Today we will be looking at the story of the Flood. It is found in Genesis 6-9. Take a few minutes now and read those chapters.
This story is very important to not only our Christian beliefs, but also in world history and geography. It is vital that you view this "story" as more than just that. That you believe that it actually happened - and happened the way that it is written about here in Genesis.
First off, we see that the earth is so wicked and perverse that God has no choice but to start over. The depravity of man and our sinfulness since the Garden of Eden has grown like an uncontrollable virus.
There is an interesting theory about verses 1-4 of chapter 6. When it talks about the sons of God and the daughters of men. Conservative people believe that this means that the sons of God (Seth's descendants) intermarried with the daughters of men (Cain's descendants) and thus "infected" the bloodline.
More liberal interpretations have the sons of God being the "fallen angels" (demons), marrying the daughters of men.
Regardless of the interpretation, these dudes were massive!!! We see this come up again later on in the Old Testament in the story of David and Goliath. Goliath is what the Bible called a Nephilim (vs 4) giants over 9 feet tall.
Anyway, things are SO bad that ONLY Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
So God comes to Noah and tells him of His plan. He gives Noah specific directions of how to build it, and what should be put in it. You can read all about it in 6:13-7:5.
Here is a pic of how big this thing really was!
Now having the information and putting into practice is a whole other thing! We looked at the time it must have taken Noah to build this ark. While probably not 100% build time, we see that in Genesis 5:32 that Noah is 500 years old when he becomes a father. Then in Genesis 7:6, he is 600 years old when the flood begins.
While he might not have been building for 100 years, it is more than obvious that Noah was not "slapping this together" over the weekend!!!
Let's just camp on this for a second. When we feel God telling us to do something and we follow through in faith, would we continue in faith this long? (Proportionately, of course! We don't live to be 900 years old anymore) But what is this telling us about Noah's faith? It tells us that Noah believed God even when it looked like the thing would NEVER come true! Even when he was building a MASSIVE boat in the middle of a field miles away from water!!! Even when everyone around him thought that he was a moron for doing what he was doing! He kept doing what God called him to do!
We need to follow Noah's example! If we believe God has called us to do something, we need to stick it out. Even if it looks impossible. Even if everyone around us calls us crazy. Even if our own family thinks we are more than a bit nuts!!! How is your faith? Is it even close to what Noah's was? We obviously know what those yahoos who laughed at Noah felt like when the floods came!!!
Most people believe that the earth looked like this before the flood. It would help explain a few things.
1. How all the animals got to the ark.
2. How a worldwide flood would be easier to achieve
3. How the "Fountains of the Deep" (7:11) helped break up the continents and supply the needed water to flood the entire earth.
Here is a cool video that shows what it might have looked like.
There is an interesting theory about verses 1-4 of chapter 6. When it talks about the sons of God and the daughters of men. Conservative people believe that this means that the sons of God (Seth's descendants) intermarried with the daughters of men (Cain's descendants) and thus "infected" the bloodline.
More liberal interpretations have the sons of God being the "fallen angels" (demons), marrying the daughters of men.
Regardless of the interpretation, these dudes were massive!!! We see this come up again later on in the Old Testament in the story of David and Goliath. Goliath is what the Bible called a Nephilim (vs 4) giants over 9 feet tall.
Anyway, things are SO bad that ONLY Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
So God comes to Noah and tells him of His plan. He gives Noah specific directions of how to build it, and what should be put in it. You can read all about it in 6:13-7:5.
Here is a pic of how big this thing really was!
Now having the information and putting into practice is a whole other thing! We looked at the time it must have taken Noah to build this ark. While probably not 100% build time, we see that in Genesis 5:32 that Noah is 500 years old when he becomes a father. Then in Genesis 7:6, he is 600 years old when the flood begins.
While he might not have been building for 100 years, it is more than obvious that Noah was not "slapping this together" over the weekend!!!
Let's just camp on this for a second. When we feel God telling us to do something and we follow through in faith, would we continue in faith this long? (Proportionately, of course! We don't live to be 900 years old anymore) But what is this telling us about Noah's faith? It tells us that Noah believed God even when it looked like the thing would NEVER come true! Even when he was building a MASSIVE boat in the middle of a field miles away from water!!! Even when everyone around him thought that he was a moron for doing what he was doing! He kept doing what God called him to do!
We need to follow Noah's example! If we believe God has called us to do something, we need to stick it out. Even if it looks impossible. Even if everyone around us calls us crazy. Even if our own family thinks we are more than a bit nuts!!! How is your faith? Is it even close to what Noah's was? We obviously know what those yahoos who laughed at Noah felt like when the floods came!!!
Most people believe that the earth looked like this before the flood. It would help explain a few things.
1. How all the animals got to the ark.
2. How a worldwide flood would be easier to achieve
3. How the "Fountains of the Deep" (7:11) helped break up the continents and supply the needed water to flood the entire earth.
Here is a cool video that shows what it might have looked like.
I am not a scientist, so I'm not going to try and sound like one here! But the flood explains a lot of things scientifically. Things from fossils to the Grand Canyon can be traced back to the flood. You can easily find these on the internet with a few clicks.
Here are a couple of cool sites that I found, take a moment and look at the info on them.
http://www.squidoo.com/noahsarkfound
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/flood.htm
Finally, another application that we can take out of the Flood of Noah is this: it is a beautiful image of salvation!
If we take us as, well us. Jesus as the Ark. God being God. The flood represents the punishment that we deserve.
God despises sin and He is as opposed to it today as He was back then. He has called a certain few people to the safety of the ark. The major problem is that people have to believe that a flood is coming! That the boat in the middle of a field without any water near it is the ONLY way out!
Just as in Noah's day, people think that they have a very long time to make things right with God - or they believe that there is no consequence for their sin. They might even mock those of us who have trusted in Jesus already.
But the Bible clearly tells us that there will be a day of reckoning. That each man and woman will have to account for their sin.
When we realize that we all deserve to be crushed by the "flood", it makes the gift of salvation even greater! God laid down His Son's life for us so that we may walk into that ark. That we can be saved!
Take a minute and thank God for the gift of salvation that He has given you. Or seriously ask yourself, "If the flood came today, would I be swimming - or in the ark?". I pray that it is the first one!
God bless,
Chris
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