Originally posted 8/13/25
Genesis 6:5-8, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” The Lord was grieved by the behavior of men. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for every thought to have been evil. What would that have looked like?
We know from the previous article that God told Noah and his family to enter the ark. He was to take animals with him as well. You can read that article here.
Genesis 7:16 “And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.” There was one door in the side of the ark.God would seal this one and only door shut. Noah was unable to open it or seal it. It was the only way for God’s plan to work. This idea is a parallel for Christ. In John 10:9, Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” There is only one way to God and that is through Christ.
The Bible says there was a flood so I take that as absolute truth. I have never questioned it, while many have. According to www.gotquestions.org, “Anthropologists have catalogued hundreds of ancient flood legends from all over the world. The ancient Babylonians, Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals, Aztecs, Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Mayans, Inuits, and many others recorded flood stories. Further, their stories share many similarities to the Genesis account, including an angry god and people who survived the flood in a boat.”
According to the Ark Encounter display, “The flood begins on the 17th day of the second month of Noah’s 600th year all the waters of the great deep and all the waters from the sky let loose upon the earth. Great fissures form in the earth’s crust.” Part of this is taken directly from Genesis 7:11, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.“ Imagine with me for a moment what it might have been like for the windows of the heavens to be opened and rain to pummel the earth. I can visualize the windows opening and rain falling like the floodgates have been opened.
A few years ago we received a tremendous amount of rain rather quickly. The force of the rainwater washed out a portion of our yard where the field drains into our gully. For a time, we had our own little waterfall in our backyard. The heavy rain caused damage. However, this event was minor compared to what the earth would have experienced during the flood.
As the fissures widened, the earth’s crust came into contact with water from the sea. This caused massive jets of steam which generated heavy global rainfall. As we know from Scripture, this lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. I had not given much thought to the force of the water. The earth had an upper atmosphere of water that created tsunami conditions when it began to fall to the earth.
It is known as the “canopy theory. According to www.gotquestions.org, “The canopy theory seeks to explain the reference in Genesis 1:6 to “the waters above the firmament,” assuming that “firmament,” or “expanse,” as the Hebrew word is alternatively translated, refers to our atmosphere. According to the canopy theory, there was a canopy of water above the atmosphere until the cataclysm of Noah’s day, at which point it disappeared either by collapsing upon the earth or dissipating into space.” We know from Genesis 2:5-6, “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground–” There was water under the ground that would have escaped from the fissures.
Sediment was carried away as well creating additional erosion. Plants and animals were buried by the force of the water as well as from the sediment. Many fossils have been found and it is believed that they were formed in this way. Also, Biblical experts believe that the grooves in rocks were formed by the massive force of water during the flood as well as creation.
According to John MacArthur—“A worldwide rain for this length of time is impossible in post-flood atmospheric conditions, but not then. The canopy that covered the whole earth (see note on 1:7), a thermal water blanket encircling the earth, was to be condensed and dumped all over the globe (7:10).” Again, I hadn’t really realized what a 40 day rain actually looked like. The rain was violent.
Have you ever wondered what went through the people’s minds not on the ark. I suspect many died quickly, but did everyone? Did people have time to regret their choices?
Scripture speaks of Noah often. God used many authors in the Bible to recount the story of Noah. It figures prominently in God’s story.
Isaiah 54:9: “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.”
[Matthew 24:37-39 “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
1 Peter 3:20: “because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”
2 Peter 2:5, “if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;”
Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
It never fails to amaze me how Scripture weaves the story of God’s plan for us. I heard a statistic recently that stated that 49% of Americans do not believe the events of Genesi actually happened. Many of this 49% of the people are people who believe the Bible to be true. I personally cannot believe in anything other than a creation story. I know some people combine their Biblical beliefs with some amount of evolution. I am not convinced that I see that in Scripture.
I also found this research and the results are interesting. You can read about it here. I have put the graphic results here for you to look at. Creationism poll: How many Americans believe the Bible is literal, inerrant, or symbolic.
flood
Based on the above survey, it seems we have some work to do and it starts in Genesis. Do you firmly believe in the account in Genesis? Can you find anything in Scripture to dispute it? How would you have answered these questions?
#faith, #Bible, #Scriptures, #Christian Women, #Discipleship, #womenintheBible, #flood