Genesis 6:11-22
6:9
“This is the account of Noah”
- Noah’s “toledot”
- The next chapters are
probably Noah’s own written account (or, diary or log) with textual
comments and editing done by Moses.
(“found favor” 6:8)
“righteous” is “saddiq” and is the first time it is used in
scripture. It refers to Noah meeting the
right requirement of a code or law. In
this case it refers to Noah meeting God’s moral requirements.
“blameless” is “tamim” and means
“complete, sound”. It also describes an animal that is acceptable for sacrifice
in the tabernacle because it was healthy and without physical blemish. Noah was separate from the moral and physical
corruption of his age.
“walked with God”
- Notice Noah found
favor with God and was walking with God before anything is mentioned about
him obeying God by building the ark.
- Noah’s obedience came
after he found favor.
Ezekiel
14:14, 20 recognize Noah’s righteousness:
“Even if these three men – Noah, Daniel and
Job – were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,
declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ez.14:14)
“.
. .they could not save their own sons or
daughters. They alone would be saved.” (Ez. 14:20)
Hebrews
11:7 remember Noah’s godliness:
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not
yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and
became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Heb. 11:7)
2
Peter 2:5 calls Noah a preacher of righteousness”
“If he did not spare the ancient world when
he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of
righteousness, and seven others.”
(2 Peter 2:5)
Noah
faced this corrupt world with:
- Faith
- Righteousness
- Preaching
6:10
“Shem, Ham, Japheth”
6:11
“earth corrupt”
“in God’s sight”
“full of violence”
6:12
“people had corrupted their ways.”
6:13
“put an end to all people”
“earth is filled with violence because of
them”
“I am going to destroy both them and the
earth.”
- “destroy” is a word
play on “corrupt” (Hb. “shakhat”) because “destroy” literally says “cause
corruption”.
- The earth was corrupt,
the people had corrupted their ways, so God was going to cause
corruption on the people and the earth.
The map below shows the location of a few of the original flood legends that were native to the people from these areas. These flood accounts did not come from the Bible but were handed down through generations and probably date back to the actual event recorded accurately and in detail in the Bible. 
“ark of cypress wood”
- “ark” is “tebah” and
it is only used here and in reference to the basket Moses was placed in
(Ex. 2:3, 5)
- There was no means of
powering or moving the ark and no steering mechanism. The ark was a barge and not a boat.
- The ark of the
covenant is the word “’aron”
- The wood is some kind
of resinous wood that would resist water and decay.
“make rooms in it”
- “rooms” is Hebrew
“qinnim” meaning “nests”.
Everywhere else in the OT it refers to birds’ nests.
- This word may refer to
“reeds” which is what Moses’ ark or basket was made of.
- “rooms” or
“compartments” is
“coat it with pitch inside and out”
6:15
450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high (Hebrew: 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30
cubits)
- Volume size was 1.54
million cubic feet (43,500 cubic meters)
- The ark would be
equal to 522 railroad stock cars.
- One railroad stock
car holds 240 sheep; 522 stock cars can hold 125,280 sheep.
- These dimensions are
the dimensions of a ship.
(Gilgamesh Epic had a ship that was 120 cubits square which clearly
would not have worked.)
6:16
“make a roof for it”
“finish the ark to with in 18 inches of the
top” (1 cubit)
“put a door in the side”
“make lower, middle and upper decks”
- The animal cages
could have been stacked but even if they were not there is plenty of floor
space on the three levels for all the animals plus walking space for each
of them.
6:17
“I am going to bring flood waters on the
earth”
- “flood waters” is
“mabbul”
“to destroy all life under the heavens”
“every creature that has the breath of life
in it.”
“everything on earth will perish”
6:18
“I will establish my covenant with you”
- “establish” is “qum”
and refers in most cases to a covenant that has already been placed into
operation. This then refers to a
covenant God had with Adam (mankind) or is looking ahead to the covenant
that God was going to make with Noah when he left the ark.
“you will enter the ark”
“you and your sons and your wife and your
sons’ wives”
6:19
“bring into the ark two of all living
creatures”
“to keep them alive with you.”
6:20
“Two of every kind of bird”
Example:
A newt is a kind of salamander (family), and all salamanders are types of
amphibians (class), which are types of vertebrates (phylum)
KPCOFGS
– Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus, Species
- Kingdom
– animal - feed on organic
matter (not a plant which create energy)
- Phylum –
vertebrate – a back bone with nerve chord
- Class
– mammal – milk for offspring, body with hair
- Order
– primate – opposed thumb, binocular vision
- Family –
lemuridae – longer nose, smaller brain, long slender limbs, a tail.
- Genus –
lemur – body shape, vocalizations, scent marking
- Species – ring-tailed lemur
- Noah did not have
to take every “species” on the ark.
- Noah could have
taken the “genus” on the ark and still preserved the “species” capability.
- Even in some cases
a “family” representative could have preserved the “genus” and the
“species”
- There are 8,000
genera (plural of genus) including extinct genera.
- That would require
16,000 individual animals on the ark.
- Volume size was
1.54 million cubic feet (43,500 cubic meters)
- The ark would be
equal to 522 railroad stock cars.
- One railroad stock
car holds 240 sheep; 522 stock cars can hold 125,280 sheep.
- The ark has room
for 125,280 sheep, the average size of the animals. This leaves room for 109,280 more
average sized animals!!
Dinosaurs:
- Some say they may not
have existed at all. God just built
their bones into the earth to test man’s faith and give the earth an
appearance of age. This is wrong.
- If there is time
between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 then the dinosaurs may have been alive during
that time.
- If the dinosaurs were
in the Garden and thus on the ark we need to consider this:
- There are 668
genera (probably this number is way too high) of dinosaurs
- Only 106 genera
(again, too high) weigh more than 10 tons when fully grown
- The dinosaurs did
not have to be fully grown t-rexes, they could have been much younger
specimens.
- Research shows that the average size of
all animals on the ark would be smaller than a cat but larger than a
gerbil.
- Only 11% of the
animals on the ark would have been larger than a sheep
Insects:
- 1,000,000 insect
species would require 1,000 cubic meters or 12 train cars if they were
each kept in 4 inch cages.
- But, insects are not
included in the meaning of “behemah” or “remes” of Gen. 6:19-20
- Insects could have
survived outside the ark floating on debris or in egg form.
“of every kind of animal”
“of every kind of creature that moves along
the ground”
“will come to you to be kept alive.”
6:21
“take every kind of food”
“store it away as food for you and for them.”
Food:
- Compressed and Dried
food along with concentrated food.
- 15% of the ark space
was needed for food storage
- 10% of ark volume was
needed for drinking water, but it is probable that this water was collected
and piped directly to the troughs while it rained. There may have been very little storage
of water on the ark for obvious reasons.
Animal Waste:
- Sloped floors or
slatted cages would allow manure to fall and be flushed.
- Composting worms
could be used and thus survive the flood in the composting pile.
- Bedding which
included absorbent material like sawdust, wood shavings would reduce the
moisture and the odor. This bedding
if applied thick enough could last a year.
Hibernation:
- All of the food,
waste, exercise, etc. issues for the animals are possible in the ark
- All of the above
could greatly be reduced if the animals were in hibernation
Flood Legends
Africa
Southwest Tanzania
Once upon a time the rivers began to flood. The god
told two people to get into a ship. He told them to take lots of seed and to
take lots of animals. The water of the flood eventually covered the mountains.
Finally the flood stopped. Then one of the men, wanting to know if the water
had dried up let a dove loose. The dove returned. Later he let loose a hawk
which did not return. Then the men left the boat and took the animals and the
seeds with them.
Asia
The Chinese classic called the Hihking tells about "the family of
Fuhi," that was saved from a great flood. This ancient story tells that
the entire land was flooded; the mountains and everything, however one family
survived in a boat. The Chinese consider this man the father of their
civilization. This record indicates that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three
daughters were the only people that escaped the great flood. It is claimed,
that he and his family were the only people alive on earth, and repopulated the
world.
Gilgamesh met an old man named Utnapishtim, who told him the following story.
The gods came to Utnapishtim to warn him about a terrible flood that was
coming. They instructed Utnapishtim to destroy his house and build a large
ship. The ship was to be 10 dozen cubits high, wide and long. Utnapishtim was
to cover the ship with pitch. He was supposed to take male and female animals
of all kinds, his wife and family, provisions, etc. into the ship. Once ship
was completed the rain began falling intensely. The rain fell for six days and
nights. Finally things calmed and the ship settled on the top of
Chaldean
There was a man by the name of Xisuthrus. The god Chronos warned Xisuthrus of a
coming flood and told him to build a boat. The boat was to be 5 stadia by 2
stadia. In this boat Xisuthrus was to put his family, friends and two of each
animal (male and female). The flood came. When the waters started to recede he
let some birds loose. They came back and he noticed they had mud on their feet.
He tried again with the same results. When he tried the third time the birds
did not return. Assuming the water had dried up the people got out of the boat
and offered sacrifices to the gods.
A long time ago lived a man named Manu. Manu, while washing himself, saved a
small fish from the jaws of a large fish. The fish told Manu, "If you care
for me until I am full grown I will save you from terrible things to
come". Manu asked what kind of terrible things. The fish told Manu that a
great flood would soon come and destroy everything on the earth. The fish told
Manu to put him in a clay jar for protection. The fish grew and each time he
outgrew the clay jar Manu gave him a larger one. Finally the fish became a
ghasha, one of the largest fish in the world. The fish instructed Manu to build
a large ship since the flood was going to happen very soon. As the rains
started Manu tied a rope from the ship to the ghasha. The fish guided the ship
as the waters rose. The whole earth was covered by water. When the waters began
subsiding the ghasha led Manu's ship to a mountaintop.
Australia
There is a legend of a flood
called the Dreamtime flood. Riding on this flood was the woramba, or the Ark
Gumana. In this ark was Noah, Aborigines, and various animals. This ark
eventually came to rest in the plain of Djilinbadu where it can still be found.
They claim that the white mans story about the ark landing in the middle east
is a lie that was started to keep the aborigines in subservience. This legend
is undoubtedly the product of aboriginal legends merging with those of visiting
missionaries, and there does not appear to be any native flood stories from
Europe
A long time ago, perhaps before the golden age was over, humans became proud.
This bothered Zeus as they kept getting worse. Finally Zeus decided that he
would destroy all humans. Before he did this Prometheus, the creator of humans,
warned his human son Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. Prometheus then placed this
couple in a large wooden chest. The rains started and lasted nine days and
nights until the whole world was flooded. The only thing that was not flooded
was the peaks of
North America
The Toltec natives have a legend telling that the original creation lasted for
1716 years, and was destroyed by a flood and only one family survived.
Aztec- A man named Tapi lived a long time ago. Tapi was a very
pious man. The creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was
told that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into
this boat. Naturally everyone thought he was crazy. Then the rain started and
the flood came. The men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the
mountains became flooded as well. Finally the rain ended. Tapi decided that the
water had dried up when he let a dove loose that did not return.
The Ojibwe natives who have lived in
Minnesota USA since approximately 1400AD also have a creation and flood story
that closely paralleles the Biblical account. "There came a time when the
harmonious way of life did not continue. Men and women disrespected each other,
families quarreled and soon villages began arguing back and forth. This
saddened Gitchie Manido [the Creator] greatly, but he waited. Finally, when it
seemed there was no hope left, Creator decided to purify Mother Earth through
the use of water. The water came, flooding the Earth, catching all of creation
off guard. All but a few of each living thing survived." Then it tells how
Waynaboozhoo survived by floating on a log in the water with various animals.
Ojibwe - Ancient native American
creation story tells of world wide flood.
South America
Inca
During the period of time called the Pachachama people became very evil. They
got so busy coming up with and performing evil deeds they neglected the gods.
Only those in the high
The Ancient Choctaw Legend
When
the missionaries first came to the Choctaws in Mississippi in 1818, this
tradition was told them about as follows: In ancient times after men had lived
a long period upon the earth they became very corrupt and wicked, and deluged
the earth with so much blood and carnage that the Great Spirit finally decided
to utterly destroy them. He, therefore, sent a prophet among them, who went
from tribe to tribe and from village to village proclaiming the fearful tidings
that the race was soon to be destroyed. No one paid any attention to him,
however, and people went on in their wickedness as carelessly as ever. But one
year, with the coming of autumn, mists and clouds gathered over the earth, so
that there was no sun shining by day nor did the moon and stars light up the
gloom of night. The situation grew gradually worse until the earth became
shrouded in total darkness. The air was chill and all animate nature became
silent. People too became silent and perplexed, but yet they gave no evidence
of repenting for their evil deeds. They were compelled to find their way from
place to place by light of torches.
The
food that they had stored away became mouldy and unfit to eat. Soon the silence
of the skies was broken by muttering thunder. As time went on, the thunderings
grew louder and spread to almost every quarter of the sky. The wild beasts,
overcome with terror, lost their dread of man and crept up around the village
fires that gave the only relief from the general darkness and cold. People grew
despondent, and the death songs were chanted everywhere. The Medicine Men could
offer no explanation and had no hope to offer the striken people. But yet there
was no repentance, no turning of a sinful people back to the Great Spirit -
only a sullen fatalism.
One
day very suddenly there came a crash of thunder much louder than had ever been
heard before. The whole earth seemed to shake and tremble with the
reverberation. Then, as people looked towards the north, they seemed to see a
light - the first they had seen for many a long dark day. But whatever hope may
have been aroused in their breasts was dissipated. For what they saw was not
the return of the long lost sun, but it was the gleam of a great mountain of
water, advancing in great billows from the north, covering the entire earth and
destroying everything in its path. With the cry, "Oka Falamah, Oka
Falamah" (the returning waters, the returning waters) the doomed people
turned away in one last vain effort to escape. But there was no escape. The
whole earth was soon covered even to the tops of the mountains by the vast
flood, and men and animals alike perished, leaving only a desolate wilderness
of waters.
Of
all mankind, only one remained, and that was the mysterious prophet who had so
faithfully yet vainly proclaimed the warnings of the Great Spirit. This prophet
had been directed by the Great Spirit to build a raft of sassafras logs, upon
which he floated safely above the destroying flood, while he gazed sadly upon
the dead bodies of men and beasts as they floated past him in the dark waters.
The
prophet floated aimlessly about for many weeks, until at last one day he saw a
large black bird circling over his raft. He cried to it for help, but the bird
only uttered a few harsh croaks and flew away to be seen no more. Some days
later the prophet saw a smaller bird, bluish in color, with red beak and eyes,
hovering over the raft. Again he asked this bird if there was a spot of dry
land to be found anywhere in the waste of waters. It hovered over him for a few
moments as if trying in its soft mournful voice to give the desired
information, and then flew off towards the west where the new sun was again
setting in splendor. Almost at once a strong wind arose which carried the raft
in the direction in which the bird had gone. All night, it floated on under the
moon and stars which shone again with renewed brightness.
When
the sun rose the next morning the prophet saw in the distance an island towards
which his raft seemed to be drifting. Before the sun went down again, the raft
had moved along until it touched the island, and the tired prophet landed, and
glad to be on the earth once more, he lay down and slept until the sun rose the
next day. Much refreshed, he then began to look about the island, where to his
surprise, he found every variety of animal formerly found on the earth (except
the mammoth), and all the birds and fowl also. Among the birds he noticed the
great black bird that had visited and deserted him upon the waters. This bird
he named "fulushto" - the raven - always thereafter regarded as a
bird of ill omen by the Choctaws.
He
was overjoyed also to find again the little bluish bird that had hovered over
him and caused the breeze to blow that brought his raft safe to the pleasant
island. Because of its beauty and of its kindly deed he named this bird
"Puchi Yushuba" (Lost Pigeon).
The
prophet lived on this island for many days, until finally the waters passed
away, and the earth once more took its former appearance, with hills, valleys,
and grassy prairies. Then the strangest of all things happened Puchi Yushuba
was changed by the Great Spirit into a beautiful young woman, who soon became
the wife of the prophet, and by their children the world was repeopled. But the
Indian people never again became so rashly disobedient to the Great Spirit, and
never forgot the lesson of Oka Falamah, the "Returning Waters."
Flood Evidence:
