Genesis 6

Study Guide 4: Genesis 5-11 THE GENESIS FLOOD Overview The first meaning of “ moral” listed in the massive Random House Dictionary of the English Language is: “ Pertaining to, or concerned with right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.” To many it seems presumptuous or even ridiculous to suggest that we live in a moral universe. How can the universe be concerned with right and wrong? But we saw in the first chapter of Genesis that the foundation of our universe is not laid on inert and nonliving matter. Dead rocks have no concern with right conduct. But God, the personal source of our universe, does! In the creation of man (Genesis 2:1-25) there is a reflection of God’ s image, giving us ability to distinguish between good and evil, and extending to us the freedom to choose. In Genesis 3:1-24 and Genesis 4:1-26 we’ ve seen the terrible consequences of Adam’ s and Eve’ s choice of disobedience. In seeing this we have learned that, in God’ s universe, there are basic realities with which all must come to grips. Life. Death. Sin. Now, in the story of the Genesis Flood, we meet two new themes, and face two new realities. We meet judgment. And we find the good news of salvation. In these chapters we have the proof that ours truly is a moral universe. God, who created and who even now sustains all, truly is concerned with right and wrong.

Commentary Genesis 5:1-32 sets the scene. The genealogies do not tell us the years between Adam and the Flood. Remembering the characteristics of Hebrew genealogies (which typically compressed generations), we can be sure only that centuries passed, and Adam’ s children did begin to “ multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). But the taint of sin and its deadly stamp on the human personality remained all too clear. “ The Lord saw how great man’ s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). The lifestyle incipient in Cain, and seen in later generations in Lamech (Genesis 4:19-24), now had permeated the race. Perhaps in the New Testament Book of Romans, in a passage that summarized a decline we can trace in every civilization, we have a picture of the days of Noah as well. Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. . . . Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Al though they know God’ s righteous decree that those who do such things de serve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:21-25, Romans 1:28-32Every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts, Genesis records, was only evil continually. The Living Bible notes that “ When the Lord God saw the extent of human wickedness . . . He was sorry He had made them. It broke His heart” (Genesis 6:5-6). God was not unmoved. God is always concerned with righteousness. But He is also concerned with humankind. The text goes on to tell how one man in this corrupt society, Noah, walked with God. God warned Noah of coming judgment and instructed him to build a great ark: a boat in which his family and animal life might be preserved. Noah and his sons labored 120 years to complete the task (Genesis 6:3), finally caulking the mighty hull with bitumen and storing fodder for the animals. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN How large was the ark? And how can we help children sense its vast dimensions? Based on the biblical specifications, you can take them to the top of a five story building, and have them look down. The ark was about that height. You can take them to a football field, and see how long it takes the fastest to run 50 yards. The ark was three times this long. You can take them to a six lane superhighway and have them look across. The ark was about this wide. No wonder it took Noah and his sons some 120 years to build this great boat God commanded them to construct (cf. Genesis 6:3). When Noah and his sons completed the ark, they waited. The Bible tells us how representatives from the animal world “ according to their kinds” found their way to the ark. When they and the human family were safe inside, the Lord Himself sealed the door (Genesis 7:16). The Genesis account says that in the Flood every person and animal on earth “ in whose nostrils was the breath of life” died (Genesis 7:22). The New Testament puts it even stronger: “ The world of that time was deluged and destroyed” (2 Peter 3:6). Certainly the Genesis account indicates that more than a generation of mankind perished. A world that differed in significant ways from ours was also washed away. When Noah landed and finally left the ark on Mount Ararat, it was to enter a new, fresh world, a world in which the pattern of man’ s life and also his responsibilities would change. Long life for men before a great flood (Genesis 5:1-32) is a common element in many ancient legends. The Sumerian king list from around 2300 b.c. gives the length of reign of one pre-flood ruler as 43,200 years! This reflects traditions both of a great flood, and of extended life span before its deluge. Also, before the biblical flood, men were apparently vegetarian. Afterward, God gave Noah flesh to eat. Human government was instituted as the responsibility of man to govern man (Genesis 9:4-6). Capital punishment was commanded for murder because murder is the ultimate denial of the worth and value of human life. So Noah was set down in a new world where he was to learn a new way of life. As Noah was deposited in a new world to learn a new lifestyle, so the believer is brought into a totally new experience in Christ, not to live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God (cf. 1 Peter 3:20-4:11). Judgment does strike down man because of sin, yet with the judgment, escape is provided for those who look to God in faith. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Children may be concerned about the fairness of God’ s judgment in the Flood. Yet the people of Noah’ s day had adequate warning! For 120 years the great structure rising on the plain foretold the coming Flood. How the crowds must have come to watch, to listen to Noah explain, and then to ridicule. To help younger boys and girls sense this, let them make and color cardboard “ STOP” signs. Tell the ark story, describing the building step-by-step (keel, ribs, etc.). Tell how tall the ark was, so it could be seen for miles and miles, and of the thousands of trees that needed to be cut. Tell how the animals gradually gathered, ready to go aboard, and how Noah’ s sons grew or bought feed to store in the ark for them. Invite the children to hold up their STOP signs every time you describe something that the people of Noah’ s day might see or hear that would warn them about God’ s coming judgment. Afterward, talk about how God loves even people who do wrong, and does give them warnings about any punishment to come, so they can turn to Him and be saved. In the waters of the Flood, then, we see God speak out in powerful affirmation and in warning. This is a moral universe. God is concerned about right and wrong, and God will act to punish wrongdoers. Peter sums up the message of the Flood in these words: In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “ Where is this ‘ coming’ He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of Creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’ s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and with water. By water also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. . . . But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:3-7, 2 Peter 3:10In the destruction of that future day, when what is solid now dissolves, and things now unseen remain, the moral nature of the universe will be fully known. God, who in the Flood etched His moral message indelibly on our world, will expose even those who now cover their eyes to the final moral reality.

Did the Flood Happen? Many are willing to accept the Genesis Flood story as a myth revealing essential religious truth. But they draw back from any claim of historicity. And many conservatives who believe that a flood really did happen argue for a limited flood — a flood of local rather than worldwide extent. They point out that God’ s purpose was to judge the race of man, suggesting that probably humankind had not as yet spread beyond the Fertile Crescent Valley. Behind this line of argument lies the almost universally accepted view of scientific uniformitarianism. This is the theory that all we find in our world, biologically and particularly geologically, can be explained by processes which presently operate in the physical universe. Geologic uniformitarianism, which suggests that millenniums of erosion and repeated ice ages sculptured earth’ s topography, is accepted and taught in many Christian colleges. While these Christian scientists unhesitatingly accept the creationist view of life and the special creative act by which God made man, they do not take seriously the view that once our earth knew a universal flood. Uniformitarianism, the view that “ every thing goes on as it has since the beginning of Creation” (2 Peter 3:4), maintains its sway. Universal? The term “ universal” presents two distinct questions to the believer. Does the biblical account of the Flood necessarily teach that it was worldwide? And, if the Bible does indicate a universal flood, is the geologic record so sure that we must question the accuracy of Genesis? Many have argued that Genesis must be understood to describe a universal flood. They point to the following evidence: *Every living thing was to be destroyed in the floodwaters (Genesis 7:4). This assumes that man and animal life had spread far beyond the Mesopotamian Plain in the centuries or the millennia since the Fall. *After the Flood God specifically stated that “ every living thing” was in fact destroyed (Genesis 7:23). *The text states clearly that “ all the high mountains under the entire heaven were covered” to a depth of at least 23 feet [15 cubits] (Genesis 7:19). *Finally the ark is said to have come to rest “ on the mountains of Ararat,” a range that reaches some 10,000 feet in height (Genesis 8:4). A local flood might have brought them to the foothills. But “ on” the mountains? This textual argument has been answered by suggesting that “ all the high mountains” refers simply to all the heights in the inhabited area. And that “ the whole heaven” is phenomenological language; that is, it refers to the visible heavens so far as Noah and his culture were concerned, or to the horizon. To support this view, Driver and others computed the amount of water required to cover the mountains, and argued that not nearly enough exists within our seas and atmosphere. But this in turn rests on the uniformitarian assumption! Was the pre-Flood world essentially like ours geologically and geographically? Or is it possible that the mountain heights and the sea depths we know are in fact caused by the watery cataclysm of the Flood? Cataclysm. Recently Christians and non-Christians have suggested that geologic features of our earth must be explained in terms of one or more past cataclysms. Detailed scientific arguments have been advanced, pointing out data not readily explained on the uniformitarian hypothesis. As Donald W. Patten, a popularizing layman has asked (Creation, Baker): Why were dinosaurs quickly drowned and buried in sediments? Why were mammoths quickly drowned in North America, and quick-frozen or flash-frozen in Siberia, even with subtropical vegetation in their mouths and stomachs? Why were petrified forests found 100 miles from the South Pole by Admiral Byrd? Why were land animals found fossilized in locations below sea level, and why were sea animals found fossilized at high elevations? The same author tells of a tree found in an English quarry “ about 100 feet long, and at a forty-degree angle. It went down through strata after strata, each supposedly laid down millions of years apart. At the top the tree was about one foot in diameter. At the bottom it was five feet in one radius and two feet in the other radius, as if it had come under immense pressure.” In a controversial 1961 book, The Genesis Flood (Presbyterian and Reformed), Dr. Henry M. Morris, a hydrolics engineer, and Dr. John C. Whitcomb, an Old Testament professor, thoroughly explored the geologic and fossil evidence and attempted to show that a Flood geology better explains the physical data. Their picture suggests a pre-Flood world insulated by great concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere (partially explaining the lengthened life as due to a blockage of cosmic radiation, which has been shown to be associated with aging). The Flood itself involved not only the release of this mass to fall on earth, but also the breaking up of “ springs of the great deep” (Genesis 7:11), subterranean waters beneath a flat and shallow single continent. This unimaginable hydrologic power and weight broke up the land mass, causing what science now recognizes as the puzzling “ continental drift,” and also causing the depression of the ocean beds and the upthrust of the mountain ranges that mark the earth of our time. A later, similar cataclysmic view postulates the approach to earth of a giant comet or another planet. This celestial catastrophe, with the fantastic gravitational interactions involved, would cause tides of subcontinental dimensions, with the earth’ s lava itself flowing and heaving and land masses jolted out of shape. Many of the unexplainable features of fossil and rock records would find a ready explanation. The point of all this, of course, is not that evidence exists to compel us to accept the universal flood theory. The point is simply this: There is no necessary reason to base interpretation of the Scriptures on current geological theory. The Flood may have been local. On the other hand, the Flood may have been the greatest single shaper of the features of the world we now live in. But whichever happened in the past, we can be confident that as we read the Genesis text we are revisiting history, and that in the account of these events we do meet God and hear His message. We do live in a moral universe. Sin brings judgment, for the God behind it all cares about right and wrong. Yet we see that He still cares for us as well. The surging waters of judgment may swirl around you and me. But God has prepared His ark. Through faith in His Son you and I, like Noah, can be carried safely through to Christ’ s new world. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Earlier I noted that the early chapters of Genesis demonstrate the principle of selection. Each event reported is carefully chosen to communicate a clear, basic message. If your group has been studying the Book of Genesis together, they should be able to identify the key message of each unit of thought. So list the Genesis chapter divisions on the chalkboard (1, 2, 3, 4, 6-9). Ask individuals to jot down the message of each as a review. Their responses may run something like this:

Genesis 1:1-31It’ s a personal universe. Genesis 2:1-25Man is made in God’ s image, or, man is valuable to God. Genesis 3:1-24Sin is a tragic reality. Genesis 4:1-26Sin is demonstrated in our attitudes and actions. Chapters 6-9It’ s a moral universe, or God does judge sin.Such a simple activity will help your group sense the continuity of Scripture, and help them develop the ability to think through the Bible.

Observations on the Text As in other early Genesis chapters, many things here draw our attention and stimulate our curiosity. Most of them we can only speculate about. Yet it is fascinating to observe them. The sons of God (Genesis 6:2). Were these fallen angels (cf. Job 1:6) who somehow had impregnated human women and fathered the Nephilim? (giants, as it says in the KJV) Were these the sons of princes, as rabbinic tradition holds? Or was there an intermingling of the “ godly” line of Seth with that of Cain? The word “ Nephilim” is used in only two places in the Bible, and it is not at all certain it means “ giant.” A different word is used when giants like Goliath are referred to. If this problem arouses your curiosity, use an analytical concordance and several commentaries on Genesis to examine the different interpretations. Change of heart (Genesis 6:7). Does God’ s sorrow at man’ s descent into deeper expression of sin show regret for Creation? Is this His confession of a mistake? Or are we to understand this phrase as nothing more than a deeply emotional way of expressing anguished hurt at the state of sinning mankind? The ark’ s size (Genesis 6:15). Using the smallest known size for the cubit (18 inches rather than 22 inches), the ark was built with three decks, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet in height. It would displace some 43,000 tons. Thus it had the proportion and size of some modern ocean-going vessels! The animal “ kinds” (Genesis 6:20). In the past, “ kinds” sometimes has been translated “ species,” a term now used in many different senses in biology. It is likely that the many breeds of dogs, for instance, were represented in a single pair. Also, note that seven pairs of “ clean” animals (that is, sacrificial and food animals) were taken into the ark, and probably so used after the waters receded. Length of the Flood. The following chart traces the events of the Flood. Promise (Genesis 8:21-22). The uniformitarian principle is introduced here, after the Flood, as a promise. God will not again interrupt the regular flow of seasons or break into the orderly actions of natural law in order to judge the race. Rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17). Why was the rainbow selected as the sign of the covenant promise between God and humankind? Could it have been because the rainbow appeared only after the Flood, due to drastically changed atmospheric conditions caused by dropping of the water canopy? It’ s fascinating to suppose that when Noah left the ark he saw the beauty of a rainbow for the first time in his 600 years of life! Canaan’ s curse (Genesis 9:18-28). The meaning of “ saw his father’ s nakedness” (Genesis 9:22) is obscure. But the clear implications of the picture of the drunkenness of Noah and the moral fault of Ham make one thing clear. The world may have been significantly changed. But man’ s heritage from Adam — his sin nature — remained! Many have noted that the “ curse” on Canaan is in fact a prophetic utterance by Noah. His words are not the cause of what would happen later, but do foretell it. It is important to note that only Canaan of the Hamitic family was selected out. The peoples involved are not Negroid, but rather the people who later inhabited the land of Canaan (Palestine) before the Israelites. The table of nations (Genesis 10:1-32). Of the 70 names selected for inclusion in this list, some are well known to Bible scholars and students of ancient history (as “ Mizraim,” Egypt). Others are lost in antiquity. And still other peoples, like the Sumerians, are not included at all. Babel (Genesis 11:1-32). The “ fresh start” given Noah’ s clan soon settled into sin’ s stagnation. Told to go out and replenish the earth (Genesis 9:1), Noah’ s descendants remained on a single plain, “ Lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4, NASB). They built a tower, which probably resembled the Babylonian ziggurat, possibly for astrological divination or perhaps even in the hope that its top in “ the heavens” would provide a place of refuge should another flood come. In any case, this disobedience led the Lord to act in a fresh judgment. He confused the languages. If you ever doubt God’ s sense of humor, picture sometime the next morning when one of the workers asked another for a brick! These peoples refused to go out and fulfill God’ s plan. So now He acted to “ scatter them over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:8). And so we come to the end of the first act of the cosmic drama. Up to this time God has dealt with the whole human race. And mankind has demonstrated in each situation sin’ s distortion of the original image God planted in man. Yet, in it all, there are glimmerings of hope. God speaks, and some do respond with faith. And those who respond are delivered from the impending doom. Now the Scriptures are about to focus on the men who do believe. We meet some of them in the genealogy of Genesis 11:1-32. In meeting them, we are prepared for our introduction to a towering figure in Old Testament history. We are ready to meet Abram, a pagan on whose discovery of faith the future of the race of man depends.

Events of the Flood MonthDayEventsNumber of Days 210Noah enters ark; God shuts door.7 217Rains fall; waters rush from seas. Ark floats40 327Rain stops. Flood rushing in and water still rising.110 717Ark touches bottom on high mountains. Water stops rising; stationary.40 827Waters settle 15 cubits.34 101Ark on dry ground. Noah waits.40 1111Noah sends raven; waits7 1118Noah sends dove; it returns with olive leaf.7 1125Noah sends dove; it does not return. Noah waits.22 1217Water recedes.14 11Noah sees dry land; waits.56 227Noah commands all to abandon the ark. Total time on ark.377 Teaching Guide Prepare Read and meditate on 2 Peter 3:3-18. How are you and I — and the group you lead — to apply the Flood story to our own lives?

Explore

1. If your group is interested, plan a Flood debate. Ask four to prepare beforehand, with two taking the side of a local, two a universal Flood. Limit time to 18-20 minutes. Remember, one’ s view of the Flood is not a test of orthodoxy. Nor is the view of the Flood the critical teaching of this passage! The true message of Genesis 6-9 is that we do live in a moral universe. God is a moral judge, and He will punish sin!
2. Sum up the events reported in Genesis 6-9 in a minilecture. Highlight (1) society’ s sinful condition, (2) the faith-response of Noah, (3) the witness of the ark to that generation during its 120 years of building, and (4) the assurance that God does judge sin. Use your minilecture to launch your group on a verse-by-verse study of 2 Peter 3:3-18.
3. Do a group study of 2 Peter 3:3-18. Do this by reading a verse, then having your group agree on a title, or a summary statement of the verse. For instance, 2 Peter 3:3, “ Evil people will laugh at judgment” ; 2 Peter 3:4, “ They argue that nothing has changed from the beginning of the world,” etc. By the time you have worked through each verse in this way, your group will have a very complete picture of what this key passage teaches.

Apply

1. From 2 Peter 3:14-18, have your class develop a list of statements about “ How the Genesis Flood can affect the Christian life today.” When the list is completed, pray that knowledge of divine judgment past and coming truly may be a purifying reality in your lives.
2. Or focus on the witness that Noah’ s faithfulness was to his generation. They did not respond. But in Noah Christ warned them, giving them a chance to be saved (cf. 1 Peter 3:19-20). How do we witness to others today? How important is the vision of coming judgment for Christians who need to share Jesus with those who might otherwise be lost?