So we come to Chapter 7 - the Flood
This is the single greatest judgment ever to hit planet earth - so far. This and chapter 8 are also one of the hardest for us humans to swallow.
Four things we need to keep in mind about the Flood:
" It really happened (New Testament quotes it four times)
" It was supernatural (God performed a miracle to bring this about, it wasn’t "natural")
" It was judgmental (God decided that sin had gone on long enough - He didn’t get mad and throw a tantrum)
" It was universal
(courtesy of Rick Booye, Trail Christian Fellowship)
Vs 1 - 5
It says that Noah took of every "kind" of animal and bird. He didn’t have to take every species - one "cat-like" animal could evolve into other cats. The Bible doesn’t preclude evolution - just a frog changing into a human - but within "kinds" there can be changes and we actually see that in our world around us.
We in our rationalistic mind want to think that because God doesn’t explain something it means that it is false - but God chose which things to tell us and which to leave out - that doesn’t mean this didn’t happen, it just means God didn’t tell us everything.
Follow the track of the passage - God is judging and God is saving.
Vs 6 - 12
The flood was really two things - rain from heaven, and waters from underneath the earth. If you recall from our study in Genesis 1 - it’s quite possible that a water canopy existed - suspended between space and earth that formed a barrier for cosmic radiation and may have been why men from Noah back lived so long. At the flood, God sent this water canopy crashing to the earth. Dr. Larry Vardiman suggests that the "water canopy" was actually ice crystals circling the equator as seen around Venus. (L. Vardiman and K. Bousselot, "Sensitivity Studies on Vapor Canopy Temperature Profiles," Proc. Fourth ICC, 1998, pp. 607-618.)
At the same time "springs of the great deep" broke open. We know that a great amount of water exists underneath our feet. There is in fact an argument called the "Hydroplate Theory."
This theory suggests that a thin layer of water existed under the crust - at the flood a crack developed around the globe in 2-3 hours, causing cataclysms of an unparalleled nature - See www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ210.htm.
Scientists may scoff at this, but recently in Discover Magazine, Michael Drake, Director of the University of Arizona’s Lunar & Planetary Laboratory said that while 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in water, another 10 times that amount is locked up deep inside the earth.
By the way - one of the arguments against a universal flood is that it couldn’t have covered Mt. Everest. It is quite possible that the mountain ranges were quite a bit lower in that day - the flood itself could have caused the high mountains to rise up (see chart below).
This is so interesting that I want to walk through the rest of the chapter using this theory:
Biblical Chronology Hydroplate Theory
Day 2 of Creation Week: The earth was covered by water. (Gen 1:2) Then "a raqia" separated liquid water above from liquid water below. (Gen 1:6-7) One Initial Condition Established: A layer of water is placed below the earth’s crust (a raqia, or pressed-out solid). [See the yellow sidebar on page 294 for further details.]
Day 3 of Creation Week: The waters below the heavens are gathered into one place, and the dry land appears. (Gen 1:9) A rock crust, resting on a layer of water, will automatically deform. Portions will subside to the subterranean chamber floor and resemble tapered pillars; other portions will bend upward. [See pages 282-285.] Water above the crust drains into the depressions and dry land appears.
The flood begins suddenly with all the fountains of the great deep bursting open on one day. "Geshem rain" begins. (Gen 7:11) Rupture Phase: A crack propagates around the earth in 2-3 hours, releasing subterranean water. Fountains of muddy water jet high above the earth. Mammoths are frozen in supercold, muddy hail falling from above the atmosphere. The highest velocity water escapes earth and forms comets. Launched rocks become asteroids and meteoroids. [See pages 168-242.]
40 days and 40 nights of "geshem rain" ends. (Gen 7:4,12) Flood Phase: Rising flood waters blanket and suppress the high jetting of the fountains of the great deep. Animals and plants are buried in sediments from the muddy water.
Flood waters rose until the 150th day, when they covered all preflood mountains. (Gen 7:19-24) High-pressure water continues to gush up into the flood waters. Liquefaction sorts sediments and dead plants and animals. Salt domes, coal, and oil begin forming.
150th Day: A wind passes over the earth. Waters begin to subside. Ark lands on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen 8:1-4) Continental-Drift Phase: Mid-Atlantic Ridge buckles up; Atlantic floor rises and Pacific region subsides, so the hydroplates accelerate downhill, sliding on a layer of lubricating water.
When the massive hydroplates decelerate, they are crushed, thickened, buckled, and heated in a gigantic compression event. Overthrusting occurs in some places. Continents take on present shape. As major mountains form, air is displaced, causing a great wind. Earth rolls, and poles shift.
150th - 371st Day: Passengers remain on Ark. Recovery Phase: Hostile environment: earthquakes, inner earth heated, oceanic trenches and methane hydrates form, flood basalts and volcanoes erupt, water drains, continents shift, vegetation reestablished, and Ice Age begins. Lowered sea level facilitates land migration and allows the formation of tablemounts and submarine canyons. Plateaus form. Large continental canyons form by dam breaching.
371st Day: Ark off-loaded. (Gen 8:15-19)
371st Day to the present. [See Table 16 on page 273.]
Now, whether you buy this or not - it is very interesting to consider. Many people deny the flood ever happened - or that it was a localized flood, or that scribes made it up during the Babylonian captivity as a way to keep the Israelis in line (I saw this recently on the Discover Channel).
Vs 13-16
The repeating of the language "in its kind" etc - Hebrew is a repetitive language - repeating things is accepted in that language. The purpose is not to be confusing. We should focus not on what God is excluding but on what God is saving. We always focus on evil and unanswered questions, but the Bible focuses on the good God is doing. Evil is there and God will judge it - but this is the good God is going in the midst of evil.
God closed the door. If it had been up to Noah he might have let the others in. God controls salvation, not us.
Noah preached for 120 years - no one listened.
There is no dress rehearsal for heaven. Either you are in or out. There is no second chance. Once the neighbors figured out that Noah was right - it was too late. It will be too late for those who reject the gospel. There are no second chances to get in that ark.
God is in charge of the door. God had Noah work in it (build the ark) and us (preach the gospel)
Be on the inside of the ark, not the outside and don’t be bothered by how God does it. Ask Him about it when we get there.
Conclusions
What I’m suggesting to you is that
1) You should believe the Bible and unless suggested otherwise take the text at face value. (the New Testament quotes the flood in at least four places -
Matthew 24:36 (The second coming - no warning and no second chance)
Matthew 24:36-44 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 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; 39 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. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
1 Peter 3:20 (Baptism - see below)
2 Peter 2:5 (Judgment and salvation comes from God)
For if God ? spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others ? then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
Hebrews 11:7 (Salvation is by faith)
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
2) There is credible scientific theory that allows the flood to fit into the world as we see it around us - but we shouldn’t rely on whether science can support the Universal Flood as a reason to believe or not believe it.
3) I think whether or not you choose to believe in a literal flood - that the lesson is clear: God judges sin with His wrath and God provides a way of salvation through His grace.
Now there are two pictures that come out of the flood narrative.
1. Baptism
1 Peter 3:20-21 God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The flood is a picture of baptism - an outward sign of an inward act. We place our trust in Jesus Christ as Noah placed His in God. God told him to enter the ark and God tells us to enter the water. What saved Noah was God’s grace - what saves us is Jesus’ resurrection - the sign of it publicly is baptism.
2. The Rapture & Judgment
2 Peter 2:4-10 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)- 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
The flood should be a warning that 1- God will punish sinners and 2- He will rescue those that belong to Him from that wrath.
How is this a picture of the rapture? The rapture, you’ll remember is talked about in Genesis 6.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
The timing of the rapture - before, during, or after the Great Tribulation?
I submit - before - because the Great Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath on the earth.
Revelation 6:15-17 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
God will rescue those to whom He has shown favor through Jesus from wrath, and, I believe, the Great Tribulation.
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