How It All Began: “The Flood”

Why Genesis?

Genesis means “beginning”. And that’s what the book of Genesis is. It is the God given real life history of the beginning of all things.

In this series, we are going to be looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. In these chapters we will see why the world is the way that it is, why we are they way we are, and what Go’s purpose is in it all.

We will also clearly see God’s character, get to know Him better, better learn who we are, and why all that matters.

Genesis helps us make sense of the world while also helping us know what our place is in it.

There is much you will be reminded of, and that’s good. There will be some things you will learn for the first time, and that’s great. My primary hope and prayer is that through this study all of us will grow in our understanding of God and His purpose for us so that we will better love, serve and worship Him in His creation.

Last time we looked at chapter 6 and did some Ark-aeology research. This week we are going to wade through flood waters in Genesis 7.

Let’s read the text.

Genesis 7:1–24 (NASB)

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 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 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 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 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. 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 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him. 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 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 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 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 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

A couple quick observation: Actual, one short one and one longer one. We will start with the longer one first.

1. This was a worldwide, global flood.

You might not know this, but there is a quite a lot of debate in Christian circles about the flood. There are scholars and theologians that believe and teach that the flood was not global but rather a local event. The reason for this is that the amount of water necessary for a global flood seems like an impossibility to them. But what does the Bible say about it?

(v. 17-23) 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 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 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 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.

Anthropology affirms this. Many cultures have a flood stories in their history and most of them involve one man and his family surviving in a big boat with a bunch of animals on board with them.

Of the hundred of known flood stories and myths…

95% are a global, universal, worldwide flood.

90% have only 1 man and his family surviving.

80% say the surviving family was warned about the flood.

75% have animals being saved too.

70% say the survival was due to a large boat.

65% have the survivors landing on a mountain top

60% say the flood came because of the wickedness of man.

Examples:

Native American oral history:

It rained for 45 days and the whole earth was covered with water. All the people were destroyed except for one old man atop Spirit Mountain. Many days passed but a dove brought him instructions from the Creator. The old man obeyed the Creator and the water left and the dove brought him new grass so he knew it was safe to leave Spirit Mountain.

Ancient Chinese Legend of Fuhi:

He, his wife, their three sons and his son's three wives were able to escape a great flood. They were the only people left on the earth so they had to repopulate the earth.

Ancient Babylon

In the saga of King Gilgamesh, there is a flood story very similar to Genesis 6-9. In that saga, the entire world was covered with water, only one man, his wife and their children survived, they had a big boat and they saved a bunch of animals.

Paleontology and Geology both affirm this too. Fossils require rapid burial in things like mud and rock layers. A WWGF would explain how we have so many fossils all over the world (even in desert regions). And the rock layers, canyons and such such, even things like the Grand Canyon, could have (and were most likely) made during the 150 days of flood waters prevailing on the earth.

2. The Waters Continued to Rise After the Rain Stopped

11 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 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights…

The water continued to rise for 110 days AFTER the rain stopped.

24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The Hebrew word for “prevailed” here is גָּבַר “gāḇar” [gaw-bear'] and it means to “be made strong, to be become mighty”. It means that the water became stronger or mightier. In other words, the water grew…it increased… it rose higher and higher. The fountains of the great deep that burst open must have contained more water in them than the sky had in it.

They were SUMMONED to 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.”

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.

Genesis 7:1 (ESV, NIV and NLT)

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark...

Genesis 7:1 (KJV)

1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark...

We are summoned to Jesus!

John 6:44 (NASB)

44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

Mark 8:34 (NASB)

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Isaiah 55:3 (NASB)

3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you…

John 7:37–38 (ESV)

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

God calls us but we have to choose to accept the invitation:

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.

2 Peter 2:5 (NASB)

5 …Noah, a preacher of righteousness…

Mark 10:17–22 (ESV)

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jeremiah 35:17 (NASB)

17 “Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’ ”

They were SAVED by the Ark.

23 …only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

There was only one way to be saved!

John 14:6 (NASB)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

John 10:9 (NASB)

9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

Acts 4:12 (NASB)

12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

(v. 7, 13, 15) 5 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 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 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 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. 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.

You have to come to God on His terms, not your own!

Had they not obeyed completely, they wouldn’t have been saved.

5 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

Romans 10:9–10 (NASB)

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Had they not obeyed immediately, they wouldn’t have been saved…

11 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 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. 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…

Matthew 24:38–39 (NASB)

38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

If you hear God calling you, do not delay!

Isaiah 1:18 (ESV)

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Hebrews 3:7–8 (NASB)

7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked…

2 Corinthians 6:2 (NASB)

2 …Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—

James 4:14 (NASB)

14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

They were SECURE in the Ark.

16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him. 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 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 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 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.

John 10:27–29 (NASB)

27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Psalm 31:15 (ESV)

15 My times are in your hand…

John 6:37 (NASB)

37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

Proverbs 18:10 (NASB)

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.

Mark 4:37–40 (NASB)

37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”

In closing:

Is the Holy Spirit summoning you today?

Salvation?

Closer relationship w/ God?

Calling you to a specific service?

Are you saved?

There is only one way!

If you are saved, do you realize you are secure!

Don’t live with fear!

Don’t allow your heart to be anxious.

Sometimes fear and doubt, the lack of peace from God, is a sign that the Holy Spirit is drawing us to Him because we are not saved, or because we are saved but living in unrepentant sin. And some times, it is an attack from Satan and still, other times it is because we aren’t trusting what God has said about it. But the solution is the same, regardless of why we lack a sense of security…

Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

If you are struggling, take it to Jesus!

How are you going to respond to the message today?

Let’s pray!

Memory Verse of the Week:

Proverbs 18:10 (NASB)

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.