6:1-22
1 - And it came about when man began to become many on the earth and daughters were born to them,
2 - That the sons of God saw the daughters of man, that they were pleasant; and they took for themselves wives from all that they chose.
This brings us to a turning point in our study. It seemed as if the longer man lived, due to his extremely long life spans, the more evil and sinful he became. This is viewed as the apex of man’s sinful activity. I do not profess to know exactly what is going on here, but I do know what the Bible says. It is in this biblical context that I will comment on this difficult passage.
3 - And Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not contend with man in times to come, in whom he also is flesh; so his days will become a hundred and twenty years.”
The time the Lord gives us to turn to Him is not an indefinite period. It is in our best interests to turn back to Him now, while there’s still time. The verse does not deal with the life span of man on the earth, but rather with the time man has until God’s sure judgment. The time of Yahweh’s pronouncement to the time of the flood was exactly 120 years.
4 - There were giants on the earth in those days; and also afterwards, when the sons of Elohim came in to the daughters of man, then they begat children to them. They became mighty men who were of old, men of fame.
These giants were the result of sexual intercourse between the sons of Elohim and the daughters of man. They existed both before and after the Flood. There is certainly conjecture as to who or what falls into this classification, but we know there was a certain demonic element to their being. In many circles the sons of Elohim represent the line of Seth, while the daughters of man are of the line of Cain. The two are said to have intermarried or had sex outside of marriage, both of which are always prohibited in the Word of God. There are problems with this Seth/Cain intermarriage theory once it is carried out to its logical conclusion.
The term “sons of God” appears elsewhere in the Old Testament, but its reference is to angels and never to man. What kind of angels is, I believe, another issue. Someone at this point will say, “Oh, but wait! In Matthew 22 Jesus said the angels do not marry nor are they given in marriage.” Well, that’s partially true. He said that “the angels of God in heaven” do not marry nor are given in marriage. Two things: 1) He does not speak concerning rebellious angels, and 2) He never says angels are sexless. These are valid points we all need to keep in mind when attempting to interpret this passage. It’s probably worthwhile to note also that angels are always referred to in the masculine gender. This helps us to understand the use of the phrase “sons of God.” Yet there are those who will try to interpret this passage as being about the angels being intermarried with man. I also believe there are problems with this theory when carried to its logical conclusion.
To try to make a long story short I believe there is a demonic element in this strange and ungodly union between the sons of God and the daughters of men. I believe these rebellious angels are referred to in the book of Jude. Believing the best commentary on the Old Testament is the New Testament, let’s examine this now.
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jude 6-7
First we see how certain angels were fallen (“kept not their first estate”). This is very likely from where we get the term ‘fallen angel’. Then we see that it was out of rebellion that they fell (“left their own habitation”). Our present passage shows us the immediate result of their rebellion. They were able to run free on the earth … or at least free enough to intermarry in this ungodly manner (“giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh”). Many occult practices are centered in sexual practices as they regard demon beings.
But we see the ultimate result of their rebellion as well with the phrase “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”. According to Guzik, “By not keeping their proper place, they are now kept in chains. Their sinful pursuit of freedom has put them in bondage.”1 Such are we when we pursue freedoms we were never instructed by God to pursue. Are we free to do so? Absolutely, but with that freedom comes responsibility … before God and others (1 Corinthians 10:23).
Nonetheless we have the end result of there being giants in the land. Why the product of this union was giants, I’ll never know. I believe that’s totally out of my league to even consider speculating about that one. We know that they were “mighty” (of course) and were very famous. I believe if there were giants in our day, they would be very memorable to us too. We would be talking about them all the time, wouldn’t we? The cable news channels and radio talk shows would never know another slow news day again!
Suffice it to say there is a lot we don’t know concerning this passage, but God didn’t give it to us for that purpose. He gave it to us that we may know God will not strive with us forever in our sinful rebellion. There is a point in time when a holy God will say, “Enough!” to man’s rebellion toward Him, then the judgment will come. This is the entire theme of the chapter as we continue our examination of it.
5 - Then Yahweh saw the evil of men was great on the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.
This parallels with passages such as Psalm 14, Psalm 36, Isaiah 59:2-4, and Romans 3:10. The only things man could find to do had their roots in rebellion toward their Maker. Have things changed a lot nowadays? Well, you tell me! The Calvinists have as one of their five points this issue of the “total depravity” of man. This is the only point of Reformed theology which I am in wholehearted agreement concerning. The fact that we can continue on as we have for as long as we have is truly a testimony to the grace and mercy of God. If it were left to mankind, the earth would have been obliterated long, long ago. Oh, wait! We’re about to find out it was obliterated long, long ago. We need to stay focused long enough to be able to get to it, though (sorry, I get carried away sometimes).
6 - And Yahweh came to regret that He had made man on the earth, and He became very sorrowful in His heart.
I love what Guzik has to say concerning this passage so I will let him do the saying.
God’s sorrow at man, and the grief in His heart, are striking. This does not mean that creation was out of control, nor does it mean that God hoped for something better but was unable to achieve it. God knew all along that this was how things would turn out, but our text tells us loud and clear that as God sees His plan for the ages unfold, it affects Him. God is not unfeeling in
the face of human sin and rebellion.2
7 - And Yahweh said, “I will wipe out man who I have created from the face of the earth; from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them.”
The God of the universe shares His heart with … well, who is He sharing with? Has He become senile early on and is just talking to Himself? His use of “I” would certainly give it that appearance, wouldn’t it? I submit He is talking to none other than us! Why else would we have record of this account?
I have said this for a number of years now and I will say it here. If we see nothing else in the Old Testament, we see God’s attitude toward sin. This verse is a pristine example and one of the first in a long line of many where we see His attitude toward sin. As was the case with Adam, we do not see a mad, angry taskmaster, but rather the attitude of a heartbroken Father toward His children as evidenced in the translation. Moved at the very events He knew would unfold before Him, the reality of it all moves Him to the deepest of sorrow and pity. But we also do well to remember the truth of the New Testament when we are told,
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
8 - But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh.
Notice it says he “found” grace; it says nothing about how he earned it. When God bestows His grace on any of us, it is by His design. His design comes to us by way of His instruction: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4:10). The result: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Humbling oneself in the Lord’s eyes consists of the realization of sin, the desire to repent, and the impetus to obey. Whenever one does this according to the Lord’s design, the beauty of His grace engulfs him and the indwelling of the Spirit takes place, empowering them for the Lord‘s service. Obedience is the natural outgrowth of grace.
A London traffic jam prevented C. S. Lewis from arriving at a certain religious symposium on time. The panel, comprised of the world’s most highly esteemed religious thinkers, began without him, their first question being: What is unique about Christianity? Although the Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, and Taoist discussed the question they could arrive at no conclusive answer. In the midst of their debate, C. S. Lewis burst into the room. “Dr. Lewis,” said the moderator, “tell us what is unique to Christianity.” “That’s easy,” Lewis replied. “It’s grace.” 3
Grace is defined as unmerited favor. When any of us enter into right relationship with God through (and only through) Jesus Christ, we find His unmerited favor. Grace has also been defined by the following acrostic:
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
It was only through the vicarious suffering and death of Christ that we can know grace and eternal life. The Buddhists and Muslims and Jews and Taoists and cultists can make many a claim concerning their false religions, but they will never be able to claim the doctrine of grace. That’s what makes them false!
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth … For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:14,17
9 - These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, having become blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
A possible translation would be that Noah was “pure in his genetic profile”.4 The demonic influence had yet to penetrate the Noahic line. No wonder Noah had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a man committed to the ways of Yahweh like no other of his time. He would not permit himself or his family to partake of what the world offered. Here we have the ultimate expression of one man humbling himself in a manner found nowhere else among anyone else of his day. What an example for us in our day!
10 - And Noah begat three sons: Shem, Ham, and Yepeth.
The name “Yepeth” appears in most if not all English language Bibles as “Japheth.” This is due to the German translation process that eventually made its way into the English translation process. But the actual Hebrew transliteration is “Yepeth.”
11 - Now the earth had become corrupt in the sight of Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 - And Elohim saw the earth, and behold, it had become corrupt because all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth.
13 - Then Elohim said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is coming before Me, for the earth is full of violence because of them. And behold, I will annihilate them with the earth.
God now shares with Noah what is about to become of the world as he knows it. What He shares becomes much more personal and revealing as the heart of Yahweh unfolds before a gracious and obedient Noah.
14 - “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make compartments in the ark and cover it with pitch within and without.
The word in the Hebrew is the word for “box” or “chest”. When the word was translated into Latin in the making of the Latin Vulgate it was translated arca, from whence we get our word “ark.” This is quite an appropriate term as we will see in the commentary on the next verse.
15 - “And this is how you shall make it: Three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits the width, and thirty cubits the height.
In other words, it was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Wouldn’t you know it? That just happens to be virtually the same as many of the ships the Navy has out on the sea today, by a ratio of about 6:1. Not only can it maneuver the high seas with little if any problem, but it can carry a lot!! Isn’t it just like our God to come up with the perfect floatation device! Hence, we have the term “chest” or “box”. In general it was in the shape of a shoebox. When it’s a device no one has ever seen or imagined before, then it’s even more amazing. No wonder Noah was laughed at, mocked, and impugned during the construction process. Can you hear the ’good ol’ boys’ of his day standing around saying to each other, “Look at that ol’ Noah! He’s still working on that box of his!” “Yeah. I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do with that.” “I know that’s right! What in the world’s he building that for anyway? Doesn’t he know nobody’s ever done that before?” And on and on it must’ve gone, day after week after month after year after decade. Yet the day came when the one who found grace was on board and the ’good ol’ boys’ were not. Which bears out the words of Dr. Warren Wiersbe when he says, “The majority is usually wrong.“ There’s a little something to think about right before your church is going to vote on how to spend its money during the next business meeting!
How could a “box” or “chest” hold all those animals and people and food and such? Think of it as about 522 cars of a cattle train. If you had 522 cars of a cattle train, I’ll bet you could carry quite a few animals for a period of time as well. I would say in conclusion that Yahweh provided for them quite well, thank you very much!
16 - “You shall make a roof/skylight for the ark; and to a cubit you shall finish it from above; and the entrance of the ark you shall set in the side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels.
The rough translation lends itself to a peephole in the very top where sunlight can get through and the ones on board will know the difference between day and night, sun and stars, rain and no rain, etc. One cubit, by the way, comes to about 18 inches. The same door will take them in before the rains begin and take them out when the flood waters have dissipated. The ark will also contain low- , medium- , and upper-level decks (which is a better translation than “levels,” to be honest).
17 - “And I, behold I, am bringing in flood waters on the earth to annihilate all flesh in whom is the breath of life from underneath the heavens; everything that is on the earth shall die.
Here we have God in communion with man. The one who found grace is hearing the heart of the One bestowing grace. God’s servant is hearing the heart of his Master and the news is not all good, as they say. When the Lord says “everything…shall die,” that is what is meant. Fortunately for us, there is a glowing exception.
18 - “But with you I will set up my covenant, and you shall come into the ark; you, and your sons, and your wife, and your son’s wives with you.
Truly Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. If there was ever any doubt, here is your proof. This word “covenant” has a special meaning in a biblical context. Usually it speaks to an arrangement agreed upon by God and another party. This makes the relationship much more bonded. We will see several more of these types of covenants later in the Old Testament, Lord willing. Now, though, let us see this as something affecting not only Noah but his immediate and extended family.
19 - “And of everything living of all flesh, two of everything you shall bring into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female.
20 - “From the birds belonging to their kind, and from the animals belonging to their kind, from every creeping thing of the ground belonging to its kind, two of everything shall come to you, to keep them alive.
21 - “And you shall take for yourself of all the food that is to be eaten and gather it together; and it shall be for you and for them for eating.”
My, oh my! Lest I surmise…
Why didn’t Noah kill those flies?
Carrying all those animals and people and food is not a stretch like we may think it is, since most land animals are quite small. Morris tells us,
Authorities on biological taxonomy estimate that there are less than eighteen thousand species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians living in the world today. This number might be doubled to allow for known extinct land animals (that is, those known from actual fossil records, not the imaginary transitional forms that never existed except in the minds of evolutionists). Allowing then for two of each species, there might have to be a total of about seventy-two thousand animals on the Ark - say seventy-five thousand; to allow for the five extra animals in each ‘clean’ species.”5
22 - So Noah did; according to all that Elohim commanded him, so did he.
“All” is the key word. Total obedience is the key concept. It always has been and always will be. Observe…
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 which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Hebrews 11:7
7:1-24
1 - And Yahweh said to Noah, “You and all your household are to come in to the ark, for you I have seen righteous before Me in this generation.
Since Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, here we have the Lord bestowing His grace gift upon not only Noah, but his entire family. Noah lived with a pure heart before Yahweh, thus He responds in kind. Noah obtained this of the Lord not because of what he did, but more along the lines of how he did it. He served Yahweh with a pure heart, free of encumbrances resulting from trying to seek His favor. So Noah serves as a type of the believer under the New Covenant.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
Notice from that passage we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not as a result of them. And isn’t it interesting Yahweh told Noah to come into the ark, as opposed to “go in to the ark?” Noah and his entire family have the blessed assurance of knowing Yahweh will be right there with them before they even set foot inside! In the same way, each of us have the assurance of His presence this very day.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His Glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14
2 - “Of every clean beast you shall take with you in sevens, male and female; and of the beasts that are not clean [take] in twos, male and female.
3 - “Also of the birds of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to keep alive offspring on the face of all the earth.
The difference as to whether the flood was local or universal is found in the phrase, “all the earth.” If animals were elsewhere on the earth, there would be no need to repopulate with the animals taken into the Ark by Noah. They were to be taken in by sevens, no doubt, for sacrificial purposes.
The difference between clean and unclean would have had to be a judgment call on Noah’s part since such a distinction had yet to be made. That would not come along until much later in the Mosaic law implicitly spelled out in Leviticus. We of course no longer live under such distinctions in the present dispensation of the New Covenant (see Acts 10, 1 Timothy 4, etc.).
4 - “For in seven days time, I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe out all living beings that I have made on the face of the earth.”
How could such a rain exist in all the earth? We hear of the monsoons in southeast Asia. We hear about how the rain in Seattle is colder in the winter than in the summer. But how can such a torrential rain storm as this ever come about? Morris explains,
A worldwide rain lasting forty days would be quite impossible under present atmospheric conditions; so this phenomenon required an utterly different source of atmospheric waters than now obtains. This we have already seen to be the “waters above the firmament,” the vast thermal blanket of invisible water vapor that maintained the greenhouse effect in the antediluvian world. These waters somehow were to condense and fall on the earth.6
So why did God allow these waters to be stored up and what did He have in mind in so doing? Here again we have the wonderful works of God bringing all things to His desired end. He knew from the beginning He would send a Flood of judgment upon the earth. In creating all things as He did (seen in chapter one), He did so with His desired end in mind. The wonder of it all!
5 - And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.
How much of what Yahweh told him to do did he actually do? All that Yahweh commanded him … not just some of it. No wonder Noah found grace in the Lord’s eyes. He was so willing and trusting of his Lord and God and the relationship between the two was such to where whatever Yahweh said was to be done, it was as good as done.
6 - And Noah was six hundred years old when all the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
I’m not sure if this was considered to be a time marker or not, but we know that this is probably the last of the long life spans on the earth. Things would be much different after the waters of the flood receded and man would then begin to populate the earth once again. Man would go on to live much shorter life spans in the postdiluvian era, as we will see in the examination of those portions of the text.
7 - So Noah went in, his sons, his wife, and his son’s wives because of the waters of the flood.
Where the Word of the Lord is, there is obedience. Such was the life of Noah where his relationship with his Lord was concerned. Notice it says “because of the waters of the flood.” It says that even though there were no flood waters at this point. There wasn’t even any rain. Yet in Noah’s mind, Yahweh had said there would be much rain on the earth in seven days’ time, so to Noah it was as good as done. Does the Word of the Lord command that kind of willingness to obey in your life?
8 - Of the clean beasts and of the beasts that were not clean, and of the birds and everything which was creeping on the ground,
9 - They went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, like Elohim had commanded Noah.
10 - And it came to be, after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
Or perhaps, “the waters of which the flood would consist were upon the earth.” That’s a bit of a free translation on my part, but it does go about better capturing the meaning. In other words, God said the rain that would consist of the flood waters of judgment would begin in seven days, and they did. The flood did not come at once. But once the rain continued long enough and hard enough, sinful man realized the words spoken by Noah in their day finally had their realization. Man knew in his heart at that point it was too late to repent and make things right with God.
Jesus, when prophesying concerning the end of the world, made reference to “the days of Noah,” in which all things would go on as they had.
For 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
Here we have another Old Testament truth come to life in the New Testament. Both are related to one making right their relationship with the Lord … before it is too late! Remember, as long as one draws breath, it is never too late to make right with the Lord what is wrong from the outset. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Son of man will have come and time will have run out. As our school teacher used to tell us, “Use your time wisely!”
11 - In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all of the springs of the great abyss burst open; and the windows of the heavens were opened.
12 - And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 - On the exact same day these came in: Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Yepeth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three sons’ wives with him into the ark;
14 - They, and every animal belonging to their kind, and every cattle belonging to their kind, and every creeping thing that was creeping upon the earth belonging to its kind, and every bird belonging to its kind; every winged bird.
15 - So they went to Noah in the ark two by two of all flesh in which is the breath of life.
The detail given here (no doubt by at least one of those on board) lends itself to a type of “nobody would ever believe this if I didn’t describe it in explicit detail” explanation.
16 - And they came in, male and female of all flesh they went in, according to that [which] Elohim commanded; and Yahweh shut [the door] behind him.
See again who shut the door … or rather Who shut the door. At that moment the judgment of God upon the wicked earth had begun. Noah and his crew were safe in the presence of Yahweh. In like manner, Noah and his crew could not get out and wicked man could not get in. God’s pleading with man will not go on forever. The day will come when time will be no more for man to repent and make Jesus the Lord of one’s life. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Be safe in the presence of Creator God or perish along with the wicked for all eternity!
17 - And the flood was on the earth forty days; and the waters were many and they lifted the ark, and it was high above the earth.
18 - And the waters increased and were greatly multiplied upon the earth; and the ark went upon the surface of the waters.
19 - And the waters were in great abundance upon the earth, and they covered all the high mountains that were underneath all the heavens.
20 - In upwards of fifteen cubits did the waters prevail, and they covered the mountains.
Do you get the sense there is an emphasis on the mountains being covered by water? Here we have in our context the proof we need that all life on the earth was wiped out. Even the vegetation and trees that were on the very tops of the mountains were not intended to survive the judgment waters of the Flood. When Yahweh said nothing outside the Ark would survive, don’t you believe He meant business?!
Here again, the word “all” takes precedence in distinguishing between a local and universal flood: “…all the high mountains that were underneath all the heavens” were abated at the hand of the flood waters. As have others, allow me this moment to mention one of the most significant works out there, if not the most. I refer to The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and its Scientific Implications by Drs. Henry Morris and John Whitcomb (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishers, 1961). This is the comprehensive work that goes into the Flood itself, arguments for and against a universal Flood, the end of the Ice Age, radiocarbon dating, and so much more. These are the people who are much more qualified to treat the subject than I am, so I will let them.
21 - And all flesh died that was moving upon the earth, among the birds, and among the beasts, and among all living things, and among all the swarming things that were swarming upon the earth, and every man.
22 - Everything that breathed the breath of life in its nostrils of all that was on the dry ground died.
All that lived upon the earth were extinguished as a result of the Flood. Folks, all means all. Human, animal, mineral, vegetable, insect, and any and every thing in between that lived on dry land was no longer. Those who once lived on dry land but who were now in the ark were safe from death because they were under the care and provision of their Savior, Lord, and Judge.
I’m reminded of when Clarence Darrow questioned William Jennings Bryan on the witness stand during the Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee about a century ago. When asked by Darrow if he believed the Bible was literally true from cover to cover, William Jennings Bryan said he did. Darrow asked Bryan how it was that the fish did not die during the flood. Bryan gave him some sort of muddled, confused answer. He was so disillusioned by the response he gave that he went out the next day and committed suicide. The testimony of the Bible was true then and is true now. That is not the issue. We do, however, find where the text says all that lived on dry land lost their lives in the Flood. The supposed contradiction is explained perfectly in the text of the Word of God! We’ve nothing to fear when reading passages such as this; only to examine, receive, and believe. This doesn’t mean that once we examine the text all our questions will be answered, but it does have to be our starting point. It could be once we have done so, the Holy Spirit will illumine our minds and speak to our hearts as never before.
23 - And He wiped out all existence that was on the surface of the land; from man to cattle and to creeping things and to birds of the heavens. And they were wiped out from the earth. Howbeit, only Noah was left and [those] which were with him in the ark.
This proves once again how, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). But for Noah and his immediate family, they were snug as a bug in a rug, as it were, as they remained safe in the presence, care, and grace of Yahweh. You also see here how even the birds did not survive. With nothing for them on which to rest, seeming as to how even the mountain tops were covered, they had no place on which to light. They couldn’t fly continuously for five months (see next verse) so they literally dropped dead.
24 - And the waters were increased on the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Here we see in the Old Testament where the unrighteous perished in the waters of the Flood. The apostle Peter devotes a portion of the New Testament to show where the righteous will be baptized by water as a testimony to the world how they have been saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament water symbolizes condemnation; in 1 Peter 3:20-21 water is symbolic of justification.
On which side of the water are you, so to speak? If you have not done so already, you can choose eternal condemnation or eternal justification. God has made more than adequate provision for you to come unto Him by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then ye shall call upon Me, and ye shall go in and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
If you have already chosen the way of grace, please praise Him for His provision today.
8:1-22
1 - And Elohim remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark. And Elohim allowed to pass over a wind upon the earth; and the waters abated.
The word for “remembered” is a Hebrew colloquialism for how Elohim “began to act on their behalf.”7 Now that He had accomplished His purpose in the world - that is, destroying the earth and all wickedness upon it - He began to act on behalf of those to whom He had brought salvation. It was time for each of them to begin to experience a new life in a new world. It is a world that is created (or in this case, re-created) and hence sustained by God for each of us to enjoy. When each of us enters into relationship with God, as did Noah and his family, we enter into His rest. Noah and his family in like manner “rested” in the ark in the presence of Elohim for 150 days. They did so with the prior understanding that He would bring them out and enable them to experience a brand new beginning. It applied not only to them but to the world itself. So it is with each of us that enter into a new life in Christ under the New Covenant. Christ then acts on our behalf as He did on the Cross to enable each of us to enter into new life with Him. Not only is it a new life for us, but a new world too! We no longer see the world through worldly eyes, but through the eyes of the Spirit as He takes up residence in our lives and hearts. The veil over our hearts is then lifted (2 Corinthians 3:16-17) and we are then enabled by His Spirit to live the life of freedom that is of the Spirit; free of the reign of wickedness within our hearts and full of the reign of the Spirit of God as indwelling the believer.
How did Elohim act on behalf of Noah and family at this point? He allowed a wind to pass over the face (surface) of the earth. Result: the waters abated, or receded/lessened. How that happened is not for my mind to comprehend much less explain. Morris sees it as a sovereign act of God upon the literal face of the earth. He explains it this way:
Wind, waves, and evaporation … could hardly account in themselves for more than a minor lowering of water level (unless the winds were so violent as to sweep quantities of water clear off into outer space, which seems impossible on a non-supernatural basis). Somehow there must also be a drastic rearrangement of terrestrial topography, with continental land masses rising from the waters, and ocean basins deepening and widening to receive the waters draining off the lands. This is, in fact, exactly what happened according to Psalm 104:6-9 …8
Before any of us begin to get caught up in cries of ‘happenstance!’, let’s hear out the Psalmist on this occasion:
Thou coveredst [the earth] with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At Thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
Again, I don’t proclaim to be the brightest or most scientific of minds out there, but you have to be honest as to the presentation of at least the internal evidence combined with the interpretation of the scientist that speaks from the standpoint of the Bible as authority encouraging us to give pause and consider what God says He Himself has done. In our view the more evidence we submit that is biased toward the biblical worldview, the less speculation and anxiety will be ours now and in the future concerning the outcome of the Flood.
2 - And the springs of the abyss and the windows of the heavens were obstructed; and the rain from the heavens was restrained.
How? God caused it to be so, and it was so. As He willed it to begin, so He willed it to end. That’s the short answer, of course. The long answer is, well … long! How long depends on who one listens to speaking on the matter.
3 - And the waters gradually receded from the land; and the waters abated at the end of a hundred and fifty days.
This gradual recession of water spoken of here … Was it the result of evaporation? Well, myself along with others believe it was a combination of factors, evaporation of course being one of them. This of course tells of the beginning process of the water’s recession. The text is not saying it took 150 days for the flood waters to go away. Continue to follow this procession of events for the next few verses.
4 - And the ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat.
We’re back into timelines once again in our account. Timelines can be long, laborious, and, in many cases, downright boring. But these can be very important when it comes to proving the genuine authenticity of the Flood and the Genesis account in general. How a holy, sovereign God can intervene in the affairs of the world from a physical and geological standpoint has swayed many a non-believer over to believer status (with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course). The more one examines the evidence, greater will be the likelihood that those honestly seeking the Truth will find it. This is why the Lord provided us with the Truth that is the book of Genesis. Read, study, examine, be captivated by and drawn to the end result: God is the Lord and is in control of all things! Be challenged by His Word, receive, believe, and be blessed!
5 - And the waters receded continually until the tenth month; in the tenth [month] on the first of the month, peaks of the mountains became visible.
So about two-and-a-half months following the start of the waters’ recession marked the first visibility of anything on the earth. Yes, it is slow and gradual but, as they say, the best things in life are worth waiting for.
6 - Then it came to be at the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made.
7 - And he sent away a raven which flew to and fro until the waters dried up from upon the earth.
You’ve heard of a man on a mission; well, this is a raven on a mission. You may remember the old TV show that was in syndication back in the ‘80s hosted by Leonard Nimoy called In Search Of… This raven spoken of here was in search of dry land. She was looking for a place to light down. She wound up being sidetracked in her mission. More on that in just a moment.
8 - Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had lessened from upon the surface of the ground.
Like the raven, the dove was on a mission as well. Let’s see keep reading and see how she did in her search for dry land.
9 - But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because waters were [still] on the surface of the whole earth. Then he stretched out his hand and took her, and he brought her in to him in the ark.
Her mission was accomplished in the matter of seeking to find a place to land. And like the raven she was unsuccessful in that regard. Unlike the raven, however, the dove returned to Noah at the ark. At that point he not only retrieved her but made her a part of the family again, so to speak.
10 - So he stayed where he was another seven days; and he again sent away the dove from the ark.
11 - Then the dove came to him in evening time; and behold, a fresh-plucked leaf of an olive tree was in her mouth. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from upon the earth.
Another seven days of searching for water and the dove had evidence to bring back to Noah that progress was being made in regard to soon being able to inhabit the land. So goes the end of another seven-days-in, seven-days-out cycle.
12 - But he waited still another seven days and sent away the dove, and it did not return again unto him.
Now they’re getting really close to freedom from the ark and being able to inhabit the land once again in order to start up their new life together. No doubt the anticipation is mounting in a big way in and among the Noah family.
Let’s get the picture, shall we? Both the raven and dove were sent away. As we have already seen, in time the dove did return; the raven did not. In this portion of the account I want us to see a major spiritual truth we may not have opportunity to find otherwise. We see where Noah sent out the raven first. Once sent away, there is no other reference to her. Why? Well, the account tells us she was flying to and fro until the waters dried up. You’ll take into account the raven is an unclean bird. Once freed from the confines of the ark, she is out doing what she does. What is that, you ask? The unclean bird is feeding on unclean things. Her carnivorous instincts have taken over. Think of how many dead animal carcasses are floating atop the water during this time of recession. The raven, without even thinking, is so preoccupied with the veritable feast before her that she can think of nothing else, much less checking back in with Noah at the ark. Imagine the banquet she saw before her upon spotting one of the larger animals such as an elephant or a dinosaur.
The dove, on the other hand, had no preoccupation with dead, floating anything! Therefore it shouldn’t surprise us to know that the dove is a clean bird. She is out seeking dry land on behalf of Noah, the one having sent her. She acts as more of a homing pigeon. Her nature has overcome those preoccupations that overcame the raven. As a result, she is able to accomplish her mission over a period of time.
See here that the raven is viewed as a type of the world, having once been in the presence of God. Then see how diverted is the attention of people when once confronted with the things of the world. Soon being in the presence of God is no longer a guiding factor or force in their lives. The only real desire is to be a part of what the world offers on a daily basis; i.e., there is a change in lifestyle, and not for the better.
If you are a New Testament student in particular, you will recall the dove is symbolic of the Holy Spirit (John 1:29-34). This typology lends itself to the persistent obedience of the dove in helping Noah be able to start his new life in a new world. In the same way, the Holy Spirit persistently points those under the New Covenant to Jesus. Did you realize that was the role of the Holy Spirit in the world today? Not to give certain people an excuse to engage in some sort of wild ritual or phenomenon they want to excuse as being “of the Spirit” or being able to brag to others about how they are “in the Spirit” (with the inference being, “…and you’re not!”). The Spirit is at work to point others to Jesus. As Jesus Himself said, the Spirit “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). He says nothing about the Spirit’s presence being for the purpose of generating ecstatic, spine-tingling experiences. I’m not saying those types of experiences aren’t possible. But I am going on record as saying that if people are not getting honest about seeing themselves as the Lord sees them and then being born again of the Spirit of God, then those are bogus experiences, biblically speaking.
As the dove assisted Noah and his family to begin their new lives in a new world, so the Spirit assists each of us in coming to Christ by grace alone through faith alone. We then begin a new life in a new world. We come to see the world not through the lens of the culture as we have been, but rather through the lens of Scripture.
So … which typifies your life today? The raven - a type of the worldly church member - or the dove - a type of the Spirit-led believer?
13 - And it came to be in the six hundred and first year, in the first [month] on the first [day] of the month, the waters had dried up from upon the earth. And Noah took away the covering of the ark and saw; and behold, the surface of the ground had dried up.
14 - And in the seventh month on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
Another time marker that enables us to track the amount of time from the beginning of the Flood to the date the earth was pronounced “dry as a bone.” The sovereignty, care, and protection of Yahweh toward Noah and his family is able to be tracked by year, month, and day. That gives us the length of time the family Noah was cared for in the ark. How sturdy and stable was it? Enough to where these eight people and all those animals survived for that specific length of time.
By the way, you’ll notice nothing in this portion of the account where Noah or any of the seven others on board dismissed themselves. If you’re seeking to live a life pleasing to the Father, as was Noah, it simply doesn’t work that way. When we act of our own volition, that can be the beginning of trouble. Most of the time it is, but Noah knew better. Again this speaks to the magnitude of the relationship between he and Yahweh.
And then it happened …
15 - Then Elohim spoke to Noah, saying,
16 - “You are to go out from the ark: you, your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.
17 - “Every living thing with you of all flesh, of the fowl, and among the cattle, and of every creeping thing creeping upon the earth you will bring out with you, that they may swarm upon the earth, and may bear fruit and become many upon the earth.”
18 - So Noah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him.
19 - Every animal, every creeping thing, and all the fowl; all creeping upon the earth belonging to their kind went out from the ark.
My informed sources tell me that Noah, his family, and all those animals experienced just over a year of togetherness. The time span from their response to Yahweh in boarding the ark to the time of their departure chronicled in this passage comes to 371 days.
20 - Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered whole burnt offerings on the altar.
We are now about to observe the importance of the clean animals and birds as to why they were to be taken aboard the ark. It is not that Noah takes them on board in obedience to the command of Yahweh so much as it is the purpose those clean things will serve on the other side of Noah’s 371-day adventure.
21 - And Yahweh smelled a soothing odor, and Yahweh said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, because the purpose of the heart of man is evil from his youth. And never again will I smite every thing like that I have made.
Once Noah demonstrated his obedience to Yahweh, His wrath was pacified. In like manner, the Son of God demonstrated His obedience to His Father. In so doing His wrath was pacified toward man’s sin condition. He had made a way for man to enter into His presence and not be annihilated by the Father’s wrath. Man in his sinful condition needed that to be the case then and we certainly need it today. Otherwise we have not a leg upon which to stand, spiritually speaking. Yahweh said it best in our present verse: “…the purpose of the heart of man is evil from his youth.” How could any of us begin to stand in the presence of a holy, righteous, and just God in our present condition? We can’t, and that’s why the propitiation the Son of God paid for our sin is so very significant. Strong’s defines this propitiation (1 John 2:2, 4:10) as “the means of appeasing.” If you can find a better, more appropriate definition of Jesus’ purpose in relation to man’s sin condition let me know, but I think that pretty well nails it on the head. Jesus Christ was the One - the only One - that could have made that appeasement. What’s more He made it for you and me, undeserving as we are.
Yahweh’s promise to us is sure: the earth will never again be destroyed in the manner of flood waters. Instead, we have His promise in the New Testament that the earth will be annihilated by fire:
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby 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
When we were kids and one would tell another about how they needed to back off (or something similar), the other would probably respond something to the effect of, “Is that a threat or a promise?“ If it’s part of the Word of God, you can bet the ranch (so to speak) that it’s a promise! Whether He’s going to do it is not the issue. Here’s the issue: which side of the issue are you on? Are you subject to the mercy and grace of God or the judgment and perdition of God? Our prayer is not that you would be on the side of ungodly men, but on the side of those who are able to give praise to the Lord for acting on behalf of ungodly men by way of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Who came to save those not able to save themselves (again, that would be us).
22 - “For the duration of the earth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall never cease.”
Many read this portion of God’s promise in different ways. I’m not here to make the Bible say something it doesn’t or ever intended to, but I believe this is the advent of the seasons of the year as we have them today. It is my opinion we have avid proof once again of a universal Flood. As a result of the waters of the Flood, the earth’s axis was tilted ever so slightly to where the earth rotates at a slight wobble; just enough to feel the effects of the sun (or lack of) at certain times of the year. This, I believe, is the Lord’s promise that is not so much a prophesy as a guarantee of what will happen as a direct result of the weight of the waters upon the earth. As with any of the other non-essentials of the faith please feel free to disagree, trusting you will do so in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Endnotes
1http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0106.htm
2Ibid.
3Jon Courson, Jon Courson's Application Commentary - Volume One:
Genesis-Job (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005).
4Ibid.
5Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional
Commentary on the Book of Beginnings (Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1976), 185.
6Ibid, 191.
7Ibid, 205.
8Ibid, 206.