Questions for Thought
- Why do people sin?
- Why did God choose to save Noah and his family?
- God gave Noah instructions for building the ark. Was it really necessary for Noah to follow those instructions?
- Why are there many languages?
We left off last time with a man named Noah having been born as the grandson of the oldest man of whom we have a record, Methuselah. I noted that Methuselah either died right before the flood or in the flood. In this post, we will look at why there was a flood, who was saved in it, and what God commanded them to do after the flood.
According to Genesis 6:1 the population of the earth was increasing. While we have no way of knowing how many people there were by this time, at least one creationist (those who believe in a literal six days of creation which took place about 6,000-10,000 years ago), places the population in the trillions and he provides clear math procedures to get that figure. Although creation was only about 1650 years previous to the time of Noah, it seems mankind had become very wicked. In Genesis 6:5-7 we have recorded how upset God was with man. He was so upset, He decided to destroy both man and beast.
Thankfully, there was one man who found grace in God’s eyes. This man, Noah, was a just man whom God considered as blameless. God told Noah He was going to destroy the earth and all flesh but He would save Noah and his family. He told Noah to build an ark in which he and his family along with a few of each of the animals would be saved.
God was very specific when He gave Noah instructions for building the ark. He told him the exact size to make it. He told him how many windows and doors to include. He told him the kind of wood to use. And he told him how many stories to make it. In Genesis 6:22 we read that according to all God commanded him, Noah did. He did not add to or take from God’s commands. God said to use gopher wood. Noah used gopher wood. God said to have one window and one door. Noah included one window and one door. God said to make the ark three stories. Noah made it three stories. The fact Noah did all God commanded him was so important, God included the statement again in Genesis 7:5.
How important is it that we do all God commands? How do we know if we are doing all He commands if we do not read His word to see what He has commanded? If God says to love everyone and we choose to love some and hate some, are we following His commands? If God says to speak the truth in love and we choose to speak only part of the truth concerning His will, are we obeying Him? What if people get mad at us for doing what God commands?
Once the ark was completed, Noah and his family went in and in Genesis 7:16, we read God shut them in the ark. The flood waters came and it rained for forty days and nights. The waters remained upon the earth 150 days. In Genesis 8:1, the record says God remembered Noah. Now, do you think, God had forgotten about Noah? Of course not. God turned His attention to them and caused the waters to recede from the earth so Noah and his family and the animals could get off the ark and start all over again repopulating the earth. It was about a year after entering the ark that the flood was over.
The first thing Noah did when he left the ark was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to God. God was pleased with the sacrifices and in Genesis 8:21 God said He would never again curse the ground nor would He again smite every living thing. Remember earlier when Noah’s father named him, he had said in Genesis 5:29 Noah would comfort the people concerning the toil of their hands because of the ground which the Lord had cursed. Here that prophecy was fulfilled in God promising never to curse the ground again. As a covenant between Himself and man, God told Noah He would put a rainbow in the cloud which would serve as a reminder of the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature.
It was after the flood when God allowed man to eat meat instead of all vegetables. Back in Genesis 1:29-30, God told Adam he was to eat of the herbs and the trees. Here in Genesis 9:3-4, God told Noah he could now eat of the animals too but he could not eat the flesh with the blood. This command to abstain from or keep away from eating blood has been carried over into the New Testament.
God told Noah in Genesis 9:1 that he and his sons were to be fruitful and replenish the earth. According to Genesis 10:32, all of the nations of the earth were divided by these sons after the flood. But the whole earth was of one language and according to Genesis 11:2, as the people journeyed, they came to a plain in Shinar and they decided to build themselves a tower unto heaven and make a name for themselves so they would not be scattered over the face of the earth. The Lord came down and saw what they were doing and He was not happy. Here in Genesis 11:1-9, we find out the Lord not only confused their language but He also scattered them upon the face of all the earth which was what He had told them to do in the first place. The place was called Babel and when you hear the term Tower of Babel, this is where its story is recorded.
Here is another lesson for us. When the Lord says to do something, we need to do it. The Lord will find a way for His will to prevail so wouldn’t we be wise to accept it right off instead of trying to get around it?
In the next blog, I am going to move over to the book of Job and cover his life. While most of the books of the Old Testament are placed in chronological order, many Bible historians believe the events in the book of Job most likely fit here. The events most likely happened after the flood because of the mention of a flood in Job 22:16 but they most likely happened before the children of Israel were taken captives in Egypt as there is nothing at all mentioned in the book about God’s chosen people of the Old Testament. After learning about Job, we will come back to Genesis 12 and learn about that famous man, Abraham.
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