greater work accomplished through Jesus. For those calling upon Jesus' name, His work on the cross removes the sting of sin and death for all eternity. Just as Noah emerged from the dark and cold ark, Jesus arose from the tomb.
A rainbow acted as a promise to Noah and his descendants that God's covenant could endure throughout the ages. The rainbow was meant to be a reminder that God's covenant was unending. We have a similar sign of our promise today, the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1 says this,
In him, you also, when you heard of the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. The rainbow of Genesis 9 foreshadows God's Holy Spirit, our seal and reminder of God's promised redemption.
Every time we see a rainbow, we should remember the faithfulness of God and every one of his promises. The story of Noah is an anthem singing about the promised salvation of Christ. When we think of a story, gaze up at a rainbow, or consider the gravity of sin, may we be reminded of the greatness of Jesus. Jesus is the greater Noah. Join us next time as we follow the path of the father of faith himself, Abraham.
His story mirrors our own in many ways. We stumble, obey, then stumble again. But there is a new promise around every corner, the promise of true greatness and purpose found in Jesus Christ. Join us next time to discover how Jesus is the greater Abraham. To dwell deeper into Jesus' Old Testament appearances and prophecies, you're welcome to visit discoveringthejewishjes.com.
I'd also recommend my new book, Messianic Prophecy Revealed, Seeing Messiah in the Pages of the Hebrew Bible, if you're wanting to learn more about Christ's redemptive story in the Old Testament. If this podcast impacted you, please take a moment to leave a comment and review. Doing so will make sure others discover these life-changing stories. And be sure to download the Pray.com app to make prayer a priority.
