The Flood

Introduction

The Record of Noah’s Ark and the Flood is a Fascinating One

We Teach it to Our Children from the Moments They are Able to Start Learning

It’s Fun for Children Because There’s a Big Boat and Lots of Cool Animals On it

But When We Really Stop to Think About it…

This is Not a Children’s Story at All

It is a Terrifying Story of God’s Wrath Being Poured Out on the World

Every Human and Animal on Earth Died a Terrifying Death

Sadly, Many Times We Keep this Story in the Children’s Classrooms

And as Adults, We Treat it Like it Doesn’t Have Much to Offer Us Anymore

But Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth

The Story of the Flood is a Story of Wrathful Judgment on the Wicked

But Also a Story of Gracious Love Toward the Faithful

That’s a Topic We All Need to Be Constantly Reminded Of

Tonight, We are Going to Look at the Flood in a Way that Many of Us Have Probably Never Seen it Before

Not that it’s a New Way to Look at it…

I Believe it’s a Way We Were Intended to Look at it

We are Going to Look at the Flood Within the Context of Creation

Let’s Set The Scene

In the Beginning, God Created a Good World

But Adam and Eve Chose to Disobey God

This Brought Sin, Corruption, and Death into the World

Their Family Lineage Leads Us Down to Genesis 6

In Genesis 6, We Find Ourselves at the Peak of Wickedness and Violence in a Fallen and Broken World

People Had Evil Thoughts Coursing Through Their Minds at All Times

And This Hurt God Deeply

His Very Good Creation Has Turned Against Him and are Not Fulfilling Their Purpose

Which was to Be His Image-Bearers

Humans Were Created to Represent Our Great God in this World

To Rule Over the World in Righteousness and Justice On His Behalf…

As He Ruled Over Us as Our Loving, Compassionate Father

So God Chose to Destroy the Once Good World He’d Made

But Before He Did, He Remembered a Man Named Noah

Genesis 5:29 Tells Us Why He was Named Noah

Genesis 5:29 (NASB)

Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.”

Noah Means “Rest”

We Won’t Spend Any Time Looking at it Tonight, But in Your Own Study, Keep an Eye Out for the Idea of “Rest” in this Narrative

You’ll See the Concept of “Rest” and Hebrew Words that are Related to or Rhyme/Sound Like “Noah” Several Times

God Cursing the Ground Will Come Back Up By the End of the Story, as Well

Noah Walked in the Same Footsteps as His Great Grandfather, Enoch

Genesis 5:22, 24 - “Enoch Walked with God”

Genesis 6:9 - “Noah Walked with God”

This is the Same Thing that God has Always Wanted of His People

Micah 6:8 (NASB)

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

Noah was Held in Very High Esteem by God

Ezekiel Spends a Few Paragraphs Mentioning Noah, Daniel, and Job by Name as Men Who Were Faithful and Righteous

Here’s the First Paragraph:

Ezekiel 14:12–14 (NASB)

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast,

even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God.

These 3 Men, Including Noah, Were as Faithful as They Come

Because of Noah’s Faithfulness to God, He was Given a Gift of Grace

That Gift Consisted Of:

A Warning that the Earth Would Be Destroyed

And Instructions On How to Survive

So Noah Followed All of God’s Instructions in Building the Ark and Gathering the Animals

Then 7 Days Before the Flood Would Begin, Noah is Told to Enter the Ark with His Family and All the Animals

Noah was 600 Years Old When the Flood Would Begin

The Flood Began in the 2nd Month on the 17th Day

Once Everyone and Everything Entered the Ark, God Closed the Door

That Leads Us to Where We Will Begin in the Text

Genesis 7:17-8:22

What We Will Be Paying Extra Close Attention to in Our Reading is:

How the Flood Narrative is Related to the Creation Account in Genesis 1

The Flood is a Picture of the Undoing and a Redoing of Creation

Genesis 7:17–8:22 (NASB)

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.

We Read Prior to this that it Rained for 40 Days and 40 Nights

As Well as the Fountains of the Great Deep Bursting Open

Water Coming From Above and Below

On Day 2 of Creation Week, God Separated the Waters Above from the Waters Beneath

In the Flood, God is Undoing that Separation By Bringing the Waters Back Together

The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

We Just Saw Very Similar Phrase in Genesis 1:2, Where the Spirit Moved Over the Surface of the Waters

The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.

The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.

On Day 3 of Creation, God Caused Land to Come Up Out of the Waters

Now that is Being Undone as the Waters Cover Back Up the Land

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;

of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

We are Seeing the Undoing of Creation

All of God’s Good Creation in Which He Breathed Life is Now Having that Breathe Taken Away

Their Nostrils are Now Being Filled with the Waters of Death

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.

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

I Grew Up Thinking that the Flood Only Lasted 40 Days

The Torrential Rain Only Lasted 40 Days

The Water Continued to Rise for 150 Days

Possibly Due to Light Showers and the Fountains of the Deep Continuing to Flow

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

God Hadn’t Forgotten About the Ark and Everyone/Thing On It

When God “Remembers” Someone, It Means He is About to Act Toward Blessing/Saving Them

Genesis 19:29 - God Remembered Abraham and Saved Lot from the Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah

Genesis 30:22 - God Remembered Rachel and Opened Her Womb Allowing Her to Have Children

Exodus 2:24 - God Remembered His Covenant With the Children of Israel as They Were Enslaved in Egypt

1 Samuel 1:19 - God Remembered Hannah and Opened Her Womb Allowing Her to Have Children

This is the Turning Point of the Flood Story

Everything Has Been Destruction and Undoing of the Creation Up to this Point

Now Recreation is Going to Begin

Just Like in the Beginning of Creation, There was Nothing But Water, and the Spirit Moved Over the Surface of the Waters…

Here God Causes the Wind (Ruah - Same Hebrew Word as Spirit) to Pass Over the Water

God is Recreating the World After Its Destruction

Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;

In the Beginning, God Separated the Waters Below from the Waters Above

Here He is Closing Off the Waters from Below as Well as the Waters from Above

and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.

In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.

Here is One of the Times that “Rest” (Noah = Rest) Appears in this Passage

“Rested” = nuah

The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

In the Beginning, God Caused Dry Land to Appear Out of the Water

Just as in the 1st Creation, so it is in the 2nd Creation

As the Water Decreases, Land is Going to Begin to Appear Out of the Water

Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.

Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;

but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.

Though the Ark was Now Resting, the Dove Could Find No Place to Rest

“Resting Place” = manoah

It was Not Yet Time for the Dove to Find Rest

God Only Rested After the Creation was Complete

The Recreation, Free of the Flood Waters, was Not Yet Complete

So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

The Olive Leaf is Proof that God is Causing Life to Be Renewed

God is Causing Plants and Vegetation to Spring Up from the Ground in the 2nd Creation as in the 1st

Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.

The Dove Not Returning Signaled that it Finally Had a Place to Rest

It was the 1st Day of the 1st Month

The New Year Signified the New Beginning of the New Creation

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

Why, if Noah Saw that the Earth was Dry, Did He Not Exit the Ark Then?

Because God Had Not Yet Told Him To

They Waited Almost 2 Full Months Later Until God Told Them to Exit

Noah was One of God’s Most Faithful People Because He Trusted in and Waited on His God

True Faith is Trusting God to Do What is Best in His Own Perfect Timing

“Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

The Animals of the 2nd Creation Were Given the Same Mission as Adam and Eve and the Animals of the 1st Creation

So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

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.

The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”

Noah Sacrificed One of Every Clean Animal that was On the Ark

This is the 1st Time We See an Altar Being Built in Service to God

This Will Continue Throughout the Old Testament

God Smelling the Aroma of the Sacrifice Means that He Accepted the Offering

Verse 21 is Very Similar to Genesis 6:5-7

Before, God Saw the Wickedness of Humanity and Chose to Destroy the World

But Here, God Still Sees the Wickedness of the World, But He Promises to Never Again Destroy All Life on Account of Man’s Sins

But What About Jesus’ Second Coming?

Hebrews 9:28 Tells Us that Jesus’ Second Coming is for the Main Purpose of Saving His People

God Reestablishes the Signs, Seasons, Days, and Years as He Had Done on Day 4 of the 1st Creation

A Couple Other Similarities in Chapter 9 Between the Creation Story and Noah’s Story are:

After Exiting the Ark, Noah Planted a Vineyard (Garden) Like God Had Done with Eden

Noah Used the Fruits of His Garden to Sin, Revealing His Nakedness as Did Adam and Eve

Application

We’ve Looked at Some Interesting Stuff in the Flood Narrative and How it Served as God’s Way of Recreating the World

But What Does All of this Mean for Me?

Baptism & The Flood

We See a Lot of Similarities Between the Way We are to View the Flood and the Way We are to View Baptism

Peter Spells it Out for Us Quite Nicely

1 Peter 3:18–22 (NASB)

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,

who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

For the Wickedness of the World, Baptism is Death that Washes Away the Sinfulness

But Baptism Saves Those Who Faithfully Submit to it

The Flood Waters Washed Away the Sin of the World

Baptism into Christ Washes Away Our Sins

The Flood Waters Saved Noah and His Family from the Violent Wickedness that Surrounded Them

Baptism into Christ Saves Us from the Wickedness that Lives Within Us

The Flood Destroyed the 1st Creation and Brought About a New Creation

Romans 6:4 (NASB)

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

In Christ, We are a New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

“Just Like The Days Of Noah”

Jesus Told His Disciples in Matthew 24:37-38 that When He Returns, it Will Be Just Like the Days of Noah

There Will Be No Signs to Warn Us Beforehand

It is Coming Like a Thief in the Night

Peter (2 Peter 3) Tells His Readers that it Shouldn’t Be Surprising that Jesus Will Come Again with a Flood-Like Destruction

The Only Difference Peter Points Out to Us is that it Will Be Fire Instead of Water

2 Peter 3:10–13 (NASB)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

The Flood is a Type of Jesus’ Return, Destruction of the Wicked, and Renewal for His People

Knowing That Jesus is Returning, Let Us Live Our Lives in Holy Conduct and Godliness

Invitation

Tell Story of Lady Whose Child Asked Her What Happened to All of the Children Who Died During the Flood