The Flood Series

September 14, 2024

Last time we discussed how quickly sin took root in the pre-flood world. There seemed to be no hope for humanity. However, in the midst of this sad and sorry situation, we are given the brief genealogy of Noah.

Genesis 6:9-10 - …. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Noah was singled out by 3 characteristics:

• He was “righteous” - Noah was in a right relationship with God. He was righteous because he put his faith in God, which was demonstrated by his obedience:

o Hebrews 11:7 - It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God's sight.

• He was “blameless in his generation” - Noah wasn’t sinless, but he lived his life in accordance with God’s law.

• He “walked with God” - Noah loved God, worshiped God, served God, and walked in the same direction as God.

Genesis 6:11-22 - Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways…

The verdict was dire. The very fact that the word, “corrupt” appears 3 times in one sentence gives us a pretty good idea of the situation. The perfect system God had created was broken. The corruption of humanity – which extended to the earth itself – was universal and would require a universal response:

… So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth...

Many focus on the flood as an out of context over reaction on the part of God. That somehow His response is out of proportion to the mindset, behavior and choices of humans. However, I would argue that God was particularly longsuffering.

Within 10 generations (9 of which Adam was still alive) there had been such a decline that scripture pointedly states, “The thoughts and intentions of man were only evil continually.” EVIL CONTINUALLY!

God grieved over His creation and determined to end the spread of sin - AND YET - he provided a way out…. A boat the size of 1 ½ football fields.

…Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks...

450 feet x 75 feet = 33,750 square feet x 3 floors = 101,250 square feet of space on the ark.

… I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark -- you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." Noah did everything as God commanded him.

God gave humanity PLENTY of time to stop and turn and come back to Him, but finally, the day came when the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous. Take along seven pairs of each animal that I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. Then select seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that every kind of living creature will survive the flood. One week from today I will begin forty days and forty nights of rain. And I will wipe from the earth all the living things I have created." So Noah did exactly as the LORD had commanded him. (7:1-5)