The last lesson ended when Noah and his family entered the ark along with all the animals. This lesson describes what happened in the flood. Noah was 600 years old at the time of the flood.
Using the dates given in the genealogy in Genesis, the flood would have occurred 1,656 years after Adam and Eve were created, which was probably about 2,300-2,500 years before the birth of Jesus.
Before we read and think about what happened in the flood, we should review what we know about the environment of the earth at the time of Noah. God had created the earth very good and although sin had corrupted people, the earth itself must have been pretty much the way God had created it.
In the beginning, there was no rain on the earth. Water came up from the ground and watered the surface. Many creation scientists think that at that time there was a canopy of water vapor surrounding the earth above the atmosphere. That canopy would have protected the earth from the harmful rays of the sun and kept it at a perfect temperature, rather like a greenhouse. Because of that protection and the presence of more oxygen in the atmosphere there would have been an abundance of plant life. Plants and animals would have lived a lot longer and have been bigger and healthier than now.
The mountains at that time were probably more like rolling hills since the Bible doesn’t describe any catastrophic events before the Flood.
Genesis 7:11-24 relates the story of what happened in the flood:
11In 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. 12And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
17For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21Every living thing that moved on the earth perished–birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
24The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
The flood occurred when the water under the ground burst forth and the floodgates of heaven were opened. For water to burst out from the ground there must have been massive earthquakes and volcanic activity. That would have caused the ocean floor to have been pushed up and spilled water over the land.
Remember this was not an ordinary flood. The floodgates of heaven opening was no ordinary rain. The vapor canopy above the earth must have condensed causing a torrential rainfall that lasted for forty days and forty nights. There was a huge amount of water.
When floodgates from a dam are opened water pours forth in a torrent that tears away the ground and takes down and carries away whatever is in its path. What it carries with it is buried under mud as it moves along. The same thing happens in a torrential rain.
The Bible says that the flood covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet, about the height of a two-story house. If the earth were a smooth sphere without mountains or basins for the oceans, there is enough water in the oceans to cover the earth with water to a depth of about 8, 500 feet, which would be more than 1 ½ miles deep. That is a lot of water and during the flood, that massive amount of water changed the face of the earth.
The trip on the ark was not an easy ocean cruise. Everything was in turmoil. When God created the earth, it had been an idyllic place to live. In the flood, he was destroying wickedness and the earth was in turmoil. The flood was a catastrophic event.
Catastrophic means a violent and sudden change. The earth would never again be the same as it was in the beginning. The face of it and much about it was changed, all because people wouldn’t submit to the God who created and provided for them.
Evil is contrary to the nature of God and it will be judged by him. God warns people of the consequences of their evil. God is long-suffering but that doesn’t mean that he tolerates evil forever. Psalm 37:1-2 says, 1Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
We need to remember that God hates evil. Like Noah, we should strive to live rightly with God. Evil people will die away but those who love God will spend eternity with him.
We are all inclined to do wrong. It is only through coming to believe in Jesus and submitting ourselves to him that our inclination to do wrong can be changed. If we devote ourselves to the one, true, Creator God as Noah did, God will watch over and protect us.
Anytime something bad happens to us that we can’t control, it can cause us to humble ourselves and seek God. When we turn to God, he accepts us so that we aren’t separated from him for all eternity. If in the midst of recognizing, they were going to be destroyed the people cried out to God, then the flood would have been a good thing in their lives.
- Overview Questions: Where did the water that flooded the earth come from? For how long did it flood? How much water covered the earth? What happened to life on earth?
- Thought Questions: Why would a loving God wipe out everything on earth? What can be learned from the flood?
- Prayer: Thank God that although he is loving and merciful he is also a just judge. Thank him that although you are guilty of sin and doing evil he has made a way through Jesus to pay the penalty for your sin. Pray that you would want to live rightly and please God and be truly devoted to him.
- Memory Verse: Psalm 37:1-2
1Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
What will happen to evil men? Evil men will die away.