THE FLOOD
GENESIS 7:1 - 8:22
There is a contrast to be seen in the ebb and flow of the
three chapters that make up the flood narrative.
Genesis 6 |
Genesis 7 |
Genesis 8 |
God warns Noah |
God delivers Noah |
God remembers Noah |
The ark is built |
The ark is used to save Noah from the flood |
The ark comes to rest in the mountains of Ararat |
Noah building the ark |
Noah in the ark |
Noah coming out of the ark |
The earth filled with violence |
The earth filled with water |
Noah to go out and replenish the earth |
Preparation for the flood |
Percipitation of the flood |
Promise that there will be no more flood |
Still another way of viewing this
passage would be to see the chiastic parallel of the entire segment that begins
and ends with the covenant being established.
Covenant with Noah (6:18-20). |
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Command to enter the ark (7:1-3) • 7 days waiting for the flood (7:4-10). |
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The Lord shuts the door and it rains 40 days and nights
(7:15-16) |
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Waters increase until the mountains are covered (7:18-20) |
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150 days waters prevail (7:21-24) |
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God Remembers Noah (8:1) |
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150 days waters abate (8:3) |
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Waters decrease until the mountain become visible (8:4-5) |
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At the end of 40 days Noah opens the window (8:6) |
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Raven and dove sent out from the ark (8:7-9) • 7 days waiting for the dove (8:10-12) |
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Covenant with all flesh (9:8-10). |
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This literary rise and fall of
the narrative places at the center a vision of God’s grace and care in
remembering His people and His covenant.
The point is being made that God remembers his covenant promise and He
moves to protect His people.
ENTRANCE
INTO THE ARK
1
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household;
for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. 2 You shall take with you of every clean animal
by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a
male and his female; 3 also of the
birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the
face of all the earth. 4 For after
seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and
I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have
made." 5 And Noah did
according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
6
Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
7 Then Noah and his sons and his
wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the
flood. 8 Of clean animals and
animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male
and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10
And it came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon
the earth. (Genesis 7:1-10).
We are not told how long it took
Noah to build the ark. The reference in
Genesis 6:3 to the days of man being limited to 120 years has led some to
believe that this was the period during which Noah was involved in the
construction of the ark.
1. The Clean and
Unclean Animals.
Animals were
divided into two separate categories.
There were the clean animals and the unclean animals. These designations are further described in
the book of Leviticus, so the details are not needed in this passage.
Clean Animals |
Seven of each type taken onto the ark |
Unclean Animals |
Two of each type taken onto the ark |
What was the
reason for this unequal distribution?
The clean animals would serve for both food as well as for sacrifices
after the flood.
2. The Objectivity
of the Narrative.
One of the
remarkable features of the story of the flood is its objective character. Noah’s subjective feelings or emotions are
not mentioned. We are simply told that
God commanded and that Noah obeyed.
3. Final
Preparations.
Noah is told by
the Lord to take his family and enter the ark where they are to wait for seven
days. It was not yet raining. They are not to wait until the rain begins. They are to move into the ark while the sun
is shining and while there is nothing visible on the horizon. This is a test of faith.
We can only
imagine the feelings with which they must have wrestled. They have spent a great deal of time and
effort in constructing this giant barge.
Their neighbors have not shared their faith or their resolve. There has been mocking and disdain. Now they are told to enter the ark and to
wait. A day passes. Then two.
Day after day goes by and still nothing happens.
This is a test
of faith. James 1:3 tells us that the
testing of your faith produces patience, resulting in a stronger faith. Just as the exercise of the muscles of your
body produces a stronger body, so also the exercising of your faith results in
a stronger faith.
THE
NATURE OF THE FLOOD
In the six hundredth year of
Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the
same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of
the sky were opened. 12 And the
rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.(Genesis 7:11-12).
It is evident from the chronological
formula given that we are meant to understand this as an actual historical
event. But what is the nature of this
event?
The phrase that NAS has
translated "floodgates of the sky" is is more properly "windows
of heaven" as is found in the KJV.
This exact same term is found in Malachi 3:10 where the Lord is pictured
as opening the windows of heaven to pour out blessings on His people. This kind of usage is also seen in 2 Kings
7:2,19.[1]
The idea of the windows of heaven
being opened in order to bring destruction is pictured in Isaiah 24:18.[2] In the same way, "all the fountains of
the great deep" has its parallels such as Deuteronomy 4:18 where we read
of fish that are "in the water below the earth." Thus, the picture is that of the sky and the
ocean loosening their bonds so that their waters fall upon the the land.
However, we must add that the
rain waters from the sky were not the only source of water. The Genesis account lists two sources for
the flood.
• The floodgates of the sky were opened:
Points to the sky as a source for the waters of the flood.
• The fountains of the great deep burst
open: Points to the oceans as a source of the water of the flood.
The water for the flood did not
magically appear at the appointed time and then disappear after the event. Our planet is mostly covered by water even
today. The oceans are very deep. The source of the water for the flood is
said to have come both from above and from below.
This brings us to a
question. Was this a world-wide flood
or was it merely limited to the geographical area of that part of the
world? Was it a universal flood or was
it localized?
ARGUMENTS
FOR A UNIVERSAL FLOOD
Those holding to a universal
flood generally believe the Bible to describe the flood in such universal terms
that we can only interpret it to mean the flood covered the entire planet.
1. The depth of
the flood.
Genesis 7:19-20
says that ALL the high mountains which were under ALL the heavens were covered
by the waters of the flood. This double
use of the word “all” emphasizes the universality of the event.
Water flows
downhill. The peak of Mount Ararat
extends to an elevation of around 17,000 feet.
If only this one single peak was covered, then most of the world would
also be covered.
2. The duration of
the flood.
When we
calculate the chronology of the flood as given in the Genesis narrative, we
find the flood is said to have lasted 371 days - a little over a year. Local floods do not last this long.
Furthermore, we
read of divine intervension, not only in bringing the flood, but also in
removing the waters of the flood. This
also suggests the necessity of a world wide flood.
3. The need for
the ark.
If the flood was
to be merely confined to a certain isolated area, it would not have
necessitated Noah spending all that time and effort in building the ark. He could have moved to high ground.
Over against
this point, it could be argued that Noah’s was a test of faith and not a means
of the last resort. The question is
whether he would obey the Lord to utilize the salvation provided for him rather
than seek other means to save himself.
4. The testimony
of the Apostle Peter.
...the world at that time was
destroyed, being flooded with water. 7 But the present heavens and earth by His word
are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of
ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:6-7).
Peter's words
would seem to imply a total destruction of the entire world as he compares the
destruction of the flood in Noah’s day with the future judgment and
destruction..
ARGUMENTS
FOR A LOCAL FLOOD
There are scholars who hold to
the inerrancy and authority of Scripture while at the same time admitting the
possibility of the flood of Genesis being only local in nature.
1. HaAretz is "the land."
The Hebrew word which is translated “the world” throughout
the flood narrative can be translated “the land.”
"The
LAND of Nod" (Genesis 4:16).
"In the
LAND of Shinar" (Genesis 10:10).
"Out of
that LAND went forth Asshur" (Genesis 10:11).
"Go
forth from your COUNTRY, and from your relatives and from your father's house,
to the LAND which I will show you..." (Genesis 12:1).
"And in
you all the families of the EARTH shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).
2. Universalist
terms can be used in a limited sense.
We need not go
very far in the book of Genesis to prove this point. Note the following verses:
The man
called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of ALL living (Genesis
3:20). Was Eve the mother of all
life? Or merely the mother of all HUMAN
life? The answer is that this universal
term was being used in a limited sense.
"Of
EVERY living thing of ALL flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the
ark..." (Genesis 6:19). Most
people who advocate a universal flood do not take this command to refer to
ocean animals (no goldfish bowls on the ark).
3. Where did the
water go?
Mount Everest
rises over 5 miles above sea level.
There are many other mountains in the world which are over the 3 mile
height.
For flood waters
to cover the earth would mandate that either the mountains were not there (thus
they would have to be VERY recent in origin) or else that water came from some
supernatural source and then went away again.
It is also
interesting to note that sediment deposits have been found underneath the
Sumerian ruins at Ur, at Fara and at Kish.
However, these flood deposits would seem to be extremely local in nature
and not significant enough even to account for the Genesis account as a local
flood.
Recent theories
have arisen from scientific studies in and around the Black Sea that suggest a
large innundation cause, at least in part, by the overflow of the waters of the
Mediterranean into what is today the Black Sea. Though such theories might be appealing, we ought to be careful
not to come too quickly to a conclusion in attempting to reconcile various
scientific theories with the Bible.
4. Summary of
Arguments for a Universal / Local Flood.
UNIVERSAL FLOOD |
LOCAL FLOOD |
The Biblical account says that the waters covered the
whole earth. |
The word aretz is often used to describe a local
area. |
The Biblical language goes out of its way to use language
of totality. |
The account is given from the viewpoint of the narrator is
from his perspective the destruction is total. |
The size of the ark indicates that this was no local
flood. |
The size of the ark is not related to the extent of the
flood. |
The purpose of the ark was punishment of world-wide
sin. In a local flood some could have
escaped. |
God could have made certain all flesh was destroyed
without flooding the entire globe. |
There are world-wide traces of a flood. |
The evidence is scattered and sometimes seemingly
inconsistent. |
The promise of no future floods (Gen. 9:15) is not true if
this is only a local flood. |
The promise is for no flood to "destroy all
flesh." |
As various theories are
considered regarding the cause and extent of the flood, we must point out that
the Bible does not deny cause and effect.
Indeed, it is because of the “natural laws” that God has instituted that
we have come to expect such causes and effects in our world.
On the other hand, we do not
believe that cause and effect operate apart from and independently of divine intervention. The athiest states that everything is
explained only by the material universe and he makes a leap of faith to deny
that any spiritual force is at work in history. By contrast, we know that God works in history and that He acts
in the lives of men. He is the Master
Cause of all things and He intervenes in history, both through His divine power
and also through the agency of cause and effect and those means that we
normally think of as “natural causes.”
THE
OCCUPANTS OF THE ARK
13
On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and
Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, 14 they and every beast after its kind, and all
the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth
after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
15
So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath
of life. 16 And those that entered,
male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD
closed it behind him. (Genesis 7:13-16).
We are given a listing of all of
the occupants of the ark. They
encompass Noah and his wife and their three sons and their wives. Eight souls. It would be through the eight that the human race would be saved.
1. The Entrance of
the Animals.
Verse 15 states
that the animals went into the ark to Noah. We are not told by what means this was carried out, but we need
not conclude a supernatural movement that brought them to the ark. To assume that the animals came of their own
initiative is to read more than the text necessarily says.
2. The Shutting of
the Ark: The LORD closed it behind him (7:16).
While we are not
told what role the Lord played in bringing the animals, we ARE told that it was
the Lord who closed them in the ark.
This must certainly be understood to say that it was the Lord who closed
the door to the ark. This is striking
in its parallel when we remember that Jesus described Himself as the door to
the sheepfold (John 10:1-9).
It was not enough to make a
mental assent to the warning of the impending judgment. It was not even enough to have constructed
the ark and gathered the animals. Noah
and his family had to enter the ark in order to be saved from the flood. In much the same way, it is only our entry
into Jesus Christ through faith in Him that we find salvation and deliverance
from that which threatens to destroy.
One of the questions that I am
sometimes asked is whether God will give people a second chance. The answer is that He IS giving people both
a second and a third and an entire multitude of opportunities to come to repentance. It is not that the Lord is slow or late in
His promise of judgment. Rather, He is
patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to
repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
On the other hand, there comes a
day when the waiting is over and when judgment comes and there are no further
chances. It is appointed for men to
die once and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27), not the second
chance. In the same way, there came a
day when the Lord shut the door to the ark.
Those who were within were safe; those who had ignored the preaching of
Noah faced the onset of judgment. [3]
THE
UNIVERSALITY OF THE DESTRUCTION
17
Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and
lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. 18 And the water prevailed and increased greatly
upon the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 And the water prevailed more and more upon
the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were
covered.
20
The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh that moved on the earth
perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon
the earth, and all mankind; 22 of
all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the
spirit of life, died.
23
Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from
man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were
blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that
were with him in the ark. 24 And
the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days. (Genesis
7:17-24).
Forty days and forty nights. It was a number that had particular
significance to the original readers of Moses’ manuscript. They had also undergone a period of testing
that lasted forty days and forty nights.
This was the period during which Moses had gone up onto Mount Sinai to
receive the law of God (Exodus 24:18).
Forty days and forty nights. A rain that came and that did not stop as
the waters rose and flooded and choked the very life of all flesh. The ark was borne up on the waters and those
within were safe while death reigned just beyond the wooden beams and planking.
Forty days and forty nights. Instead of a flood, the people of Israel had
found themselves in a desert before the very mountain of God. It served as a reminder that there had once
been a time when all of the mountains were covered. Such was the power of the Lord that this mountain could be swept
away and hidden by the flood of His might.
Forty days and forty nights. That was how long Jesus was tempted in the
wilderness. He faced the desert and the
dry places and He also faced the destructive judgment of God as it was poured
out and rained upon Him. He died for us
that we might find life in Him.
As we read this section of the
narrative, we will be impressed by the description that emphasizes the
universality of the judgment. While
this does not necessarily mitigate against the theory of a largely localized
flood, it emphasizes the universality of the judgment.
• The waters lifted the ark up above the
earth (7:17).
• The waters prevailed and increased upon
the earth (7:18).
• The waters prevailed EXCEEDINGLY upon the
earth (7:19).
• All the high hills were covered (9:19).
• The water rose 15 cubits above the
mountains (7:20).
• All flesh died upon the earth (7:21).
• The waters prevailed for 150 days (7:24).
The Scriptures could not be more
emphatic. They go so far in verse 21 as
to name all of the different catagories of life that died and then to rename
them again in verse 23. The repetition
is given for the sake of emphasis. It
is that we should not miss the point that all the animal and human life died in
the flood.
THE
RECEEDING OF THE WATERS
1
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with
him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water
subsided. 2 Also the fountains of
the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky
was restrained; 3 and the water
receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days
the water decreased. (Genesis 8:1-3).
We noted at the beginning of this
chapter that the statement that God remembered Noah stands as the
pivotal point in the chiastic structure of the entire narrative. Everything from this point will echo of the
previous destruction and will involve a movement to restoration and the renewal
of the creation.
This is a wonderful picture of
salvation. When it seems as though God
had turned His back on all life, both animal and man, God remembered Noah. This is not to suggest a previous
forgetfulness on God’s part. The point
is not that God had been forgetful, but to underscore the exact opposite --
that Noah had not been forgotten and that the ark had not “slipped God’s mind.”
Just as God used natural agencies
in bringing about the flood, so now we see Him using natural agencies to remove
the waters of the flood.
1. A Wind: God caused a wind to pass over the earth
(8:1).
The blowing of
the wind would help to increase evaporation and even the distribution of the
waters. It would also dry the ground
once it appeared. But this is not the
only reason for the mention of the wind.
Do you remember the state of the original earth
at the time of the creation? It was
unformed and unfilled and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit
of God was moving upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). There is a play on words here in that the
word for “Spirit” and the word for “wind” is the same word -- ruach.
This description is deliberately designed to view
this restoration from the flood as a new creation. God is doing again what He did at the beginning. He is bringing life from lifelessness.
2. The Waters
Stopped: The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were
closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained (8:2).
The onslaught of
water from both below and from above was halted. The sea began to return to where the sea belonged. Eventually dry land would appear, just as it
had done at the beginning.
THE
ARK COMES TO REST
4
And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested
upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And
the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the
first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. (Genesis
8:4-5).
We are not told that Ararat was
the name of the mountain on which the ark landed. Instead, it is the name of the country in which the mountains
were located. This land is
mentioned in 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah
37:38 where the assassins of Sennacherib escaped to the land of Ararat. This evidently refers to a portion of the
land of Armenia. Its ancient name among
the Assyrians was Urartu.
The is the land from which both
the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers find their headwaters. It is a mountainous region and has a
particularly high peak that boasts the name of Ararat.
There have been a number of
expeditions to Mount Ararat to search for the ark, but none have produced any
documented evidence of an ark.
THE
FLOOD ACCOUNT AND THE CREATION ACCOUNT
There is a sense in which the
chapters setting forth the culmination and recovery from the flood echo the
events of Genesis 1 as the Lord moves to bring a re-creation to the world
following the destruction of the flood.
Genesis 1 |
Genesis 7-9 |
Waters cover the earth (1:2). |
Floodwaters cover the earth (7:18-19) |
Spirit hovers over the waters (1:2). |
The dove hovers over the waters (8:9) |
Dry land comes forth with vegetation on the third day
(1:12). |
Dove returns with an olive leaf indicating dry land (8:11) |
Creation finished and God rests (2:2) |
Restoration finished; God receives the sacrifice of rest
(8:21) |
As we come to the account of the flood, we are coming to a
renewal and a restoration of the earth as it had become polluted by sin. This is not to suggest that there will be no
further sin in the post dilluvian earth, but that there is a hope for a new
beginning.
PAGAN
FLOOD MYTHOLOGIES
A number of "Flood
Traditions" have come down to us from a number of ancient cultures. The most popular of these in the one found
in the Gilgamesh Epic.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a long
Akkadian poem on the theme of human beings' futile quest for immortality. A number of earlier Sumerian stories about
Gilgamesh, the quasi‑historical hero of the epic, were used as sources,
but the Akkadian work was composed about 2000 BC. It exists in several different recensions, none of them complete.
In the story, Gilgamesh and his
friend Enkidu seek immortality through fame, but when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh
finds that fame to be hollow.
Utnapishtim means "the joining of nephesh,"
the soul. |
Unable to accept the finality of
death, he goes to Utnapishtim, the Babylonian counterpart of the biblical Noah,
to learn the secret of his immortality.
This interview takes place on the
5th of seven tablets. Utnapishtim tells
the story of how he was spared the destruction of the great flood through the
building of a giant square barge.
The boat consisted of seven decks and
was overlaid with pitch.
It took only seven days to build it.
Utnapishtim saved his family and
relatives along with animals and craftsmen.
The flood began when "the gods of
the abyss rose up; Nergal pulled out the dams of the nether waters, Ninutra the
war-lord threw down the dykes, and the seven judges of hell, the Annunaki,
raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid flame.
The storm lasted for 6 days and nights
after which "the surface of the sea stretched as flat as a roof-top."
The boat landed atop the mountain of
Nisir. After seven days on the
mountain, Utnapishtim released a dove, then a swallow, and finally a raven
before leaving the boat and making a sacrifice to the gods.
Utnapishtim goes
on to explain that he received it due to the unique circumstances of the flood,
but he consoles the dejected Gilgamesh with news about a plant of life. A snake swallows the plant before Gilgamesh
can use it, however, and he finally returns home, reluctantly accepting death
without future resurrection as inevitable.
What are we to
make of the fact that a document predating the book of Genesis by hundreds of
years also contains a story of the flood with many of the same aspects of the
Biblical account? Some have argued that
this is proof that the Biblical narratives were adopted from pagan myths and
have no bearing on the truth. I believe
that it demonstrates just the opposite.
It is an independent testimony to the truth of the actual events.
Return to Stevenson Bible Study Page
[1] 2 Kings 7:2. And the royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, "Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" Then he said, "Behold you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
[2] Isaiah
24:18-19. Then it will be that he
who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, And he who climbs out
of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows above are opened, and
the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is
broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently.
[3] 2 Peter 2:5 refers to Noah as a preacher of righteousness.