THE FLOOD
[Genesis:6:14-22 [14] Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. [15] And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. [16] A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. [17] And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. [18] But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. [19] And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. [20] Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. [21] And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. [22] Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. ]; [Genesis:7:1-24 [1] And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. [2] Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. [3] Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. [4] For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. [5] And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. [6] And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. [7] And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. [8] Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, [9] There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. [10] And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. [11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. [12] And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. [13] In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; [14] They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. [15] And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. [16] And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. [17] And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. [18] And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. [19] And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. [20] Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. [21] And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: [22] All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. [23] And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. [24] And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. ]; [Genesis:8:1-22 [1] And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; [2] The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; [3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. [4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. [5] And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. [6] And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: [7] And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. [8] Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; [9] But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. [10] And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; [11] And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. [12] And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. [13] And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. [14] And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. [15] And God spake unto Noah, saying, [16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. [17] Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. [18] And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: [19] Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. [20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21] And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. [22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. ].
"Come thou and all thy house into the ark" (Genesis 7:1).
As God Had Said
The flood came, just as God had warned. The windows of Heaven were opened and rain began to fall. For forty days and forty nights there was rain. The fountains of the deep were broken up and water covered all the land. Never before had there been such a flood.
Could any person or any animal live through such a flood? Could anyone or anything survive? Yea, there was a way to be safe from the floodwaters! Of all the people, only one man and his family were saved. Of all the animals, only those, which were in the ark were not destroyed. There was one man whom God could trust, who was just and who walked with God. To this one man, Noah, God had revealed His plan.
Wickedness
God had said that there would be such a flood as to destroy "both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air." This was sent as a punishment and judgement for sin. The people were so wicked that God was sorry He had ever created them. God saw in the heart of men that their thoughts were "only evil continually." The earth was filled with vileness, and man did not think of God and His ways. God hates sin and it was necessary to destroy those who were sinning.
A Way of Escape
God had given Noah some instructions to follow so that he might not be destroyed with the others when the flood came. He had Noah prepare for the flood by building an ark. It was something like a boat, which had no rudder, no oar, no engine, and no sail. The ark was made of wood, with pitch on the outside and on the inside to make it waterproof. There were three stories to this building, with a window and a door. God told Noah exactly how to make it. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." Noah obeyed God and was spared during the flood. He made the ark according to God's plan. He did not change the size, the kind of wood, the number of stories, the number of doors and windows, or anything about it.
A Carpenter
Builders today follow blueprint or plan. Sometimes after the building or boat is started there are changes made. Often some-thing is added or something left out. Many times when the building is finished it does not look exactly like the plan. A lack of material, a mistake, or someone's idea or desire may cause the building to be different from the plan.
Building
We might consider everyone a builder today because he is building for eternity. God has given the plan of salvation. In order to be saved one must follow God's plan. Just as Noah did all that God commanded, so must one today do all according to God's plan, which is found in the Bible.
Noah had a big Job. To build the ark was no easy task, but Noah did it because God told him to do it. Even though it took hard work for many years, Noah did exactly as God commanded. God does not ask of a person something that cannot be done.
Noah was a "preacher of righteousness" (II Peter:2:5He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. ). People probably asked Noah what he was building and why he was building it. No doubt some had suggestions. Others probably made fun of Noah and did not believe what he said. Noah must have preached to all of them, telling them about the flood that was coming. But only Noah and his family believed the words of the Lord and prepared to escape the coming judgement.
Today
There are people today who believe the Bible, God's Word. We read of a time of trouble from which God will deliver His people -- "every one that shall be found written in the book" (Daniel:12:1The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
). We read of a judgement day when "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans:14:12And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
). The Bible teaches that those who sin are not God's people, because "whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John:8:34When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.
). We read that "whoso confesseth and forsaketh" his sins "shall have mercy" (Proverbs:28:13). We read: "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John:1:7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
). This is God's plan of salvation for all people. This is the way of escape from the destruction that is yet to come upon the earth.
The way of escape is open to all, but only those who believe God will be saved. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John:3:16John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: ). "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3: 18). Some do not believe God’s Word today. Some say they believe the Bible but they do not obey God and do not prepare to go to Heaven.
There are some people today who do not preach all the Bible, for example, they say that it is not necessary to live a clean, holy life. But the Bible says, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews:12:14). Just as Noah did "according to all that God commanded him," so we must be obedient to God in all things.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our way of escape. It is our Ark and our only hope. Let us compare our Ark with Noah's. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John:10:9And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. ). Noah's ark had only one door. Noah's ark had three stories and the Bible teaches that there are three experiences in the Gospel: salvation, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
"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" (Hebrews:11:7). We, too, must prepare our lives, in order to escape the great destruction, which is coming. We must pray, and be true to God. We must be obedient in order to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, just as Paul wrote to the Philippians ([Philippians:2:12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ]).
The Closed Door
One day God told Noah to go into the ark, along with the animals. After Noah and his family and the animals were safe in the ark, God shut the door. In the Bible we are warned to prepare in time. "Seek Ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" (Isaiah:55:6). There is coming a time when the door to salvation will be closed and no one can open it. (Read [Revelation:3:7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
].)
Too Late
When the waters began to flood, no doubt many people believed Noah. But it was too late to enter the ark. The Lord had closed the door. Noah was safe on the inside, while just outside the door the people were drenched and doomed to drown. They believed too late!
For forty days and forty nights the floodwaters came. Every living creature was destroyed -- except Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark. After many days the floodwaters dried up. The trees put forth their leaves. But Noah remained in the ark until God told him to leave.
A Sign
After Noah, his family, and the animals had left the ark and were safe on dry land again, Noah built an altar unto God. The Lord promised that water would never again destroy every living creature on the earth. He sealed His promise with a sign -- the rainbow. Whenever the rainbow is seen, it reminds men that God will never again send such a flood. But the rainbow should also remind us that some day judgement of a different sort shall come upon the earth, and all that is therein shall be burned up ([2 Peter:3:10But 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?” (II Peter:3:11Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
).
1. What kind of man was Noah?
2. How was he deferent from the others who lived at the same time?
3. Why did Noah build the ark?
4. Who were safe in the ark?
5. Why did God send the flood?
6. What happened when God sent the flood?
7. How long did it rain?
8. How many stories were there in the ark?
9. When did Noah leave the ark?
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