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"The days of Noah"

Text: 1 Peter 3:20

THE LONGSUFFERING NATURE OF GOD

One special aspect of God is His wonderful sense of being longsuffering (“patience”).
God has always been graciously patient!

“By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
who formerly were disobedient,
when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was being prepared, in which a few,
that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
1 Peter 3:19-20

1. “By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison”

a) This sentence is puzzling if read on its own.

b) Each sentence must be read carefully, understanding its context.

c) The subject “He” is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

d) There were numerous occasions when the pre-incarnate Christ was noted.

i) He was called “The Angel of the LORD” (Genesis 16: 7, 9, 11).

ii) He was the Man who wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30).

iii) He appeared as the Commander of the army of the LORD (Joshua 5:13-15).

e) “The spirits in prison”

i) This is a special way of describing human beings.

ii) We have a spirit and a body (Genesis 2:7; Matthew 26:41).

iii) The Apostle Paul called the flesh “the body of death” (Romans 7:24).

iv) The spirit that we have is “imprisoned” in the flesh.

2. “Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah”

a) The people in the days of Noah were well-described as “disobedient” (Genesis 6:5, 11-12).

i) They were wicked.

ii) They were evil.

iii) They were corrupt.

iv) They were violent.

b) “Divine longsuffering”

i) The word “longsuffering” describes God’s patience.

He waited for man to repent and turn from sin.

ii) The word “divine” is a direct reference to God.

iii) God waited and longed for the repentance of the people in the days of Noah.

iv) But they did not repent at all.

3. “While the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water”

a) God commanded Noah to build an ark.

b) All this while, He waited patiently for people to repent.

c) At the end, only eight souls were saved.

i) Noah and his wife.

ii) His three sons and their wives.

4. “Saved through water”

a) Noah and his family were saved.

b) The universal flood did not destroy the family.

c) They were saved “through water”.

5. How did God minister to people in those days?

a) Through the Spirit of God (1 Peter 3:18).

b) Through Noah.

i) His faith in God.

ii) His life of righteousness.