THE FLOOD OF NOAH

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April 5, 2023

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GENESIS 8

Lesson #19

THE FLOOD OF NOAH

• Memory verse: Psalms 29:10
• Read Gen 8:1-14 The completion of the flood
  • The flood: Principles of God’s judgment:
    • God’s judgments are not capricious and arbitrary but always related to human wickedness.
    • God always announces judgment beforehand through people of God (2Pet 2:5)
    • God always grants time for repentance according to God’s forebearing nature.
    • God always follows through on his decision to judge unless man repents.
    • God’s judgments always result in death. (Physical, spiritual, or both) Although death may not be immediate, it is always the ultimate result.
    • God judges because he is just. Justice demands punishment.
  • The timing of the flood events:

Noah’s Log Book

Genesis 7-8

Mo/day/yr	Event	Day
2/17/2348 bc	All inside; God shuts the door. Gen 7:11	1
3/26/2348	Rain stopped; flood level continues to rise. Gen 7:12, 17	41
7/16/2348	Flood level at a peak. Gen 7:24, 8:3	150
7/17/2348	Ark run aground, Gen 8:4	151
10/1/2348	Mountain peaks visible; water receding. Gen 8:5	224
11/10/2348	Raven released and does not return. Gen 8:6-7	264
11/17/2348	Dove released and returns. Gen 8:8-9	271
11/24/2348	Dove released and brings olive leaf. Gen 8:10-11	278
12/1/2348	Dove released and does not return gen 8:12	285
1/1/2347	Noah removes the hatch for surveillance. Gen 8:13	314
2/27/2347	A divine command to disembark. Gen 8:15-17	370
	Total time in the ark = Calculations based on lunar month of 30 days each	1 year 10 days

• • God remembered Noah (1)
    • This does not mean God forgot about Noah and then suddenly remembered he had been in the ark for a year.
    • The word “remembered” means = to personally attended to.
  • The ark found ground (4): The day is specifically mentioned as the 7th month on the 17th day.
    • The seventh month in the Jewish calendar is called Abib or Nisan. This corresponds to our April. Much later in time, the 17th day of that month was when Jews celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:9-14).
    • Other biblical events that have occurred on that day are:
      • It was on the 7th month, on the 17th day that Jesus rose from the dead fulfilling the prophetic Feast of Firstfruits.
      • Israelites passed through the Red Sea escaping from Egypt on this day.
      • Esther revealed the plot against the Jews on this day.
  • The location of the ark:
    • The mountains of Ararat are on the border between eastern Turkey and the old Soviet Union.
      • There is a range of mountains called the mountains of Ararat.
      • There is also one mountain peak called Mt. Ararat.
    • The modern day search for Noah’s ark:
      • There have been numerous expeditions and sightings of what some believe is Noah’s ark after there was a huge earthquake in that area in 1840.
      • Almost every year in the last 80 years there has been various expeditions looking for the ark. Severe ice cap weather conditions and political conditions in Turkey and the Soviet Union have greatly restricted expeditions.
        • About 1856 a group of atheists discovered the ark.
        • 1876 James Bryce recovered timber from it.
        • 1883 Turkish commissioner’s report confirms it.
        • 1887 Prince Nouri found it.
        • 1905 Armenian native gave an eye-witness account of it.
        • 1915 Turkish soldiers discovered it.
        • 1915 Russian aviator saw it from the air.
        • 1916 Russian expedition sent by the Czar confirms its existence with scientific evidence and great detail of which was quickly lost in the Russian Revolution.
        • 1932 Carveth Wells recovered timber from it.
        • About 1936 Hardwiche Knight recovered timber.
        • World war II aerial sightings.
        • 1948 Reshit, a Kurdish farmer, discovered it.
        • 1953 George Green takes photos from a helicopter. The photos mysteriously disappeared.
        • 1955 Fernand Navarra recovered timber from the ark. Carbon 14 dated it to 4489 years.
        • 1969 Fernand Navarra recovered more timber. Carbon 14 dated it to 1500 years.
        • Three expeditions photographed the ark, three expeditions have taken measurements, three have claimed that they went inside the ark..
      • The significance of the ark as an artifact:
        • It confirms to the world Jesus’ reference to the flood as an indication that we are in the last days before the second coming of Christ.
        • There is no significance to the Christian who already knows by faith that the Genesis account is God’s Word and accepts it as true fact.
        • The recovery of the ark will make no difference to non-believers who have a mind set to reject God.
  • The birds Noah used:
    • The raven:
      • The raven is accustomed to inclement weather and is a scavenger.
      • The test was whether or not this bird would find food of dead animals.
        • The bird did not return indicating it had found food.
        • Spiritually speaking, the raven is a symbol of Satan in the Bible.
    • The first dove: This bird inhabits a lower elevation than the raven. It found no place to make a home so it returned to the ark.
    • The second dove: This bird brought back an olive leaf.
      • The olive tree grows at a lower elevation.
      • It has a bitter taste. On his own, this bird would never pick up such a leaf. It, therefore, is a miracle sign from God.
      • Spiritually speaking, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit who performs in the midst of bitter experiences.
    • The third dove: This bird did not return, so Noah knew it had found a place to nest.
• Read Gen 8:15-19
  • A new beginning
  • There is an interesting parallel between Genesis 1 and Genesis 8:

Gen 8	Event	Gen 1
8:1	God sent a wind over the earth The Hebrew word for wind is the same word For the spirit.	1:2
8:2	God separates the waters	1:7
8:5	Dry ground appears	1:9
8:6	Birds fly over the earth	1:20
8:17	Animals on the earth	1:25
9:1	God says to be fruitful & multiply	1:28
9:2	Man rules over the animals	1:28
9:3	Green plants used for food	1:30

 

• • • Noah’s flood is a new beginning for the earth and for man.
    • There were eight people that came out of the ark.
    • The number 8 is a symbolic number for new beginnings.
• Application:
  • Just as Noah and his family were saved from God’s judgment, the believer is saved from God’s judgment through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
  • Just as Noah and his family had a new beginning, the believer has a new beginning when he is born again. (2Cor 5:17)

Homework

Genesis 8:20 – 9:19

• Application of Gen 8:
  • Rate on a scale of 1-10 (1 being least) how much of your belief and trust in God depends on physical signs and objects.
    • Read Heb 11:6 2Cor 5:7 Mar 8:12
• Preparation for Gen 8:20-9:19
  • Read Gen 8:20-9:19
    • We have a new covenant given in the following verses—the Noahic Covenant (8:21-22; 9:1-17). On the following chart list the promises of God and the responsibilities of man.

The Promises of God	The Responsibilities of Man

• Memory verse: 2Cor 5:17