Noahthe one that survived the flood Noah and Enoch's Family TreeSeth became the father of Enosh. Seth lived 912 years, and then he died. Enosh became the father of Kenan. He lived 905 years, and then he died. Kenan became the father of Mahalalel. Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died. Mahalalel .became the father of Jared and lived 895 years, and then he died. Jared became the father of Enoch and lived 962 years, and then he died. Enoch became the father of Methuselah. Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Methuselah became the father of Lamech and lived 969 years, and then he died. Lamech had a son named Noah and lived 777 years, and then he died. Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Genesis 5: 6-32) God's Wrath over Man's LossWhen men began to increase in number on the earth, God said, “..(the man) is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” God saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. So God said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air." But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. (Genesis 6: 1-12) Q : Why is it easy for man's beliefs to drift with the current of the surrounding society?It is the natural law which leads people to follow what's known (maaroof) in the local society, and to treat what's uncommon as a great sin (monkar). This then becomes a belief and religion to the individuals.God Saves NoahSo God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. (Genesis 6: 13-18) Q : Why was it hard on people in Noah's day to expect a real overwhelming flood?Because they had never experienced or heard about any floods before. But the real reason behind their mind blindness was their distancing themselves from God.The Animals that Enter the ArkGod said, "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6: 19-22)
The FloodGod then said to Noah, “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights." And Noah did all that God commanded him. Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Then God shut him in. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains. Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7: 1-12 & 17-24) Q : How do you think the people of Noah's day reacted to the flood?They must have been horrified from the shock as they weren't expecting that God's kindness would be followed by a sweeping anger and judgment.The End of the FloodThen God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark, and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. (Genesis 8: 1-4) Q : Why didn't the raven return after Noah sent it out of the ark to see if there was any dry land?The raven probably found its long-lost and preferred food on the dead bodies that were floating on the surface of the water when it started to recede.God's Promise after the FloodThen God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you." Then Noah built an altar to God and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. God smelled the pleasing aroma and said : “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood, as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter." Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant. I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. He lived 950 years, and then he died. (Genesis 9:29) Q : What do we learn from the sweeping flood that happened in the days of Noah?- We learn that God hates sin as it is an expression of man's disobedience to Him. It certainly brings His fearsome judgment.- We learn that natural laws are God's laws and operate in perfect justice at the right time.- We learn that God is more than capable of working His punishment by Himself, not needing anything from man except a sincere heart that accepts His ways.- We learn that there is no way of rescue except the way that God determines.Discretion and Opinions- Before the flood the ball of the earth was surrounded by a layer of water which was stored behind what the scripture calls the "floodgates of the heavens".- That layer of water was protecting the ball of the earth (like a fetus in the womb) from the harsh universal climate.- The climate of the earth has experienced enormous change since the "floodgates of the heavens" were opened and the earth was flooded. So for instance:* The heat of the sun used to be spread evenly on every part of the earth* There were no ice mountains in the poles nor the extreme heat at the Equator which we experience now* If the ice mountains in the poles melted there would be another flood to cover the earth* These ice mountains were formed when God gave the command for an eastern wind that went along the Equator like a speed jet that caused the waters to part and accumulate at the sides (the poles)* Humidity used to increase at night, allowing the plants to grow in ideal conditions* The surrounding environment before the flood allowed man to live hundreds of years instead of tens of years as is the case since the flood* Man didn't eat animals before the flood. But after the flood he was told, "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you" |
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