1, Introduction

The Genesis Flood can be seen as a reset in many ways back to Genesis 1:2 –“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters covering the Earth”. However, there is no change to the sinful nature, and this is clear when you see the events following the Flood.

2, The Great Wickedness upon the Earth

There has been a lot of discussion about this intermarriage between the sons of God and the daughters of men. There are two main lines of thought:-

1. The sons of God were from the line of Enoch who still followed the Lord, and the daughters of men were those from the apostate line of Cain. How this relates to there being giants as an offspring is troublesome to understand.
2. The sons of God are fallen angels (demonic) who are able to have sexual relations with the daughters of men (human females) and produce offspring that are giants. How demons (spiritual beings) can have sexual intercourse with women (physical beings) and pass on their DNA is troublesome. An objection offered to this understanding is found in Matthew 22:30, where Jesus said angels neither marry nor are given in marriage; but Jesus never said angels were sexless, and He was also speaking about faithful angelic beings (angels of God in heaven), not rebellious one. This interpretation has become the most prominent thought and seems to be backed up by other Scripture verses in the New Testament. See Jude 6. 1 Peter 3:19-20 tells us Jesus went to these disobedient spirits in their prison and proclaimed His victory on the cross over them.

Whatever the full truth of what is happening in this narrative then it seems to be the final straw for God. We are not told all the theological reasons, but they had to be wiped out.

3. God’s Patience Runs Out

God’s patience does have its limits. He is long suffering. He still allows another 120 years. This is not the outside lifespan of man, but the time left until the judgment of the flood. The flood happened 120 years after this announcement. We are awaiting the return of Jesus Christ to execute judgment upon those who are wicked. Like in the days of Noah Jesus said. The time is coming whenever God essentially says, “enough is enough”.

4. The Sins at the Time of Noah

The world was corrupt in the eyes of God. There are those that will think that things are okay morally in the world. The only opinion that matters is the opinion of God. There was violence everywhere. Jesus tells us that the world will be in the same condition before He returns to the Earth. See Luke 17:26-27.

Noah is described as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), meaning he had spent those 120 years warning his friends and neighbours what the Holy God was about to do. No one listened. Life went on as normal despite the depravity and violence. Noah was scoffed at an mocked for his warnings.

God calls Noah to build the Ark

God calls Noah and his family to build an Ark so that they will be saved from the flood. A life size model of the Ark can be seen at Ark Encounter project in Kentucky. The dimensions of the Ark are given to Noah. They are to enter the Ark and bring in 2 of every kind of animal (male and female)  and bring in a storage of food. There are to be seven pairs of “clean” animals before the sacrificial system.

Noah will be 600 years old when the flood comes. The water comes from three sources below (deep), windows of the heavens (water vapour) and rain fell. This may have been the first time it had rained.

The animals all enter the Ark along with Noah and his family. It is the Lord that led the animals, Noah and He shuts the door of the Ark. The Flood covers the mountains over the whole Earth and everything on the dry land is wiped out. The water is on the Earth for 150 days which is a long time to be on a boat!

God causes a wind to blow, and the rain stopped, and the waters start to go down. The Ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat. Noah had sent out birds to see if the waters were going down during the 150 days.

Then Noah, his family and animals are let out of the Ark with the command to go forth and multiply. Noah builds an altar and sacrifices to the Lord. The sinful nature of man has still not changed but God saw the need to intervene as things had gotten so bad.

Categories: Genesis

Tags: bible, faith, flood, Genesis, noah