The Flood
The Flood
Gen 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:11-15
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has
come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold,
I will destroy them with the earth. "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make
rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. "And this is how
you shall make it . . ."
he earth had become completely corrupt so God sent a great flood to punish
sinful mankind but He would not break His promise to redeem man so He preserved
the lives of Noah and His family as well as two of every kind of living creature
in an ark (a large wooden ship).
Gen 7:13-16
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 - 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. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in
which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all
flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.
The Ark was about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three decks and was divided into compartments. Calculations have been
made estimating that there was room in the Ark for 7000 species of animals.
Gen 7:11-12
. . . on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the
windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and
forty nights.
The flood covered the entire world. After a period of 150 days the Ark rested
on Mt. Ararat (17,000 ft.) 200 miles North of the ancient city of Ninevah.
Before the flood there was kind of a vapor canopy that enveloped the whole
earth which preserved it in probably a tropical atmosphere so that people were
recorded as living up to ages of 900 - 950 years, but when the upper waters were
released upon the earth, lifespans were decreased and the physical
characteristics of the world changed dramatically. After the flood, God put the fear of man
on the animals, and gave man permission to eat animals for food. God commanded
the death penalty for murder and ordered that men establish a form of justice.
Gen 9:6
"Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image
of God he made man.
God also put a rainbow in the sky to be a constant reminder that He would
never destroy the world again by water. Yet right after the flood, Noah's son,
Ham, sinned against God by showing disrespect to his father, Noah (Gen 9) and Noah
cursed Ham's son, Canaan, why we are not told. Then God spoke through Noah
again and prophesied about his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and also that
the Messiah would come through Shem's family, and Japheth's family would share in
that salvation.
The Story of the Bible