Genesis 6:9b-7

The Book of Shem, Ham & Japheth
PART 1: PREPARATION to FLOOD

PREPARATION (6:9b-7:16)

Who was Noah?
1. He was a righteous man (6:9, Ezekiel 14:14)
2. He was blameless among the people of his time (6:9)
3. He walked with God (6:9)
4. He was a man of Faith (Hebrews 11:7)
5. He was a preacher (2 Peter 2:5)

What was the Problem
1. The world had become extremely corrupt (6:11-13)
2. The world had become extremely violent (6:11-13)

What does the flood tell us about God?
1. God judges wickedness
2. God has a plan

God’s plan

Noah’s Physical Salvation
~Had to cover ark with pitch (6:14)*
~had to enter through the arks 1 door (6:16)
~Saved by a wooden structure (6:14)
~Only those in the ark were saved (7:23)
~Ark was lifted up during wrath (7:17)
*word used for 'pitch' here is, in hebrew, same as 'atonement'

Our Spiritual Salvation
~Must be covered with Christ's blood (Lev. 17:11, 1 Peter 1:18-19)
~Must enter through Christ, who IS the door (John 10:9)
~We're saved by Christ's work on a wooden cross (1 Corinthians 1:18)
~Only those in Christ are saved (Galatians 3:26-29)
~Jesus was lifted up during wrath (John 12:32-33)

THE FLOOD (7:17-24)

Questions about the flood

1. Was it worldwide or local?
In my opinion, the account clearly has a global flood in mind. This is not an issue utterly important to salvation, but it does say a lot about what 'authority' you side with. I believe boldly that Genesis describes a worldwide deluge AND that the geological evidence supports a worldwide deluge.

2. How could they have fit all those animals in there?
Cartoon renditions of Noah's story often make the ark out to be a tiny craft with animals bursting out the sides, but the reality is very reasonable. First of all, it is probably that only 35,000 species of animals are necessary to account for the wide varieties we see today. Secondly, we must remember that the ark was about 1.5 football fields in length and had 3 decks. It has been estimated that the average size of all animals is roughly the size of a sheep. Given the dimensions of the ark, there would have been room for more than 100,000 well-spaced sheep on Noah's ark.


3. Where did all the water go?
The globe is 2/3's covered with water. It must be remembered that a worldwide deluge would have totally altered the topography of the earth. It is almost certain that there were not high mountains or vast valleys prior to the flood. As the new topography emerged, the water found its home in the deepest valleys. Today we call these oceans.

4. What about dinosaurs?
As stupid as it sounds to the secular mind, I believe dinosaurs were on the ark. As discussed above, there was plenty of room (also, one would imagine God could have sent young/smaller dinosaurs Noah's way. After the flood, dinosaurs probably went extinct quite quickly due to environmental changes.