Genesis 6:1 - Genesis 9:29

The Condemnation of all Things

The people of the earth, by this point, had grown increasingly wicked. They had grown to think only evil at all times. They were consorting with demons and demonic activity. Many even believe that the “sons of God,” spoken of in Genesis 6:2,4 were fallen angels who took human wives and had children with them. All said and done, the world had been overrun by every type of sin, corruption and violence. Because the world had now ceased to reflect God’s glory, he decided to change his previous course of action toward humanity and determined to destroy it by a mighty universal flood.

Noah was one of only a few men who the Bible says, “walked with God,” (Genesis 6:9) and he had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God instructed Noah to build a floating barge with the measurements of 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits (approximately 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet.)

God told Noah to cover the inside and the outside of the ark with pitch. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word translated “pitch” is “kaphar,” the same word that is most commonly translated to “atonement.” (Covering with blood) Just as the oily pitch protected Noah and his family from the flood judgment, so the blood of Jesus Christ protects the believer from the sin judgment.

God brought a male and a female of every type of animal to Noah to be placed on the ark. (This included seven pairs of clean animals, such as the ox and the lamb.) Then He told Noah, his three sons, Shem, Ham and Jepheth, his wife and his son’s wives to get on the ark. They did so and as Genesis 7:17 tells us, it was God who shut the door to the ark, sealing the salvation of Noah and his family personally. The Flood lasts for 371 days and the ark finally rests upon the mountains of Ararat. God now tells Noah and his family to “be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.” (Gen 8:17; Gen 9:1)

God now establishes a rainbow covenant with Noah. The elements of this covenant are:

1. God would never again destroy the earth of men through a flood. (Genesis 8:21-22; Genesis 9:9-17)
2. God would require the life of a man who murders another man. (Genesis 9:6)
3. The order and seasons of nature are confirmed. (Genesis 8:22)
4. The fear of animals for man is prophesied. (Genesis 9:2)
5. The flesh of animals for man’s diet is permitted. (Genesis 9:3)

The Bible goes on to tell a story of a time when Noah becomes from his own vineyard and exposes himself within his tent. His son, Ham and Grandson, Canaan view his nakedness and Canaan especially, incurs the wrath of his grandfather for the part he played in this.

Noah predicts the future physical and spiritual life styles of his sons and their descendants and goes on to die at the age of 950. As evident by the fact that no spiritual accomplishments are recorded during his last 350 years, it seems Noah may have experienced, as Paul describes it, being set on a shelf by God. (1 Corinthians 9:19-27)