How many were spared?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I don't think someone who only speaks to his household can be regarded a preacher. I think we can safely assume his message travelled far and wide. News of a large boat in the middle of the desert would certainly spread like wildfire and draw in the crowds for him to preach to.

Your assumptiins do not equal truth.

Originally posted by @suzianne
And yet they didn't.

Parallels to Romans 3.

Whether they did or didn't is irrelevant to the point in my OP. They were ALL potentially spared, none were condemned.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I agree the ark was intended to save anyone who heeded the warning. But there is a limited time of mercy. Once the door was shut it was too late.

No there isn't a limited time of mercy.

"His mercy endures forever"

Originally posted by @divegeester
Whether they did or didn't is irrelevant to the point in my OP. They were ALL potentially spared, none were condemned.

Not sure how you arrive at that conclusion, bearing in mind the following:

'Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.'

Seems quite clear that God was not minded to save anyone outside of the grateful 8. Apart from them 'all people' were corrupt and were to be destroyed. Surely a condemnation if ever there was one?

Originally posted by @divegeester
No there isn't a limited time of mercy.

"His mercy endures forever"

So do you think everyone will be saved whether they accept or reject his mercy?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
So do you think everyone will be saved whether they accept or reject his mercy?

I don't know, but as time goes by I have come to realise that God is not a terrorist, tyrant or condemning overlord that some imply through their beliefs that he is.

I'm not interested in and I don't care about symbolism and parables about damnation and eternal torturing of people just because they don't or can't believe. I will never preach or teach that and I outright reject any god who will systematically burn people alive for eternity. The notion is an abomination.

Originally posted by @divegeester
I don't know, but as time goes by I have come to realise that God is not a terrorist, tyrant or condemning overlord that some imply through their beliefs that he is.

I'm not interested in and I don't care about symbolism and parables about damnation and eternal torturing of people just because they don't or can't believe. I will never preach or tea ...[text shortened]... ct any god who will systematically burn people alive for eternity. The notion is an abomination.

So you are rejecting the Bible? And drawing your own conclusions?

That's fine, just admit that's what you're doing.

Originally posted by @chaney3
So you are rejecting the Bible? And drawing your own conclusions?

That's fine, just admit that's what you're doing.

Do you reject the bible chaney3?

Originally posted by @divegeester
Do you reject the bible chaney3?

Like you, I have a hard time believing that some parts of it could possibly be true.

I have read your current profile, and agree with it. But the dilemma is that the Bible seems to indicate otherwise.

Originally posted by @chaney3
Like you, I have a hard time believing that some parts of it could possibly be true.

I have read your current profile, and agree with it. But the dilemma is that the Bible seems to indicate otherwise.

I have said it before...If I discovered that those scriptures about hell and eternal suffering were literal and were written by the NT writers, then I would reject it all. That's how strongly I feel about it and how convinced I am that these scriptures are not literal.

Originally posted by @divegeester
I have said it before...If I discovered that those scriptures about hell and eternal suffering were literal and were written by the NT writers, then I would reject it all. That's how strongly I feel about it and how convinced I am that these scriptures are not literal.

Then on a very basic level, do you think that a non-belief in Jesus could land someone in hell? Or are you saying that a place called hell likely doesn't exist at all?

Originally posted by @chaney3
Then on a very basic level, do you think that a non-belief in Jesus could land someone in hell? Or are you saying that a place called hell likely doesn't exist at all?

I'm saying that there is no such thing as eternal suffering. Whether or not there a place "called" hell is somewhat irrelevant to me.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I don't think someone who only speaks to his household can be regarded a preacher. I think we can safely assume his message travelled far and wide. News of a large boat in the middle of the desert would certainly spread like wildfire and draw in the crowds for him to preach to.

Perhaps not by you.

Originally posted by @divegeester

The word "spared" in this context means that god spared, through his mercy, only the surviving 8, correct?

In terms of drowning in a flood, God spared Noah and the 7 with him in the ark.
In terms of drowning, the rest were not spared.

" And [God] did not spare the ancient world but guarded Noah, ... when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly." (Gen. 2:5)

Spinning it any other way is not soberminded thinking.

No, incorrect. God "spared" everyone.

On one side of the verse you have those "NOT spar[ed] " - the ungodly.
On the opposite side you have "BUT guarded Noah" .

The "BUT" in contrast and opposite to what has gone before - God NOT sparing the ancient world.

Noah and the seven in the ark were the exception to those who suffered the death from "a flood upon the world of the ungodly."

Noah was preaching for years and years pleading with the people to believe him and get onto the ark.

In terms of perishing in a flood ONLY Noah and the seven others were SPARED.
To spin it any other way is deceptive.

All they had to do was get on the ark.

Since they did not, they were not spared.
Since Noah and the seven and the animals did, they were spared.

They didn't even have to believe him, they could have just walked onto the ark and survived.

" And [God] did not spare the ancient world ... but guarded Noah"

To be guarded is in opposition and constrast to being NOT spared.

guarded = spared.
not guarded = not spared

God "spared" all of them. To state otherwise is to misunderstand the nature of God.

To understand well the nature of God manifested in this story you have to understand that only eight people were guarded and spared. The others were not spared.

Their eternal destiny is not known.

In terms of the drowning in the judgment of a flood, they were not spared (2 Pet. 2:5).

The ark of Noah is a type of Jesus Christ.
It is often called a boat. But its measurements reveal more of a floating box.

It was coated within and without with pitch according to Genesis 6:14.

copied without permission from

What is Significant About the Pitch Which Noah Used to Cover the Ark?
http://www.rtgmin.org/2012/06/08/ark-pitch/

“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” (Gen 6:14Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). The pitch was a substance used to waterproof the ark. The Hebrew word used for pitch, Kopher (Strong’s #3724), is from the root word used for “atonement” or “covering.”

And ...

From Life Study of Genesis by Witness Lee
http://www.ministrybooks.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=1BA929D158

6. Covered within and without with
Pitch

Christ is not only the crucified One, but also the One who shed His blood to cover us from the penalty of our sins. So, the ark was pitched within and without with pitch (6:14). The Hebrew word for pitch has the same root as the Hebrew word for atonement. The main meaning of this Hebrew root is "to cover." The word for the cover of the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat, also comes from this same root. This means that in Christ we have the full covering. We all are covered with His redemption. Death cannot damage Him, and so no condemnation or judgment can reach us, because we are under the covering of Christ's redemption. The pitch signifies the redeeming of Christ, which covers God's building within and without. The covering within is for our sight, and the covering without is for God's. Perhaps when the flood was attacking the ark, the people within were frightened. But whenever they looked at the pitch within, they could be at peace. The pitch inside the ark was for their peace. The pitch outside the ark was for God's satisfaction. The covering of the pitch without was also for Satan and the angels. This is a picture of the blood. Whenever we look at the blood, we have peace. Whenever God looks at the blood, He is satisfied. Whenever Satan looks at the blood, he is unable to attack. Whenever the angels look at the blood, they rejoice.