Genesis 6:9—8:19
There are two key threads of truth that run throughout the book of Genesis. The first thread is the powerful Person of God; the second thread is God’s personal and powerful work in our lives. Actually, these threads run from Genesis to Revelation. That’s why understanding Genesis is essential to understanding the entire Bible and essential to understanding how God is writing his story in you.
To this point, we have seen the powerful Person of God speak the world into existence and then personally and intimately stoop down to breathe into man the breath of life. God did not create robots. He gave Adam and Eve free will to obey or disobey. Their disobedience in the garden introduced sin into the world. Like poison at the beginning of a stream poisons the whole stream, so sin at the beginning of humanity poisoned us all. A demonic attempt to thwart God’s plan for bringing man back to himself resulted in evil, corruption, and violence filling the earth at a level we have never experienced (Genesis 6:5, 11-12). So, God determined to blot out man and reset his creation (Genesis 6:7). Living in the middle of all the immorality was a man named Noah, who “found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).
Noah was a man who “walked with God.” He loved God, was a friend of God, and enjoyed God’s presence. He was obedient to God, going in the same direction as God.[1] And Noah “was a righteous man.” The word “righteous” comes from a Mesopotamian word that means “river reed.” In that day, a river reed was like our present-day leveler. It was used in construction to judge if a wall or fence was straight. This word was used to describe God’s nature. He is the straight edge by which all things are evaluated and measured. Noah’s life matched up with God’s standard.
God explained his plan to reset humanity. He instructed Noah to build a big boat—450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It was to be made of gopher wood (probably cypress) and covered with waterproofing pitch. Then God explained the reason for the boat and told Noah who and what he should bring on this huge vessel.
Genesis 6:17-21
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.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
How long did it take Noah to build this massive ark? We don’t know. We do know that he was 500 years old when he had his three sons. And we know that he was 600 years old when he entered the ark. We don’t know at what point between Noah’s 500th and 600th year that God gave the command.[2] We do know this building project would have taken many years. During that timeframe people could have trusted in God as Noah did, but after the building project was completed, it was only Noah, his wife, and his three sons with their wives who entered the boat. A total of eight people were secure from the destruction to ensue, along with the pairs of male and female animals (Genesis 7:7). On the seventeenth day of the second month of Noah’s 600th year, the floods came.
Genesis 7:11-16
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.
Don’t miss that last sentence. Yahweh, himself, the personal God shut the door and secured their safety. This fulfilled the promise of Genesis 6:18, in which God made a covenant with Noah to save him and his family. One can only imagine that those who were not in the ark were running toward it and trying to get in. But it was too late. The rabbis taught that God shut the doors to keep the wicked out. They say that God surrounded the ark with wild animals to keep the people away.[3] Of course, this teaching is not in Scripture. God graciously protected Noah and his family to continue the line through which he would one day send his Son.
The rains poured down from heaven and “fountains of the great deep burst forth.” Allen Ross, an Old Testament scholar, says this refers to “gigantic upheavals and shiftings of the earth’s crust which caused the oceans’ floors to rise and break up their reservoirs of subterranean waters (Genesis 7:11; cf. Unger, Archaeology, p. 61). As a result, the whole earth was flooded in the disaster (Genesis 7:19-20). No doubt the surface of the earth, the manner of life, and the longevity of life were changed by this catastrophe.”[4]
I will let you consider the rest of the flood story in your reading today. Let me wrap up with this question—Why did God use a flood to reset mankind? To answer that question let me borrow from Allen Ross, one of my favorite seminary professors and writers on the book of Genesis.[5]
- God is sovereign over all creation, and he uses nature to judge. The sea has always been a symbol of chaos (See Genesis 1:2 and Job 38:8-11).
- The great flood was the most effective, graphic, and symbolic way to clean the earth of wickedness. In Scripture, washing with water is a sign of cleansing—even spiritual cleansing (Titus 3:5).
PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 6:9—8:19. Today’s reading is longer, but don’t miss how our great God protected his people from destruction.
Prayer and Application
There are many important truths in this story. Let’s focus on two:
- As God protected Noah and his family, thank God for protecting you and your family.
- Thank God for Jesus and your relationship with the Savior. He is the One who ultimately saves us from destruction.
Have Questions?
There are always a lot of questions regarding the flood. Was it universal or regional? Do the effects of the flood explain some of the archeological questions around carbon dating? Were there dinosaurs on the ark? You may have many more. Our team is here to assist you as you explore God’s Word. Simply submit your question below, and we’ll get back to you soon.
[1] See the previous study on Genesis 5:1-32 where I provided a description of what it means to walk with God.
[2] Some believe that Genesis 6:3 indicates that it took Noah 120 years to build the ark. In this view Noah’s age was rounded up or down in Genesis 5:32 and 7:6.
[3] Robert James Utley, How It All Began: Genesis 1–11, Vol. 1A, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2001), 100.
[4] Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 39.
[5] Ibid., 190.
I am really enjoying these longer devotions. I read them of a morning and then review in the evening time. Thank you so much.