Lord of the Animals (Jonah 4:11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:05.599 Well, let's read one more time from the book of Jonah. I had 2 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:11.509 planned to be done, but surprise, just just one more, I think, 3 00:00:12.269 --> 00:00:25.940 one more Jonah, Chapter Four. So I had finished and a certain 4 00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:31.100 farmer asked me, aren't you going to preach on my favorite verse? And 5 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:35.659 as I what versus that, he said and also much cattle, and I 6 00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:40.689 said, oh well, okay, so that's what we're going to do today. 7 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:45.770 But so those are the last four words of this chapter. But I'm 8 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:48.609 going to read all of chapter four just to remind us of the context. 9 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:58.520 Let's give our attention to God's most holy word. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly 10 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.799 and he was angry and he prayed to the Lord and said, Oh Lord, 11 00:01:03.430 --> 00:01:07.150 is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? 12 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:11.950 This is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that 13 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:17.349 you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast 14 00:01:17.469 --> 00:01:21.980 love and relenting from disaster. Therefore, now, oh Lord, please take 15 00:01:22.060 --> 00:01:26.060 my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to 16 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:30.700 live. And the Lord said, do you do well to be angry. 17 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:37.049 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and 18 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:41.209 made a booth for himself there and he sat in it the Er and he 19 00:01:41.329 --> 00:01:45.090 sat under it in the shade, till he could see, or till he 20 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:49.000 should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God, appointed 21 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:53.560 a plant and made it come up over Jonah that he might that it might 22 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.879 be a shade for his head, to save him from his discomfort. So 23 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.909 Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the 24 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:07.069 next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. 25 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:12.110 When the Sun rose, got a point to the scorching east wind and 26 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:15.030 the Sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint, 27 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:19.379 and he asked that he might die and said it is better for me to 28 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:23.900 die than to live. But God said to do it to Jonah. Do 29 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:27.580 you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said yes, 30 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:30.530 I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord 31 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:37.090 said, you pity the plant for which you did not Labor, nor did 32 00:02:37.169 --> 00:02:40.009 you make it grow, which came into being in a knight and yet and 33 00:02:40.289 --> 00:02:45.960 perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city 34 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.960 in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not 35 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:57.240 know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle. He may 36 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:07.590 be seated. So Jonah didn't want to preach, he didn't want to go 37 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:10.270 to Nineveh. He didn't want to do it. He ended up doing it 38 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:15.939 anyway, and he thought, and the thought, I should say the thought, 39 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:21.099 of preaching the word of God to this powerful city, to this enemy 40 00:03:21.219 --> 00:03:29.770 of God's people, was something that repelled him. Nevertheless, God propelled him 41 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:35.729 to the city and the word of God was accomplished. This great city of 42 00:03:35.770 --> 00:03:42.560 Nineveh, this confused and evil people repented of their sins from the top of 43 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.520 the city of the king all the way to the bottom. They sought the 44 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:53.080 forgiveness of God and they found it. Not just the people were saved, 45 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:57.750 but the whole city, the buildings, the plants, the roads, and 46 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:04.189 also much cattle. Now this made Jonah very upset. So God takes him 47 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:09.949 through a an object lesson, if we could put it that way. Jonah 48 00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:14.900 goes out of the city. He he you know, I imagine him sort 49 00:04:14.939 --> 00:04:18.740 of crossing his arms and pouting and he squats down underneath this booth that he 50 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:25.449 makes and kind of waits to see what happens and God a points this plant. 51 00:04:25.490 --> 00:04:29.769 It grows up over Jonah and he's exceedingly happy about it. He was 52 00:04:29.850 --> 00:04:33.370 a moment ago. He was exceedingly angry because of God's mercy to this city, 53 00:04:33.449 --> 00:04:39.319 but now he's exceedingly, it says, exceedingly glad and he's happy for 54 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:44.959 this plant. But then the sun goes down, got a points of worm, 55 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:49.120 the worm eats the plant, the sun comes up and Jonah's mad again. 56 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.790 And God uses this to ask him this question. He brings this event 57 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:58.870 into his life, as he has brought many events into Jonah's life over the 58 00:04:58.910 --> 00:05:04.310 last or many obvious ones. Always say and but anyway, he brings this 59 00:05:04.430 --> 00:05:10.899 this thing about that he uses to teach a Jonah something. He says, 60 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.420 Jonah, you pity this plant, in which you have almost zero investment. 61 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:17.819 You didn't do anything to make it happen. You didn't tend to it, 62 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:20.810 you didn't water it, you didn't Labor for it, you didn't make it 63 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:25.329 grow. It was there and it was gone, and yet you have this 64 00:05:25.569 --> 00:05:29.689 for this little plant and which you had almost nothing to do with or nothing 65 00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:33.810 to do with you, are expressing all of this deep sadness and and pity 66 00:05:34.089 --> 00:05:42.319 and anger and and are emotionally attached to in this extreme way. And yet 67 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:46.600 should I not pity Nineveh, this great city, in which there are more 68 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:51.670 than a hundred and Twentyzero persons? Confused people, that's sort of what is 69 00:05:51.750 --> 00:05:55.750 meant by this. They don't know their right hand from their left. And 70 00:05:55.870 --> 00:06:01.949 not just con fused, but sinfully confused fools, people that are constantly working 71 00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:09.259 against the grain of this world and falling into sin, a plunging themselves into 72 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:15.379 sin. This people, and also much cattle, this amazing place, this 73 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:21.329 great and powerful city. This is an amazing question. A consider what's happening 74 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:27.529 here. God, the Supreme Judge of all the world, takes off his 75 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:31.089 judge's robe, heaps it up on the shoulders of Jonah in a way, 76 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:38.319 and asks Jonah to think about things from God's perspective. God Asks Him a 77 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:42.959 question, asks him to judge him. Of course, God is not bending 78 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.680 the need of Jonah, but he's sort of like a like a father might 79 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:48.149 say to his children. Well, what is it that you want me to 80 00:06:48.269 --> 00:06:55.629 do? Right, think about this from my perspective. God wants Jonah not 81 00:06:55.750 --> 00:07:00.740 to think about the situation out of his selfishness, but out of God's generosity. 82 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:10.980 And what we see from this perspective is the Lord's incredible mercy. This 83 00:07:11.339 --> 00:07:16.649 one who made the world and has the right to demand obedience from every single 84 00:07:16.850 --> 00:07:26.209 thing in the world, man and beast, is constantly denied this. God 85 00:07:26.329 --> 00:07:31.199 is constantly, constantly denied what is rightfully his. He is the master, 86 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:38.639 he is the Lord. If you go and and, let's say, get 87 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:43.879 a new pet and your pet does everything that you don't want it to do, 88 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:47.389 if your pet, let's say, eats all your food and destroys your 89 00:07:47.550 --> 00:07:51.550 house and bite your children and then starts, not let's say it's a dog, 90 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:56.829 starts attacking you and your guests, and do you? What do you 91 00:07:56.910 --> 00:08:01.899 do? Well, at the very least, you ask this question. What 92 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:07.939 right dog do you have to do this to me? I'm the Master, 93 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:16.730 God is our master. He deserves, he is owed all obedience. And 94 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:24.449 yet Nineveh and Jonah and you and me, we don't give him that thing 95 00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:31.560 that it rightfully belongs to him. And yet, like perhaps you have done 96 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.000 with the things that are under your power and even the creatures that are under 97 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:41.230 your power. You have exercised a measure of forbearance, certain number of pitals 98 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:48.269 on the carpet and other kinds of things. God does this as well. 99 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:58.419 God, who is owed perfect obedience, pities Nineveh and when they repent, 100 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:05.659 he saves them, and also much cattle. This phrase, and also much 101 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:11.409 cattle, I think, does a couple of things. One of the things 102 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:16.409 it does is it's sharpens. It's sharpens our perception of who God is and 103 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:24.559 how gracious he is. It be like learning more about how much strategy goes 104 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:30.399 into baseball. I'm assuming their strategy and baseball. I don't really know these 105 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:37.120 things. Sorry, sorry, you baseball fans, but I know that every 106 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:43.269 time I've learned something about sports I'm always amazed. I'm always amazed at how 107 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:48.669 much people train for things, how much thoughtfulness goes into things. Videos are 108 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:52.179 reviewed, replays are watched, books are read. There's study that goes into 109 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:58.019 this and when you come to appreciate, even in a game, the strategy 110 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:01.100 and the the the the way wisdom is applied and these kinds of things, 111 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:07.850 it gives you. It impresses you, impresses me, even in things I'm 112 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:13.049 I'm not as interested in or take a piece of furniture, a fine piece 113 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:18.490 of craftsmanship. Maybe you don't know anything about woodworking, but if a wood 114 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:22.440 work or sits down next to you and starts talking you about the various kinds 115 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.679 of joints that are used Ben exactly what it takes to make that particular angle 116 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.320 and how those things are held together and how this particular thing is going to 117 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:37.549 last hundreds of years, where another thing might not. When we learn about 118 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:45.509 the details of things, it impresses on us the workmanship or the skill or 119 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:50.940 something about the maker, the one who is involved in in the task, 120 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:54.820 and I think that's one of the things this phrase, and also much cattle, 121 00:10:54.940 --> 00:11:00.299 does for us. It asks us to pay attention to a detail of 122 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:07.730 God's grace that perhaps often goes unnoticed or unremembered by us. But when we 123 00:11:07.929 --> 00:11:11.090 remember it, when it is pointed out to us in this way, as 124 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:16.009 God does hear, it, gives us all the more reason to praise him, 125 00:11:16.970 --> 00:11:22.240 to seek his salvation, to trust him, to hope in him. 126 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:28.919 And so that's why I think it's is worth focusing on this phrase. God 127 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.269 is bringing it out. It's a surprising set of words. It's a remarkable 128 00:11:33.429 --> 00:11:39.389 set of words. It ends the book it's meant to be paid attention to. 129 00:11:41.110 --> 00:11:43.429 So what can we learn from it? What is God impressing on us? 130 00:11:46.190 --> 00:11:50.419 Well, he's impressing upon us the depth, or the greatness, we 131 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:56.379 might say, of his mercy, of his pity, of his intentions and 132 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.570 plans for the salvation of this world. And to help us understand this and 133 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:05.210 remember this, I want to point you to some scriptures this morning that remind 134 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:09.889 us of God's plan for history. And as we look at this and as 135 00:12:09.929 --> 00:12:16.519 we remember various plat places in the Bible, we will be reminded that God's 136 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:24.840 plan of salvation doesn't just involve people, but animals too, even the whole 137 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:30.830 of creation. That's how far his mercy goes. The Sun, we might 138 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:35.149 say. The son of God came to redeem the elect but not in a 139 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:39.070 way that is abstracted from the world that they lived in or they live in. 140 00:12:39.149 --> 00:12:43.779 God has placed them in a world that is intended to be glorified along 141 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:48.980 with them, in a way that is different from them in some ways, 142 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:56.340 but nevertheless, God promises Un New Heavens and a new earth. He doesn't 143 00:12:56.379 --> 00:13:03.809 save us into some kind of I imagine a sort of cartoon body floating out 144 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:16.320 in some kind of abstraction of nothingness, just a a saved person, not 145 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:22.279 in any kind of context or creation. If that's what you imagine, and 146 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:28.710 if or if you imagine our salvation is a kind of intellectual ascend into the 147 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:37.710 mind of God or something like that, then you're really missing something. You're 148 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:41.269 missing the way that God is himself has described what our salvation is to be. 149 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:48.940 He has created us to be a part of creation and when he saves 150 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:52.259 us, he saves us into, as the Bible says, a new heavens 151 00:13:52.379 --> 00:14:00.610 and a new earth. We don't become a disembodied souls or abstractions or, 152 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:05.889 I don't know how else you might put it, thoughts or ideas. We're 153 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:15.600 people, people that will one day enjoy resurrected bodies that will live in some 154 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:20.960 kind of world that God has made. But to think about these things, 155 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.830 let's go back to the beginning and remember who would it, how it is 156 00:14:24.950 --> 00:14:28.389 God made us and who it is that created us. We begin in the 157 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:35.230 garden Veeden, place in which God first placed man. We remember that God 158 00:14:35.269 --> 00:14:41.139 did not create Adam and Eve, is bodies floating in nothingness of time or 159 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:45.419 space, but he placed them in a world, as the use of borrow 160 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:48.899 some words from him, of rocks and trees and skies and seas. Right, 161 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:52.690 this world that God has made us, a world that also, clue, 162 00:14:52.769 --> 00:14:58.769 includes animals. Now, this world that God placed us in was one 163 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:03.370 that was a suitable habitat for mankind, and it served us in this way. 164 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:07.399 It was a place for us to dwell in. And what do the 165 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.759 Scriptures say about it? They say it was very good, very good. 166 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.279 It was perfectly, perfectly matched to our needs, and we were perfectly matched 167 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:24.870 not just to live there, but to tend the garden, to serve and 168 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:30.590 to work in it. As those who were made in God's image, we 169 00:15:30.669 --> 00:15:35.259 were called to show forth God, as images do, to show forth his 170 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:41.259 glory in the world, by imaging his pattern, by showing forth his pattern. 171 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:46.659 That's what an image does. It shows something. God had placed a 172 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:52.090 Royal Commission on us to fulfill, something to do, a work to complete, 173 00:15:52.889 --> 00:15:58.289 and as he filled the world with good things, so mankind was to 174 00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:04.720 be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over this world, to expand the garden, 175 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:08.120 to tend to it, to serve the Lord in this way, and 176 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:12.759 as God worked and then rested, so man too was to work and to 177 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:18.440 fulfill this duty, this commission that God had given to him and then, 178 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:25.029 one day, rest from his labors. Part of that we remember from the 179 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:30.549 beginning of the Bible was Adams naming of the animals. This wasn't, as 180 00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:37.220 kind of a merely a scientific exercise, it was a royal task. It 181 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:41.820 was one in which he exercised his authority in his dominion. This is approved 182 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:45.659 in a lot of different ways. I'll just sort of state it for now, 183 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:51.409 but this way of naming things is a way that we placed ownership on 184 00:16:51.610 --> 00:16:56.169 things. It's a way of designating our control and also manifesting it and also 185 00:16:56.450 --> 00:17:00.759 controlling things. This is a wonderful thing that we mean when we say that 186 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:07.400 God has placed his name on us. It means that we belong to him, 187 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.799 we are owned by him, possessed by him. When we are adopted, 188 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.069 for example, as sons and daughters of this great God, our heavenly 189 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:22.190 father, he puts his name on us in such a way that we now 190 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:27.630 belong to him and to his family. It's a way of expressing authority, 191 00:17:27.789 --> 00:17:33.259 of of ruling, and this is what Adam and was called to do. 192 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:38.180 The world was very good and it would be even better when man passed this 193 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:44.690 probation and he fulfilled this mandate that he had been given to or it had 194 00:17:44.730 --> 00:17:49.970 been given by by God. You remember, however, that Adam failed into 195 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:56.609 this task and, instead of ushering in a great and glorious new world, 196 00:17:57.210 --> 00:18:02.920 a new creation in which their work would no longer be done to earn a 197 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.319 reward, but instead would only be about enjoying that reward and resting in this 198 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:15.190 state of consummation. Instead, man sin, he failed to do the thing 199 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:18.430 that he was called to do and instead of bringing blessing and glory into the 200 00:18:18.549 --> 00:18:23.789 world, he brought curse and death. And, as we read in the 201 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:30.420 curse that fell upon man, it didn't just fall upon him or the woman, 202 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:33.259 but it fell upon the serpent as well, it fell upon the ground 203 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:40.019 as well. The entire world was cursed and all of the beauty and the 204 00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:45.809 order and the goodness that God had made was now corrupted. Man and woman 205 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:52.289 would fight one another, father and fathers and mothers and sons and daughters would 206 00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:59.400 fight one another. Man and animals would be at war. A man would 207 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.720 go into the field, to work the ground, and it would cross its 208 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.359 arms and say no. Over and over. In every aspect and every relationship 209 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:15.789 of creation, there is this conflict now and death. Why? Because of 210 00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:21.789 sin. That's what sinned does, is it leads to death. Why? 211 00:19:22.750 --> 00:19:29.220 Because it leads away from God, and in God is life. But this 212 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:34.619 God promise to set things right what Adam had failed to do. God promised 213 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:40.490 that he would do through a second atom. But in order for that to 214 00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:45.130 happen, in order for a second atom to be born, one that would 215 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:48.769 come as a man and fulfill the duties that man had failed to do, 216 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:53.559 but, more than that, not only fulfill those duties but also take away 217 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:59.559 the sins that man had now earned for himself. This world had to be 218 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:04.960 preserved, attracting the story so far. The world had to be preserved. 219 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:11.950 This became, of course, very obvious immediately after the fall, as the 220 00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:18.750 sins of humankind piled up more and more and became so intolerable that God said, 221 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:22.980 the whole world has to be washed clean, and that's what he did 222 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:29.460 in the great flood in which he a flooded the earth. He washed away 223 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:37.049 sin like staying out of a garment, except for Nolah, his family and 224 00:20:37.289 --> 00:20:45.769 the animals. God saved the world through the ARC and through his promise to 225 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:49.640 know that he would say save him and his family. God pitied them and 226 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:56.720 saved them and brought them through this overwhelming flood so that the world might be 227 00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.319 preserved, so that his promise to humanity might continue. And that's exactly what 228 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:06.309 he did. And when Noah left the Ark with his family, a sort 229 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:11.549 of recommissioning happened. The Covenant With Adam had been broken, but God would 230 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:15.589 establish a new covenant, not the New Covenant that we think about when we 231 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:19.819 talk about the new covenant in the New Testament, but another covenant. And 232 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:25.859 he does this with Noah, a kind of recommissioning that in many ways sounds 233 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:30.339 very much like the commission that had been given to Adam, but this time 234 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:33.609 it was not for the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth, 235 00:21:34.329 --> 00:21:40.769 but a preserving of this world. God would take Noah and his family 236 00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:45.369 and he and from them he would preserve an order out of which would come 237 00:21:45.650 --> 00:21:52.880 a saving order, the second Adam, who would bring all things in to 238 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.599 fulfillment. I want to read that covenant to you now because this is the 239 00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:02.309 basis on which we now live our lives, the whole world now lives, 240 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:08.349 and it's unfortunately often forgotten. And chapter nine of Genesis, they exit the 241 00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:14.230 arc just there at the end of Chapter Eight, and then in chapter nine, 242 00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:18.019 verse one, we read this. And God blessed Noah and his sons 243 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:21.299 and said to them. This will sound familiar if you remember the words from 244 00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:26.940 the beginning of Genesis. Be Fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The 245 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:33.450 fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the 246 00:22:33.529 --> 00:22:37.690 earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the 247 00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:42.650 ground and all the fish of the sea into your hand. They are delivered. 248 00:22:42.730 --> 00:22:48.960 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I 249 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.640 gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not 250 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:59.190 eat flesh with its life, that is its blood. And for your life 251 00:22:59.269 --> 00:23:03.309 blood I will require a reckoning from every beast, I will require it. 252 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:08.470 And from man, from his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for 253 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:12.819 the life of Man. Whoever sheds the blood of Man by man shall his 254 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:18.380 blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. And you 255 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:25.579 be fruitful and multiply team on the earth and multiply in it. Then God 256 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:27.890 said to know and to his sons with him. Behold, I establish my 257 00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:33.930 covenant with you and your offspring after you and with every living creature that is 258 00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:38.009 with you, the birds, the live stock and every beast of the earth 259 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:41.720 with you, as many as came out of the Ark, for it is 260 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:47.880 for every beast of the earth. I will establish my covenant with you that 261 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:52.359 never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood and 262 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.069 never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, 263 00:23:56.190 --> 00:24:00.269 this is the sign of the Covenant that I made between me and you 264 00:24:00.549 --> 00:24:04.349 and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. I have 265 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:08.630 set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant 266 00:24:08.910 --> 00:24:14.700 between me and the Earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the 267 00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:18.380 bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between 268 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:22.859 me and you and every living creature out of all flesh, and the waters 269 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:26.329 shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is 270 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:30.650 in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God 271 00:24:30.809 --> 00:24:36.089 and every living creature, of all flesh that is on the earth. God 272 00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:40.000 said to know of this is the sign of the Covenant that I have established 273 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:45.079 between me and all flesh that is on the earth. Amazing, isn't it? 274 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:55.589 You see what this means? This means that every single creature, including 275 00:24:55.630 --> 00:24:57.990 there's a squirrel out there that keeps distracting me, and I'm sorry if you've 276 00:24:59.029 --> 00:25:03.230 noticed that, but every living creature, the squirrel out there, the birds 277 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:08.259 that fly, the lizards, you see, is in a covenantal relationship with 278 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:15.940 God. That's what it says, and not just once. Maybe you heard 279 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:18.059 it. I didn't count it, but he says it a lot of times. 280 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:26.849 This covenant is established between me and every living creature. He even explicitly 281 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:32.089 mentions the different kinds of creatures that he has made. God makes this promise 282 00:25:32.569 --> 00:25:38.079 to the squirrels and to the birds and to us that he will preserve the 283 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:44.160 world, that the world will not only be preserved but it will have an 284 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:52.630 order to it. The world will not descend into anarchy, into complete chaos, 285 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:56.670 in such a way that God has to wash it clean again with a 286 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:04.619 flood. One day justice will come and all sins will be paid for but 287 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:10.579 until that day God will preserve the order of this world, in the order 288 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:14.980 is seen there at the beginning of nine. There is of this principle of 289 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:22.369 man's life in particular, of humanity being preserved, and particularly under a sense 290 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:30.930 of justice, fairness for man's blood. If man's blood is shed by man, 291 00:26:32.130 --> 00:26:37.400 his blood will be shed, whether that's by an animal or another man. 292 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:41.960 He gives but man in animals, they'll all cut. The Covenant is 293 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:45.720 made with them together, other as a group. There is an order to 294 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:49.710 it, isn't there? You catch it in the words where he says I 295 00:26:49.990 --> 00:26:59.670 give to you everything, I place them into your hands. Man is to 296 00:26:59.750 --> 00:27:03.299 continue, is to now, and is our as to continue exercising this rule 297 00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:12.420 over the animals and through this the the world will be sustained. But though 298 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:18.730 it was a unilateral promise that could not be broken and would not be broken 299 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:22.769 by God, there are still obligations to us, and these things describe those 300 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:30.480 obligations. God did not create a disorderly and chaotic world and we, as 301 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:36.279 into image bearers, are called to reflect that. That's why God puts the 302 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:41.599 fear of man into every beast. It says. That's why we are that's 303 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:47.349 why these things are placed into his hands. And in all this God preserves 304 00:27:47.390 --> 00:27:52.029 human life and animal life, and animal as food for human life. But 305 00:27:52.150 --> 00:27:57.470 in giving US animals, even animals to eat, there's still an order to 306 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:03.180 it and, we might say, a humanity to it. Though he gives 307 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:07.859 us animals into our hands, he doesn't give the animals to us to abuse. 308 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:11.259 He doesn't give us license to abuse them. He doesn't want us to 309 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:17.049 act as be beasts, and that's why he says you shall not eat flesh 310 00:28:17.250 --> 00:28:21.450 with its life, that is, with its blood in it. We're not 311 00:28:21.609 --> 00:28:26.609 to go out into the fields and just start devouring animals like the animals do. 312 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.200 Instead, in our care and our dominion, even are eating of the 313 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:34.759 animals. We are called to exercise a humanity. Why? Because we are 314 00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:42.950 image bearers of God. God's rule is a benevolent rule, a good rule, 315 00:28:44.470 --> 00:28:51.109 and ours should be as well, not one marked by cruelty and inhumanity, 316 00:28:52.190 --> 00:28:57.059 but one marked by the one who made us. John of for in 317 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:02.259 a way teaches us that, and in many other places, scripture teaches us 318 00:29:02.299 --> 00:29:07.859 that God's dominion over these animals is a good one. We, as those 319 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:14.250 commission to rule or under him ought to act in this way. That's why 320 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:19.170 proverbs twelve ten says whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beasts, 321 00:29:21.170 --> 00:29:27.960 but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Now that sin was in 322 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:33.359 the world, however, this commission that God had given to Noah and to 323 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:37.960 the animals and all of us, this these obligations that he placed on us, 324 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:41.430 we know that they would not be fulfilled. That's why we depend on 325 00:29:41.750 --> 00:29:48.549 God's grace and either his constantly looking to his covenant promises and even to the 326 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:52.619 Rainbow, the sign of the Covenant. We know from experience and from the 327 00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:59.180 testimony of scripture that this world would be constantly fraught with challenges, though God 328 00:29:59.420 --> 00:30:03.980 promised to preserve the world and to keep it in justice and order. Both 329 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:10.049 man and animals, man perhaps in particular, would constantly fight against this. 330 00:30:10.569 --> 00:30:15.329 Conflict would be at every turn. There would be no hope for us were 331 00:30:15.369 --> 00:30:22.400 it not for God's preserving and preserving us. But this preservation of the world 332 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:30.319 was not for its own end. It was so that the promises that were 333 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.710 originally made to Adam and Eve would come to pass. And until that day, 334 00:30:34.789 --> 00:30:41.069 two things remained. On the one hand, the sinfulness of man remained 335 00:30:41.109 --> 00:30:47.150 in the reality. Disorder and chaos and brokenness and conflict with enemies would continue, 336 00:30:47.910 --> 00:30:51.779 but also the promise of God that a day of redemption would come was 337 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:56.299 also a reality. And then, as you continue throughout the scriptures, you 338 00:30:56.339 --> 00:31:02.339 have constant testimony to this that one day, through this Messiah, this anointed 339 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:07.690 son of God, everything would be set right and a new world, and 340 00:31:08.049 --> 00:31:11.690 orderly world, would be set in place, one one that in many ways 341 00:31:11.730 --> 00:31:18.210 had continuity within with the old but in other ways was marked by something very 342 00:31:18.450 --> 00:31:25.319 different. Listen to the words of Prophet Isaiah and Chapter Eleven. The Wolf 343 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:30.279 shall dwell with the lamb and the leopards shall lie down with the young goat 344 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:34.269 and the calf and the lion and the fatted calf together, and a little 345 00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:40.430 child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, they're young 346 00:31:40.670 --> 00:31:45.910 shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The 347 00:31:45.990 --> 00:31:52.259 nursing child shall play over the whole of the Cobra and the weaned child shall 348 00:31:52.339 --> 00:31:57.900 put his hand into the adders den. They shall not hurt or destroy in 349 00:31:59.059 --> 00:32:02.690 all my Holy Mountain, for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of 350 00:32:02.769 --> 00:32:10.730 the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Amazing. This is the 351 00:32:12.170 --> 00:32:17.480 plan that God has for our salvation. You see what I mean? It's 352 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:27.240 it's not us sort of floating abstractly in the great nothingness, it's US belonging 353 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:31.029 to a world that God has made, one that will be in many ways 354 00:32:31.150 --> 00:32:37.150 connected with the old but in some way so radically different it's hard to even 355 00:32:37.509 --> 00:32:43.750 imagine what that would look like and how that would work. The old promise 356 00:32:43.829 --> 00:32:50.420 of preservation and the strange new promises of consummation are all including this amazing thing, 357 00:32:51.259 --> 00:32:59.609 God's salvation of the animals in the old order, preserved in the new 358 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:08.690 world order, something wonderful, almost unimaginable and permanent. And Jonah, the 359 00:33:08.930 --> 00:33:15.519 story of Jonah and the Ninavites, anticipates that future. And that's why it 360 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:23.519 says and also much cattle, because when God saves the city, he doesn't 361 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:30.390 just save the people, he saves the whole world. The whole world was 362 00:33:30.509 --> 00:33:34.829 plunged into sin and under the curse of God, and the whole world will 363 00:33:34.869 --> 00:33:38.910 be made new. We sang this earlier in Psalm thirty six, and I'll 364 00:33:38.950 --> 00:33:45.220 repeat it now. Your steadfast love, oh Lord, extends to the Heavens, 365 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:52.259 your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. 366 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:58.369 Your judgments are like the great deep man and beast you save, Oh 367 00:33:58.529 --> 00:34:04.329 Lord. So it take us back to my point at the very beginning. 368 00:34:05.450 --> 00:34:08.170 One of the things that these four little words, and also much cattle, 369 00:34:08.289 --> 00:34:15.639 does is a remind us of how far God's mercy extends, just like Psalm 370 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:22.679 thirty six says, his steadfast love extends even to the clouds, not just 371 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:29.349 in distance but to them, and the way that God has made this world, 372 00:34:29.789 --> 00:34:36.630 has called it good and desires to save it. God doesn't care about 373 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:42.579 the animals more than you, but he has. He does care for you 374 00:34:43.420 --> 00:34:47.820 and he brings the animals into that salvation, the whole world into that. 375 00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:52.289 And when God creates a new heavens and a new earth, you can count 376 00:34:52.369 --> 00:35:00.329 on the fact that this will be a wonderful and blessed place. God's power 377 00:35:00.449 --> 00:35:07.679 is not only demonstrated in the creation, but also his mercy. Remember that 378 00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:14.239 when you look at the animals, remember that when you anticipate and wait for 379 00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:19.960 your hope of Heaven, that God will make all things new, that he 380 00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:23.349 owns it and preserves it all now and one day he will bring it to 381 00:35:23.510 --> 00:35:30.670 complete and final consummation. All praise to the glory of God and to his 382 00:35:30.909 --> 00:35:34.429 son, who he has, whom he is sent to accomplish these things. 383 00:35:35.190 --> 00:35:37.900 Put Your faith in him. Let us pray.