"THE MAN WHO BROUGHT COMFORT IN PLACE OF AN UNCOMFORTABLE CURSE"

October 28, 2001 am
MF Blume
Genesis 3:17-19  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 5:28-29  And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.


Last week we spoke about the curse that Jesus removed.  When Adam sinned, God specifically cursed the ground for his sake.   And here:
Genesis 2:8-9  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
  God did the planting of the tree of life. In fact, Adam was made the sixth day. What a sad ending to see him thrown from that comfortable paradise into a world where thorns and thistles would not only make it uncomfortable, but a hindrance to obtaining food very easily.

And instead of eating fruit he never worked for, and living forever, instead he worked for bread that would leave him still to die one day.

But the next time we read about the cursing of the ground that made man's mortal dying life so hard, there is a special note that actually points us all the way over to Jesus Christ!

Genesis 5:28  And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Noah's name means simply REST. Noah's story is so filled with thoughts of comfort.
Genesis 8:4  And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
The ark RESTED. What was the curse? Then we read...
Genesis 8:20-21  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
 Notice this point. His offering of blood moved God to stop the curse.

Now, I know that thorns continued in the world since Noah's day.

Jesus Christ went through the death-blow of demise by crucifixion.   In what specific way did He revoke the curse? It was an everlasting covenant that Noah was said to have received!   He was given dominion.  And then he was given an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 9:15  And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Everlasting means eternal! Like the ark resting on the top of Ararat, as upon an island, since the waters were still over the earth quite high, we read...
  John sees a sea stretched out before the throne of God, where a rainbow was overhead. Revelation 5 shows God sitting there with a closed book in his right hand. But just as the ark of Noah was the sole surviving entity through the flood, and landed on the peak of Ararat, to find a rainbow waiting for Him, and an everlasting covenant, John sees a sole person over top the waters.
Revelation 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
"Between the throne and the beasts" that surrounded the throne (on the waters, in other words), JESUS APPEARS like a LAMB. And just as Noah came forth from the ark that veritably resurrected from a flood of death over the earth, and received the everlasting covenant and a rainbow to verify it, we read...
Revelation 5:7  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
He came! Later on in Revelation, after the book is opened by Jesus, we read...
Revelation 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Jesus was slain and as Noah offered the blood on the altar to God, moving God to revoke the curse, we read....
Revelation 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
After being separated from God in the Garden, and away from life eternal, being left to work for food that can never give eternal life, we read Jesus REDEEMED THEM TO GOD BY HIS BLOOD!
 
And after Adam lost his dominion and kingship, and similar to Noah gaining that very blessing of kingship and dominion lost by Adam, we then read in Revelation...
 Revelation 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Noah, the man named rest, who would bring comfort to man concerning the cursed ground that forced man to work for bread that could never give real life, was only a foreshadow of the Lord Jesus Christ.