x. 27 ; 2 Pet. iii. 7). 3. Preservation-the salvation of the faithful. This may bo Rnid to be the aim of nil those minor troubles and afflictions that befall God's people on the earth (Rom. viii. 28; 2 Cor. iv. 17). It is specially so when on a larger scale he interposes to inflict his judgments on the world (Isa. xxvi. 9). When he over- throws the wicked (whether nation or individual) suddenly as in a moment, it is with nn eye to the deliverance of his people. Examples-Pharaoh, Goliath, Haman, Herod, Belshazz11r. It was so with Noah. The destruction of the antediluvian sinners was necessary, if the remnant of the primitive Church was to be saved. Elo may it be said that the future overthrow of the wicked is indispensable, if the eternal haf piness of the redeemed is to be secured. II. Goo a JUDGMENTB HA VE THEIR APPOINTED TIMES. 1. Their times of coming. The hour of the commencement of the Flood was both fixed and announced 120 years before the event. Though not revealed, as in the case of the Noachic Deluge, the date of every event is as truly predetermined (cf. Gen. xviii. 14; Exod. ix. 5; Job vii. 1 ; Eccles. iii. 1 ; Jer. viii. 7; Acts xvii. 26). And God's judgments always keep their set times of coming, as the Flood came in the ~redicted hour for its arrival. 2. Their times of continuance. The flood of waters lingered on the earth for a season, but not for ever. From the moment when the first rain-drop fell from the leaden sky, after the Lord had shut the patriarch with his family and living creatures into the ark, till it could be said the earth was dry, one year and ten days passed away. So have all God's judgments, at least here, their limits. Upon sinful men his wrath is not poured out without measure. 3. Their time-s of recall. In the future world we do not read that there will be any recall of the Divine judgments ; everlasting punishment (Matt. xxv. 46), fire that never shall be quenched (Mark ix. 43), everlasting destruction (2 These. i. 9) are some of the expressions employed to depict the fire-deluge of eternity. But here on earth God's judgments, being only for a set time, are subject to recall; and as they cannot anticipate the hou.., appointed for their coming, so neither can they linger beyond the moment assigned for their departure. Their recall too is, as in the case of Noah's flood-(1) .An act of grace (Gen. viii. 1). "God remembered Noah." '' It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed" (Lam. iii. 22; cf. 2 Kings xiii. 23; Mark i. 41). (2) An act of power (vers. 2, 3). As in order to roll back the tide of waters he sent forth a wind and stopped up the flood-gates of the deep and the windows of heaven, so is he able to lay his hand upon all the powers and forces of the material universe, and make them cease their working as easily as he set them in operation. III. Goo's JUDGMENTS HA VE THEIR APPROPRIATE SIGNS. 1. Signs of their approach, which are commonly-(!) Tlie growing wickedness of man, as in the days of Noah (eh. vi. 11, 12). When an individual or II nation is becoming mature in sin, then tqat individual or that nation is becoming ripe for judgment. So it was with Pharaoh, and afterwards with Israel, with Babylon, Nineveh, Greece, Rome. So will it be in the end of the world (cf. Rev. xiv. 15). (2) Prelusive chastisements from God, again as in the days of Noah (eh. vii. 10). The Deluge began with a ro.in-shower, which gradually became more violent as the days passed, and with the bursting forth of subterranean floods, which swelled the rivers, lakes, and oceans; all which must have been ominous indications that the long-threatened judgrnent was at last approaching. So the full outpouring of God's wrath is commonly heralded by anticipatory inflic- tions. 2. Signs of their departure, which are usually-(!) The accomplishment of their mission. Immediately it could be said, "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life died " ( eh. vii. 22 ), it was added, "And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged" (ver. 1). (2) The mitigation of their violence. The quieting of the waters (ver. 1) was the first symptom of the passing of the storm to Noah; and so, when God's retributive judgments are about to be withdrawn, their severity begins to relax. (3) The removal of their causes. The second sign to Noah was the cessation of the rain and the retirement of the floods (ver, 2). Sc-, ~h~n God's judgrnents are about to disappear, the agencies that brought them nre v1s1oly .recalled. (4) The ar-.-ival of little foretastes of deliverance. Such was the grou_ndmg of the ark to Noah and his imprisoned family (ver. 4). (5) The per- uptible return of tl1e previo11s condition of uffairs. This was symbolised by the reappearance of the mountain-tops ( ,·er. 5), GENESIS. ,t 130 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [cJt. VIII, 1-14,
IV. Goo's JUDGMENTS IIAVE THEIR INTERESTED 0BSER'7ERS, Possibly the wicked are indifferent to the Divine judgments when they happen to be abroad upon the earth; but not so the righteous, to whom everything connected with them is of the utmost importance. Observers of God's judgments should be like Noah-I. Hopeful- expecting them to pass.' Had Noah not anticipated the complete removal of the waters, he had not made a sing·le experiment to discover how that removal wns pro- gressing. Let the saints learn from Noah to cherish hope in God. 2. Pmyerful. There is good reason for believing that Noah sent forth the raven nnd the dove on the day of weekly rest, and after solemn relig-ious exercises (vide Expos.). The s~int's inquiries _into G_?d's judgments shoul_d always _be conducted in a spirit of devot10n. 3. lnteU'l{Jent-1. e. capable of readmg the signs of the times. When the do,e came home to Noah with the fresh-gathered olive leaf, 11 he knew that the waters were abated from off the earth" (ver. 11). So God ever vouchsafes to de,out souls, who seek them by faith, llppropriate and adequate signs of his move- ments, which it becomes them to study and interpret. 4. Patient-seeking neither to ??trun Go~•~ leading nor to anticipate God's directing, but, like Noah, calmly waiting the D1vme order to advance to the new sphere and the new duty which the passing of his judgments may reveal. Noah waited fifty-seven days after the drying up of the waters before he left the nrk, and then he only did so o.t God's command; wherefore, "be ye not unwise" by being over-hasty, 11 but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephes. v. 17).