This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
2 Peter 2:5
5 And [kai] spared [pheidomai] not [ou] the old [archaios] world [kosmos], but [alla] saved [phulasso] Noah [Noe] the eighth [ogdoos] person, a preacher [kerux] of righteousness [dikaiosune], bringing in [epago] the flood [kataklusmos] upon the world [kosmos] of the ungodly [asebes]; KJV-Interlinear
5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; NASB
Some sixteen-hundred and fifty-six years after Adam was created, a great flood occurred on the earth. We call this the flood of Noah, since he was the principle person mentioned in the Bible surrounding the time of the flood.
God saw the corruption of mankind. Humanity had presumed to sin with impunity and the patterns of evil were only getting worse and worse. God told Noah that the world would have only 120 years left before judgment would come. At that time, Methuselah was about 849 years old. He had only 120 years left in his life as God would graciously take him just prior to the flood.
Noah represented a minority of only eight positive believers on the planet when he boarded the ark. Presumably there were others, just as Methuselah was, but God took them in the normal course of their lives prior to the flood.
Since Adam left the Garden, there must have been a huge population explosion, since humanity lived for over 1600 years until the flood. What the population was, is anyone's guess. But what we know was that people lived very long life spans. That means they were probably very healthy. That implies that they had lots of children. And that implies a huge population growth during those sixteen centuries.
We are not told the total numbers, but with common sense, we can see that there is an immediate contrast in the number of people who will be saved (eight), and the number of people destroyed in the flood (perhaps millions, perhaps many more).
Having lots of people on your side, or agreeing with the majority of the general opinions of the world, will not save you from Gods judgment.
Noah and his wife boarded the ark. His three sons and their three wives (six people), boarded the ark. That makes eight people out of perhaps millions.
Also, we read between the lines and from common sense again, we know that there would be old folks, middle age folks, young folks and even babies within the population that did not board the ark.
God is not cruel, but God is just, and in His judgment of all of humanity for their corruption, He was correct in His decision to destroy the wickedness that existed on the earth. Otherwise, corruption would have destroyed everyone.
Recall verse one in our chapter. Corrupt people bring destruction on themselves. And here we see the other side of the coin as God brings destruction on evil people.
God gives every person an opportunity to get their life in order. They had 120 years to make the corrections to their beliefs. They rejected God and doctrine, as it was made available to them in their day.
The ark was the first and only of its kind. Rain had never before occurred on the earth as everything was watered through springs and mists, etc. So the idea of rain was something to ridicule. After all, how can the air possibly hold buckets of water. A silly thought!!
And yet Noah and his family continued to build an ark despite the ridicule and despite never having seen rain, or even understanding what it was. They continued to build for 120 years. More than enough time to convince those who refused to believe, and more than enough time to test the faith of Noah’s family.
Evil will be judged regardless of its number. God is steadfast in His policies of truth and unyielding in his policies against rejection of truth.
Whether you are an unbeliever or an indifferent believer, or a stubborn believer with odd ideas about life, makes no difference. Rejection for truth will result in the appropriate judgment or discipline against you, whichever is appropriate.
You cannot reject truth, you cannot live your life as only you see fit, without repercussions.
God is immutable. That means that truth does not change for your convenience. Gods policies of today, are the very same policies that He imposed on humanity back in Noah’s day. Gods policies of today, are the very same as His policies against the angels, when they disobeyed.
Truth is truth. There is not one set of rules for angels and another set of rules for humanity. There is not one set of rules for ancient history, and another set of rules for contemporary history.
And so Peter is laying out a very clear policy for life. Obey and follow Gods rules and reap the blessings that accompany that life style, or remain indifferent, disregard Gods rules for life and suffer the consequences.
The choices are always yours, but the results are under Gods control.
