Flood Testimonies

Are documented testimonies of Noah’s flood believable witnesses? Let’s look at biblical and extra-biblical testimonies and some important lessons that are relevant for us.

Biblical Testimony

Does the Bible speak of just a local flood, or something that destroyed all humanity? It speaks of the end of what?

“all flesh” (Genesis 6:13, 17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17 WEB)

How widespread were the waters?

“The waters rose even higher over the earth; they covered all of the highest mountains under the sky.” (Genesis 7:19 CEB)

What was Jesus’ testimony about the flood?

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:36-39 NIV)

Other Testimony

The genealogies of many European royal houses show them descending from Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, records in existence long before those nations knew of a Christian Bible, as evidenced by their pre-Christian vocabulary. Many Indo-European legends reveal Japheth as the ancestor of those peoples.

Flood legends exist in well over 200 cultures around the world. They are all remarkably similar in many aspects, though some details are different. Common elements often include a family, a boat and universal destruction. These legends are to be found in ancient and modern places like Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Syria, Greece, Egypt, China, India, North and South America, the Pacific Islands, and more. How did this happen? Could it be that descendants of Noah separated over time, migrated around the world and told this story throughout their generations?

Flood Lessons

Noah was obedient to God.

“Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Genesis 6:22 NKJV)

“And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.” (Genesis 7:5 NKJV)

Noah teaches us that living a righteous life may require us to be lonely and an object of derision in a world gone mad. If we have a family that is at least friendly towards our faith, then we should count ourselves blessed. Preaching the gospel today can be just as lonely, and even if only half a dozen people listen, we have done as God wills.

There is only one race of humans on earth. Marrying someone of a different skin color may put us in danger of bigotry, but it is not biblically wrong. What is strongly discouraged throughout the Bible, is marrying outside our faith, as many Bible passages explain (Genesis 24:3-4; Deuteronomy 7:3-4; Malachi 2:11; 1 Corinthians 7:12-14, 39; 2 Corinthians 6:14). We are different skin shades, perhaps like Noah’s sons and daughters-in-law, but we are all one human family.

“These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.” (Genesis 10:32 NLT)

A little discussed lesson from Noah’s history is that there was plenty of room on the ark for others. The nave of some older churches is so-called because its ceiling looks like an upturned boat, with its structural ribbing, and it was a reminder to visitors that there is room for any who turn from their sins and turn to God. Material salvation is a picture of eternal salvation in Jesus.

Noah’s name means “rest” and reminds us of the true rest for our souls that only Jesus can give.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV)

Because of his righteousness, Noah’s family was also counted among the holy and allowed to escape. This same thing happens when a husband or wife becomes a believer. Because the believer is holy, God provides a certain measure of protection to the whole family.

“For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14 ESV)

As Noah entered a new world, so will the resurrected believer enter a pure, clean world untainted by sin. As righteous Noah found salvation by entering the door of a barge, so will we find eternal salvation only in Jesus, the door to the sheepfold.

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9 KJV)