Genesis - Week Ten

Introduction

This study should address...

What does the Bible say?

What does the Bible Mean?

How can we apply that to our lives

Legend

Important

Questions

References

Personal Thoughts

Chapter 6

Verses 5-8

Genesis 6:5–8 ESV

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

What stands out about these verses?

Since the toledot does not appear until verse 9, these 4 verses are linked to the previous 4. This shows that the increasing wickedness on earth was a direct consequence of the Sons of God and Nephilim

6:5-6

Man was entirely evil requiring that they be wiped out and a new start given to Noah and his family

God was grieved to his heart is another type of anthropomorphism

When the Lord regrets, is He changing his mind? Did He make a mistake?

Or is this a way of relating God to man

Calvinism, irrestiable grace, total depravity

To me, the only way the flood makes sense is with Nephilim

6:7-8

God seeks to wipe out this evil

Part of this process requires the killing of animals, which may be collateral damage or because they too have been corrupted

The only way I can honestly see them being corrupted and yet still being saved on the ark is cryptids

Noah’s good character has inclined God to help him and choose him to survive

There is always a remnant of God in the evil

Verses 9-13

Genesis 6:9–13 ESV

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

What stands out about these verses?

One important theme throughout this narrative is that God always retains the power to create and to destroy at his discretion in accordance with His will and character

God destroys what in reality has already destroyed itself

6:9

There is another Toledot here which represents the beginning of a new section of story

Noah was a good man on equal with Enoch

A devout and uniquely good man in a world filled with wickedness

6:10

Shem would be the father of the Semitic peoples and the line that leads to Abraham

Ham descendants would inhabit Africa and the southern Mediterranean

His name either comes from the Hebrew for “hot” or the Egyptian word for “black land” which some take to mean he is the first black man

Japheth descendants would occupy Greece and the Northern Mediterranean

6:11-12

The word used here for earth and most of this account is “eres” which can mean ground, territory, or country, and does not have to be universal

The later table of nations sets the scene for the world in which the flood takes place

Whether local or global, or global in a local sense the language is clear that the people are corrupt beyond saving and must be destroyed

There is also specific notice drawn to the violence caused by humans

Perhaps the real crime against God is the abuse of humans dominion to cause violence

Parallels to Romans 8:21

Romans 8:21 ESV

that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

The corruption refers not to the creation as in earth but the corrupt humans on the earth

6:13

The word for flesh could be refer to just “humans” and that makes more sense because I don’t see how the animals are guilty of corruption

It is interesting that God says he will destroy with the earth as a tool

Verses 14-16

Genesis 6:14–16 ESV

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

Thoughts and Questions?

6:14-16

The word used for ark is “tevah” which refers to a vessel of any size, it is used in Exodus 2:3 to refer to Moses basket

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 6

6:15 the length of the ark A cubit was roughly 18 inches, so the ark would have been 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet.

Noah was being protected, but through an active working faith and not an idle faith

Gopher wood is only mentioned here and is sometimes translated to other woods, unknown what it is

There have been many disagreements about the true size of the ark and what would realistically contain all the animals, but it really is not important in my opinion

Verses 17-21

Genesis 6:17–21 ESV

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”

Thoughts or Questions?

6:17

Again this could be referring to a global flood or a flood of the entire known world

Same Hebrew language used in Genesis 41:57 “Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.”

This is clearly not a global reference

The reference to the “breath of life” is also very interesting

This is the ruach or spirit that we have seen previously

Shows to me that we are discussing humans primarily

6:18

This covenant is established in Genesis 8:20–9:17

I believe that this is the second covenant between God and man

God provides Noah salvation in the way Jesus provides us all with salvation

Noah was assured his efforts would not be in vain for he would be protected

Noah is given dominion over these animals to care for them and save them, in the way humans were designed to and likely the way the abandoned

6:19-22

Here Noah is told to take two of every sort, in Genesis 7:2 “Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,” he is told seven pairs of each clean animal

These are the same kinds from the initial creation

Noah is faithful and does as he is commanded

Even through decades of work and assumed distress he remained faithful

Chapter 7

Verses 1-10

Genesis 7:1–10 ESV

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

Thoughts or Questions?

7:1-3

These instructions differ slightly from the last chapter

The mention of clean and unclean animals may be an anachronism

This distinction in the law would not be around until long after Noah

However, there may be additional clean animals taken since they will needed for Noah’s sacrifice after the flood

7:4

Seven days is the time given for the animals to board

It is also a unit of time used later in the story

7:5

Noah is once again faithful and obedient

7:6

Unclear how long it took for Noah to build the ark but less than 100 years

8 people, 4 married couples are saved from the flood

7:9

There are so many questions that could be asked about this story

How did the animals comply?

Why did they not fight each other?

But many of them could just be answered with miracles or weird scientific theories like hibernation

Verses 11-24

Genesis 7:11–24 ESV

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Thoughts or Questions

Lots of repetition in these verses which shows the type of literature

Elevated, narrative prose

Very myth like yet specific which shows its truth

7:11

This date is very specific and there isn’t a clear indication why other than the importance of this as a real event in Noah’s life

This verse also reflects a ANE cosmology about where water is located in the earth, the waters above and below the earth burst forth

Intense imagery nonetheless

7:12

40 days and nights is an important number

40 days in the desert and so forth

7:16

The Lord shut them in and protects them, they are sealed

Yahweh is used here to show the personal touch

7:17

earth here again can mean ground

See table in ESV Study Bible from chronology

7:19-20

This verse is likely the strongest evidence for a global flood, but I don’t find it to be conclusive

7:21

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 7

every living thing that moved on the earth perished In Biblical usage, phrases that appear on the surface to be universal do not always speak of exhaustive, universal participation—particularly with respect to peoples and lands on the other side of the globe from the ancient Near East (e.g., 8:6–7; 41:57;

General References and Sources

Study Bibles

ESV Study Bible

ESV Church History Study Bible

ESV Literary Study Bible

Spurgeon Study Bible

Faithlife Study Bible

Commentaries

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Matthew Poole’s Commentary

Dennis Prager’s Rational Bible on Genesis

David Atkinson, The Message of Genesis 1-11

John Davis, Paradise to Prison

Church History

Augustine, City of God

Augustine, Confessions

Aquinas, Summa Theologica