Lesson for July 8, 2020
Knowing the Bible
Lesson 8
Noah, the Ark and the Flood
The story of Noah and the flood began with an unusual period in history. Before we continue with the story of Noah and the Flood, let’s remember that it has always been the goal of Satan to keep Christ from going to the Cross and paying for the sins of the world. In Genesis 3:15, we have the first declaration of the Gospel in the phrase “He will bruise you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel,” referring to Jesus Christ as the seed of the woman, Eve. Satan knew that Christ had to become a human being in order to pay the penalty for sin for mankind to be saved, which may give a slight clue that he and the fallen angels were offered the opportunity to accept a salvation solution from God in eternity past.
Christ had to become true humanity for it is the humanity of Christ which died. Only the humanity of Christ could bear the sins of the world. (Hebrews 2:9-14; Philippians 2:5-8) Satan understood enough to know that if he could stop Christ from being born that he would defeat God and prove his case that God is unfair.
In Noah, we have the line of Christ preserved by God in the story of the Flood. The attack by Satan was an angelic infiltration into the human race attempting to destroy true humanity, forever. It was only the grace of God using a righteous man named Noah that prevented that from taking place. But it was a plan by Satan that almost worked. Had it not been for the Flood, the attack would have been entirely successful and the result would have been that Jesus Christ would never have been born. Once Jesus Christ was born, Satan’s plan changed. Satan began a champaign to distort and to discredit the facts in an attempt to keep people from believing in Jesus Christ as Savior, and he continues this plan today.
Genesis 6:1-13 – Noah
“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. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless, his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” “The sons of God” is used for all kinds of angels (elect and fallen). Fallen angels are involved here. All fallen angels are under the control of Satan. These fallen angels in Genesis are now bound under the earth in prison. (II Peter 2:4-5; Jude 6) The first estate of angels means that it is not an area but a principle. Angels were prohibited from having relations with human women. There is also another category of fallen angels known as demons. A demon is an angel under Satan which is still operational today. Apparently, there are millions of them and they are well organized and have tremendous functions.
There would come a time when the Holy Spirit would stop striving with and restraining mankind. We know it would be 120 years. Before the flood, the Holy Spirit retrained sin. If there had not been a restraint of sin on the human race at that time, then Noah and his family would have been killed. The human race would not have survived on the earth and no one would have been saved.
Because also he is flesh means that by the elapse of 120 years there will no longer be flesh upon the earth, with the exception of Noah and his family. Flesh here means true humanity. So, we now know that this Satanic attack took place and occurred within the period of 120 years while Noah built the Ark. (Genesis 6:13-14)
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. In Genesis 6 we have the account of angels taking on the form of human beings and procreating with human women. The result of this union was a superhuman race called by “the nephilim,” which is the Hebrew word for “sons of God.” Some translations of the Bible use the Hebrew word “nephilim” instead of translating “sons of God” into to English. The Hebrew words “beni ha Elohim” for “the sons of God” is used four times in the Hebrew Scriptures and always used for angels, never men. (Job 1:6; 2:1, 38:7) There are at least two instances that we know of when angels took on the form of human beings. One instance was when Gabriel in Daniel 8:16, 9:21-22 taught Daniel. The second instance was when the two angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:1-10. The Hebrew word Nephilim means fallen ones who had fallen from the human race in that they were no longer true humanity.
The reason that Noah and his family did not get involved is because they were believers, because they were not only true humanity but had personally accepted Christ as Savior. They were protected physically from the people of the super race who were very warlike and brutal. And every thought of mankind was only evil continually and violence was everywhere on the earth. The Lord finally decided to start over by destroying the entire population of the earth; mankind, animals, birds and even insects. The only thing that saved the world from total annihilation was the faithfulness of Noah. Noah found grace in the sight of God and God spared Noah and his family from the universal flood. The story of the building of an ark is the means God used to preserve the human race and the animal life that was on it
Genesis 6:14-17 – The Ark
“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.” The Ark is a perfect analogy of salvation in Christ. God gave Noah specific instructions as to how the Ark was to be made. From the type of wood, to the dimensions, the construction of it, God instructed Noah. This boat would be the salvation of Noah, his family and the animals and was a perfect type of Jesus Christ and the provision of salvation for mankind in the future. This project took 120 years to complete and no one turned to God in that time and as a result they were all destroyed by the flood. The Ark was made of gopher wood and was an illustration of Christ. Noah and his family were in the Ark and this represents positional truth, people in union with Christ. There were eight people in the human race who were believers. They were inside of the ark and therefore protected from the judgment of the Flood. The rest of the human race was destroyed. For the person who has accepted Christ as Savior, he is in union with Christ, and therefore it is impossible for God to judge him. There was safety in the Ark.
The Ark was waterproofed with pitch. This was a type of tar which was used to seal up the wood in the ship. The Hebrew word which is translated “pitch” is the Hebrew word kaphar, which means covering or atonement. The was an analogy of the atonement of Christ which keeps us eternally secure in Christ as believers. There was one door in which to enter the Ark. Jesus said He was the door to salvation and there not many doors, just one, Jesus Christ. The door into the Ark provided salvation for Noah and his family and the animals he took aboard. Only those within the Ark were saved, which is analogous to being in Christ where believers are secure for all eternity. (John 10:9, 14:6; Acts 4:12)
All the specifications for building the Ark were given to Noah. The dimensions were 450 feet long X 75 feet wide X 45 feet high, and these were to be followed very carefully. The reason for these dimensions is that they set up the proper ratio between the dimensions in order to have a seaworthy, stable ship, especially during forty days and nights of constant rain. Like the Ark, salvation is God’s design, God’s execution, God’s work, and there is no place for human speculation or human works. God has given the specifications regarding salvation, which is that the only way to appropriate it is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The storm fell upon the Ark but not upon Noah and his family. When the storm hit it came from above the earth and it came from beneath the earth, which produced tremendous pressure on the Ark. The constant rain and the pressure were a picture of the judgment that fell upon Jesus Christ in the three hours on the Cross when He was being judged for the sins of the world.
Verses 18-22
“But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” Thus, Noah did according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.” A covenant is an agreement (testament) between two parties. God’s covenants with man fall into two categories: 1) Conditional – if man will keep the conditions of the agreement then God will fulfill the promise that was given 2) Unconditional – God will fulfill His promise that was given regardless of man’s response to the condition of the agreement. The conditional covenant with Noah was to enter the Ark with his family for safety. The unconditional covenant was given by God to Noah and his family after the flood and was a promise never to destroy the earth again with water (the rainbow was given as a permanent sign to God’s faithfulness). God gave specific unconditional promises regarding Noah’s sons and their future.
Genesis 7:1-24 – The Flood
“Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. “Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. It came about after the seven days, that the water 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 the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So, they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus, He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.” Noah obeyed the command from Jehovah (Jesus Christ) to enter the Ark. Noah was a believer (righteous). Noah experienced persecution and verbal abuse on a daily basis as he built the Ark, but he continued to obey God. We have the instructions from the Lord to Noah regarding the animals. He divided the living creatures on the earth and the birds into two categories: (1) “clean” used for sacrificial purposes (2) “unclean” not used for sacrificial purposes. A “clean” animal was one that was acceptable to the Lord for sacrificial purposes and were used for that purpose after the Flood subsided. (Genesis 8:20-22) The clean animals that were sacrificed as a type of Christ and His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. The Ark was the place of safety for Noah and his family and the animals. Noah and his family had seven days to load the animals into the Ark before God sent judgment on the earth.
It took at least one hundred years to build the Ark. During this time, Noah faithfully preached the Gospel. (II Peter 2:5). Eight human beings entered the ark and they were all saved since the judgment of the flood was upon the unbelievers and the half angels/half humans. The fact that the Lord closed the Ark behind Noah is a picture of grace, which is all that God is free to do for mankind based upon the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Grace means that God does the work and we reap the benefits by faith in Him. The fact that the Lord closed the Ark behind Noah and that Noah did not do it for himself is a reminder to Noah and his family that the Lord “alone” delivered him and his family from the Flood and that Noah did “not” deliver himself.
Genesis 8 tells the rest of the story of how the Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat and the flood waters receded. Noah sent a dove three times to see if the land was dry so that they could leave the Ark. The second time it returned with an olive branch in its beak. The third time it did not return and Noah knew it was safe to disembark. All the animals were released form the Ark so they could replenish the earth. Noah then built an altar to worship God in thanksgiving for delivering them. In Genesis 9, God made an unconditional covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood and gave him the rainbow as a sign of His covenant.