The Evangelist Genesis 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. I. In God's dealings with Noah we see THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL FAVOUR. Noah, in all that wicked generation, was one alone. He was one singled out from many. In this singular dispensation of God, in His concern for the security of Noah and those belonging to him, we see paternal care, a fatherly goodness — we see provision made for objects certainly dear and highly valued. Now, to be the subjects of so much paternal attention is no small mercy. II. IT IS WELL TO MARK SURROUNDING MISERY WHEN WE ARE PROTECTED AND SECURED. Have we not seen in many instances pale disease and pinching poverty hovering all around, while we have been protected, comforted, or even enriched! Look back and recount the mercies of God; call to mind seasons of affliction, of trial, of distress; when, as Noah from his ark, you have seen the descending torrents, witnessed the inundation of woe by which others have perished. God said to you, tear not, be still, my child, it shall not come nigh you. In epidemical diseases, in burning fevers, has not this been literally the case? While we pity these sufferers: while our hearts bleed over these unhappy, these devoted victims, we may, with gratitude, exult in our own security, and give glory to God for discriminating grace. III. Where God is the protector, as here in the case of Noah, ALL ATTEMPTS OF ENEMIES TO INJURE OR DESTROY ARE PERFECTLY VAIN. When God shut Noah in the ark, He shut all his enemies out; and presently distanced both the young and the old by the descending rains and the separating waves. IV. TO BE REMEMBERED OF GOD, AND TO BE REGARDED BY HIM IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CALAMITY, IS AN EXCEEDINGLY GREAT MERCY. (The Evangelist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. |
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