GENESIS

THE FLOOD

Genesis 6:8-7:24

INTRODUCTION

God has announced His distinct displeasure with the earth. It is so corrupt and filled with violence that God decides to wipe it out completely. Although this judgment may seem too harsh for many, the truth is that God's judgment is always commensurate with the crime. Many people sit in judgment upon God, frowning at the way He has carried out His judgments. On judgment day though we are going to be amazed at how righteous His judgments actually are. Paul writes: "That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and mightest prevail when Thou art judged" (Rom. 3:4).

How is the flood a righteous judgment upon the world? Verses 11 and 12 are translated: "Now the earth was CORRUPT in the sight of the Lord . . . and behold, it was CORRUPT; for all flesh had CORRUPTED their way upon the earth." In other words the world had fallen so deeply into sin that it was past all hope of redemption. It could not be saved. What's even worse is that if this world had continued to exist, it would have polluted future generations who had not yet been born. The generation of Noah's day would have taken down a lot of future generations with them. For these reasons God destroyed the earth.

An alternate and better translation of verses 11 and 12 says: "Now the earth was DESTROYED in the sight of the Lord . . . and behold, it was DESTROYED; for all flesh had DESTROYED their way upon the earth." Gen. 6:11, 12 show us the rightness of God's judgment: the world had already destroyed itself spiritually. God was just merely carrying out the sentence the world itself had pronounced against itself.

What had the world done to merit God's wrath? According to Gen. 6:11 "the earth was filled with violence". Genesis does not go into great detail about the depth of violence the world was plunged into; however, it was so deep that it brought about God's wrath.

Why has Satan brought the world to this state of violence? What does Satan gain by exterminating the human race? The answer is simple. God has prophesied that only one person will destroy the serpent, the son of Eve. If the human race is destroyed, then that son will never emerge and destroy the serpent.

C. S. Lewis picks up on this same line of reasoning in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. In that book the White Witch who is not human is intent on killing not just one or 2 of the 4 children; she is intent on destroying all four of the children. Why? Because the prophecy had said that 4 children would destroy her. Only by killing every last one of them will she win the battle with Aslan and gain Narnia forever. Just like Aslan tied the fate of the White Witch to the 4 humans, so God has tied the fate of Satan to the human race. Satan knows it and is intent on destroying it. It is to Satan's benefit that the world be destroyed.

RIGHTEOUS NOAH

Against this backdrop of sin and corruption stands the one righteous man, Noah. Verse 9 while saying that Noah was blameless in his time actually means that Noah alone was righteous in his time. No one else was righteous; just he. God did not make a mistake and destroy innocent people when He wiped out the world with a flood and saved only Noah; Noah alone was worth saving because he alone was righteous; he alone was worth saving.

The author of Hebrews makes a very telling comment when he writes: "By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which HE CONDEMNED THE WORLD and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" (Heb. 11:7). What interests us is the clause "he condemned the world." The word "he" here refers not to God but to Noah. How did NOAH condemn the world? By building the ark. How did Noah's building the ark condemn the world? Probably in one of 2 ways.

First, by building the ark, Noah was showing that he was indeed a righteous man (6:9). Although only one man was righteous, the truth is that there still WAS one man who was righteous. If the whole world had been flawed, then the problem might have been with the Creator and not with the creation. In that case the Creator would have been unjust in destroying the world. The fact though that Noah was righteous showed that the fault was not with the Creator but with creation itself. Man did not HAVE to descend into utter evil; Noah being righteous was proof of that. Rather creation CHOSE to do wrong, while Noah CHOSE to do right. Noah choosing to do right showed that the fault lay with the world and that God was indeed just in destroying it. Noah's righteousness justified God condemning the world.

Second, by building the ark, Noah may have condemned the world in the following way. Second Peter 2:5 claims that Noah was a preacher of righteousness and as such would have preached a word of condemnation to the people of his day. He might not have preached a sermon full of words; he may have preached it simply by building the ark. Surely the people were inquisitive about this massive structure as Noah built it. Surely they inquired about its purpose. Most likely Noah responded by telling them of the sentence of condemnation and judgment God was bringing upon them because of their sin. In this way Noah condemned the world, in the sense of preaching the message of condemnation to them.

Notice one other element in Heb. 11:7. According to this verse Noah was a man of faith because he trusted God. Just examine how great his faith actually was. Before that time the author of Genesis implies that no rain had fallen upon the earth; a heavy dew had simply arisen each morning to water the earth (Gen. 2:5-6). Now Noah is not only going to have to believe God that He is sending a flood, he is actually going to have to believe that rain itself exists. In spite of these obstacles to belief, Noah still trusts God and demonstrates that trust by building the ark. As we go through the OT we will see that the righteous man time after time after time lives the life of faith. Faith, not Law, will characterize the righteous people of the OT.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BUILD THE ARK

God appears to Noah and warns him of the coming deluge. He first informs Noah that the ark is to be made of gopher wood (which is most likely our cypress); then he is to cover it with pitch. Pitch was most likely used to seal the seams in order to keep the water from seeping in. [The interesting thing about the Hebrew word "pitch" is that it has the exact same letters as the Hebrew word for "atonement": k-p-r (as in yom kippur, Day of Atonment). In other words, the incident of the flood is going to "cover" the sins of many.]

Next, God gives Noah the dimensions of the ark: 450 ft x 75 ft wide x 45 ft high. It's to be 3 stories high, filled with "nests" for the animals God will bring into the ark. For all practical purposes, the ark is not a ship; rather it is more like a floating chest. (The only other place where we see this word for "ark" used in the Pentateuch is in the story of Moses. His mother placed Moses in his chest or ark to protect him from the Nile River. Moses must have smiled as he used this word in both stories. He like Noah was going to be used by God to save His people.)

BRINGING THE ANIMALS INTO THE ARK

Finally, God informs Noah that he is to bring into the ark animals representing every species of the animal world. He is to bring 7 animals from the "clean" species, and 2 from the "unclean" species. (Note that many times we think that the dietary code of the OT started with Moses. It did not; it started with Noah, a man of faith.) Noah is to bring in more of the clean than the unclean because the clean will not only be used for food but also for sacrifice.

IS THE STORY HISTORY OR MYTH?

Introduction

By this point many have wondered whether this is just a good read or is it a story which actually happened in history. Geologists inform us that there is no geological evidence at all that the flood ever took place. That might settle the question. The only problem is that nearly every time scientists or men of intellectual renown inform us that something in the Bible is NOT true, then something will emerge in the area of archeology which confirms the biblical claim.

List of Cultures With the Story of the Flood

More important though is the existence of the story of the flood throughout ancient cultures. Now if only one culture among the multitude of cultures which have existed had the story of the flood, then maybe that one culture would have made up that story. When you look at the vast multitudes of cultures which at least on the surface seem to be unrelated, then you have to wonder if maybe a certain occurrence in history actually led to the story of the flood. In other words, the story of the flood cannot be so easily dismissed as once thought.

Below is a list of the cultures which have the story of the flood. The list is impressive. The complete list can be found at Flood Stories from Around the World. The list below is made up of stories which actually have parallels with the Noah account.

Europe
Greek, Roman, Celtic, Welsh, Lithuanian, Transylvanian Gypsy.

Near East
Sumerian, Egypt, Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Hebrew, Islamic.

Africa
Masai (East Africa), Southwest Tanzania, Efik-Ibibio (Nigeria).

Asia
Vogul, Samoyed (north Siberia), Kamchadale (northeast Siberia), Altaic (central Asia), Tuvinian (Soyot) (north of Mongolia), Buryat (eastern Siberia), Sagaiye (eastern Siberia), Russian, Hindu, Bhil (central India), Kamar (Raipur District, Central India), Assam, Lepcha (Sikkim), Tibet, Singpho (Assam), Lushai (Assam), Lisu (northwest Yunnan, China), Lolo (southwestern China), Jino (southern Yunnan, China), Karen (Burma), Chingpaw (Upper Burma), China, Korea, Munda (north-central India), Ho (southwestern Bengal), Bahnar (Cochin China), Kammu (northern Thailand), Andaman Islands (Bay of Bengal), Shan (Burma), Bunun (Formosa interior), Ami (eastern Taiwan), Benua-Jakun (Malay Peninsula), Kelantan (Malay Peninsula), Atá (Philippines), Mandaya (Philippines), Tinguian (Luzon, Philippines), Batak (Sumatra), Nias (an island west of Sumatra), Dyak (Borneo), Ot-Danom (Dutch Borneo), Toradja (central Celebes), Alfoor (between Celebes and New Guinea), Rotti (southwest of Timor), and Nage (Flores)

Australia
Arnhem Land (northern Northern Territory), Fitzroy River area (Western Australia), Victoria, Lake Tyres (Victoria), and Maori (New Zealand). (In the Maori version note how violence prompted the gods to destroy the world with a flood, just like violence prompted God to destroy it in the Genesis account.)

Pacific Islands
Kabadi (New Guinea)--occurrence of world-wide flood, Valman (northern New Guinea)--the man and woman take along with them pairs of animals, Mamberao River (Irian Jaya), Samo-Kubo (western Papua New Guinea),
(I HAVE NOT CHECKED THE FOLLOWING REFERENCES) . . .
Papua New Guinea, Palau Islands (Micronesia), western Carolines, New Hebrides, Lifou (one of the Loyalty Islands), Fiji, Samoa, Nanumanga (Tuvalu, South Pacific), Mangaia (Cook Islands), Rakaanga (Cook Islands), Raiatea (Leeward Group, French Polynesia), Tahiti, Hawaii

North America
Innuit, Eskimo (Orowignarak, Alaska), Norton Sound Eskimo, Central Eskimo, Tchiglit Eskimo (Arctic Ocean), Herschel Island Eskimo, Netsilik Eskimo, Greenlander, Tlingit (southern Alaska coast), Hareskin (Alaska), Tinneh (Alaska and south), Loucheux (Dindjie) (Alaska), Dogrib and Slave (Tinneh tribes), Kaska (northern inland British Columbia), Thompson Indians (British Columbia), Sarcee (Alberta), Tsetsaut, Haida (Queen Charlotte Is., British Columbia), Tsimshian (British Columbia), Kwakiutl (British Columbia) Kootenay (southeast British Columbia), Squamish (British Columbia), Bella Coola (British Columbia), Lillooet (Green River, British Columbia), Makah (Cape Flattery, Washington), Klallam (northwest Washington), Skokomish (Washington), Skagit (Washington), Quillayute (Washington), Nisqually (Washington), Twana (Puget Sound, Washington), Kathlamet, Cascade Mountains Spokana, Nez Perce, Cayuse (eastern Washington), Yakima (Washington), Warm Springs (Oregon), Joshua (southern Oregon), Smith River (northern California coast), Wintu (north central California), Maidu (central California), Northern Miwok (central California), Tuleyome Miwok (near Clear Lake, California), Olamentko Miwok (Bodega Bay, California) Ohlone (San Francisco to Monterey, California), Kato (Mendocino County, California), Shasta (northern California interior), Pomo (north central California), Salinan (California), Yuma (western Arizona, southern California), Havasupai (lower Colorado River) Ashochimi (California), Yurok (north California coast), Blackfoot (Alberta and Montana), Cree (Canada), Timagami Ojibway (Canada), Chippewa (Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin), Ottawa, Menomini (Wisconsin-Michigan border), Cheyenne (Minnesota), Yellowstone, Montagnais (northern Gulf of St. Lawrence), Micmac (eastern Maritime Canada), Algonquin (upper Ottowa River), Lenape (Delaware) (Delaware to New York), Cherokee (Great Lakes area; eastern Tennessee) Mandan (North Dakota), Lakota, Choctaw (Mississippi), Natchez (Lower Mississippi), Chitimacha (Southern Louisiana), Caddo (Oklahoma, Arkansas), Pawnee (Nebraska), Navajo (Four Corners area), Jicarilla Apache (northeastern New Mexico), Sia (northeast Arizona), Acagchemem (near San Juan Capistrano, California), Luiseño (Southern California), Pima (southwest Arizona), Papago (Arizona), Hopi (northeast Arizona), Zuni (New Mexico)

Central America
Tarascan (northern Michoacan, Mexico), Michoacan (Mexico), Yaqui (Sonoran, Northern Mexico), Tarahumara (Northern Mexico), Huichol (western Mexico), Cora (east of the Huichols), Tepecano (southeast of the Huichols), Tepehua (eastern Mexico), Toltec (Mexico), Nahua (central Mexico), Tlaxcalan (central Mexico) Tlapanec (south central Mexico), Mixtec (northern Oaxaca, Mexico), Zapotec (Oaxaca, southern Mexico), Trique (Oaxaca, southern Mexico), Totonac (eastern Mexico), Chol (southern Mexico), Tzeltal (Chiapas, southern Mexico), Quiché (Guatemala), Maya (southern Mexico and Guatemala), Popoluca (Veracruz, Mexico) Nicaragua, Panama, Carib (Antilles)

South America
Acawai (Orinoco), Arekuna (Guyana), Makiritare (Venezuela), Macusi (British Guyana), Muysca (Colombia), Yaruro (southern Venezuela), Yanomamö (southern Venezuela), Tamanaque (Orinoco), Arawak (Guyana), Pamary, Abedery, and Kataushy (Purus R., Brazil), Ipurina (Upper Amazon), Jivaro (eastern Ecuador), Shuar (Andes), Murato (eastern Ecuador), Cañari (Quito, Ecuador), Guanca and Chiquito (Peru), Ancasmarca (near Cuzco, Peru), Canelos Quechua, Quechua, Inca (Peru), Colla (high Andes), Chiriguano (southeast Bolivia), Chorote (Eastern Paraguay), Eastern Brazil (Rio de Janiero region), Eastern Brazil (Cape Frio region), Caraya (Araguaia River, central Brazil), Coroado (south Brazil) Araucania (coastal Chile), Toba (northern Argentina), Selk'nam (southern tip of Argentina), Yamana (Tierra del Fuego)

There are uncanny resemblances between the story of Noah and many of the stories listed above. In addition to having the entire world flooded with water, each story will have one or more of the following elements in it: violence among people, a floating chest, a small number of people being saved, a rainbow, a dove or raven. For example, look at the Lithuanian story of the flood. It serves as a great example of the kinds of stories found throughout the ancient cultures. It not only has a small number of people surviving the world-wide flood, it also mentions violence and the rainbow.
From his heavenly window, the supreme god Pramzimas saw nothing but war and injustice among mankind. He sent two giants, Wandu and Wejas (water and wind), to destroy earth. After twenty days and nights, little was left. Pramzimas looked to see the progress. He happened to be eating nuts at the time, and he threw down the shells. One happened to land on the peak of the tallest mountain, where some people and animals had sought refuge. Everybody climbed in and survived the flood floating in the nutshell. God's wrath abated, he ordered the wind and water to abate. The people dispersed, except for one elderly couple who stayed where they landed. To comfort them, God sent the rainbow and advised them to jump over the bones of the earth nine times. They did so, and up sprang nine other couples, from which the nine Lithuanian tribes descended.

The fact that the story of the flood is widespread among the ancient cultures is compelling evidence that some kind of devastating flood did occur. Its extent may be debatable (maybe it only covered a small portion of the earth); however, its occurrence is not debatable.

World-wide Distribution of Fossil Fuel

One other fact may give us a clue that a world-wide flood indeed did occur. Everyone knows that oil is fossil fuel; in other words, oil is made up of dead carbon-based organisms, that is, animals and plants. One writer defines carbon-based fossil fuels accordingly:
Going back to the earlier days of Earth, the plants and animals that lived then eventually died and decomposed. The majority of these life forms were phytoplankton and zooplankton. When these ancient ocean dwellers died, they accumulated on the bottom of a seabed; this is how a good portion of our fossil fuel reserves began. The actual transformation process of these prehistoric creatures is not known, but scientists do know that the pressure, heat, and a great deal of time go into the making of fossil fuels.

That is not what is so amazing. What is amazing is the fact that you find oil in the most unlikely of places, for example, the frozen tundra in the Artic Circle where practically nothing grows or beneath the Arabian sands. Why do you find oil in such unlikely places? My brother-in-law who works with BP Amoco and who has been responsible for laying oil pipelines in some of these unlikely places says that there is a belief that at one time the world was covered with water. That statement definitely does not PROVE that a world-wide flood occurred; however, it does present us with an interesting dilemma that begs explanation.

TEACHINGS FROM THE STORY

God Will Judge the World

Whatever else the story of the flood means for you and me, it means primarily that God is judge of all mankind and that He judges in righteousness. We are comfortable with the idea of God being a righteous judge. Most of us do want God to side with the righteous, especially if the righteous is us. The rub comes though when it comes time for God to judge us. At that time we want God to stop acting as a righteous judge and start acting like an indulgent granddad. Whatever else is true about God, He is NOT an indulgent grandparent. He may be our Father; however, sometimes the last persons we want to face on earth whenever we've done wrong are our dads. Why? Because they are the last persons on earth we want to disappoint. Others may disapprove of us, and we get over it. A child who fails to please his dad may suffer incalculable damage.

One of the greatest performances I've ever seen is that of James Dean in the movie East of Eden. Throughout the entire movie Cal, the Dean character, tries to please his dad. Time and time again though his father rejects him in favor of his elder son, Aaron. At the end of the movie Cal takes out revenge against his father by emotionally destroying his older brother. The shock almost kills the father. The father suffers a severe stroke, leaving him nearly completely paralyzed. At the end of the movie Cal weeps beside the bed of his father, begging for forgiveness. When the father is completely unresponsive, Cal falls apart, rushing out of the room in a flood of tears. At this point Cal's girlfriend whispers into the ear of the dad that he has just got to forgive Cal, that if he does not, then Cal will be destroyed forever. She ushers Cal back into the room.

Throughout this scene a meddlesome old nurse has been irritating everyone in sight. When Cal and the girlfriend reenter the room, the dad whispers something. No one can understand; so Cal bends his ear to the dad's lips to hear what he is saying. As the father whispers, Cal begins to smile. Cal straightens up and shouts out at the nurse: "Go away! He wants ME to care for him." Cal falls gratefully to his knees beside the dad's bed, holding his father's hand, and burying his face in the blanket covering the dad. Judgment by a dad can be as harsh as any punishment an earthly judge can render; however, the judgment by our heavenly father is always out of love and always for the purpose of restoring us to Himself and to ourselves. The wonderful thing is that after our Father has judged us, He embraces us fully.

The World Will Never Believe that Judgment is Coming

Just like the world did not believe Noah when he preached that the judgment of flood was coming, so the world will not believe that Christ is about to return in judgment. The Book of Revelation informs us that whenever God sends preliminary judgments upon the earth to warn mankind that the end and judgment are near, mankind refuses to believe it. Instead, man actually gets angry at God and blasphemes Him because of the calamities.

Now suppose that the world is heating up, and suppose that God is allowing this to happen to bring us to repentance. If God has done this, then we have foolishly laid the blame for global warming upon greenhouse emissions. We feel that we can save the world by getting rid of the automobile and the United States. If God is sending global warming, then getting rid of all these cardon-emitting engines won't change one thing. [I do not know if global warming is God's alarm to a disobedient world. I do know though that if you claim that God is behind global warming, then people either go postal on you or else claim that you are a religious fanatic. This reaction sounds pretty much like people's reaction during Noah's day—and the day of Peter (2 Pet. 3:3-4). The world will blame everybody including Christians for the world's troubles; however, they will never blame themselves. That is just not going to happen. As a result, God's judgment will come swiftly upon mankind.]

The World Will Not Be Prepared

Because the world does not take the concept of God's judgment seriously, the world will not be prepared for the coming judgment. Just like the people of Noah's days went on doing their everyday tasks [eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage (Matt. 24:38)], so the people before the day of judgment will be carrying on like something like this is never going to happen.

What should our responsibility be? To prepare as many people for the coming judgment. We are not to shrink back from declaring that God's judgment is coming, no matter how unpopular or politically incorrect it might be. Moreover, we are NOT to water down the biblical concept of judgment by claiming that everybody is going to be saved no matter what. If you don't believe that judgment can be negative, then you shouldn't preach the concept of judgment. The source for our belief that judgment is coming is the Bible, the same book which declares that judgment will be negative for so many people. You should not pick and choose which parts of the Bible are true and which are not true.

"But," you might say, "Jesus would never send a person to hell. That kind of teaching comes from Paul, not Jesus." Such a statement shows a total ignorance of the Bible. I don't know of a single place where Paul even mentions the word "hell" (the Grk. word "Gehenna"). On the other hand, Jesus not only mentions hell, He mentions it more times in His writings than any other NT writer. The day of judgment was a major theme in the preaching of John the Baptist and of Jesus. If we are going to teach accurately what Jesus taught, then our responsibility is NOT to water down the concept of judgment. Rather, our responsibility is to prepare people for the coming judgment.

Some people though don't want to offend others, which they will if they share about judgment and possible consequences, such as hell. What we've got to do is ask ourselves which of the following do we want to be true? Do we want to share with people God's word on this subject and possibly save them, even at the risk of offending them, or are we so sensitive to what other people think about us that we refuse to share with them what God is saying about judgment, knowing that we are stamping their passport to hell? The choice is really that simple.

One Person Can Make a Difference

Finally, whatever else we can glean from this passage, we should glean the truth that God needs only ONE person to make a dramatic difference. Look at the Bible and you will see this truth played out: Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, David, Isaiah, Hezekiah, Jesus, Paul, etc. Look at our own American history. Solitary men changed the course of our history: Washington alone kept the American revolutionary forces together and brought about a stunning victory against the world's super power, Lincoln held the cause for freedom together when everybody else was wanting his head, Reagan alone changed the course of American politics for the last part of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century.

Great issues face our country, our world, our church, and maybe even your own home. The story of Noah shows us that God needs only YOU to make the difference He wants to make. All we have to do is respond positively to what He wants to do in our lives. If God is not making a difference through us, it is probably because we are not responding positively to Him.