Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Genesis chapter 7 as we continue our study through the Word of God. In our last study we saw how sin infected the human race through Adam’s sin and now that sin has grown to epidemic proportions. This was so bad that we are told, “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. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:5-8.
Because of sin, God was going to destroy the world by a flood and yet we see His grace and mercy extended to Noah and his family. Noah was to build an ark to save his family, to save the animals and birds from destruction. And not only would it be through Noah and his family that the world would be repopulated but it would be through the linage of Noah that the Messiah, the seed of the woman would come. Tonight in our study we will pick-up with the ark being completed, 120 years of work done and now the judgment. So with that said, let’s begin reading in Genesis chapter 7, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE
1
Notice the Lord did not say, “NOAH, get into that ark!” No, God invited Noah to come in and Noah had a free will, he didn’t have to go, but he and his family did obey, they walked by faith and not by sight. We see another invitation in Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.’” In other words, think about your sin, that you can’t cleanse yourself, but the Lord can, thus, come to Him! Also, in Matthew 11:28 we are told, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” God invites us to come in, to enter into that relationship with Him, but He doesn’t force us to come. And lastly, in Revelation 22:17 we are told, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Always an invitation, He does not force us!
Why was Noah righteous before God? I believe it was based on his faith in God that was then manifested in his actions, in his obedience to God. It is as Paul said in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
VERSES 2-9
Here is something that is often missed when the story of Noah is taught. Did you know that Noah entered the ark 7 days before the first rain drop fell and probably before the first cloud appeared! That is walking by faith, trusting in the Lord and not by sight, looking at things from a purely human perspective.
Also notice that Noah didn’t have to go out looking for these animals, but God brought them to Noah and they freely entered the ark. Two by two they came, 7 of the clean animals and 2 of the unclean animals, plus the birds and they all entered the ark to be saved and to propagate their species.
VERSES 10-12
Can you imagine Noah’s sons after a few days of being in the ark, just sitting there, maybe hearing the people outside mocking them. “Hey dad, are you sure about this? Maybe you were in the sun too long!” It truly was a test of faith on Noah’s part. And when that first drop of rain fell, I bet the mocking immediately stopped from those outside and now there were their cries of despair. But it was too late, the door was shut, their fate was sealed. Many are like that today, mocking the coming judgment of God and yet, one day their mocking will stop and it will be too late, the door will be shut!
Now, where did all that water come from for it to rain 40 days and 40 nights and cover the face of the earth? You see, if all the water in our preset atmosphere were suddenly to precipitate out, it would only cover the ground to an average depth of less than 2 inches. So what happened, where did the water come from?
In Genesis chapter 1 we read of a vapor canopy that encircled the earth. This invisible vapor canopy could contain vast amounts of water and acted as a global greenhouse causing a topical climate around the world. Now many laugh at that kind of thinking, but look at the evidence and see for yourself. We have found around the world the fossil remains of plants and animals that support this. We have found fossils of asparagus ferns that are 50 feet tall. Mosses grew to 2 to 3 feet high instead of just an inch or so today. Horsetail reeds reached heights of 50 feet; today they grow just 5 or 6 feet tall. Redwood forests are found buried under massive ice deposits in the South Polar region. And two islands within the Article Circle, the New Siberian Islands (now called Novosibirskiye Ostrova Islands), and the Spitzbergen Islands (now called Svalbard Islands) have both been found to have entombed in immense frozen gravel mounds entire fruit trees with the fruit still on them.
Thus, this water vapor canopy would help give the entire planet a universally warm temperature. It would be like a giant terrarium causing a tropical weather pattern all over the world and it would be a perfect environment for life to grow and flourish, as the fossil record supports.
And so, when this water canopy emptied out its water on the earth, there was a vast amount to be unleashed, for 40 days and 40 nights. But that was not the only source of water to bring about this flood. The Bible also tells us that “the fountains of the great deep were broken up.” These waters speak of the subterranean pools, or “fountains” of fresh water, which were broken open by volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity. These fountains would have supplied the rivers in the Garden of Eden, as well as the pre-flood earth.
That phrase, “broken up” that is used here is speaking of “cleaving open.” This implies to me great volcanic explosions and eruptions were occurring. Tremendous earthquakes occurred. The question we must ask ourselves is this. “Do we see evidence to support this kind of cataclysmic activity in the fossil record, in the rock layers? And the answer is, “Yes we do!”
Listen to what Dr. Steven Austin says regarding Yellowstone National Park. He said:
“Ask a geologist, ‘What is Yellowstone National Park?’ And you are likely to get the answer, “Yellowstone is a gigantic, collapsed volcano.’ . . . The size and scale of the collapsed volcano are so huge that they prevented the earlier generation of geologists from properly appreciating the ancient explosions which formed Yellowstone’s landscape. Aided by satellite photos and detailed geologic maps, a new generation of geologists has recently outlined an elliptical depression which is now interpreted as a caldera, the collapsed crater structure formed after an extremely explosive volcanic eruption. The colossal structure is 75 by 45 kilometers (47 by 28 miles), comprises one-third of the area of the National Park, and is appropriately called Yellowstone Caldera. About 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of rhyolite magma [a kind of volcanic rock] were explosively extruded to form the surrounding ash deposits.”
“Yellowstone Caldera is eclipsed by evidence of an even larger volcanic collapse structure at Yellowstone. That larger and older caldera, now largely obscured by later geologic process, extends from Island Park (eastern Idaho) eastward at least to central Yellowstone, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles)! Its explosion products, called the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff . . . formed from the eruption of an astounding 2,500 cubic kilometers (600 cubic miles) of magma.”
“How much energy was involved in the biggest eruptions at Yellowstone? Scaling of the magma volume shows the energy of the biggest Yellowstone eruption was about 3,000 times that of the nine-hour eruption of Mount St. Helen’s on May 18, 1980. The biggest Yellowstone eruption (~ 2 million megatons of TNT equivalent energy) had more than one hundred times the energy of the world’s inventory of nuclear weapons (~ 12,000 megatons TNT equivalent energy) . . . A safe distance to witness an event of such colossal magnitude would be from a higher orbit of the Space Shuttle!”
“ . . . Ancient explosive volcanoes have erupted with hundreds of thousands of times the energy power as their modern counter parts . . . The catastrophist might look at the smaller explosive eruptions of modern times as indicative of a long-term decline in the energy and power of volcanoes compared to the more distant past. The catastrophist’s presuppositional framework anticipates more energetic volcanism and tectonics during and immediately following the global event called Noah’s flood. The catastrophist says declining volcanic power with time is what we should see in the geological record.” And folks, that is exactly what we see!
Now, why the number “forty”? Forty is the number that is associated in the Scriptures with testing and purification. Moses was on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18, Deuteronomy 9:25). The spies’ time in the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:25). Israel’s time in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33, 32:13). Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:13).
VERSES 13-16
God is a God of order and He is in control of the events that are transpiring here. Everything is very orderly, the animals are coming and entering the ark along with Noah and his family, 8 people in all!
After everyone was in Noah closed the door, got his Master Lock out and locked the door, right? No, that is wrong! God shut the door and within that ark was salvation for Noah and his family, but outside the ark was death and destruction, the judgment of God! Folks, in this I see the security we have in Christ, He is the door, He closes the door and thus, it is the Lord who saves us and it is the Lord who keeps us secure in our salvation – not one will be lost! Also, when the door of salvation closes, it is over. Yes, God is patient, He is longsuffering but the Day of Judgment is coming and if you are not in Christ, you will face His wrath!
VERSES 17-23
Now, when you read this, does it sound like a local flood? Of course not but there are many Christians who believe this. For instance, Dr. Hugh Ross defends his stance on a local flood theory as he tells us:
“But here are some reasons why, physical reasons why, the flood cannot be global. Number one is the limited extent of sin. Given that human beings had not yet civilized and inhabited Antarctica, there’d be no need for God to flood Antarctica because there’d be no sin there in Antarctica.
“There’d be no need for God to kill off all the penguins because those penguins had no contact with reprobate humanity. And in that case, I don’t think Noah took any penguins on board the ark . . . Only bird and mammal species, according to the Levitical Law, can be impacted by sin.”
- Toccoa Falls College, Staley Lecture Series, March, 1997
That contradicts what the Bible says. Sin infected all of mankind and God was going to judge them for their sin, except for Noah and his family. And just in case you didn’t realize this, penguins live in other parts of the world, including the Galapagos Islands near the Equator, so thank God Noah brought them on board or they would have disappeared in the flood!
The Scriptures also tell us that the floodwaters covered the highest mountain by 15 cubits or about 22 feet. Now we must remember that the landmass of today was probably a lot different from the time of Noah. There were probably not vast mountain ranges that we see today but these mountain ranges are a result of the flood and the displacement of the water. In other words, water would not need to be 17,000 feet high to cover the mountains of Ararat because they probably were not that high until after the flood, when the waters began to recede, and then the mountains rose.
Now this 22 feet is probably speaking of the draught or draft of the ark. In other words it speaks of how much the ark sank into the water when it was fully loaded. Thus, the depth of the water had to be at least 22 feet so that the ark could freely float without being damaged by the rocks and the mountains it might run into if the water level was less. But again, the mountains, if they were there, were not that high.
If there really was a flood, a global one, and not just a local flood like we see today, then there should be evidence that has been left behind to show us it happened. And as you look all over this earth you will find millions of dead things, buried in rock layers, laid down by water, all over the earth. In other words, a flood occurred on global proportions!
When you look at the earth’ surface and sedimentary crust, it bears witness to a previous worldwide flood and not to these layers being laid down slowly, over millions or billions of years. Let me give you several examples to help support this idea:
A. When you look at all the mountains of the world, they must have been under water at some time in the past, for they contain sedimentary rocks and marine fossils near their summits.
B. Most of the earth’s crust consists of sedimentary rocks, in which almost all were formed under water, usually by deposition by water from various sources. (Some have apparently been formed by wind, glaciers, or other agents, but by far the largest part of sedimentary rocks are aqueous in origin)!
C. There seems to be a global continuity of sedimentary formations that formed very rapidly as a product of continuous, rapid deposition of sediments.
D. When you look at the fossil record, instead of representing the evolution of life over many ages, the fossils really speak of the destruction of life. Understand that fossils are nothing more than dead things, catastrophically buried for preservation before they could be eaten by other animal’s and-so-on.
E. Throughout the world there are traditions of the Great Flood account in hundreds of tribes, all which are very similar in one way or another to the Genesis account. Thus, we see strong evidence that those tribes all originated from one family, preserved through this cataclysmic event, and after the flood dispersed throughout the world, passing on the account of the flood to future generations.
And think about it. If there was no global flood, why did Noah need to build the ark, it would be unnecessary! If there was only a local flood then the Bible is wrong and if we can’t trust the Bible here, then we can’t trust it anywhere! But there was a global flood; the evidence for it is everywhere!
VERSE 24
How did all these animals live on the ark for the 378 days? Possibly God gave them the ability to hibernate, which meant they would need less food to eat. That is a very strong possibility.
The waters remained steady for 110 days after it rained for those forty days and forty nights and the fountains of the deep were broken up – 150 days this went on. But then what happened? Let’s read on and see.
GENESIS
8
VERSE 1
Please don’t think that God forgot about Noah and his family. “I know I forgot about something. Didn’t I put 8 people in a boat with a bunch of animals and birds about 150 days ago? Now where did they go?” What we see here is an anthropomorphism or a non-literal picture of God in human terms so that we can understand. God didn’t forget Noah, He was now ready to turn His attention back to Him and intervene. It was in God’s timing. We find ourselves at times in situations and wonder if God is sleeping or not paying attention or He just forgot about us. He has not, He remembers us constantly, it just may not be the time for Him to intervene, but He knows exactly what we are going through. It is as Psalm 121:3-4 tells us, “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.” That is our God!
How did God intervene? He did so by sending a wind to blow across the waters, causing them to subside. Here is the chronology of the flood to help give you a perspective of what took place.
There were forty days during which the rain fell and the fountains of the deep were broken up 40
Throughout another 110 days the waters continued to rise, making 150 days in all for their “prevailing” (7:24) 110
The waters occupied 74 days in their ‘going and decreasing’ (AV margin). This was from the 17th day of the seventh month to the 1st day of the tenth month (8:5). There being 30 days to a month, the figures in days are 13 plus 30 plus 30 plus 1 74
Forty days elapsed before Noah sent out the raven (8:6-7) 40
Seven days elapsed before Noah
sent out the dove for the first time (8:8). This period is necessary
for reaching the total and is given by implication from the phrase
“another seven days” (8:10)
7
Seven days more passed before the third sending of the dove (8:12) 7
Up to this point 285 days are accounted for, but the next episode is dated the 1st month in the 601st year. From the date in 7:11 to this point in 8:13 is a period of 314 days; therefore an interval of 29 days elapses 29
For the removal of the covering of the ark to the very end of the experience as a further 57 days (8:14) 57
TOTAL = 371
- John C. Whitcomb and Henry Morris, The Genesis Flood, p. 3
Thus, if you add the 7 days they waited in the ark before the floodwaters came, the total time was 378 days in the ark before they came out! Now it would appear that the flood attained its maximum depth after the first forty days and continued to maintain this level for an additional 110 days before beginning to assuage or recede. Never since the world was formed could there ever been such extensive erosion of soil and rock beds, on a global scale, as during the Genesis Flood. Never before or since could there have been such favorable conditions for the formation of fossiliferous [a rock containing fossils] strata. In fact, almost all of the sedimentary rocks of the earth, which are the ones that contain fossils and from which the supposed geological history of the earth has been largely deduced, have been laid down by moving waters.
Folks, there really was a flood and a man named Noah. As you look all over the earth, there is evidence of Noah’s flood, from seabed to mountaintop. Wherever you look, the physical features of the earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past, from canyons and craters to local coal beds and caverns. Approximately 75% of the earth’s crust is sedimentary rock and it was not laid down over millions of years but during the time of the flood! These layers of sand, soil, and material – mostly laid down by water – were once soft mud, but now have hardened like stone. Buried in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things, the fossils of plants and animals that have been buried very, very quickly!
VERSES 2-5
So as the waters began to recede, the ark rested in the mountains of Ararat, which has a height of some 17,000 feet, rising up during the time of the flood! It would be here that Noah, his family and all the animal and bird life would depart to propagate the earth, repopulate the earth after being in the ark for some 378 days!
VERSES 6-12
The raven will feed on garbage and dead things, thus, he didn’t return. But the dove did return because the dove was not satisfied with garbage. Then the dove came back a second time and he came back with an olive leaf and Noah waited another seven days, sent the dove out and he did not return. The waters receded; life was coming back to the land.
How does that relate to us? The old life, the old nature loves to feed on the garbage of this world, the filth. But the new life we have in Christ is not satisfied with that kind of life, nor should it be!
Also, the Holy Spirit, like a dove, is searching, is looking for a place that He can rest, He is drawing people to Jesus and once that happens, the Holy Spirit indwells us.
VERSES 13-19
It is disembarking day and I bet they had some sea legs at this point! What I find interesting here is that the Lord first called Noah to “Come” and enter the ark, that rest that is only found in God and now He tells Noah to “Go”. In other words, before we can go and tell others of Jesus we need to come into that relationship with Him. We need to be saved. You can’t give to others what you yourself don’t possess! Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20, “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” First come to Him and then go and tell others of Him is the idea here.
VERSES 20-22
What is the first thing Noah does as he leaves the ark besides praising the Lord for getting him out of that boat? He worships the Lord through sacrifice and it was a costly sacrifice. It did cost him something, as there were only a limited number of animals. Folks, our sacrifice to God should cost us something or it is empty. It may cost us our time, our energy, our resources, whatever it may be, but it needs to cost you something. Remember what David said in II Samuel 24:22-24, “Now Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the LORD your God accept you.’ Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” May we have that same heart towards the Lord. Think of the sacrifice that God made for us, and not give to Him our seconds or thirds.
In Malachi 1:7-8 we see him rebuke the people of God for their unacceptable sacrifice to the Lord. We are told, “‘You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, 'In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?’ Says the LORD of hosts.” May we offer to God a sacrifice that will be sweet smelling in His sight!
Why did Noah offer a sacrifice to God? Yes, to praise Him and worship Him, but I also see here another reason. You see, the external flood will not take away the internal depravity of man. Thus, these sacrifices would only temporarily cover their sins and point to the perfect sacrifice that was to come, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who came to take AWAY the sins of the world!
Interestingly enough, at about the 6,000 to 7,000 foot level in the foothills of Mount Ararat, in the eastern most boarder to Turkey, is an altar. This could be the altar that Noah built to worship the Lord as he exited the ark.
If this was a local flood folks, God lied. God is saying here and in Genesis 9:11 that He will never destroy the earth by a flood again. If this was a local flood, and since there have been many local floods, that would make God a liar. But it was not a local flood, God is not a liar, and the earth has never been destroyed again by a worldwide flood, just as God said.
Now we also see here the seasons, something that was not around before this water canopy was removed from the earth. Before the flood the world was tropical, from the North Pole to the South Pole. But now, since the flood, since that water canopy was removed, we have winter and summer, at least here in Wisconsin, we don’t seem to have fall and spring. And since the flood and the change in the climate, many species have become extinct!
The vast amounts of coal deposits are the result of large amounts of plant life that grew at one time all over the world, from the North Pole to the South Pole, that was suddenly swept away and as it was covered with layers of mud, these huge masses of vegetation carbonized by heat and by enormous weight pressures, into the coal and fossil fuels were have today. This process we don’t see going on today or if it is it is at a very slow rate, but it had obviously occurred in the past, we have the evidence.
When you look at the millions of fossils we have, you have to come to the conclusion that something catastrophic occurred to not only kill these creatures, but also to bury them completely which allowed them to become fossilized. You see, virtually the only way for a body to avoid decomposition is to be buried very quickly, completely, and deeply, thus sealing it from the decomposers, that is the scavengers, bacteria and-so-on. We actually have fish that have been fossilized as they were in the process of eating another fish, so this had to occur very rapidly!
Folks, when you look at the evidence that is out there, you can see the remains of a devastating flood, brought on because of the wickedness of man, to destroy all but 8 people and the animals and birds that were aboard the ark. There is coming another judgment that we get to warn people of and only those that are in Christ will be saved from it. May we proclaim the truths of God found in the Word of God and see the Spirit of God transform people’s lives as He has done with ours!