The Great Flood

Genesis 7:1-24

In our study of Genesis we have completed the first six chapters. We’ve seen God’s work of creation recorded in Genesis 1. We’ve seen God’s special favor towards man in Genesis 2. We’ve seen the most tragic moment in human history in Genesis 3, when sin came into the world through one man, and thus death through sin. In Genesis 4 we saw in the story of Cain and Abel a contrast between sin and grace in the human family. In Genesis 5 we saw death reign even in the godly line from Seth. In Genesis 6 we saw the culmination of sin in the world prior to the flood. The book of Noah began in Genesis 6:9, where last time we saw a picture of God’s judgment and grace on the last generation in the old Adamic world. We saw the righteousness of Noah; the corruption of men on the earth; and God’s plans to destroy the world with a flood but to save Noah and his family on the ark.

Today in Genesis 7 we come to the account of the flood itself. Let’s hear God’s holy and inspired word beginning in Genesis 7:1,

¹ 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. ² 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; ³ also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ 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.”

⁵ And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. ⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. ⁷ So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹ two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.

¹¹ 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. ¹² And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ 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– ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. ¹⁶ So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

¹⁷ Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰ The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

²¹ 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. ²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. ²³ 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. ²⁴ And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

First I want to stress three things about my approach to the flood account. I am not going to approach the flood from a scientific or phenomenological viewpoint. The Genesis text is not about geology, meteorology, or paleontology. I am wary of the certitudes of atheistic science that purport to tell how things have always been and must be. I am also wary of the certitudes of creation scientists who use the same methods as scientific naturalism to make their case. I simply want to understand what the biblical text clearly teaches.

Having said that, I believe the text clearly indicates that the great flood of Noah’s time was:

Historical. The text clearly presents this event as an historical record not a legend, an allegory or a fairy tale. Moses marks the date of the flood according to the age of Noah to the year, month and day (Gen. 7:11). Derek Kidner states, this “has the mark of a plain fact well remembered; and this is borne out by the further careful notes of time in the story” (Genesis [IVP], p. 90). Also, the New Testament clearly interprets the flood as historical. Both the Lord Jesus and the apostle Peter refer to it as an example of the way people in the end times will scoff at God’s judgment (2 Pet. 2:5; 3:3-10; Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27). Second the flood was,
Universal. Genesis also portrays this flood as worldwide in scope. Many have tried to explain the flood in Genesis as just a big local flood in the Mesopotamian valley. Most often scholars have taken this view not because the Genesis text demands its, but in order to reconcile the text with their view of other historical or scientific theories. But Genesis text doesn’t seem to allow for a just smaller-scale flood. The language in the text could not be stronger in describing a flood of universal proportions. You will notice that the word “all” is used 32 times in Gen. 6-9 (NKJV) and “every” 33 times. For instance, Genesis 7:21 says, “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.” While I agree that the words “all” and “every” are sometimes used in a relative sense in the Bible, Genesis 7 uses deliberately strong, repetitive language to describe the extent of the flood (Gen. 6:7,17; 7:4; 8:9,21; 9:11,15). We know that God’s purpose in sending the flood was to “to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life” (Gen. 6:17). That must include everything that breathes, especially all of mankind who had corrupted themselves on the earth (Gen. 6:12).

In Genesis 7:2-3 the Lord tells Noah to take some of every kind of animal onto the ark, “to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.” That would not seem necessary if this were just a local flood of the Mesopotamian valley. The massive size of the ark that we saw in Genesis 6:15 would not be necessary either if it was not meant to carry the large population of earth’s creatures.

The depth of the flood shows its extent (“15 cubits…the mountains were covered” Gen. 7:19-20). The duration of the flood indicates a huge flood (“the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days,” Gen. 7:24; it took months for the land to dry, Gen. 8:13). All told, it was just over a year before it was safe for Noah and those on the ark to disembark (Gen. 8:14-15). It seems unlikely that even a great local flood would require that much time for the water to subside.

God’s promise not to destroy the earth (or land) in this manner again (Gen. 8:21-22; 9:15-16) would not be true if the flood was merely local, because there have been many severe local floods in history that have brought widespread destruction. Genesis 9:19 and 10:32 state that the whole earth was repopulated from Noah’s three sons, the only humans left on earth. So the biblical evidence that the flood was universal is overwhelming. The flood was both historical and universal. Third, the flood was,

Sudden but forewarned. God alerted Noah about the coming flood a hundred years before it happened. 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah “a preacher of righteousness.” Hebrews 11:7 says he “condemned the world.” Noah must have warned people of the judgment of God. The righteous Enoch named his son Methuselah, which means, “when he is dead, it will come.” What? The judgment will come. As a testimony of God’s grace and patience, Methuselah lived 969 years, more than any other person in the Bible. Finally, he died in the year of the flood. But the world of people in Noah’s day ignored God’s warnings.

Why are these three things important? There’re important because the flood is the one great historical example of God’s future judgment on the whole earth. The scripture is clear that God will judge the world again some day in the future. Like Noah’s flood, it too will be an historical event. Paul says that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). The future judgment is as certain and historical as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! The future judgment will also be universal, Paul writes, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). It will be sudden, but not without warning. Peter writes (2 Pet. 3:10), “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” The Bible is full of warnings about the final judgment and the events leading up to it.

So studying the Genesis flood helps us to understand the future judgment of God on the earth, to be forewarned and prepared for it. Now back to our text in Genesis 7. In this chapter two things are described. One, the entry of Noah, his family and the animals into the ark. And two, the arrival of the great and worldwide flood. These two things are described over and over again in this passage, considered from different vantage points and with increasing detail. We have already seen how God gave Noah instructions about constructing the ark and filling it in Genesis 6. As Genesis 6:22 said, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” It is now 100 years later. The ark has been built. The food has been stored. The time has come. So, in Genesis 7:1 God speaks a second time to Noah.

1. The Lord sees the righteousness of Noah (Gen. 7:1-5)

Here we have the final countdown to the flood. The Lord gives His invitation to Noah to “Come into the ark, you and all your household” seven days before the flood comes. As we saw in Genesis 6, the thing that stands out here is the righteousness of Noah. The Lord says to Noah (Gen. 7:1), “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” We saw in Genesis 6 that Noah was righteous before God (Gen. 6:9) because of God’s grace (Gen. 6:8). Hebrews 11:7 showed that Noah was righteous because he believed. But he also lived a righteous and holy life. Noah’s actions proved his faith. Noah’s household was spared on account of Noah’s singular righteousness.

In verses 2 and 3 we see that Noah was also commanded to take the animals into the ark with him. We already knew from God’s instruction in Genesis 6 that Noah was to take a pair of every kind of animal, but here God gives more specific instructions. Noah was to bring a pair of every unclean animal, and a seven of every clean animal. “Clean” and “unclean” does not mean dirty and less dirty, but rather it has to do with ceremonial purity. If you know the scriptures well, you know that later in the Law of Moses a distinction is made between things that are “clean” and “unclean”. You can read about it for yourself in the book of Leviticus, particularly chapter 11. That book is filled with the language of “clean” and “unclean”.

After the flood, Noah will build an altar and offer the clean animals and clean birds to the Lord. By emphasizing the “clean” and “unclean” animals Moses is showing the connection between Noah and God’s people Israel. God’s lays out a pattern that will be repeated. They were to be a holy people who worship the Lord.

Genesis 7:4-5 again show us the purpose of the flood and the obedient faith of Noah, “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.” It would be an interesting side study to examine the picture of seven days (or times) prior to judgment as it appears again in Daniel and Revelation—but no time for that today!

These verses show us that the Lord sees the righteousness of His people and determines to save them. Next we see,

2. The Lord protects them from the great flood (Gen. 7:6-16)

In Genesis 6:6-16 we see the flood and those who were saved on the ark. Notice how repetitive this passage is. Really, only two events are described in this section: the flooding of the earth, and the entrance of Noah, his family, and the animals into the ark.

Genesis 7:6 sets the date of the flood. “Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.”

Geneiss 7:7-9 describes the entrance into the ark. “⁷ So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹ two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.”

Genesis 7:10-12 again describes the arrival of the flood, “¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. ¹¹ 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. ¹² And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.”

Genesis 7:13-16 repeats the entrance into the ark, “¹³ 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– ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. ¹⁶ So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.”

And then in Genesis 7:17 we find yet another statement regarding the flood, “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 pattern is flood, entrance, flood, entrance, flood. The text is repetitive. It drives home the message is that God judged the corrupt earth just as He had warned, and God provided salvation to His people just as he promised He would. The repetition is meant to emphasize these two truths.

The language of Genesis 7:11 is utterly cataclysmic, “on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” It is a picture of the reversal of the creation we saw in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1, do you remember how on day two God separated the waters from above and from below (Gen. 1:6-7)? Now God brings together again the waters above and the waters below, bringing destruction upon the whole of the earth as those waters join. In a sense, God is de-creating the earth.

But through this destructive flood, God will protect and preserve His people. The Lord called them to come into the ark and the Lord shut them safely in the ark. Salvation is of the Lord. Thirdly we see,

3. The Lord brings the flood to judge the wicked and cleanse the world (Gen. 7:17-24)

These verses are dramatic and graphic in describing the great flood judgment. Look at the succession of events. Noah enters the ark in his 600th year, the 2nd month, the 10th day. For seven days they wait and then the deluge comes. The rain begins to fall on his 600th year, the 2nd month, the 17th day, and it rains for 40 days and 40 nights. And then the rain ceases, and on the 600th year, the 3rd month, the 26th and 27th day at the end of that 40 days, we see the waters still rising, and they rise for a total of 150 days.

Notice four things:

One, the waters not only covered the earth, they “prevailed” (Gen. 7:18), “greatly increased” (Gen. 7:18), and “prevailed exceedingly” (Gen. 7:19). All the high hills and mountains were covered (Gen. 7:19-20). The judgements of God are truly awesome and great.

Two, notice the emphasis upon the death of all living. “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.” Truly, the wages of sin is death.

Three, notice that the flood event took the earth back to its condition as described in Genesis 1:2, and was therefore an act of de-creation. In Genesis 1:2 we read, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” In Genesis 7:18 we read, “The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.” The flood was an act of de-creation. We will see in Genesis 8-9 that the receding of floodwaters and the repopulation of the earth by Noah’s family and the animals was an act of re-creation.

Four, again notice in Genesis 7:23 the emphasis on the salvation the LORD provides: “Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” The only ones who were saved were those who got on board the ark before the flood.

Let me conclude by making the same application that Peter made in his epistle which we read from in the introduction to this sermon.

In 2 Peter 2:4 and following we read, “For if God… did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly … then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority …” (2 Peter 2:4–10).

The story of the flood should cause those who are in Christ to take courage, to remain in Him and to walk with God in righteousness and holiness.

The story of the flood should cause the wicked to tremble and to run to Christ for refuge before the final judgment overtakes them. Like Noah’s flood, it will be a real event, universal in scope, and sudden but not without warning. God invited Noah and his family aboard the ark with the words, “Come into the ark…” That’s His invitation to you today. God has not yet closed the door of salvation. At the end of the Bible, after warning of the judgment to come, the final appeal is, “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). But lest you put it off, the Bible goes on in the next to the last verse to warn, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’” (Rev. 22:20). The Lord Jesus is coming to judge the earth; He invites you to come aboard before He comes to close the door. Come to Christ now!