The Bible explained that the reason why God sent the
flood was because both men and the earth itself were corrupted (Gen. 6:5-7,
11-13). There was so much evil and
perversion that the only way to save the world was to pull out evil from its
root and to keep alive the only good thing that was still left. With the flood
God saved the world. It was a baptism of sorts, giving humanity the chance of a
new beginning (I Peter 3:20-21).
The Flood did not come on suddenly, but after decades
of warnings. By principle, judgment does not come without a previous warning.
It took Noah approximately one hundred years to build the Ark. This work of
construction would serve both as an instrument for salvation and as a call to
humanity to make them reconsider their ways.
THE DAY CAME
Just as we previously mentioned, also Methuselah’s
life served as a sign, because his name revealed that judgment would come after
he died. It is not a matter of chance that he was the man that lived the longest.
It is because the mercy of God is prolonged, giving an opportunity for all to
come to repentance. According to Jewish tradition, the day after Methuselah
died was the day when the Lord gave Noah the order to get into the Ark
(Genesis 7:1) Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and
all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this
generation.
Noah was given a full week to get all the animals and
his family into the Ark.
(Genesis 7:2-4) Take with
you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the
animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds
of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face
of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days
and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from
the face of the ground."
God instructed Noah to put into the Ark
DATES DURING
THE FLOOD
In the book of Genesis it is pointed out
that the flood began on the 17th day of the second month (known as
the 17th of Cheshvan in the Hebrew calendar).
(Genesis 7:10-11) And after
seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth
year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month,
on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of
the heavens were opened.
Note that the waters of the Flood did not only fall
from heaven as rain, but also came from the fountains of the great deep, which
may very well refer to the deepest parts of the ocean (v.11).
Surely the rain must have surprised many, since up
until then it had not rained over the Earth. All there was to wet the surface of the earth
was a vapor or dew (Gen. 2:5-6). And the rain continually fell upon the
earth for over a month.
(Genesis 7:12) And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
40 DAYS AND THE 17TH DAY OF NISSAN
The Flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, and after
this the rain ceased. However, the waters covered the Earth for much longer
than this.
(Genesis 8:3-4) And the waters receded from the earth continually. At the
end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
The ark came to rest on the 17th
day of the month of Nissan (considered to be the 7th month at that
time). When the Bible points out dates it is because there is something
significant in them. Later in the Bible we read that the 17th day of
Nissan is the date when the Israelites crossed the
(I Peter 3:18-22) For
Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the
spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they
formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were
brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves
you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good
conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having
been subjected to him.
The 17th of Nissan is also the date
Jesus was raised from the dead.
1ST
DAY OF TISHREI
The date when the waters were dried from
off the earth is also a very significant date.
(Genesis 8:13) In the
six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the
waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark
and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
The first day of the first month in the
times of Noah is equivalent to the 1st day of the month of Tishrei
in today’s Hebrew calendar. This is the
day of the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah
(literally: Head of the Year). This is
the new year of the civil calendar, which celebrates the date of the birth of
man. According to Jewish tradition, this is the date when God created Adam, and
from this day the history of mankind starts to count.
The Flood gave man a clean slate. It was the opportunity to begin again. In the
following chapter we will see how the blessing and the commandment God gave
Noah is very similar to the one he gave Adam.
THEY GOT OUT OF THE ARK
Even though the waters had gone down,
Noah remained in the Ark
(Genesis 8:14-19) Y In the second month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to
Noah, "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your
sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of
all flesh--birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth--that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the
earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives
with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that
moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
Noah and all his fellow travelers were
inside the ark for over a year – exactly one year and ten days.
The first thing Noah did as soon as he
left the Ark
(Genesis 8:18-20) So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons'
wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything
that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. Then Noah built an
altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean
bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
This heartfelt offering Noah presented
had a positive effect…
(Genesis 8:21-22) And when
the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will
never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart
is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living
creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold
and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
REST
The name NOAH in Hebrew is Noach, which
means: “he that brings us rest”.
(Genesis 5:29) and
called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed
this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our
hands."
Noah is a shadow of the Messiah, who will bring us
eternal rest.
(Hebrews 4:9-11) So then,
there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered
God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore
strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of
disobedience.
In the following chapter we will read about the
Covenant God made with Noah and his descendants…
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