The Great Flood

INTRODUCTION:  Even in the midst of destruction, God provides a way for the salvation of those who will trust in Him.  The emphasis of this lesson is not one of judgment but of God’s mercy for His own. Notice also that God delivers His people out of the way of His wrath.  He does not make them go through it.  In like manner, God’s people in the age of grace will be raptured from the earth before the falling of God’s wrath upon it (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9).

1. THE COMMANDS OF GOD OBEYED (Genesis 7:1-9)
1. The Command to Build the Ark (Genesis 6:14-16, 22)
2. The Invitation to Get in the Ark  (Genesis 7:1)
1. Thou and all thy house
2. For thee have I seen righteous before me
3. The Command to Load the Animals (Genesis 7:2-4)
1. Beasts (Genesis 7:2)
1. Clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens
2. Clean beasts were taken by sevens because they could be sacrificed (Genesis 8:20)
3. Beasts that are not clean by two
2. Fowls (Genesis 7:3)
1. Fowls also of the air by sevens
2. To keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth
3. The chronology (Genesis 7:4)
1. 120 years before the flood, God declares mans time to be numbered (Genesis 6:3)
2. Seven days before the flood, God tells Noah to get in the ark (Genesis 7:4, 10)
3. The flood comes in the 600th year of Noah (Genesis 7:6)
4. The rain began on the 17th day of the 2nd month and continued for 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:11-12)
5. The ark rests on one of the mountains of Ararat on the 17th day of the 7th month, 150 days after the beginning of the flood (Genesis 7:24; Genesis 8:3-4)
6. The tops of the mountains were seen on the 1st day of the 10th month (Genesis 8:5)
7. The raven and the dove were sent out during this time (Genesis 8:6-12)
8. The ground is dry on the 1st day of the 1st month of the 601st year of Noah (Genesis 8:13)
9. Noah and his family leave the ark on the 27th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 8:14-19).  This is one year and ten days after the rain began coming down.
4. The Obedience of Noah (Genesis 7:5-9)
2. THE COVERING BY THE WATERS (Genesis 7:10-24)
1. Forty Days and Nights of Rain (Genesis 7:10-12)
1. The great deep probably refers to subterranean water gushing to the surface of the earth.  (Some think they refer to water above the atmosphere.) (Genesis 7:11)
2. The windows of heaven probably refers to waters from above the atmosphere as well as rain from the clouds. (Genesis 7:11)
3. If the geography of the earth was similar to what it is today (that is, if there were mountain peaks approaching the height of Mt Everest), then the floodwaters would had to have raised about 750 per day.  Rain could not have been the only source of water for the flood and the text says it was not (see also Genesis 8:2).
2. Shut in the Ark by the Lord (Genesis 7:13-16)
1. The passengers enter the ark (Genesis 7:13-16)
2. The Lord shut them in (Genesis 7:16)
3. Mountains Covered by the Waters (Genesis 7:17-20)
1. The waters increased (Genesis 7:17)
1. And bare up the ark
2. The ark was lifted up above the earth
2. The waters prevailed (Genesis 7:18-20)
1. And increased greatly upon the earth (Genesis 7:18)
2. The ark was upon the face of the waters (Genesis 7:18)
3. All the high hills were covered (Genesis 7:19)
4. Fifteen cubits upward did the water prevail (Genesis 7:20)
5. The mountains were covered (Genesis 7:20)
4. All Breathing Creatures Died (Genesis 7:21-24)
1. Those without the ark perished (Genesis 7:21-22)
2. Those within the ark were safe (Genesis 7:23)
3. The waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days (Genesis 7:24)
3. THE CLEARING OF THE DRY LAND (Genesis 8:1-14)
1. The Waters Returned From Off the Earth (Genesis 8:1-3)
1. God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle that was with him in the ark (Genesis 8:1)
2. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped (Genesis 8:2)
3. The rain from heaven was restrained (Genesis 8:2)
4. The waters returned from off the earth continually (Genesis 8:3)
5. After the end of the 150 days the waters were abated (Genesis 8:3)
2. The Ark Rested on Mount Ararat (Genesis 8:4-5)
1. The ark rested on the 17th day of the seventh month (Genesis 8:4)
2. The waters decreased continually
3. In the tenth month on the first day the tops of the mountains were seen (Genesis 8:5)
3. The Birds Sent Out to Check the Land (Genesis 8:6-12)
1. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark (Genesis 8:6)
2. A raven was sent forth (Genesis 8:7)
1. The raven went to and fro
2. The raven stayed out
3. A dove was sent forth (Genesis 8:8-12)
1. The first time (Genesis 8:8-9)
1. The dove went forth to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground (Genesis 8:8)
2. The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot (Genesis 8:9)
3. The dove returned unto Noah in the ark (Genesis 8:9)
2. The second time (Genesis 8:10-11)
1. Noah waited seven days and sent forth the dove again (Genesis 8:10)
2. The dove came back in the evening (Genesis 8:11)
3. The dove had an olive leaf in her mouth (Genesis 8:11)
4. Noah knew the waters were abated from off the earth (Genesis 8:11)
3. The third time (Genesis 8:12)
1. Noah waited seven days and sent forth the dove again
4. The Earth Dried of the Waters (Genesis 8:13-14)
1. The face of the ground was dry on the 1st day of the 1st month of the 601st year of Noah (Genesis 8:13)
2. The earth was dry on the 27th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 8:14).
4. THE CALL TO LEAVE THE ARK (Genesis 8:15-22)
1. The Leaving of the Ark (Genesis 8:15-19)
2. The Offering of a Sacrifice (Genesis 8:20)
1. Noah built an altar
2. Noah offered burnt offerings of the clean beasts and the clean fowl
3. The Promise of the Lord (Genesis 8:21-22)
1. The personal nature of God (Genesis 8:21)
1. The LORD smelled a sweet savour
2. The LORD said in His heart
2. The Lord will not again (Genesis 8:21)
1. Curse the ground for mans sake
2. Smite every living thing
3. As I have done
3. While the earth remains (Genesis 8:22)
1. Seedtime and harvest shall not cease
2. Cold and heat shall not cease
3. Summer and winter shall not cease
4. Day and night shall not cease
5. THE COMMISSION GIVEN TO NOAH (Genesis 9:1-7)
1. Be Fruitful and Multiply (Genesis 9:1, 7)
1. God blessed Noah and his sons
2. Noah and his sons were to be fruitful
3. Noah and his sons were to be multiply
4. Noah and his sons were to replenish the earth
2. All Animals for Meat (Genesis 9:2-3)
3. No Eating of Blood (Genesis 9:4)
4. Execution of Murderers (Genesis 9:5-6)
1. Capital punishment was established for murderers and is to be the foundation of civil government.
2. Some say that execution of murderers, though allowed under the Old Testament, is wrong for today.  Two examples should answer this.
1. First, Paul, when brought to judgment, said, For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die (Acts 25:11).  That means that he believed there were things that were worthy of deathan Old Testament phrase with particular meaning (see Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 21:22).
2. Second, Paul speaks to the Romans about the higher powers of government as being ordained of God.  Paul testifies that he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil (Romans 13:4).  A sword is for killing and he refers here to evil doers being executed.
6. THE COVENANT MADE WITH NOAH (Genesis 9:8-17)
1. The Promise of No Universal Flood (Genesis 9:8-11)
1. The covenant established with Noah and with the seed after him (Genesis 9:8-9)
2. The covenant established with the animals (Genesis 9:10)
3. Never again will God cut off all flesh and destroy the earth by the waters of a flood (Genesis 9:11)
2. The Token of the Rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17)
1. The covenant is Gods promise to never destroy the entire earth with a flood again.  The token or sign of the covenant is the rainbow (Genesis 9:12).
2. Compare this to the covenant with Abraham.  The covenant is the set of promises that make of Abraham Gods special people with guarantees of a seed, a land and a nation.  The token of the covenant is the circumcision of the male descendents of Abraham (Genesis 17:11).
7. THE CURSE PLACED ON CANAAN (Genesis 9:18-29) - this section is not really part of this lesson.  It is placed here to show how it fits into the whole story.
1. The Family of Noah (Genesis 9:18-19)
2. The Disobedience of Noah (Genesis 9:20-21)
3. The Sin of Ham (Genesis 9:22)
4. The Response of Shem and Japheth (Genesis 9:23)
5. The Curse on Canaan (Genesis 9:24-25)
6. The Blessing on Shem and Japheth (Genesis 9:26-27)
7. The Days of Noah After the Flood (Genesis 9:28-29)

CONCLUSION:  God is our Deliverer.  He always keeps His promises.  Are you trusting in Him?  Are you confident that He will see you through the storms of life?  Make sure you are in the ark of the Lord and make sure that He has shut the door.  Use your one window to look up to heaven and do the work He has called you to do until He calls you home to be with Him.  There is safety and deliverance in the ark.