Grace Institute: Genesis: Genesis 6-11: Noah and the Flood

Noah and the Flood Genesis 6-11 February 10, 2008

In Genesis 3:15 God promises humanity that Satan and evil would be defeated by the seed of Eve. That seed is passed from Eve through her son Seth and his descendents, until 10 generations from Seth a son is born to Lamech. This son is named Noah, for it was hoped that he would bring comfort to those under the curse of sin. The name Noah (“ Noach ” ) does not mean comfort, but sounds like the Hebrew word for comfort (“ nacham”) [1]. Lamech is hoping the Noah might be the seed of Eve which brings an end to the curse. While Noah is not bring an end of the curse, he does indeed become the hope and comfort for humanity as he and his family carry the seed through the flood while the rest of humanity is judged for their sin.

The Sins of Humanity (Genesis 6:1-13)

After the sin of Adam and Eve, humanity multiplied rapidly, filling the earth. Statistically it is possible that by the time of Noah (10 generations), there could easily have been more people alive than the population of the earth today. But just as humanity itself multiplied, so also did the sin of humanity. The sin of humanity reaches a crescendo up to chapter 6 when things get so bad that God regrets that he made man.

The pervasiveness of the sin became so great that it even began to corrupt the line of Seth.

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. (Genesis 6:1-2)

There is some controversy over who these “sons of God” were. Some consider the sons of God to be fallen angels inter-married with women. However, we know that angels do not procreate (Mark 12:25). In Genesis 4:26 indicates that the family line of Seth were known by the name of the Lord. Therefore, I believe the sons of God refers to the lineage of Seth and Enoch. Seth's offspring were intermarrying with evil families, diluting the lineage that followed after God. As a result, with the exception of Noah and his family, Seth's offspring are now just as evil as the lineage of Cain.

Humanity is now so sinful that God will not tolerate their sin any longer. He must destroy humanity. Chapter 6 lists the depths to which humanity had fallen:

• The Nephilim, which literally means “to fall upon,” were powerful, mighty warriors who would “fall upon” others. They were violent men who, in the tradition of Lamech, routinely kill and commit violence upon others (Genesis 6:4).
• Every intent and thought of man was wicked (Genesis 6:5).
• The earth was filled with violence and corruption. Murder had become the order of the day. Humanity no longer gave any regard to the image of God, but routinely exterminated that image for their own benefit (Genesis 6:11-12).

Moses spends a lot of time talking about these Nephilim, who were mighty warriors filled with violence and wickedness and deserving of God's judgment. Moses is writing to the Israelites who were about to enter Canaan and face another race of mighty warriors who also were wicked and deserving God's judgment (Numbers 13:28). Moses is reminding them that God is sovereign over even the greatest men and that God's judgment of the wicked (which in this case would come through Israel's conquering) was sure.

The Flood (Genesis 6:14-8:19)

Events of the Flood

At this point there was only one man or one family remaining who walked with God. So in the midst of this wickedness, God calls out Noah. He calls him to build an ark in which his family would be preserved through an oncoming flood of water. For 120 years Noah prepares the ark according to God's specific instructions.

An ark literally is a box or a container. It is not a ship or a boat, in that it has no sails or oars to propel it. In fact there is nothing suggesting it had a bow or a stern in the traditional sense. It's dimensions are given as a rectangular box. The ark itself is 450 feet (137 meters) long, 75 feet (23 meters) wide, and 45 feet (14 meters) tall. The ark has three decks, with each deck containing 33,750 square feet. This means the entire ark contains over 100,000 square feet of deck, and over 1.5 million cubic feet of storage.

The Timeline of the Flood

Noah and his family enter the ark on the 10 th day of the 2 nd month in his 600 th year. He and his family remain there for over a year, finally exiting the ark on the 27 th day of the 2 nd month of his 601 st year.

During that year, the rains fall heavily for 40 days, and the waters cover the earth for a total of 150 days before they begin to recede. It is another 150 days before there is dry ground, and a final 70 days after that before the land is completely dry and Noah and his family can leave the ark.

The Flood as a Re-Creation of the world

Moses also provides for us some obvious comparisons between the original creation and the story of the flood. This illustrates that the flood is a “re-creation” with Noah serving as a second Adam. God is starting over with humanity.

The Deliverance of God

Throughout the scriptures, water is a motif which represents the judgment of God. Today our modern culture sees water as something to be enjoyed, as we sit by the beach, surf in the waves, or sit on the deck of a cruise ship. But to the ancients, the waters of the deep were a thing to fear.

In Genesis 1:2 we see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of the deep, and the creation process is one which controls and limits the fearful waters. In Genesis 7-8 the waters cover the earth as judgment from God for the wickedness of humanity. While water represents fear and judgment throughout the scriptures, it also represents God's deliverance of the righteous through that judgment.

Deliverance of Israel Compared with the Flood

As Moses outlines the deliverance of Noah and his family, there are some interesting comparisons to the deliverance of the nation Israel in the Exodus. In Exodus 14, God judged the armies of Pharaoh as the horse in rider are hurled into the sea. But at the same time the nation of Israel is delivered through this judgment, passing through the sea on dry land. The story of Noah, then, serves as an image both of the judgment of God but also his deliverance for those who are called by His name.

There are other interesting comparisons between the story of Noah and the Exodus.

Moses is connecting the God of Noah with the God of the Exodus. Moses is showing that God is a merciful protector of those who follow Him. If God protected Noah, he would protect the Israelites as they were about to enter the promised land.

Deliverance of Christians Compared with the Flood

Peter, in his first epistle, picks up on this theme when he compares the deliverance of Noah through the flood waters with our baptism.

…The patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1Peter 3:20-21)

Just as God delivered Noah from the judgment of the flood, so too are those who believe in Jesus delivered from the judgment of their sins. When a believer is brought up out of the waters of baptism this represents deliverance from death and judgment to live through the resurrection of Jesus.

The Patience of God

God waited for generations until the wickedness became so corrupt and so pervasive that there was only one family left which followed Him. He did not systematically punish those who were evil, but waited until the evil was so bad that all hope was only one family away from being wiped out. This shows the longsuffering nature of God and the protection God desires for those who follow him.

The sin of humanity reached such a critical point, where if he had not acted, Noah and his family would have been destroyed, and so with him, the destruction of the Messianic line. Without the ark, the seed which was to become the salvation of humanity would have been lost. So God delivers Noah and his family.

It shows that God does not haphazardly dish out judgment. He waited until there was only one righteous family left, and even then he spares this family. This parallels a discussion Abraham would have with God later in Genesis 18. God is setting a precedent about his judgment. As Israel is about to enter the promised land, they will be commanded to commit genocide against the inhabitants as part of God's judgment against them. But the story of Noah assures Israel that these atrocities would not be necessary if there was any hope left for the Canaanite people (Genesis 15:16).

Many today would look at the world around us and see the same evil intent on our society. When we see genocide and murder rampant in our world, and we watch the persecution of Christians in Africa and Asia, we must wonder why God with holds his judgment on this world. The apostle Peter, writing to persecuted Christians in the first century, reminds us of the forbearance of God. He is withholding his judgment from the world, so that there might be time for more to repent and be delivered from judgment.

…in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? ….when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that …the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2Peter 3:3-9)

The Covenant with Noah (8:20-9:17)

After the flood, God makes an agreement with Noah and Noah's offspring. This covenant includes some changes to how God relates to humanity, and represents God's attempt to prevent humanity from reaching the depths of evil that it reached before the flood. This covenant emphasizes that humans bear the image of God, and each new aspect of the covenant is grounded in this fact. The following are the key components of this Noahic covenant:

• God promises that he will never again destroy all of humanity (8:21, 9:11). As long as there are seasons and night and day (8:22) and as long as there are rainbows in the sky (9:12), God's promise to not destroy humanity stands.
• God reiterates his first command to Noah to be fruitful and multiply His image throughout the earth (9:1, 9:7).
• God now allows humanity to eat animals (9:3-4). It appears up to this point, humans were vegetarians. Now God allows meat into the diet. This serves as a lesson to humanity that, while all life is precious (for they are still not to eat the blood), there is a distinction between the life of an animal and the life of a human, for the latter bears the image of God.
• God now institutes capital punishment for murderers (9:5-6). Capital punishment is based on the foundation of the fact that humanity bears God's image. From this point forward, when someone shows blatant disregard for God's image by killing another, the murderer's life will be required of him. Capital punishment is the responsibility of humanity. God will not exercise this judgment, but it is up to humans to exercise this judgment (“by man, his blood shall be shed.”). This is an attempt to catch the violence in the bud, eliminating the wholesale disregard for human life that existed before the flood.

The Tower of Babel (10:1-11:26)

Even with these attempts to contain humanity's wickedness, humanity still walked away from God and towards evil. By chapter 11, humanity had ignored the command of God to fill the earth, and gathered together in the same location. It seems that this collection of all humanity allowed them to multiply their evil motives.

The primary sin, however, is not that they did not spread out all over the earth, but that humanity was once again trying to achieve the glory of humanity by themselves and outside of God. The tower of Babel was an attempt “to make a name for ourselves.” (11:4). Before the flood we see the Nephilim were the mighty men who were “men of renown” (6:4). The word renown in 11:4 and name in 6:4 are the same Hebrew word. Just as Adam and Eve were seeking godlikeness on their own in the original sin, and just as the Nephilim were doing before the flood, so now again humanity is trying to become like God on their own.

Formation of the Nations

The Lord, recognizing the potential for humanity to end up where it was before the flood, forced them to scatter by instituting multiple languages. This resulted in the formation of nations, and caused humanity to be spread throughout the earth. These nations are described in great detail in the record of the descendants of Noah's sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth, in chapter 10.

This three-fold division of humanity explains to the young Israelite nation the development of each nation came from. The sons of Japheth would be spread to the north, and across Europe all the way to Tarshish (modern day Spain ). The sons of Ham would be spread to the south, into Africa, Egypt (Mizraim), and into modern Palestine . The sons of Shem, would remain in the east, dwelling in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq ).

In all, Moses lists 70 nations. Later in Genesis 49, we see that there are 70 individuals in the family of Israel who move to Egypt . This is not a coincidence. Moses in Deuteronomy 32:8, states that when God separated man at the tower of Babel , he did so “according to the number of the sons of Israel .” Moses is reiterating that it is through the family of Israel that all the nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 12, Romans 4:16).

The Sons of Ham

Particular attention is given to the generations of Ham, and his descendent Canaan . In 9:20-29, we see Ham act disrespectfully of his father Noah. As a result, Canaan , Ham's son is cursed. For Moses' original readers, this would be an important story. The Israelites were about to enter the land of the Canaanites and God would commanded Israel to destroy them. Moses is showing the depth of the perversion of the people they were about to encounter. Ham's perverse act is seen as a type of the horrible atrocities and perversity of the Canaanite people, and reiterates the need for Israel to be God's hand of judgment on these people.

The Sons of Shem

The genealogy of Shem serve as book ends around the story of the Tower of Babel [4]. This highlights a “split” in the Semitic line with the sons of Eber (Gen. 10:25). The families of Joktan are immediately prior to the Tower of Babel , strongly suggesting that branch of the family was involved in the building of the tower. After the tower of Babel , we have the branch of the family with Peleg. It is through Peleg that the Messianic line is maintained, eventually ending in Abram.

There are some strong parallels to this branching of the genealogy with the genealogies of Cain and Seth in Genesis 4-5. Moses lists 10 generations from Seth to Noah, and 10 generations from Shem to Abram. Moses lists 7 generations of Cain's family line, and 14 (2x7) generations from Shem to Joktam. Both Cain and Joktam's descendents rebel against God, but also the development of a great city and civilization. Both Seth and Peleg's descendents are called out from this corrupt society: Noah in Genesis 6 and Abraham in Genesis 12. Through these genealogies Moses is showing a pattern where one branch of the family seeks to make a name for themselves, while the other seeks to follow God.

The tower was being created to men could make a name for themselves. The Hebrew word for name here is the word Shem . Indeed, Shem's very name means renown.

Bearing the image of God means carrying a part of the glory of God. To be human means to have a measure of majesty, fame and renown. Adam and Eve's sin was an attempt to gain this fame on their own outside of God. But the renown which humanity seeks can not be found on own own. This fame and glory can only legitimately come through faith and obedience to God.

The story of Genesis now shifts to a man who exhibits this faith and obedience. As a result, Abraham is promised the Shem (name) which humanity desperately seeks:

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great. (Genesis 12:1-2)

Notes

1. Allen P. Ross. “Genesis.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary. John F. Wolvrood and Roy Zuck, ed. (Victor Books, 1985) Electronic STEP edition.
2. Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible Book by Book . ( Grand Rapids MI : Zondervan, 2002), 29.
3. Sailhamer.
4. Sailhamer.