As God prepared for His destructive judgment against the earth He created, Noah received God’s instructions for his and his family’s salvation. God’s instructions are specific and purposeful on every level. It is the same today. We will see a review of why God’s destruction must come, and then His instructions to Noah.
This is the transition between the wickedness happening on the earth and in the thoughts and hearts of people and God’s judgment in bringing the Flood. We discussed what was happening there in our last issue. He allowed Noah insight into His heart and His reasons, but Noah enjoys the covenant from the Lord and a reprieve from His judgment.
The Corrupted Earth
Genesis 6:9- 12: These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, without fault in his generation. Noah walked with God. Now Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And the earth was behaving corruptly before God and the earth was full of of violence. And God looked upon the earth and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.
For the third time in Genesis, we see the formula, “These are the generations…” The other two times were in Genesis 2:4 and Genesis 5:1. Sometimes this formula represents a new stage of Genesis. Here, it is just giving a short genealogy of Noah, telling us about Noah’s character and his three sons.
The Bible describes Noah as the opposite of the world around him. It gives three characteristics of Noah. First, he was a righteous man. He came from a righteous line through Seth. We are familiar with the word righteous. This is the first occurrence of righteous in the Bible.
Here, “righteous” is in a religious sense, to be just, upright, and devout. He did the right thing out of devotion to God. Second, the Bible says Noah was without fault in his generation. The generations of Seth were righteous and blameless. But Noah was especially without fault in his generation. This probably refers to everyone who was on the earth at the time of Noah.
We could consider the word for “without fault” to be a synonym of “righteous.” If anything, the distance is that “innocent” is one way of defining this word. It refers to Noah’s moral decisions in a world full of corruption.
The third description of Noah was that he walked with God. We are and we seem that before? Enoch (Genesis 5:24). Before him, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). It blows my mind that for people in these generations of perhaps millions of people were the only ones to walk with God.
To walk with God is to have a real relationship with Him. Noah took time to know God and experience His presence. He honored God and obeyed Him. God was drawn to his character. Despite the world around him, Noah trusted in God and was rewarded.
Genesis 6:10 tells us about Noah having three sons: Shem (“a name, celebrated, distinguished, renown”), Ham (“heat, hot, warm, to wax hot”), and Japheth (“let him enlarge, he who persuades, beauty”). We already know Noah was 500 years old when he fathered his sons (Genesis 5:32).
Genesis 6:11 repeatedly mentions corruption of the earth (Genesis 6:11, 12 [2]). It is behavior that ruins, destroys, and annihilates the earth. This is not what God had in mind when He gave the earth to humanity to dominate and subdue. Those words do not will represent humanity’s charge as God’s image bearers. It is about stewardship.
This verse also mentions “violence” upon the earth. Violence was a form of corruption. It was specific to the giants, the Nephilim. It’s not hard to be violent when you are many times over the size of humans. It was in their nature also to be violent. Think of later giants, like Goliath. The giants were by nature violent and depraved.
Humanity was not stewarding the earth. They were abusing it. They are blamed for the corruption but it happens because of the Nephilim. The giants and the fallen angels had already corrupted humankind. Now humankind was corrupt in the earth. There was corruption everywhere God looked.
In our last issue, we talked about how God was sorry that He made humanity (Genesis 6:5). The Bible describes the earth as being full of corruption. It wasn’t a little here and a little there. It was all through it. The sin and corruption of humanity, the giants, or the Nephilim, was so rampant that it was everywhere God looked.
God’s Reason for His Judgment
Genesis 6:13-14: And God said to Noah, “An end to all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence from them, and behold, I will destroy them from the earth. Make for yourself an ark out of gopher wood; make compartments in the ark and smear it inside and out with pitch.
As we talk about the precursors to God’s instructions for the ark before the Flood, we look at the word “violence.” Violence is mentioned directly by the Lord as he speaks with Noah. God’s instructions for the upcoming Flood will happen as a result of His conversation with Noah. First, the earth was full of corruption. Now it is full of violence. The two words are synonymous with the actions of humanity, giants, and beasts alike.
This corruption and violence was absolute among all the “flesh” of the earth. This included humans, the animals, birds, the giants, and every living thing on the earth. As I said before, God doesn’t say anything about the oceans. Even with a flood, the fish and sea creatures would be unaffected.
Why were the animals of all kinds included? For one, when animals are ill treated by humans, they tend to become violent. We understand what these fallen angels did from Jude 7. It sheds light on their behavior and how far it had spread.
Jude tells us that the Angels pursued “strange flesh” (KJV), or “different flesh.” There are many ancient mythologies about animals that were half animal/half human. The idea of “different flesh” is that the Angels pursued and natural relations with animals, not just the daughters of men. That is why God had to destroy all flesh.
In Genesis 6:13, God tells Noah the reason why His judgment is finally coming upon the earth. Remember that Methuselah’s name prophetically prepared for this moment. It means, “When he dies it will come.” Enoch knew this day would come because of his close relationship with God.
The Flood will come after Noah listens to God’s instructions and builds the ark, his 600th year. God gave humanity 120 years to stave off His judgment. But they did not, so God must bring His judgment. His judgment was designed to graciously stop the corruption and violence of the earth.
God specifically says that the earth is filled with violence from” them.” This most likely refers to the Nephilim, the fallen ones who are giants. These giants had polluted the earth with their violence and corruption. They had destroyed the earth through massive consumption. Imagine how much food it takes to feed a giant whose height has been recorded by the Bible as anywhere from 9-20 feet tall!
God tells Noah He will destroy them, referring to all flesh, and especially the Nephilim,, from the earth. To protect and restore the earth, God destroyed the Wiccan creatures on the earth. We see for the second time the word, “Behold!” often times, when you see the word “behold” in Scripture, you should take a pause and think about what is happening.
Moses uses “behold” twice (Genesis 6:12, 13). God laborers the point that all flesh has truly become corrupt and is nothing like the creation He created. Instead, all flesh is destroying the earth with their corruption and violence.
Although God does not want to do it, His judgment must be the saving grace to stop further corruption and violence. When you pause, think about how we can everything became for God to have to bring His judgment.
God’s judgment was coming on those who deserve it, but Noah is not in that boat. He was righteous and did not deserve God’s judgment. God had a plan to rescue Noah and his family. God’s instructions were to build an ark, a big boat, not just for him and his family, but for the preservation of animal life.
God instructs Noah to make, or build, an ark out of gopher wood. What’s gopher wood? That’s easy. It is what made out of gophers. Just kidding. This is the only time “gopher” appears in the Old Testament. That means it’s hard to track down what it was. Perhaps it was a kind of wood we don’t have anymore.
God tells Noah to make compartments in the ark. These are probably the pens for the animals to stay. God’s instructions for Noah are to smear the inside and outside of the boat with pitch. Gopher wood is not the only word occurring one time in this verse.
The word for “pitch” only appears once in the Old Testament. I would imagine pitch was some kind of tar or similar substance that would make the boat float and protected from the water. There may be some usage of it in other Ancient Near Eastern languages.
God’s Instructions for the Ark
Genesis 6:15-16: And this is how you should make it. The ark’s length: 300 cubits, its breadth: 50 cubits, and its height: 30 cubits. Make the ark’s roof, and finish it a cubit on top of it, and fix a door to the side of the ark. Make a lower, second, and third deck.
God tells Noah exactly how to build this ark. It does not sound like there was much rain, or much flooding before the great Flood. How Noah knew to build the ark is an interesting question we will not get the answer to this side of heaven.
Whatever the case, Noah must’ve known how to build a boat because God’s instructions do not include step-by-step instructions on how to build a boat. He gives Noah the dimensions of the ark. In case you have not brushed up on your ancient measurements like the cubit, I will give you the dimensions of the ark in modern measurements.
The length of the ark is 300 cubits, or about 140-170 yards (420-510 feet). At its widest width (boats are measured by their widest width) the ark was 50 cubits, or about 24-28 yards (72-84 feet). The height of the ark was 30 cubits, or about 14-17 yards (42-51 feet).
These numbers are helpful to us because we understand the measurements, to a point. Most people if I told them the ark was 140-170 yards would not register the size. Let me give you some images that may help even more to realize the size of the ark.
Let’s talk cars and buses. The length of the ark was about 12 city buses long. At its widest point, the ark was a little more than 5 midsized sedans. Its height was a little more than 3 midsized sedans. Perhaps that helps you to get an idea of how big the ark was. No wonder it took Noah 100 years to build it! I assume that was all by hand as well with perhaps some hand tools, like a hammer and perhaps a saw of some kind.
God’s instructions concerning the ark include a finished roof, very helpful since it was raining so much. It’s hard to interpret the Hebrew here. Some versions understand it to tell Noah to install a window one cubit below the roof (17-21 inches). There is no word for window in Hebrew here. The other option is to see the roof one cubit above the top of the height of the ark.
God’s instructions also include three decks. He put a door on the side of the ark to get in and out. This was also helpful for loading the animals and supplies they would need. So, the ark had three levels with compartments on every level to store their food, the animals God would send to be saved with them, and for eight human beings.
God’s Sorrow and Covenant
Genesis 6:17-18: And I, behold, even I, am bringing a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh which has the breath of life in it, everything which is on the earth will perish. But I will establish My covenant with you. Now enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
After God’s instructions about the ark, He takes a moment to ponder the seriousness of what He is about to do. There are two sides to God’s actions. He will destroy the flesh on the earth but He makes a covenant with Noah to save him and his family.
The original language has an emphatic restatement where God essentially says, “I myself, yes Me.” He is sorry it has come to this point but He cannot be Himself if He does not bring judgment for the extreme wickedness of the people.
He states that form of His judgment, floodwaters that will destroy all flesh with the breath of life in it. The same God who breathed life into Adam will now destroy things that breathe that breath of life. It is really a shocking moment where God shows sorrow for what He must do.
The words for destroy and perish show the completeness of God’s judgment. God’s instructions to Noah that will save him, his family, and the animals are followed by a covenant He makes with Noah. God initiates the most important covenants in the Bible and this is the first covenant expressly mentioned and outlined in the Bible.
God instructs Noah at the completion of the building of the ark, when Noah turns 600 years old, to gather himself, his wife, his sons and their wives and go into the ark. But that is not all God tells Noah to do. This is God giving instructions to Noah for after the ark is finished. They will not enter it until he has finished it and God begins to send the rains.
God’s Instructions for Animals and Food
Genesis 6:19-21: And from every living thing, from all flesh, two from everything going into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they will be male and female, from birds according to their kind and animals according to their kind, from every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two from every living thing coming with you. And you, take for yourself from all food that is eaten and gather it to yourself, and it will be for you and for them to eat.”
God’s instructions include the animals He will save and send into the ark with Noah. People have a lot of questions about the animals. Every living thing would take a lot of room. The ark does not seem big enough for all these creatures.
It’s most likely the animals that went into the ark where very young animals. In other words, large animals like the giraffe or elephant were not adult size. They were probably babies. God would send two of each creature, both male and female, so they could replenish the earth once the Flood was over.
Included are land animals, birds that would not find a place to land after flying, all the creeping living things like insects. God thought of everything. Even thought of the food Noah and the animals would need to survive the Flood would be upon the earth. When God provides and takes care of us, He doesn’t forget anything we need. He is the greatest Provider we will ever know.
Noah’s Obedience to God’s Instructions
Genesis 6:22: Noah did all which God commanded him to do; this he did.
Why did God choose Noah to carry out His instructions to save His created beings so that He did not have to start creation all over? Because Noah was obedient and carried out everything He commanded. God’s instructions were specific and would take a long time to prepare for the Flood.
Noah was not only obedient. He was faithful to complete all the work in preparation that needed to be done before God would send the Flood. It is a lesson for all of us to not only be righteous, without fault, and walk with God, but to be obedient and faithful.
When God tells you what to do, you need to do it with obedience and faithfully execute His commands to you. Noah is a positive example for all believers to not only have faith in God’s plans and instructions but to carry them out faithfully.
The Days of Noah
We’ve been looking at God’s instructions to Noah on how to build the ark to avoid God’s judgment he and his family did not deserve. But the Bible talks about Noah elsewhere. We need to see what the Bible says about Noah and his time. It is important for us living in these last days before God brings His judgment in the end times.
First, outside of the narrative in Genesis about Noah (Genesis 6-9), his name appears again in the lists of Israelites, probably someone named after him (Numbers 26:33; 27:1; 36:11; Joshua 17:3; 1 Chronicles 1:4).
Isaiah mentions the days of Noah, which will be an important prophetic phrase (Isaiah 54:9). Ezekiel also speaks about Noah in a triad of Noah, Daniel, and Job (Ezekiel 14:14, 20). Those are the references to Noah in the Old Testament.
Let’s look at how the New Testament characterizes Noah and his time. Noah is mentioned in Jesus’s genealogy (Luke 3:36). Other than that, the references to Noah are extremely important.
Most significant are the references Jesus makes to the days of Noah in His prophecies about the end times (Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 17:26-27). He describes the time when the Son of Man (Himself) will come back to the earth for God’s judgment. He says those days when He returns will be like the days of Noah.
He further clarifies that the people were not aware of God’s judgment. They were doing the same things we do today. Eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, and a host of other common things we do every day. When Jesus returns, people will be unaware of God’s coming judgment until the day He returns.
We are living in times that are becoming as corrupt and violent as the days of Noah. Anyone who notices with a prophetic eye can see we’re coming close to His return. People are unaware of it and will be surprised by it. But we will not be. We must be ready and vigilant.
The writer of Hebrews includes Noah in his Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:7). He adds to the Genesis record that Noah condemned the world and reverently feared God. Two references in the letters of Peter refer to Noah and the prophetic times he lived in (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5).
In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter is talking about baptism and relates that in the days of Noah, God waited patiently to bring His judgment. This probably refers to the 120 years God gave humanity to change its tune.
In 2 Peter 2:5, he calls Noah a “herald of righteousness.” This probably refers to Noah preaching to the people about God’s coming judgment for 100 years, and yet they did not listen to him.
We must do the same, proclaiming God’s righteousness, demonstrating it in our lives, and telling people what will be coming in God’s judgment. There is much for us to do in these last days, and Noah is a godly example for us today.
Grace, Judgment, and Escape from Judgment
God has been giving a time of patience, waiting for people to realize His goodness and become part of His family until it is too late. We live in this grace period now, so it is hard for us to put our minds and the framework to realize that God’s judgment is coming.
Even His judgment is merciful and gracious to people. He will not allow people He created to live for the devil forever. It is ruining their souls, bodies, and minds. The devil will not win. God’s instructions to us are to live for Him, be a witness in these last days of God’s desire for righteousness in all the earth.
I want to drop a note about the rapture and the end times. People have a hard time understanding why they would be a rapture of the Church before the Tribulation. We have several types of people, examples of God graciously doing just that, giving them a way of escape from His judgment before He brings it.
Enoch was taken from this world by God after only 365 years of his life because he walked with God. He was to not exist on this earth because God took him. God took Enoch early because of his righteousness and closeness with God. The same will happen for the Church before the Tribulation.
God saved Noah and his family because Noah was a righteous man. He protected Noah from the Flood of His judgment and will do the same for us. He always provides a way of escape, even in the face of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Jesus will come for those who are righteous in the rapture, yet another escape from the judgment of God for those who do not deserve His judgment.
The Saga Continues…
We are beginning the Bible’s narrative about Noah, the ark, and the Flood. Although this closes out Volume 2, we will begin Volume 3, Issue 1 by talking about the Flood in more detail. Stay tuned until then.
