The Flood

Genesis 7:1 NKJV

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

What is significant about the fact that God told Noah to “come into the ark” instead of “go into the ark?”

God said this from the perspective that He was already in the ark. It meant that God was going to be with Noah and his family during the flood and would protect and preserve them.

What are some ways that Noah demonstrated his righteousness before God?

Through his obedience. His obedience demonstrated his faith in God. He not only believed God would send the flood, he obeyed what God told him to do to prepare for it.

Genesis 7:2–9 NKJV

You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

How many pairs of each type of animal (clean and unclean) did Noah take into the ark?

Noah took 7 pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals.

The Bible reads like these animals gathered together and made their way into the ark in an orderly fashion. How is this possible?

Because with God all things are possible. God obviously was involved in making sure the animals were cooperative.

Genesis 7:10–12 NKJV

And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

What were the two sources of water that brought the flood upon the earth?

(1) the fountains of the deep and (2) the windows of heaven.

Do you think there may be a connection between Genesis 1:7 and the windows of heaven heaven here in Genesis 7?

It appears that the water above the firmament in Genesis 1 was released here in Genesis 7.

Genesis 7:13–16 NKJV

On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

Who shut the door to the ark?

God shut the door.

Read Revelation 3:7. Connecting this scripture to Genesis 7, what does it say about who is qualified to open or close the door of salvation?

God did not require Noah to shut the door of salvation to the rest of humanity. God took this responsibility. The same is true today. We do not decide who can or cannot be saved. We leave that up to God.

Genesis 7:17–24 NKJV

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Was this a global flood or a local flood? How do we know?

The language here speaks of a global flood. If it were only a local flood, the ark would have been unnecessary. If it were only a local flood, then God’s promise to never again bring such a flood would be false. If it were only a local flood, then the Bible is wrong in other places that speak of a global flood (Psalm 104:5-9; 2 Peter 3:5-6).

Besides the animals on the ark, what are the only types of animals that were not destroyed in the flood that are not mentioned specifically here?

Fish and sea creatures.

Genesis 8:1–5 NKJV

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

Why might God have chosen to allow the ark to come to rest on the top of a mountain instead of somewhere else?

Mountains are generally associated with significant divine encounters with God (Sinai, Hermon, Transfiguration, Calvary, etc.).

Genesis 8:6–12 NKJV

So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.

What reason might Noah have had to send out a raven and a dove?

Ravens are scavengers and could find food on the rotting corpses of the dead animals killed in the flood. The dove would not land on a rotting corpse. So the dove kept returning until there was a suitable place to land and rest.

Genesis 8:13–19 NKJV

And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

Go back and look at Genesis 7:11-13. How long were Noah and his family on the ark?

Almost a full year. (370 or 371 days).

Genesis 8:20 NKJV

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

What lessons can this teach us about the type of worship we should offer to the Lord?

There were only a limited number of clean animals on the ark to repopulate the earth. So this sacrifice was costly. It also took faith to trust that God would bless and multiply what remained. It highlights that we should give our very best and offer it with faith.

Genesis 8:21–22 NKJV

And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

What promises does God make here?

(1) “I will never again curse the ground. (2) “Nor will I destroy every living thing.” (3) As long as the earth remains seasons and time will continue.