First uploaded: May 2024
THE FLOOD
Images with memory verse hints are at the bottom of the post!
1. BIBLE CHAPTER
Genesis 6 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6&version=NIV
A. Memory verse
i. Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6%3A5&version=NIV
2. THEMES
A. God’s love and patience
B. Sin and wickedness
C. Punishment and protection
D. God’s care – for humans and animals
E. God’s care for our needs
3. QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
A. Why did God need to destroy the earth and instruct Noah to build an ark?
B. What is “wickedness”?
C. Have you ever been hurt by someone’s wickedness?
D. Have you ever hurt someone by being wicked?
E. How does wickedness hurt God?
F. What is another name for wickedness starting with “s”?
G. Think of a memory verse that tells us how to get wickedness, also called “sin”, out of our lives. (1 John 1:9)
H. What are some Bible verses and stories that show us that God is very patient, kind, and wants to help people overcome wickedness rather than being destroyed by it?
I. For how long did the people on earth know about God’s coming flood?
J. What would have happened to the world if God hand’s send the flood to destroy wickedness?
4. COMMENTARIES AND LINKS
A. The Theology of Work Bible Commentary: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/theology-of-work/god-calls-noah-and-creates-a-new-world-genesis-6-9-8-19
B. SDA Bible Commentary – hard copy or via the Logos app
C. Patriarchs and Prophets: https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/84.336#336
D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible – hard copy or via the Logos app
5. QUESTIONS FOR STUDYING THE LESSON AT HOME
A. What is gopher wood? Answer: probably cedar – see commentaries and EG White comments
B. How big was the ark – what could it be compared to in size? Answer: “515 ft., its width 86 ft., and its height 52 ft.” (Commentaries). Exact size is imprecisely translatable given that measurements are in cubits; however, archeologists and historians have researched extensively and used translations, archeological data, and contemporary records to have a fair general idea of what a cubit is.
For comparison, the Titanic was 882 feet long and 92 feet wide (pictures of it are easy to look up).
See the attached picture for an approximate to-scale of an ark of that length vs. an average two-story house, a school bus, an elephant and a man.
C. What do you think it was that was making God sad? Are there things today you see in the world that you think would make God sad?
D. How was Noah different than the people around him? In what ways could we be more like Noah, specifically? (Hints in the text – both in the Old and New Testament. See Hebrews 11!)
E. Do you think Noah felt overwhelmed at the size of the task God asked him to do? Did he sometimes feel it was impossible? Do we sometimes have to do thinks – or know we need to do them – and feel they’re impossible? How can we be encouraged and how can we get them done? Search for verses like “With God, all things are possible”. Emphasize “by faith” – that seems to be key! How do we start? What other stories of faith in the Bible are comparable? Abraham sacrificed his son (or started to) – even though it felt impossible that he’d get his son back, he believed by faith…What about Nehemiah? He started rebuilding Jerusalem “one section at a time”. The old analogy of “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” What other stories or examples can you find? Have a look at a picture of St Paul’s Cathedral, in London – it took 35 years to build, even with hundreds and thousands of workers, that’s a long time! But it started with one man (Sir Christopher Wren) drawing the plans for it, and the builders starting. There are workers who would have lived their lifetime out before it was finished, but they kept at it.
F. Do you have any pets at home? Do they get along? What do you think it was like inside the ark!? Some animals don’t get along now, but what is God’s plan for animals and humans – for all the hard work Noah and his family did, would God have done something inside the ark too? (Isaiah 11:6)
Maybe there’s something analogous here in becoming a good person and going to Heaven – we focus on the big goal, but we don’t get disappointed “in doing good” (look up Galatians 6:9, and Philippians 3 – anything in there?) — we just keep going by faith every day, trying to do a little bit better, and God will complete the work (see Philippians 1:6). For all the hard work that Noah did, it was impossible to start – or finish – without God. Genesis says God “shut the door” when Noah and his family were all safely inside, and kept them safe throughout the flood – we need to just do our best and trust God, and He’ll do the rest!
G. If you think about it, there are probably lots of other questions you have about the building of the ark. What can you come up with? What tools might they have used? What has archeology shown us about ancient peoples’ ability to make enormous things – with tools, and an understanding of physics and leverage? Look up some YouTube videos of archeologists and historians using ropes and levers to move huge blocks of stone or wood. Send your kids’ questions in, and let’s see if we can answer them!
6. DISCUSSION
A. Any stories or related parables or illustrations?
B. Australians have had a lot of experience in flooding (as have many countries in the world). Have you ever seen flooding? Did it happen quickly? Was it unexpected?
C. Can you find a naturalist or scientist to explain to you how quickly floods happen after a rainfall? It would be neat if someone could find a video explaining topography and how rain builds up in watersheds and then comes pouring down suddenly – watch the video and illustration and then imagine how quickly it would have happened!
D. See a video of a floods – flash floods after rain, and how floods happen!
– https://youtu.be/V4lN1owLLhM?si=vxhMf-8rdSx8oK60
– https://youtu.be/_yCnQuILmsM?si=ECEzEvitAPMlyq-T
– https://youtu.be/wLEw5UUxyZU?si=3ynRwhGcwNSJymJ0
– https://youtu.be/GQ-iWUkg4t0?si=Y-l-QPgdTeSIfObJ
– https://youtu.be/8MRwKZ4thGM?si=HP2QKDCOA52roQ68
– https://youtu.be/eUKd5K4E6mM?feature=shared
E. Is there something that maybe isn’t as obvious in the story of Noah, that we as Christians should be taking away? Look at the beginning of Genesis, which you’ve already studied – God told man to be the caretaker of the earth and of the animals. Are we living as good stewards of the earth? Are you doing your best to be a good steward – are things like recycling, and caring for animals, and picking up garbage, all things which you think God wants us to do and be examples to other people of? Should people be able to look at Christians and think “Those people really care about the earth?”
F. EG White writes “[Jesus] was thoughtful and kind towards the aged and the poor, and He showed kindness even to the dumb animals. He would care tenderly for a little wounded bird, and every living thing was happier when He was near.” EG White, “The Story of Jesus” https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/144.113?hl=Care+for+animals&ss=eyJ0b3RhbCI6MzY3LCJwYXJhbXMiOnsicXVlcnkiOiJDYXJlIGZvciBhbmltYWxzIiwidHlwZSI6ImJhc2ljIiwibGFuZyI6ImVuIiwibGltaXQiOiIyMCJ9LCJpbmRleCI6NDF9#123
G. “[fathers] may take [their children] into the garden and show them the opening buds and the varied tints of the blooming flowers. Through such mediums he may give them the most important lessons concerning the Creator, by opening before them the great book of nature, where the love of God is expressed in every tree and flower and blade of grass. He may impress upon their minds the fact that if God cares so much for the trees and flowers, He will care much more for the creatures formed in His image. He may lead them early to understand that God wants children to be lovely, not with artificial adornment, but with beauty of character, the charms of kindness and affection, which will make their hearts bound with joy and happiness.” EG White, “The Adventist Home” https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/128.998?hl=Caring+for+nature&ss=eyJ0b3RhbCI6MTg2NSwicGFyYW1zIjp7InF1ZXJ5IjoiQ2FyaW5nIGZvciBuYXR1cmUiLCJ0eXBlIjoiYmFzaWMiLCJsYW5nIjoiZW4iLCJsaW1pdCI6MjB9LCJpbmRleCI6N30%3D#1015
7. EXCERPTS FROM LINKED COMMENTARIES AND RESOURCES
Theology of Work Bible Commentary: From Adam to us, God looks for persons who can stand against the culture of sin when needed. Adam failed the test but sired the line of Noah, “a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9). Noah is the first person whose work is primarily redemptive. Unlike others, who are busy wringing a living from the ground, Noah is called to save humanity and nature from destruction. In him we see the progenitor of priests, prophets, and apostles, who are called to the work of reconciliation with God, and those who care for the environment, who are called to the work of redeeming nature. To greater or lesser degrees, all workers since Noah are called to the work of redemption and reconciliation.
But what a building project the ark is! Against the jeers of neighbors, Noah and his sons must fell thousands of cypress trees, then hand plane them into planks enough to build a floating zoo. This three-deck vessel needs the capacity to carry the various species of animals and to store the food and water required for an indefinite period. Despite the hardship, the text assures us that “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him” (Gen. 6:13-22).
In the business world, entrepreneurs are used to taking risks, working against conventional wisdom in order to come up with new products or processes. A long-term view is required, rather than attention to short-term results. Noah faces what must at times have seemed to be an impossible task, and some biblical scholars suggest that the actual building of the ark took a hundred years. It also takes faith, tenacity, and careful planning in the face of skeptics and critics. Perhaps we should add project management to the list of Noah’s pioneering developments. Today innovators, entrepreneurs, and those who challenge the prevailing opinions and systems in our places of work still need a source of inner strength and conviction. The answer is not to talk ourselves into taking foolish risks, of course, but to turn to prayer and the counsel of those wise in God when we are confronted with opposition and discouragement. Perhaps we need a flowering of Christians gifted and trained for the work of encouraging and helping refine the creativity of innovators in business, science, academia, arts, government, and the other spheres of work.
The story of the flood, found in Genesis 7:1-8:19, is well known. For more than half a year Noah, his family, and all of the animals bounce around inside the ark as the floods rage, swirling the ark in water covering the mountaintops. When at last the flood subsides, the ground is dry and new vegetation is springing up. The occupants of the ark once again step on dry land. The text echoes Genesis 1, emphasizing the continuity of creation. God blows a “wind” over “the deep” and “the waters” recede (Gen. 8:1-3). Yet it is, in a sense, a new world, reshaped by the force of the flood. God was giving human culture a new opportunity to start from scratch and get it right. For Christians, this foreshadows the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21-22, when human life and work are brought to perfection within the cosmos healed from the effects of the Fall, as we discussed in “God brings the material world into being” (Gen. 1:1-2).
What may be less apparent is that this, humanity’s first large-scale engineering work, is an environmental project. Despite—or perhaps as a result of—humanity’s broken relationship with the serpent and all creatures (Gen. 3:15), God assigns a human being the task of saving the animals and trusts him to do it faithfully. People have not been released from God’s call to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28). God is always at work to restore what was lost in the Fall, and he uses fallen-but-being-restored humanity as his chief instrument.
© 2014 by the Theology of Work Project, Inc.
SDA Bible Commentary Genesis 6:1–22 (SDAC 1): The wickedness of the world, which provoked God’s wrath, and caused the flood, 8 Noah findeth grace. 14 The order, form, and end of the ark.
1. And it came to pass. This expression does not imply that the conditions here described arose subsequent to events recorded in previous chapters. The author is simply pointing to the state of society in the days of Noah, when ten generations of increasing corruption reached a climax.
Men began to multiply. The human race increased rapidly not only in wickedness but in numbers as well. Among the manifold dangers for pious Sethites were the beautiful daughters of unbelievers. Wives were taken not because of their virtue but for beauty’s sake, with the result that godlessness and wickedness made heavy inroads among Seth’s descendants.
2. The sons of God. This phrase has been interpreted in various ways. Ancient Jewish commentators, the early church Fathers, and many modern expositors have thought these “sons” to be angels, comparing them with the “sons of God” of Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. This view must be rejected, because punishment soon to be meted out was for the sins of human beings (see v. 3), and not of angels. Further, angels do not marry (Matt. 22:30). The “sons of God” were none other than the descendants of Seth, and the “daughters of men,” of the godless Cainites (PP 81). God later spoke of Israel as His “firstborn son” (Ex. 4:22), and Moses called the people of Israel “children of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1).
They took them wives. These unholy alliances between Sethites and Cainites were responsible for the rapid increase of wickedness among the former. God has ever warned His followers not to marry unbelievers, because of the great danger to which the believer is thus exposed and to which he usually succumbs (Deut. 7:3, 4; Joshua 23:12, 13; Ezra 9:2; Neh. 13:25; 2 Cor. 6:14, 15). But the Sethites did not heed the warnings they surely must have received. Guided by sense attractions, they were not content with the beautiful daughters of the godly race, and often preferred Cainite brides. Moreover, the prevalence of polygamy seems to be suggested by the plural expression used, they took “wives.”
3. My spirit shall not always strive. The fact that this statement follows immediately after the reference to these unsanctified marriages would suggest that God’s displeasure was most particularly displayed toward this evil practice. Captive to their passions, they were no longer subject to God’s Spirit. The word “strive” in the Hebrew means “to rule,” and “to judge,” as corollary to ruling. These words indicate that the Holy Spirit could continue working but a little longer, and would then be withdrawn from the unregenerate and unrepentant of the human race. Even God’s long-suffering must end. Peter refers to the work of the Spirit on the hearts of the antediluvians, saying that the Spirit of Christ preached to these prisoners of Satan (1 Peter 3:18–20).
For that he also is flesh. This expression may also be translated, “in their going astray man is flesh,” from shagag, “to wander,” “to go astray.” By following after the lusts of the flesh, says God, men have surrendered themselves to its desires to the extent that they are no longer responsive to the control of the Holy Spirit. Insensibility to divine influence is complete; hence, the Spirit of God is to be withdrawn. There is no further use in “striving” to restrain or improve them.
His days. This divine prediction cannot mean that man’s life span would henceforth be restricted to 120 years. (Compare ages of men after the Flood.) They predict, rather, that God’s patience would come to an end and probation close within the period of time here specified. In the meantime, divine mercy lingered.
Christ compared God’s dealings with the antediluvians to His work for the human race at the end of time (Matt. 24:37–39). Under similar circumstances God may be expected to work in similar ways. However, attempts to determine the time of Christ’s coming on the basis of this are wholly invalid. We are now living on borrowed time, knowing that the destruction of the world will soon occur (see 2 Peter 3:3–7). We know also that God’s Spirit will not endlessly strive with men who do not choose to heed His warnings and prepare for that great event.
4. There were giants in the earth. These “giants,” nephilim, were not the product of mixed marriages, as some have suggested. The LXX translated nephilim by gigantes, from which the English “giant” is derived. In Num. 13:33 the Israelites reported that they felt like mere grasshoppers in the sight of the nephilim, which the KJV translates “giants.” There is reason to believe that this Hebrew word may come from the root naphal, and that the nephilim were “violent” ones, or terrorists, rather than physical “giants.” Since in those days the entire human race was of great stature, it must be that character rather than height is designated. The antediluvians generally possessed great physical and mental strength. These individuals, renowned for wisdom and skill, persistently devoted their intellectual and physical powers to the gratification of their own pride and passions and to the oppression of their fellow men (PP 80, 84, 90).
5. God. To be consistent, the KJV should read “Lord” instead of “God,” as in the Hebrew the word Yahweh, Jehovah, is used. Apparently, KJV translators were influenced by the LXX, which reads, the “Lord God.”
The wickedness of man was great. Human language could hardly provide a more forceful picture of human depravity. There was no more good left in man; he was “rotten to the core.” His “every imagination” was evil. The word “imagination,” from yeser, means “device” or “formation,” and is derived from the verb “to fashion,” “to form,” yaṣar. Therefore “imagination” refers to evil thoughts as the product of an evil heart. Christ said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,” and observed that they in turn produce “murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). The heart was popularly considered the center of the higher powers of the mind—the conscience and the will. A contaminated “heart” sooner or later infects the entire life.
Continually. Literally “every day” or “all day long.” This brings the sorry description of antediluvian wickedness to a climax. If this is not total depravity, how could human language express it? Here we find evil supreme in the heart, in the “imaginations,” or thoughts, and in the actions. With very few exceptions, there was nothing but evil, not temporarily but always, not in the case of merely a few individuals but in society as a whole. This came about because men were “willingly ignorant” of God’s word (2 Peter 3:5).
6. It repented the Lord. The force of the words “it repented” the Lord, may be gathered from the explanatory statement “it grieved him” to His heart. This shows that the repentance of God does not presuppose lack of foresight on His part or any variableness in His nature or purpose. In this sense God never repents of anything (1 Sam. 15:29). The “repentance” of God is an expression referring to the pain of divine love occasioned by the sinfulness of man. It presents the truth that God, in consistency with His immutability, assumes a changed position in respect to changed man. The mention of divine grief at man’s depraved state is a touching indication that God did not hate man. Human sin fills the divine heart with deep-felt grief and pity. It excites all the fathomless ocean of sympathy for sinning men of which infinite love is capable. Nonetheless, it moves Him also to judicial retribution (see Jer. 18:6–10; PP 630).
7. I will destroy man. The Hebrew expression here translated “I will destroy” means literally “I will wipe off” or “blot out” or “erase” (see Ex. 32:32, 33; Isa. 43:25). Its use in this passage, describing the extinction of the human race in general, by a devastating flood, is most appropriate.
8. Noah found grace. In these words mercy is seen in the midst of wrath. By them God pledged the preservation and restoration of humanity. The word “grace” occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and clearly has the same meaning as in the NT references, where the merciful, unmerited favor of God exercised toward undeserving sinners is described. How deeply God loved man even in his fallen state can be observed from a number of factors. He gave them a gospel of mercy, in the promise of the woman’s seed; a ministry of mercy, by raising up and maintaining a succession of pious men to preach the gospel and warn them against the ways of sin; a spirit of mercy to strive and plead with them; a providence of mercy, by measuring out to them a long probationary period of time; an additional grant of mercy, a reprieve of 120 years; and finally an example of mercy, by saving the righteous when all others were destroyed. This ancient example of grace and mercy is a source of assurance and hope for believers who live at the end of time, a time that Christ Himself compared to Noah’s age (see Matt. 24:37–39). His loyal followers can rest assured that God will accept them as He accepted Noah, will likewise preserve them amid the evil of this day, and provide for their safety in the coming judgment.
9. Noah was a just man. A new subtitle introduces Noah’s history and that of the Flood. The author presents, first, the reasons why Noah had found grace in God’s sight and was spared during the coming destruction. It was not some divine whim that made him the recipient of God’s favor, but a life that was in harmony with God’s will. Noah is characterized by three expressions, each one placing him in a most favorable light in contrast with his contemporaries. He was a “just man.” The word “just” does not imply spotless innocence, but uprightness, honesty, virtue. It is noteworthy that he is not merely called “just,” but a “just man.” To live an exemplary life in Noah’s time required a man who could stand fearlessly and steadfastly against evil inducements, subtle temptations, and vile mockery. He was no weakling, void of judgment or will power; he was a “man,” strong of conviction, straight in thinking and action.
Perfect in his generations. The second attribute points to Noah as being “blameless in his generation,” RSV. This does not mean that he lived in a state of sinlessness, but rather of moral integrity. It refers not only to Noah’s lifetime of piety but also to the constancy of his religion amid the miasma of iniquity in which he lived. To be sure, he was of pure descent, and in that respect also distinct from his contemporaries, many of whom were the offspring of promiscuous marriages between the godly and the ungodly.
Noah walked with God. Third, Noah’s life resembled that of his pious ancestor Enoch (see ch. 5:22, 24), who had been translated to eternal glory only 69 years before Noah’s birth. During his own childhood, when Enoch’s translation was still vivid in the memory of the older generation, Noah must have heard much of that godly man’s life.
But the fact that Noah is thus described does not imply that by his own efforts he had attained unto righteousness. Like all others who are true children of God, he was saved by faith in God (see Heb. 11:7).
10. Noah begat three sons. See on ch. 5:32.
11. The earth also was corrupt. The sinful condition of antediluvian man is represented as corrupting the whole earth. Elsewhere the term “corruption” is applied to idolatry, the sin of perverting and depraving the worship of God (Ex. 32:7; Deut. 32:5; Judges 2:19; 2 Chron. 27:2). They practiced evil publicly, flagrantly, as the expression “before God” implies.
12. God looked upon the earth. Conditions on this earth became the subject of God’s special investigation. Inspiration thus assures man that the coming judgment was not an ill-considered and arbitrary act of Deity. This investigation revealed that there no longer existed a distinction between the God-defying Cainites and God-fearing Sethites. With very few exceptions “all flesh” was corrupt.
13. The end of all flesh. Having concluded that sin could be checked by no other means that the annihilation of the race (save for one family), God announced His plan to Noah. The preceding notices of divine intent to destroy this earth (vs. 3, 7) are presumably the record of words God uttered in heavenly council, rather than to any human ear. Here, however, a communication was made directly to Noah. This probably took place 120 years before the Flood, as suggested in v. 3. God wished to give men the opportunity to mend their evil ways, should they so desire, and accordingly commissioned Noah, a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), to give this message of warning. This was in itself a manifestation of mercy, based upon the divine principle of not acting before men have been advised of what to expect in case of continued sin (Amos 3:7).
The earth is filled with violence. God’s introductory words must have been shocking to Noah, but the reason for His fateful decision follows. Instead of filling the earth with a people who would attempt to live according to God’s will, man had “filled the earth with violence.”
I will destroy them with the earth. Note that God did not announce His intention to destroy man “from” or “on” the earth but “with” it. Though the earth as such can suffer no penal destruction, it must share in man’s destruction, because, as his dwelling place and the scene of his criminal acts, it is one with him. This does not mean, of course, the annihilation of our planet, but rather the utter desolation of its surface.
14. Make thee an ark. Provision must be made to save Noah and his family, hence the command to build a ship. The Hebrew word translated “ark” is from an Egyptian term designating large seaworthy ships used for the transport of obelisks, and also processional barks for carrying sacred statues on the Nile.
Gopher wood. The Hebrew word gopher is from the ancient Sumerian giparu, a tree not yet definitely identified. The ancient Egyptians built their big ships of cedar, and therefore commentators have suggested that gopher wood may have been timber from coniferous trees such as cedar or cypress. Their resinous quality would make them ideal for such use. Ellen G. White states that the timber Noah used was cypress (PP 95).
Rooms shalt thou make. The ark was to be divided into cells, literally “nests,” needed especially for the many animals, and to be caulked within and without. The word translated “pitch” is of Babylonian origin, and designates both pitch and bitumen. Since ancient times such materials have been found in Mesopotamia and used for caulking ships (see on ch. 2:12).
15. This is the fashion. The ship was to be built according to exact divine instructions. Its dimensions as given to Noah show the vessel to be of extraordinary size. Had it not been for these detailed instructions from God, Noah, a man of no previous experience in ship construction or sailing, could never have built it. The largest ancient vessel now known was an Egyptian ship up to 130 cubits long and 40 cubits wide. The ark of Noah was almost three times as long. If the cubit of 20.6 in. is meant (cf. Deut. 3:11), the length of the ark would have been 515 ft., its width 86 ft., and its height 52 ft. It has been generally assumed that the ark was in the form of a chest or box rather than that of a ship, but this is nowhere stated in the Sacred Text. Because of the lack of precise information in regard to the form of the ship, it seems futile to compute the exact cubical contents of Noah’s ark. It is clear, however, from the given description, that it was a vessel of formidable dimensions, with ample space for the animals housed within and for a year’s food for all.
16. A window. Certain Hebrew words and the grammatical construction employed in this verse are the occasion of difficulty in ascertaining what Moses meant. The word translated “window,” ṣohar, may mean either “light,” “light opening,” or “roof.” The translation “roof,” as in the RSV, seems to rest on stronger evidence than the translation “window.” The fact that Noah could not see the surface of the earth until the ṣohar was opened (see ch. 8:6) seems to favor this view. Whatever it may mean, light was admitted from the top (see PP 95).
In a cubit shalt thou finish it above. This sentence is difficult to interpret. If the word sohar means a “light opening,” the sentence may refer to a kind of lattice-work one cubit high surrounding the upper part of the ark to admit light. If ṣohar means “roof,” it may have practically the same meaning, namely that there was one cubit between the roof and the upper edge of the walls.
17. I, even I. The repeated and emphatic “I” is a clear indication that the coming catastrophe was a divine visitation and not a natural occurrence.
A flood of waters. The word “flood,” mabbul, is used throughout the OT only for the Flood of Noah, with the possible exception of Ps. 29:10. Mabbul may be derived from an Assyrian root meaning “to destroy.” The Hebrew construction of the phrase “a flood of waters” would permit the reading, “a destruction, [even] waters.” This passage is the first intimation of the means of destruction to be used.
18. I establish my covenant. The first recorded agreement between God and Noah (see on ch. 15:9–17 for the procedure followed in effecting a covenant). By concluding a covenant with Noah, God strengthened that righteous man’s confidence in the surety of the divine watchcare. Whatever might occur, Noah knew that he and his family would be saved.
And thy sons. These promises included even Noah’s unborn sons and their wives, because at the time Noah was still childless, although already 480 years of age (see on ch. 5:32). Not one of Noah’s ancestors had waited so long for offspring, and he may have given up the hope of being blessed with children. On many occasions God prepared His chosen agents for times of crisis by leading them through long periods of disappointment, that they might learn patience and trust in Him. This very experience came to the parents of Isaac, Samuel, and John the Baptist. The commission to build the ark, then, included indirect assurance that in preserving life, the family line of Noah would not become extinct. The birth of his sons would then be to Noah a sign of the equal certainty of the coming deluge. In faith he went forward, believing “things not seen as yet” (Heb. 11:7).
19. Of every living thing. Animal life, as well as human, was to be preserved through Noah’s faith. Commentators have seen a contradiction between the command to provide for “two of every sort” and the order given later to take seven of certain kinds (ch. 7:2). The first order was meant to inform Noah concerning the provisions that must be made to save the animal world from complete annihilation, and a pair of each would be essential for reproduction. That is all God intended on this occasion.
21. Food. Food for Noah’s family and fodder for the animals would have to be gathered in sufficient quantity to last for more than a year. It had to be not only harvested but stored away in the ark. The talent of a wise organizer was needed to accomplish all this work in an efficient way. Noah had to be not only a shipbuilder and a preacher but a farmer and provider as well.
22. Thus did Noah. The record of instruction given Noah closes with the observation that he had done everything God had asked him to do. He showed no hesitancy in obeying God. His association with relatives, who had become like the cursed Cainites, in no way influenced him. His education, at the hands of devout parents and grandparents, had prepared Noah for implicit faith in God and obedience to His instructions.
This short verse covers 120 years of faithful service. Some of those who believed Noah’s message, like his grandfather Methuselah, died before the dread event took place. He lived out the message he preached, and those who knew him best, his own family, could not avoid his holy influence. His sons not only believed what he preached but actively participated in preparations for that awful event foretold before their birth.
Noah’s experience sets a noble example for Christians who know they are living in the time of the end and are preparing themselves for translation. Their greatest missionary work is to be done in the home.
© SDA Bible Commentary Volume 1
In the days of Noah a double curse was resting upon the earth in consequence of Adam’s transgression and of the murder committed by Cain. Yet this had not greatly changed the face of nature. There were evident tokens of decay, but the earth was still rich and beautiful in the gifts of God’s providence. The hills were crowned with majestic trees supporting the fruit-laden branches of the vine. The vast, gardenlike plains were clothed with verdure, and sweet with the fragrance of a thousand flowers. The fruits of the earth were in great variety, and almost without limit. The trees far surpassed in size, beauty, and perfect proportion any now to be found; their wood was of fine grain and hard substance, closely resembling stone, and hardly less enduring. Gold, silver, and precious stones existed in abundance.
The human race yet retained much of its early vigor. But a few generations had passed since Adam had access to the tree which was to prolong life; and man’s existence was still measured by centuries. Had that long-lived people, with their rare powers to plan and execute, devoted themselves to the service of God, they would have made their Creator’s name a praise in the earth, and would have answered the purpose for which He gave them life. But they failed to do this. There were many giants, men of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom, skillful in devising the most cunning and wonderful works; but their guilt in giving loose rein to iniquity was in proportion to their skill and mental ability.
God bestowed upon these antediluvians many and rich gifts; but they used His bounties to glorify themselves, and turned them into a curse by fixing their affections upon the gifts instead of the Giver. They employed the gold and silver, the precious stones and the choice wood, in the construction of habitations for themselves, and endeavored to excel one another in beautifying their dwellings with the most skillful workmanship. They sought only to gratify the desires of their own proud hearts, and reveled in scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Not desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon came to deny His existence. They adored nature in place of the God of nature. They glorified human genius, worshiped the works of their own hands, and taught their children to bow down to graven images.
In the green fields and under the shadow of the goodly trees they set up the altars of their idols. Extensive groves, that retained their foliage throughout the year, were dedicated to the worship of false gods. With these groves were connected beautiful gardens, their long, winding avenues overhung with fruit-bearing trees of all descriptions, adorned with statuary, and furnished with all that could delight the senses or minister to the voluptuous desires of the people, and thus allure them to participate in the idolatrous worship.
Men put God out of their knowledge and worshiped the creatures of their own imagination; and as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says, “They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” Psalm 115:8. It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower. The worshipers of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their standard of character was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity. They were defiled in consequence. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.… The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.” God had given men His commandments as a rule of life, but His law was transgressed, and every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring, justice was trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven.
Polygamy had been early introduced, contrary to the divine arrangement at the beginning. The Lord gave to Adam one wife, showing His order in that respect. But after the Fall, men chose to follow their own sinful desires; and as the result, crime and wretchedness rapidly increased. Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected. Whoever coveted the wives or the possessions of his neighbor, took them by force, and men exulted in their deeds of violence. They delighted in destroying the life of animals; and the use of flesh for food rendered them still more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to regard human life with astonishing indifference.
The world was in its infancy; yet iniquity had become so deep and widespread that God could no longer bear with it; and He said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” He declared that His Spirit should not always strive with the guilty race. If they did not cease to pollute with their sins the world and its rich treasures, He would blot them from His creation, and would destroy the things with which He had delighted to bless them; He would sweep away the beasts of the field, and the vegetation which furnished such an abundant supply of food, and would transform the fair earth into one vast scene of desolation and ruin.
Amid the prevailing corruption, Methuselah, Noah, and many others labored to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to stay the tide of moral evil. A hundred and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord by a holy angel declared to Noah His purpose, and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark he was to preach that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and reformation, should find pardon and be saved. Enoch had repeated to his children what God had shown him in regard to the Flood, and Methuselah and his sons, who lived to hear the preaching of Noah, assisted in building the ark.
God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark and explicit directions in regard to its construction in every particular. Human wisdom could not have devised a structure of so great strength and durability. God was the designer, and Noah the master builder. It was constructed like the hull of a ship, that it might float upon the water, but in some respects it more nearly resembled a house. It was three stories high, with but one door, which was in the side. The light was admitted at the top, and the different apartments were so arranged that all were lighted. The material employed in the construction of the ark was the cypress, or gopher wood, which would be untouched by decay for hundreds of years. The building of this immense structure was a slow and laborious process. On account of the great size of the trees and the nature of the wood, much more labor was required then than now to prepare timber, even with the greater strength which men then possessed. All that man could do was done to render the work perfect, yet the ark could not of itself have withstood the storm which was to come upon the earth. God alone could preserve His servants upon the tempestuous waters.
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7. While Noah was giving his warning message to the world, his works testified of his sincerity. It was thus that his faith was perfected and made evident. He gave the world an example of believing just what God says. All that he possessed, he invested in the ark. As he began to construct that immense boat on dry ground, multitudes came from every direction to see the strange sight and to hear the earnest, fervent words of the singular preacher. Every blow struck upon the ark was a witness to the people.
Many at first appeared to receive the warning; yet they did not turn to God with true repentance. They were unwilling to renounce their sins. During the time that elapsed before the coming of the Flood, their faith was tested, and they failed to endure the trial. Overcome by the prevailing unbelief, they finally joined their former associates in rejecting the solemn message. Some were deeply convicted, and would have heeded the words of warning; but there were so many to jest and ridicule, that they partook of the same spirit, resisted the invitations of mercy, and were soon among the boldest and most defiant scoffers; for none are so reckless and go to such lengths in sin as do those who have once had light, but have resisted the convicting Spirit of God.
The men of that generation were not all, in the fullest acceptation of the term, idolaters. Many professed to be worshipers of God. They claimed that their idols were representations of the Deity, and that through them the people could obtain a clearer conception of the divine Being. This class were foremost in rejecting the preaching of Noah. As they endeavored to represent God by material objects, their minds were blinded to His majesty and power; they ceased to realize the holiness of His character, or the sacred, unchanging nature of His requirements. As sin became general, it appeared less and less sinful, and they finally declared that the divine law was no longer in force; that it was contrary to the character of God to punish transgression; and they denied that His judgments were to be visited upon the earth. Had the men of that generation obeyed the divine law, they would have recognized the voice of God in the warning of His servant; but their minds had become so blinded by rejection of light that they really believed Noah’s message to be a delusion.
It was not multitudes or majorities that were on the side of right. The world was arrayed against God’s justice and His laws, and Noah was regarded as a fanatic. Satan, when tempting Eve to disobey God, said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 3:4. Great men, worldly, honored, and wise men, repeated the same. “The threatenings of God,” they said, “are for the purpose of intimidating, and will never be verified. You need not be alarmed. Such an event as the destruction of the world by the God who made it, and the punishment of the beings He has created, will never take place. Be at peace; fear not. Noah is a wild fanatic.” The world made merry at the folly of the deluded old man. Instead of humbling the heart before God, they continued their disobedience and wickedness, the same as though God had not spoken to them through His servant.
But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. Surrounded by popular contempt and ridicule, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness. A power attended his words, for it was the voice of God to man through His servant. Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while for one hundred and twenty years his solemn voice fell upon the ears of that generation in regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom could judge, were impossible.
The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen; the earth had been watered by a mist or dew. The rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but had borne their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from overflowing their banks. But these reasoners did not recognize the hand of Him who had stayed the waters, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” Job 38:11.
As time passed on, with no apparent change in nature, men whose hearts had at times trembled with fear, began to be reassured. They reasoned, as many reason now, that nature is above the God of nature, and that her laws are so firmly established that God Himself could not change them. Reasoning that if the message of Noah were correct, nature would be turned out of her course, they made that message, in the minds of the world, a delusion—a grand deception. They manifested their contempt for the warning of God by doing just as they had done before the warning was given. They continued their festivities and their gluttonous feasts; they ate and drank, planted and builded, laying their plans in reference to advantages they hoped to gain in the future; and they went to greater lengths in wickedness, and in defiant disregard of God’s requirements, to testify that they had no fear of the Infinite One. They asserted that if there were any truth in what Noah had said, the men of renown—the wise, the prudent, the great men—would understand the matter.
Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as he afterward did from Nineveh. But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and the warnings of God’s prophet, that generation filled up the measure of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction.
The period of their probation was about to expire. Noah had faithfully followed the instructions which he had received from God. The ark was finished in every part as the Lord had directed, and was stored with food for man and beast. And now the servant of God made his last solemn appeal to the people. With an agony of desire that words cannot express, he entreated them to seek a refuge while it might be found. Again they rejected his words, and raised their voices in jest and scoffing. Suddenly a silence fell upon the mocking throng. Beasts of every description, the fiercest as well as the most gentle, were seen coming from mountain and forest and quietly making their way toward the ark. A noise as of a rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were flocking from all directions, their numbers darkening the heavens, and in perfect order they passed to the ark. Animals obeyed the command of God, while men were disobedient. Guided by holy angels, they “went in two and two unto Noah into the ark,” and the clean beasts by sevens. The world looked on in wonder, some in fear. Philosophers were called upon to account for the singular occurrence, but in vain. It was a mystery which they could not fathom. But men had become so hardened by their persistent rejection of light that even this scene produced but a momentary impression. As the doomed race beheld the sun shining in its glory, and the earth clad in almost Eden beauty, they banished their rising fears by boisterous merriment, and by their deeds of violence they seemed to invite upon themselves the visitation of the already awakened wrath of God.
God commanded Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” Noah’s warnings had been rejected by the world, but his influence and example resulted in blessings to his family. As a reward for his faithfulness and integrity, God saved all the members of his family with him. What encouragement to parental fidelity!
Mercy had ceased its pleadings for the guilty race. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air had entered the place of refuge. Noah and his household were within the ark, “and the Lord shut him in.” A flash of dazzling light was seen, and a cloud of glory more vivid than the lightning descended from heaven and hovered before the entrance of the ark. The massive door, which it was impossible for those within to close, was slowly swung to its place by unseen hands. Noah was shut in, and the rejecters of God’s mercy were shut out. The seal of Heaven was on that door; God had shut it, and God alone could open it. So when Christ shall cease His intercession for guilty men, before His coming in the clouds of heaven, the door of mercy will be shut. Then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked, and Satan will have full control of those who have rejected mercy. They will endeavor to destroy God’s people; but as Noah was shut into the ark, so the righteous will be shielded by divine power.
For seven days after Noah and his family entered the ark, there appeared no sign of the coming storm. During this period their faith was tested. It was a time of triumph to the world without. The apparent delay confirmed them in the belief that Noah’s message was a delusion, and that the Flood would never come. Notwithstanding the solemn scenes which they had witnessed—the beasts and birds entering the ark, and the angel of God closing the door—they still continued their sport and revelry, even making a jest of these signal manifestations of God’s power. They gathered in crowds about the ark, deriding its inmates with a daring violence which they had never ventured upon before.
But upon the eighth day dark clouds overspread the heavens. There followed the muttering of thunder and the flash of lightning. Soon large drops of rain began to fall. The world had never witnessed anything like this, and the hearts of men were struck with fear. All were secretly inquiring, “Can it be that Noah was in the right, and that the world is doomed to destruction?” Darker and darker grew the heavens, and faster came the falling rain. The beasts were roaming about in the wildest terror, and their discordant cries seemed to moan out their own destiny and the fate of man. Then “the fountains of the great deep” were “broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Water appeared to come from the clouds in mighty cataracts. Rivers broke away from their boundaries, and overflowed the valleys. Jets of water burst from the earth with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into the air, and these, in falling, buried themselves deep in the ground.
The people first beheld the destruction of the works of their own hands. Their splendid buildings, and the beautiful gardens and groves where they had placed their idols, were destroyed by lightning from heaven, and the ruins were scattered far and wide. The altars on which human sacrifices had been offered were torn down, and the worshipers were made to tremble at the power of the living God, and to know that it was their corruption and idolatry which had called down their destruction.
As the violence of the storm increased, trees, buildings, rocks, and earth were hurled in every direction. The terror of man and beast was beyond description. Above the roar of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people that had despised the authority of God. Satan himself, who was compelled to remain in the midst of the warring elements, feared for his own existence. He had delighted to control so powerful a race, and desired them to live to practice their abominations and continue their rebellion against the Ruler of heaven. He now uttered imprecations against God, charging Him with injustice and cruelty. Many of the people, like Satan, blasphemed God, and had they been able, they would have torn Him from the throne of power. Others were frantic with fear, stretching their hands toward the ark and pleading for admittance. But their entreaties were in vain. Conscience was at last aroused to know that there is a God who ruleth in the heavens. They called upon Him earnestly, but His ear was not open to their cry. In that terrible hour they saw that the transgression of God’s law had caused their ruin. Yet while, through fear of punishment, they acknowledged their sin, they felt no true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They would have returned to their defiance of Heaven, had the judgment been removed. So when God’s judgments shall fall upon the earth before its deluge by fire, the impenitent will know just where and what their sin is—the despising of His holy law. Yet they will have no more true repentance than did the old-world sinners.
Some in their desperation endeavored to break into the ark, but the firm-made structure withstood their efforts. Some clung to the ark until they were borne away by the surging waters, or their hold was broken by collision with rocks and trees. The massive ark trembled in every fiber as it was beaten by the merciless winds and flung from billow to billow. The cries of the beasts within expressed their fear and pain. But amid the warring elements it continued to ride safely. Angels that excel in strength were commissioned to preserve it.
The beasts, exposed to the tempest, rushed toward man, as though expecting help from him. Some of the people bound their children and themselves upon powerful animals, knowing that these were tenacious of life, and would climb to the highest points to escape the rising waters. Some fastened themselves to lofty trees on the summit of hills or mountains; but the trees were uprooted, and with their burden of living beings were hurled into the seething billows. One spot after another that promised safety was abandoned. As the waters rose higher and higher, the people fled for refuge to the loftiest mountains. Often man and beast would struggle together for a foothold, until both were swept away.
From the highest peaks men looked abroad upon a shoreless ocean. The solemn warnings of God’s servant no longer seemed a subject for ridicule and scorning. How those doomed sinners longed for the opportunities which they had slighted! How they pleaded for one hour’s probation, one more privilege of mercy, one call from the lips of Noah! But the sweet voice of mercy was no more to be heard by them. Love, no less than justice, demanded that God’s judgments should put a check on sin. The avenging waters swept over the last retreat, and the despisers of God perished in the black depths.
“By the word of God … the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:5–7. Another storm is coming. The earth will again be swept by the desolating wrath of God, and sin and sinners will be destroyed.
The sins that called for vengeance upon the antediluvian world exist today. The fear of God is banished from the hearts of men, and His law is treated with indifference and contempt. The intense worldliness of that generation is equaled by that of the generation now living. Said Christ, “As in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:38, 39. God did not condemn the antediluvians for eating and drinking; He had given them the fruits of the earth in great abundance to supply their physical wants. Their sin consisted in taking these gifts without gratitude to the Giver, and debasing themselves by indulging appetite without restraint. It was lawful for them to marry. Marriage was in God’s order; it was one of the first institutions which He established. He gave special directions concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty; but these directions were forgotten, and marriage was perverted and made to minister to passion.
A similar condition of things exists now. That which is lawful in itself is carried to excess. Appetite is indulged without restraint. Professed followers of Christ are today eating and drinking with the drunken, while their names stand in honored church records. Intemperance benumbs the moral and spiritual powers and prepares the way for indulgence of the lower passions. Multitudes feel under no moral obligation to curb their sensual desires, and they become the slaves of lust. Men are living for the pleasures of sense; for this world and this life alone. Extravagance pervades all circles of society. Integrity is sacrificed for luxury and display. They that make haste to be rich pervert justice and oppress the poor, and “slaves and souls of men” are still bought and sold. Fraud and bribery and theft stalk unrebuked in high places and in low. The issues of the press teem with records of murder—crimes so cold-blooded and causeless that it seems as though every instinct of humanity were blotted out. And these atrocities have become of so common occurrence that they hardly elicit a comment or awaken surprise. The spirit of anarchy is permeating all nations, and the outbreaks that from time to time excite the horror of the world are but indications of the pent-up fires of passion and lawlessness that, having once escaped control, will fill the earth with woe and desolation. The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening. Even now, in the present century, and in professedly Christian lands, there are crimes daily perpetrated as black and terrible as those for which the old-world sinners were destroyed.
Before the Flood God sent Noah to warn the world, that the people might be led to repentance, and thus escape the threatened destruction. As the time of Christ’s second appearing draws near, the Lord sends His servants with a warning to the world to prepare for that great event. Multitudes have been living in transgression of God’s law, and now He in mercy calls them to obey its sacred precepts. All who will put away their sins by repentance toward God and faith in Christ are offered pardon. But many feel that it requires too great a sacrifice to put away sin. Because their life does not harmonize with the pure principles of God’s moral government, they reject His warnings and deny the authority of His law.
Of the vast population of the earth before the Flood, only eight souls believed and obeyed God’s word through Noah. For a hundred and twenty years the preacher of righteousness warned the world of the coming destruction, but his message was rejected and despised. So it will be now. Before the Lawgiver shall come to punish the disobedient, transgressors are warned to repent, and return to their allegiance; but with the majority these warnings will be in vain. Says the apostle Peter, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning.” 2 Peter 3:3, 4. Do we not hear these very words repeated, not merely by the openly ungodly, but by many who occupy the pulpits of our land? “There is no cause for alarm,” they cry. “Before Christ shall come, all the world is to be converted, and righteousness is to reign for a thousand years. Peace, peace! all things continue as they were from the beginning. Let none be disturbed by the exciting message of these alarmists.” But this doctrine of the millennium does not harmonize with the teachings of Christ and His apostles. Jesus asked the significant question, “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. And, as we have seen, He declares that the state of the world will be as in the days of Noah. Paul warns us that we may look for wickedness to increase as the end draws near: “The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Timothy 4:1. The apostle says that “in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Timothy 3:1. And he gives a startling list of sins that will be found among those who have a form of godliness.
As the time of their probation was closing, the antediluvians gave themselves up to exciting amusements and festivities. Those who possessed influence and power were bent on keeping the minds of the people engrossed with mirth and pleasure, lest any should be impressed by the last solemn warning. Do we not see the same repeated in our day? While God’s servants are giving the message that the end of all things is at hand, the world is absorbed in amusements and pleasure seeking. There is a constant round of excitement that causes indifference to God and prevents the people from being impressed by the truths which alone can save them from the coming destruction.
In Noah’s day philosophers declared that it was impossible for the world to be destroyed by water; so now there are men of science who endeavor to show that the world cannot be destroyed by fire—that this would be inconsistent with the laws of nature. But the God of nature, the Maker and Controller of her laws, can use the works of His hands to serve His own purpose.
When great and wise men had proved to their satisfaction that it was impossible for the world to be destroyed by water, when the fears of the people were quieted, when all regarded Noah’s prophecy as a delusion, and looked upon him as a fanatic—then it was that God’s time had come. “The fountains of the great deep” were “broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened,” and the scoffers were overwhelmed in the waters of the Flood. With all their boasted philosophy, men found too late that their wisdom was foolishness, that the Lawgiver is greater than the laws of nature, and that Omnipotence is at no loss for means to accomplish His purposes. “As it was in the days of Noah,” “even thus shall it be in the days when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:26, 30. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10. When the reasoning of philosophy has banished the fear of God’s judgments; when religious teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, and the world are absorbed in their rounds of business and pleasure, planting and building, feasting and merrymaking, rejecting God’s warnings and mocking His messengers—then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible
Genesis 6:1–7:24 (JFB): Wickedness of the World.
2. the sons of God saw the daughters of men—By the former is meant the family of Seth, who were professedly religious; by the latter, the descendants of apostate Cain. Mixed marriages between parties of opposite principles and practice were necessarily sources of extensive corruption. The women, religious themselves, would as wives and mothers exert an influence fatal to the existence of religion in their household, and consequently the people of that later age sank to the lowest depravity.
3. flesh—utterly, hopelessly debased.
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive—Christ, as God, had by His Spirit inspiring Enoch, Noah, and perhaps other prophets (1 Pe 3:20; 2 Pe 2:5; Jud 1:14), preached repentance to the antediluvians; but they were incorrigible.
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years—It is probable that the corruption of the world, which had now reached its height, had been long and gradually increasing, and this idea receives support from the long respite granted.
4. giants—The term in Hebrew implies not so much the idea of great stature as of reckless ferocity, impious and daring characters, who spread devastation and carnage far and wide.
5, 6. God saw it … repented … grieved—God cannot change (Mal 3:6; Jam 1:17); but, by language suited to our nature and experience, He is described as about to alter His visible procedure towards mankind—from being merciful and long-suffering, He was about to show Himself a God of judgment; and, as that impious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, He was about to introduce a terrible display of His justice (Ec 8:11).
8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord—favor. What an awful state of things when only one man or one family of piety and virtue was now existing among the professed sons of God!
9. Noah … just … and perfect—not absolutely; for since the fall of Adam no man has been free from sin except Jesus Christ. But as living by faith he was just (Ga 3:2; Heb 11:7) and perfect—that is, sincere in his desire to do God’s will.
11. the earth was filled with violence—In the absence of any well-regulated government it is easy to imagine what evils would arise. Men did what was right in their own eyes, and, having no fear of God, destruction and misery were in their ways.
13. And God said unto Noah—How startling must have been the announcement of the threatened destruction! There was no outward indication of it. The course of nature and experience seemed against the probability of its occurrence. The public opinion of mankind would ridicule it. The whole world would be ranged against him. Yet, persuaded the communication was from God, through faith (Heb 11:7), he set about preparing the means for preserving himself and his family from the impending calamity.
14. Make thee an ark—ark, a hollow chest (Ex 2:3).
gopher wood—probably cypress, remarkable for its durability and abounding on the Armenian mountains.
pitch it within and without—mineral pitch, asphalt, naphtha, or some bituminous substance, which, when smeared over and become hardened, would make it perfectly watertight.
15. And this is the fashion—According to the description, the ark was not a ship, but an immense house in form and structure like the houses in the East, designed not to sail, but only to float. Assuming the cubit to be 21.888 inches, the ark would be five hundred forty-seven feet long, ninety-one feet two inches wide, and forty-seven feet two inches high.
16. A window—probably a skylight, formed of some transparent substance unknown.
in a cubit shalt thou finish it above—a direction to raise the roof in the middle, seemingly to form a gentle slope for letting the water run off.
17. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood—The repetition of the announcement was to establish its certainty (Ge 41:32). Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the operation of natural laws and agencies in the deluge, it was brought on the world by God as a punishment for the enormous wickedness of its inhabitants.
18. But with thee will I establish my covenant—a special promise of deliverance, called a covenant, to convince him of the confidence to be reposed in it. The substance and terms of this covenant are related at Ge 6:19–21.
22. Thus did Noah—He began without delay to prepare the colossal fabric, and in every step of his progress faithfully followed the divine directions he had received.
CHAPTER 7
Ge 7:1–24. Entrance into the Ark.
1. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark—The ark was finished; and Noah now, in the spirit of implicit faith, which had influenced his whole conduct, waited for directions from God.
2. Of every clean beast … fowls—Pairs of every species of animals, except the tenants of the deep, were to be taken for the preservation of their respective kinds. This was the general rule of admission, only with regard to those animals which are styled “clean,” three pairs were to be taken, whether of beasts or birds; and the reason was that their rapid multiplication was a matter of the highest importance, when the earth should be renovated, for their utility either as articles of food or as employed in the service of man. But what was the use of the seventh? It was manifestly reserved for sacrifice; and so that both during Noah’s residence in the ark, and after his return to dry land, provision was made for celebrating the rites of worship according to the religion of fallen man. He did not, like many, leave religion behind. He provided for it during his protracted voyage.
4. For yet seven days—A week for a world to repent! What a solemn pause! Did they laugh and ridicule his folly still? He whose eyes saw and whose heart felt the full amount of human iniquity and perverseness has told us of their reckless disregard (Lu 17:27).
9. There went in two and two—Doubtless they were led by a divine impulse. The number would not be so large as at first sight one is apt to imagine. It has been calculated that there are not more than three hundred distinct species of beasts and birds, the immense varieties in regard to form, size, and color being traceable to the influence of climate and other circumstances.
16. and the Lord shut him in—literally, “covered him round about.” The “shutting him in” intimated that Noah had become the special object of divine care and protection, and that to those without the season of grace was over (Mt 25:10).
17. the waters increased, and bare up the ark—It seems to have been raised so gradually as to be scarcely perceptible to its occupants.
20. Fifteen cubits upward … and the mountains were covered—twenty-two and a half feet above the summits of the highest hills. The language is not consistent with the theory of a partial deluge.
21. all flesh died … fowl … cattle, and … creeping thing—It has been a uniform principle in the divine procedure, when judgments were abroad on the earth, to include every thing connected with the sinful objects of His wrath (Ge 19:25; Ex 9:6). Besides, now that the human race was reduced to one single family, it was necessary that the beasts should be proportionally diminished, otherwise by their numbers they would have acquired the ascendancy and overmastered the few that were to repeople the world. Thus goodness was mingled with severity; the Lord exercises judgment in wisdom and in wrath remembers mercy.
24. an hundred and fifty days—a period of five months. Though long before that every living creature must have been drowned, such a lengthened continuance of the flood was designed to manifest God’s stern displeasure at sin and sinners. Think of Noah during such a crisis. We learn (Ez 14:14) that he was a man who lived and breathed habitually in an atmosphere of devotion; and having in the exercise of this high-toned faith made God his refuge, he did not fear “though the waters roared and were troubled; though the mountains shook with the swelling thereof” [Ps 46:3].
