Genesis 8 - Then God Remembered Noah

In Genesis 7, we saw how the Lord fulfilled His promise in bringing a world-wide flood on the earth as judgment for man’s wickedness. No one believed that judgment would come, but this did not change the truth of what the Lord had said. We see the same thing happening today: men do not like to believe that the Lord will bring a final judgment of fire on the earth, but one day soon it will happen just like He said. However, we See Noah and his family, along with each kind of pair of land animals in whose nostrils was the breath of life, safe aboard the ark. In this we see a picture of Jesus Christ: all who are found within Jesus (the ark of salvation) will be spared from the wrath to come. In chapter 8, we will see how all those aboard the ark will be preserved by God’s mercy.

It states that God remembered Noah and all those aboard the ark with him. Now the Lord had not forgotten about Noah, but in fact, it was quite the opposite. The Lord had Noah and those aboard the ark in His mind the entire time. When this phrase is used in the Bible it usually means that the Lord is getting ready to act on behalf of that person(s), and that is precisely what we see happening here.

The Lord caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters receded. Most of us have had our carpets cleaned or had some flooding, and one of the go-tos is to run a fan over it to dry it out. Maybe we have had a garden or done some farming, and you can see how wind dries out the ground as well as the plants. This was one of the methods the Lord was using here.

The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped. There are some who also believe that there was some tectonic shifting that took place to aid in the receding of the waters. In Psalm 104:6-9, it says, “You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth.” With the subterranean reservoirs now emptied or drastically reduced of much of its water, earth’s crust would have been in an unstable condition. The earth’s crust would have then collapsed under the weight of the water into these reservoirs, forming our current ocean basins. The sediments in the sea troughs were then pushed up to form mountain ranges and plateaus. One would expect to see volcanic activity associated with this, and that is exactly what we see in many places. There is also evidence of mountain ranges such as the Andes and Himalayas thrusting upward at approximately the same time thousands of years ago. For example, remains of cities have been found high up in the Andes that show they used to grow corn that is now at an elevation too high to do so. So as this upward thrust continued in the years after the Flood, they abandoned the cities for lower ground.

Within 150 days (five months) of the beginning of the flood, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, which is Armenia or modern-day Turkey. It is a mountain range, but the current-day Mt. Ararat is apparently the most logical site. It has an elevation of around 17,000 feet, but evidence shows it was lower in the years immediately after the Flood. Nonetheless, there are marine fossils that have been found on the summit, proving that it once was under water.

The waters continued to recede for another two and a half months or so until the tops of the other mountains could be seen. Noah released a raven and a dove to help him determine when the ground was dry enough to come out of the ark. Ravens are scavengers who would have little trouble finding food, nor would they be picky about where they roost. A dove, on the other hand, would seek for food and roosting on dry land.  It was not until the second time that the dove brought back an olive leaf that Noah knew the waters had receded sufficiently enough for vegetation to grow at lower elevations. He waited one more week to release the dove again, but this time it did not return to him. Almost 11 months into it, he removed the covering of the ark, and the surface of the ground was dry. It was over a year from the beginning of the Flood (370 days) until the waters had dried up enough for them to leave the ark.

It was at this point that the Lord spoke again to Noah. Now if I were Noah, I would have preferred that the Lord speak to me at some point during the Flood to reassure me I was going to make it, but the Lord did not. Noah had to trust the Lord by faith that he, his family, and all the animals would be spared as He had said. The Lord waited until the flood waters had completely receded before He spoke to Noah and told them to leave the ark. Noah took some reasonable steps to determine when they should leave, but ultimately, they did not leave until the Lord told them to. God told them to go in, and He told them to go out. If we believe the Lord has told us to do something specific like this, it might be wise to keep doing that until we hear differently.

After they all had left the ark, Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord. The burnt offering speaks of dedication and commitment to God. Imagine the relief and gratitude Noah felt when he stepped off the ark for the first time after the Lord had brought them through such a cataclysmic event over a year later. In light of this, Noah was making a fresh commitment to follow and serve the Lord. He took one of every clean animal and one of every clean bird. Remember, there were only seven pairs of clean animals (male and female), so this would have been quite a sacrifice.

The Lord was pleased with the soothing aroma of the offering. There’s just something satisfying about smelling meat roasting on the fire. I’m sure He was more satisfied with Noah’s fresh commitment, but this was maybe the icing on the cake so to speak. It was here that the Lord made a covenant with Noah and the rest of creation. He said in His heart that He would never again curse the ground (destroy it with a flood) for man’s sake, nor destroy every living thing while the earth remains. His reason was that the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth. In other words, he is a sinner by nature, and no matter how many times the Lord destroyed every living thing with a flood, the problem would still remain. The problem is sinful man, and the only cure for him is to be made into a new man through Jesus Christ. This was God’s design from the beginning (Revelation 13:8).

The Lord stated, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” It is thought that there were no seasons prior to the Flood, since there was no clear mention of them specifically in the Genesis account. If the canopy theory is correct, this layer was no longer present protecting earth from the sun’s harmful rays, nor would there be any global green-house effect. This would have created temperature inconsistencies at different latitudes, trade winds, and the weather patterns we see today. Another theory is that Earth had a zero-degree tilt prior to the Flood, and the catastrophic events of the Flood were enough to change it to 23.5 degrees. This too, would have had a similar effect on temperature and weather patterns.

Currently the rotation of the tilted earth has a slight wobble, and interestingly enough, it is partially affected by changes in water levels around the globe. Prior to the creation of the new heavens and new earth, this wobble will become more pronounced and out of control. Isaiah writes, (24:18-20) “And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” The earth goes through cycles in which its wobble increases to a peak, and then straightens up again. However, this wobble appears to be getting worse over time. NASA likes to attribute it to global warming, but it is simply the earth waxing old like a garment as the author of Hebrews states. It’s like a spinning top that wobbles as it slows down and eventually falls over. According to Isaiah, it will eventually wobble out of control and be moved out of its place. It will be completely destroyed when the Lord creates the new heaven and the new earth.

Believer, God has remembered you and me in the person of Jesus Christ who has “Given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Eph 5:2) If the Lord did not keep His promises (even just one of them) to you and me, then we would have no grounds to believe He will keep His future promises. However, He has kept them, and He will keep them. He remembered us by “Saving His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), and He will remember us by delivering us from the wrath that is to come. Search the Scriptures: in chapters 4-19 of the book of Revelation, the Church is not mentioned once as being on planet earth. So, let us, out of gratitude, commit ourselves to Him anew as Noah did, presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service.

If you are not a Christian, this same promise of salvation and deliverance is available to you. You only have to receive it by faith. Call on the name of the Lord, “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” (Rom 10:13)

In the next several verses we will take a deeper look at the covenant the Lord made with Noah, and we will see some interesting implications for us today.

 

Additional Links

 

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

 

Genesis 8 - Chuck Smith Bible Commentary

 

Genesis 7 - The Righteous Judgment of a Faithful God

In our last study in Genesis, we saw how the Lord stated He would destroy the world with a flood because of the wickedness of man, and how Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord told Noah to build an ark for him and his family and for the male and female of each kind of land animal. By faith Noah obeyed the voice of the Lord even though it had not rained, nor had a flood been seen on this magnitude. He did not conform to the culture of the day, but went against it by walking in obedience to the Lord. He was also a preacher of righteousness as he attempted to warn people of the judgment to come. In Genesis chapter 7, we will see the Lord fulfill His promise by bringing the flood.

The Lord told Noah to go into the ark along with his family, because Noah had been seen righteous before Him, and if we remember from Hebrews, that righteousness was because of his faith. It would also appear that God was sparing Noah’s family along with him because of Noah’s righteousness, “Because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”

He was told to take seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals. If we remember from chapter 6, Noah was only told to bring in one pair of each kind of animal. This is not a contradiction, but as Noah stepped out in obedience the Lord gave him more detailed instruction. Many of the clean animals were used for sacrifice, so one reason may have been that it was necessary to bring more of them aboard the ark to ensure each kind would survive after the flood. God told him to do so to “Keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.” He continued that in a week’s time He would cause it to rain 40 days and 40 nights, and that all living things that He had made would be destroyed from the face of the earth. This is a repeat of verse 17 of chapter six, and the Lord was making a point that all flesh that had the breath of life on the earth would die. Again, we see that Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

The Lord then caused the animals to come to Noah into the ark, two by two, and once they were all in, along with Noah and his family, the Lord shut the door. Noah was 600 years old when the flood began, in the second month, in the 17^th day of the month. This was probably referring to the calendar year in which Noah turned 600.

At this point, the Scriptures state that the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. In a previous study, we talked about underground reservoirs pressurized by the Earth’s heat that were likely the source of the mist that watered the ground prior to the flood, as well as the source of the four rivers that flowed out of one source at or near the garden of Eden. It is likely that these pressurized reservoirs produced geysers on a world-wide scale, possibly  concentrated on the mid—oceanic ridge. This would have brought up enormous amounts of water and magma to the surface. It would have also sent scalding columns of super-heated waters, along with dust and gases, upward into the upper atmosphere, and once in contact with colder air, would have produced cloud-cover and relentless rain-fall on a global scale. To further support this model, the Scriptures state that the rain-fall did not begin until the fountains of the deep were broken up. This eruption of the fountains of the deep would have also affected marine life. The ICR states, “Great quantities of magma, metals and other materials were extruded from the earth’s mantle. The sediments from the lands were transported down to be deposited in the encroaching sea basins. Complex hydrodynamic phenomena–tsunamis, vortices, turbidity flows, cyclic erosion and deposition, and a variety of geomorphologic activity–took place throughout the year. Earth movements of great magnitude, and tremendous volcanic explosions shook the earth again and again, until finally, ‘the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished’ (II Peter 3:6).” But the ark, as well designed as it was as we discussed last week, would have been safely guided by the Lord’s hand on the surface of the waters.

So, the waters prevailed (were overwhelmingly mighty) 40 days and 40 nights on the earth, and the ark moved on the surface of the waters. The waters prevailed exceedingly, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The word “all” is a double superlative, so, all really means all. They rose 15 cubits (as high as 25 and ½ feet) above the mountains (the same Hebrew word for the high hills).

This was not a localized flood as some critics like to assert, but a world-wide flood that destroyed every living thing that breathed, both man and animal that lived on the dry land. If it were a local flood, the waters would have simply overflowed the mountain peaks and disbursed elsewhere. If it were a localized flood, Noah and the land animals could have just moved out of the area, a much simpler task than building a huge boat. A local flood also does not explain how the ark landed atop Mount Ararat, which is some 17 thousand feet tall. It also does not explain how there are marine fossils on mountain tops such as whales 500 feet above sea level on our East coast.

Only Noah and those that were with him in the ark survived. The flood waters were upon the earth 150 days (five months), which eliminates any chance that anyone or anything outside the ark would have survived.

The take-away from this chapter is that God keeps His promises, even those of His coming judgment. God always does what He says He will do, folks. He told Noah the flood was coming, yet no one but Noah and his family heeded the Lord’s warnings. They dismissed them as false, and continued on as they always had. This is no different from today. Peter writes, “Knowing this first, that 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 of the creation. 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 3:3-7) This is not a true ignorance, but a willful one. Man has been given all the evidence he needs to make a decision for Christ, but because he does not want to be accountable to the Lord, he conveniently denies His existence or dismisses the parts of the Bible that make him uncomfortable. This does not change the truth however. The Lord is still returning in judgment just like He has said repeatedly throughout the Bible, and those who are found outside of Christ will be the recipients of His wrath. Just because His judgment is delayed does not mean it is not coming. Peter goes on to say, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But 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 3:8-10) The Lord’s delay in bringing judgment should not be mistaken for His tolerance, but seen as His patience. He desires that all would come to repentance, and is giving mankind all the time He can. However, when His judgment does come, it will be unexpected and sudden as Peter said, “a thief in the night,” and it will be too late to get right with the Lord, just as it was in Noah’s day. Again, this is why it is important to be a preacher of righteousness as Noah was. Will you be ready? By faith choose Jesus, the ark of salvation, and you will be saved. Remember that once Noah and those that were with him were in the ark, it was the Lord who closed the door. when we are found in Christ, we will be safe from God’s final and eternal judgment that is to come.

In this chapter, we discussed how the Lord fulfilled His promise in bringing the flood, and in the following chapter we will see God fulfill His promise to save Noah and His family alive.

 

Genesis 6 - A Flood's a Comin'

Previously in Genesis 5, we discussed the generations listed from Adam to Noah. We see how long men lived before the flood, and as a result how easily oral history and tradition would have been passed down due to the significant overlap in each generation. We also see that the Lord has given us the Gospel Message in the meaning of the names of the 10 men listed. In chapter 6 we will see how the Lord will choose one man and his family to be spared from the world-wide judgment that He would bring due to the wickedness of man.

It states that when men began to multiply upon the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God took the daughters of men for wives. There has been a lot of debate over the years amongst Christians as to what this passage is referring to, but the two most common theories seem to be the Sethite theory and the fallen angel theory. Under the Sethite theory, the godly sons of Seth married the daughters of Cain who had been cut off from the presence of the Lord. There are some problems with this theory however.  In the Old Testament godly men are never referred to as “sons of God”, and the “daughters of men” are not strictly referring to the lineage of Cain. These daughters were of the descendants of Adam, which included that of Seth and Cain. Another problem with the Sethite theory is that the offspring of these marriages (Nephilim) were around after the flood.  We see reference to them when the children of Israel were spying out the promised land in Numbers 13:33. Any part of Cain’s lineage would have been wiped out by the flood. A slight variation of the Sethite view states that they were merely godly men who married ungodly women, and their offspring were the Nephilim since the word Nephilim relates to the verb series “to fall.” This eliminates the problem with the descendants of Cain not being around after the flood, but it does not explain why their offspring were giants and men of renown, nor why God chose such a harsh judgment as the world-wide flood to wipe them out.

The fallen angel theory states that fallen angels married women and produced offspring that were giants. The Genesis account states, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” The term “sons of God” in the Old Testament is consistently used to refer to angels. We see this in Job 1:6, 2:1, and 38:7. We also see reference to this in the New Testament: Peter writes, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:4-5) Jude also alludes to this: “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.” (Jude 1:6) Notice how Peter connects the fall of these angels with the flood of Noah, and how they have since been bound in chains of darkness until the Day of Judgment. Obviously not all of the fallen angels are bound, for the devil is still at work in the world today. However, these angels in particular have been bound for this specific sin. The passage in Jude referring to them leaving their habitation is referring to them leaving their heavenly bodies. As bazaar as it seems, a literal and straight-forward reading of the texts seem to lend more credibility to the fallen angel theory. It also makes sense that Satan would try to corrupt the seed of the woman through which God told Eve the Messiah would eventually come. I am personally convinced all the supposed UFO sightings and people’s experiences with aliens (some of them sexual in nature) are actually demonic encounters. Also, if you have studied witchcraft and the occult, sexual experiences with demonic beings are unfortunately a part of what takes place. This corruption in the gene-pool is one of the reasons the Lord decided to bring judgment on the entire world. Again, these are only theories, and are not something we can be dogmatic on.

Because of this the Lord stated that his Spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh. If we remember from Genesis 3, the Lord would not allow man to live forever in his fallen state, but he was allowed to live for hundreds (almost 1,000) years. Now the Lord is saying that because of man’s depravity, his life would be drastically shortened to one hundred twenty years. Interestingly, that is about the maximum life-span of man today: The oldest person recorded in modern history was a French woman who lived to be one hundred twenty-two (see here). The average life-expectancy of man is 70-80 years just as Moses wrote in Psalm 90:10. At this point it was so bad the Scriptures state that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and that the earth was filled with violence. From the time of the first recorded murder of Abel by his brother Cain, the earth had deteriorated into a perpetual state of corruption and violence. Man was so corrupt that he was beyond repair. It states that the Lord repented that He had made man and He was grieved in His heart. Now we know that the Lord didn’t all of a sudden decide He had made a mistake, but the Lord was grieved at what man had done. They had gone from perfection in the Garden of Eden to apparently being incapable of or unwilling to even thinking anything good. As bad as this sounds it would seem as if there was no hope, but the Lord always saves a remnant.

It states that Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord, and this is the first time grace appears in the Bible. I think it is interesting that the first time grace is mentioned it is in connection with a man that would be spared from God’s world-wide judgment. There will be another world-wide judgment coming, and the only way to escape it will be by grace. The Genesis account goes on to say that Noah was just and perfect in his generation. The word just means to be lawful or righteous, and ultimately is made possible by God who justifies the ungodly. His faith and reverence toward God moved him to obedience. He believed God and prepared an ark, though a flood of this magnitude had not yet been seen. If we recall from chapter 2, it had not rained on the earth yet. The author of Hebrews writes, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb 11:7) He was perfect, not in the sense that he never sinned, but in that his life was not marked by major character flaws. As we will find out in a few chapters, he will make a big mistake, but his life was not characterized by walking in sin. Noah had integrity. He did not conform to the culture around him, but went against it as he sought to obey the Lord. He was also a preacher of righteousness, who sought to warn men of the judgment to come 2 Peter 2:5). Noah also had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and as we see later in the chapter, Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives would be the only persons spared.

Because of the corruption and violence on the earth, the Lord then tells Noah that He is going to destroy all flesh with the earth, and that he should build an ark of gofer wood. He was to make it with rooms (compartments), and to cover it inside and out with pitch (a petroleum product in the middle-east). This would have water-proofed the wood and preserved it for a long time.

Next, He gives Noah the dimensions of the ark. A cubit is an ancient measure that was the distance between the elbow and the longest finger, and the Hebrew cubit ranged from 17.5 inches to 20.4 inches. Using the longer measure the ark would have been approximately 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet tall. It had three large inner decks, a door and a window, and the same storage capacity as up to 450-500 standard semi-trailers or 522 cattle cars on a train. The word for ark is a box, so this was more like a barge than a boat. Whatever the case, it was large for its time, and, in fact, a bigger boat was not built until 1858. In other words, Noah was way ahead of his time here. It was six times longer than it was wide, which we have since discovered is the optimal ratio of length to width for ships. It strikes a balance in the conflicting requirements for stability, comfort, and strength. The force of the ark’s weight pushing downward and its buoyancy pushing upwards form what is called a righting couple. This means that the ark could tilt 90 degrees, and still right itself. It was virtually uncapsizable.

This could have easily fit each kind (family level in taxonomy) of pairs of land animals as God had directed him, since the estimated number of living and extinct kinds of land animals is around 1,400. He was later told to bring one pair of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals aboard the ark. At most Noah would have approximately 7,000-8,000 animals that he cared for. It also would have fit all the food necessary to sustain Noah and his family along with all these animals.

Critics of the Bible like to point out that a young-earth view is inconsistent with science, because dinosaurs could not have fit aboard the ark. However, they could have been taken when much smaller, but still had reached reproductive age. Going back to Genesis 1, God created all animal life on days five and six of creation, so we have no reason to believe dinosaurs were on the earth millions of years ago. Furthermore, archeological evidence shows human and dinosaur footprints in the same rock layers (see here).

If you are like me, I like it when history and archeological evidence back up the claims of the Bible. Interestingly enough, there is both historical and archeological evidence for the ark. David Guzek notes the following in his commentary on Genesis: “In 275 B.C., Berosus, a Babylonian historian, wrote: ‘But of this ship that grounded in Armenia some part still remains in the mountains…and some get pitch from the ship by scraping it off.’” “Around A.D. 75, Josephus said the locals collected relics from the ark and showed them off to this very day. He also said all the ancient historians he knew of wrote about the ark.” Lastly, “In the early part of this century (1917), a Russian aviator named Vladimire Rokovitsky claimed the discovery of Noah’s ark. He was stationed in southern Russia near the Turkish border and Mount Ararat. As he tested a plane he and his co-pilot flew over Ararat and discovered on the edge of a glacier what he described as a boat the size of a battleship. He said it was partially submerged in a lake, and he could see there was an opening for a door nearly 20 feet (7 meters) square, but the door was missing. Rokovitsky told his commanding officer, and an expedition was dispatched to find the ark and to photograph it. The report was forwarded to the Czar, who was soon overthrown, and the photos and the report vanished.” This happened during the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Russian pilot later came to Canada to tell his story.

Next the Lord describes the type of judgment He would bring on the earth. He stated He would bring a flood of waters, and that it would destroy every living thing that had the breath of life. This meant that man and every land animal would perish. However, the Lord said He would establish His covenant with Noah. He and his family and the male and female of each kind of land animals were to go into the ark. The Lord told him the animals would come to him into the ark, so this was a super-natural migration instigated by the Lord.

Lastly, the Scriptures state that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. You see, Noah was a man of faith, but as we have previously discussed, true faith produces obedience.

In what ways are we like Noah? Are we a person of faith who trusts God and does all that He says regardless of whether it makes sense or is popular to those around us? Are we just and perfect in our generation as he was? Are we a preacher of righteousness? Take courage from Noah who believed God and was justified by his faith.  Don’t be afraid to go against the culture that is living contrary to the Word of God, but purpose in your heart to live a life of integrity, even if no one listens to you or mocks you for standing for the Lord. The corruption and violence taking place in Noah’s day are happening today. This is the indicator we are in the last times. Jesus stated, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  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 24:37-39)

God warned Noah of His judgment of a world-wide flood, but the New Testament warns us of another world-wide judgment of fire. Peter writes, “But 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.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent Heat?  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:10-13) As we can see, this judgment is on the entire universe, but the result will be the same, no one will escape outside of Jesus Christ. This is why it is important to be a preacher of righteousness as Noah was, and warn people to flee the wrath to come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In this chapter we see how the Lord warned Noah of the coming flood and told him to build an ark to save him, his family, and the land animals. In the next chapter we will see the Lord bring the flood just as He had said.

 

 

Additional Links

 

Mischievous Angels or Sethites?

 

You Won’t Believe How Big Noah’s Ark Really Was!

 

Were Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?

 

The Survival of Noah's Ark