The LORD, Noah, & the Flood
August 18, 2021

Genesis 7-8

“The biblical story of the Flood has been made a witness to the judgment and grace of living God” —Gerhard Von Rad

God intended the Flood to be a reversal of the Creation story

Good to Bad
- Gen 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good”
- Gen 6:12, “God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt”

Animals Return
- Gen 2:19, God brought the animals to Adam
- Gen 6:19-20; 7:2-3, God brought the animals to Noah

Expanse Removed
- Gen 1:6, God separated the waters from the waters
- Gen 7:11, “all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened”

Four times the Hebrew word gabar is used, meaning “prevailed”
- Gen 7:18, 19, 20, 24
- Elsewhere in the OT this word is used as a military term (Ex 17:11; 2 Sam 11:23; Lam 1:16)
- The floodwaters acted as the army of the Lord, dispensing his justice and punishment on a corrupted planet.

Life was Extinguished
- Gen 2:7, God gave the breath of life to his creation
- Gen 6:3; 7:22, God took the breath of life from his creation

In wrath, God reversed the work of his hands. In mercy, God restored his creation.

  • Gen 1:2, the first act of Creation was God’s Spirit moving on the water’s surface
  • Gen 8:1, the first act of Restoration from the Flood was God’s Spirit moving on the water’s surface

Genesis 7:1-10
- Take a pair (2) of unclean; Take seven pairs (14) of clean
- For sacrifice (8:20) & eventually food (9:3)
- On clean & unclean see Lev 11:1-47 & Deut 14:4-20

Genesis 7:11-16 - The safety of all in the ark depended on both human & divine action
- Noah does not go onto the ark until God commands him to
- Note the personal divine name of LORD (“Yahweh”)

Genesis 7:17-24 - The flood is devastating. The depth - If Ararat in Turkey is the location it’s elevation is 16,854 ft so that water would have to be at least 16,875.5 ft

Genesis 7:6-8:19
Timeline:
- Gen 7:12, Forty days of rain
- Gen 8:3-4, Six months before resting on the mountains (Ararat [Turkey])
- Gen 8:5, Seventy-five days before the peaks of the mountains were visible
- Gen 8:6-8, Forty days later, Noah sent a rave and a dove
- Gen 8:10, Seven days later a second dove was sent
- Gen 8:12, Seven more days later a third dove was sent to see if the waters had receded
- Common method used by ancient seamen
- Altogether it took about 370 days

Genesis 8:1 - To “remember” someone indicates that God is about to take action for that person’s welfare (cf. 9:15; 19:29; 30:22; Ex 2:24; 32:13; Ps 25:6-77; 74:2)

Genesis 8:2-5 - God puts into reverse the process he did in 7:11

Genesis 8:6-12 - Noah uses a common method of seamen of checking for dry land

Genesis 8:13-14 - The dry land emerges from the waters (1:9)

Genesis 8:15-17 - 8 people go on the ark and 8 come off. In Jewish numerology, the number 8 represents rebirth, recreation, restoral, or renewal (note the male is to be circumcised on the 8th day; each new week begins a day after the 7th day). In this, God instructs them to be fruitful and multiply just as he does for mankind in Gen 1:28

Genesis 8:18-19 - Noah does not leave the ark until God commands him to

Genesis 8:20-22 - Upon his exit of the ark, the first thing Noah does is build an altar to the LORD and offer up sacrifices to God
- This is an expression of gratitude and…it is an atonement
- It is a burnt offering (cf. Lev 1:3-17, esp v. 4)
- It is a pleasing aroma (cf. Lev 1:9, 13, 17)
- The Hebrew word “pleasing” is nikhoakh - rest and tranquility Noah’s name comes from this word (noakh) (rem. Gen 5:29)
- Gen 8:21 echoes Gen 6:5
- Man’s heart is flawed, but God’s atonement is available

- The word curse in Gen 8:21 is not the same as in Gen 3:17. God is not reversing the Gen 3:17 curse, He is promising to not destroy the earth by flood

This emphasis on sacrifice underlines the importance of sacrifice in the Bible’s plan of salvation —TJ