THE FLOOD BEGINS
Read Genesis 7:6-24
The Flood was a year long global catastrophe that destroyed the pre-Flood world, reshaped our continents, buried billions of creatures and humans and laid down the rock layers. This is the only way to explain the worldwide fossil-bearing layers thousands of feet deep.
Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came. Because we now only live 70-100 years old, it is hard to grasp that they did truly live that long back then. But they did! The Bible tells us so. Noah, his wife (her name and the names of the son’s wives are never mentioned), and Shem (where the Jewish lineage originated), Ham (where the Arabs and Muslims originated), and Japheth (where Gentiles originated) entered the Ark with the animals God sent.
Reread verse 11
Why such a specific time? Because this gives the beginning of the Flood report authenticity. Notice this verse states “of the great deep broken up”. The water came from above AND BELOW; and the waters came with such force from the Earth that it would have taken only a few days to have cut the GRAND CANYON and other things similar. I mean for it to have DIVIDED CONTINENTS!! COME ON!
Verse 12: the literal Hebrew translation states “and there was VIOLENT rain”.
Verse 13: on the day the rains began, Noah and his family entered the Ark along with all the animals that God gave the instinct to show up and go into the Ark. Just like God gives birds the instinct to fly south for the winter. They just do it.
Verse 16: Did you notice that it states 2 Names of the Deity? (deity means the Creator and Supreme Being of Divine status). First it says, “GOD had commanded him”, then it says, “the LORD shut him in”. That is not a misprint or misinterpretation. It is “Elohim” Who commands Noah and the animals to go into the Ark…and it is “Jehovah, the Covenant God” Who ensures his safety by closing the door of the Ark behind him. Elohim is the Hebrew word for God and guess what? It is PLURAL! (can you say Trinity?) But when used in the Hebrew Bible it is SINGULAR; meaning Thee God of Israel; Yahweh. Jehovah in Hebrew is also YHVH or Yahweh but translated as Lord in English and incorrectly pronounced because the J was to be a Y sound. Nothing can more fully express the Believers security in Christ than the words “THE LORD SHUT HIM IN”.
Verse 17: Reminder: Noah built the Ark on dry land nowhere near any water, but the waters of the Flood reached it, and it began to float. How scary would that have been to hear all the violent rain and continents ripping apart? People were still scoffing at the rains, thinking it would abate or stop eventually. Until it didn’t.
Verse 19-20: Proof that every single high mountain on the earth was under water! Those who lived on the tops of the mountains drowned equally with those who lived in the deepest valleys. There was no difference. Sound familiar? Many people who live high upon the mountains of morality think they are secure from the judgement of fire that is coming. Pity the ones that live in the valley of immorality and evil wicked behavior, because without Jesus, they ALL will perish. The Flood waters were 15 cubits above the highest mountain. (a cubit is a way of measurement from the crook of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger). Many scholars believe that back then before the Flood the tallest mountain in the world was 10,000 ft or less! This “great deep being broken up” changed so much of the topography (land surface) of the whole world, making huge canyons and at the same time huge mountains. Scientists have found fossils of fish on the peaks of the Himalayan Mountains!
Verse 21-22: Proof that no fish were killed in the Flood because it states only whatever breathed the breath of life through nostrils on dry land that drowned. Yet notice not one wave of judgment reached Noah and his family. He was absolutely safe. Noah COULD not perish because the Ark could not perish. WHY? Because JEHOVAH WAS IN THE ARK!! 🙂
Verse 23: This shows that only those who are in Christ are saved. There are NO exceptions.
Read John 3:16
Chapter 7 ends with the statement that the waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days. But where is all that water from the Flood now? Well, our planet is covered with 70% water, so the water from the Flood is STILL HERE! It makes up our OCEANS!
How did Moses know about all of these facts to write them down? (Moses did write the first 5 books of the Bible). Well, from Shem, Noah’s son! He told it as he saw it and passed it down to his children, grandchildren, etc. There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah. Shem was still alive to know Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Bottom line? Noah built the Ark and trusted in the Captain of this great ship…but the Captain is not Noah. GOD is steering this ship! Noah completely put his trust in the Captain and rested in His Presence. After all, the Captain is already in the boat at the helm, ready to steer Noah and his family through the storm because He PROMISED HE WOULD! God is still the same yesterday, today and forever. If He promised to steer Noah through the storm, He will keep His Promise to steer US through our storms! Amen?
QUESTIONS:
- What other Promises has God said He would do in His Word?
- According to God’s Word, how are we saved today? (Ephesians 2:8)
- How does David relate the storms in our lives to Noah’s storm? (Psalms 46:1-3)