Journey Through Genesis- The Flood (Gen. 6-9:17) by: Francis Jackson

 The story of the flood is one of the greatest stories of faith recorded. The story is prepped by one of the boldest and graphic illustrations of the wickedness of man. Although the sons of God (fallen angels) are highlighted as the life of the party (Gen. 6:2-4) being that they are the only detailed subjects mentioned, this wickedness referred to was in relation to all men (6:5-8). Evidence is that all of reproductive creation (man and animals) was destroyed, not just those possessed by the sons of God. Noah was the only one spared (6:13,18) along with a pair of every animal in order for the world to repopulate afterwards (6:19). In this story, Noah is told to build an ark in a time when rain was foreign. Nowhere in the text prior to the flood is rain recorded. In the beginning, a mist came up from the earth and watered the whole ground (2:5-6). However, the ground was cursed after the fall so the mist that came up dried out forcing man to work harder to produce crops (3:17-19). How do we know it didn't rain? It could have just not been recorded? Well the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 11 that Noah was "divinely warned of things not yet seen"-v.7 (NKJV). So Noah, being on dry grounds, having never seen rain, but was told to build a huge boat in preparation for a great flood. Not only that, but that the boat would take 120 years to build (6:3). Talk about faith?! A cubit is about 18 inches, so doing the math, this boat was 450ft long, 75ft wide, and 45ft high, and he had to gather and prepare the wood himself. There is no greater faith than to go through all that trouble preparing for something that was absolutely blasphemous at the time. But he did it cause God told him to. So Noah finished the ark, which took 120 years and brought in his family and the animals all in the same day to enter the boat (7:13-14) and God got to work with the scheduled destruction. The rain and flood came (7:17-20), all flesh was destroyed with the exception of those in the ark (7:21-23), and Noah, through his obedience, was delivered (8:15). God made a new covenant with creation (9:1-7) and established His everlasting covenant with Noah (9:11-17).