My generation heard about the Flood as a Bible story at Sunday School and that was the level of our involvement. We were shown a picture, designed for children, of a boat floating on the water with a man and a woman aboard and a giraffe’s head poking out of a window.

We might have had a toy boat with pairs of animals, sung a song about the animals going in two by two and had a vague remembrance of the story every time we saw a rainbow. At least the story stuck with us, though we had a poor impression of the intensity of what happened to the earth at the time of Noah.

As we went through school, the relevance of the Flood was erased from our thinking. We were not taught of its connection to the evidence in the geological record, nor were we given a concept of the way human, animal and plant life developed post-Flood - a new beginning to life on earth.

Now, in our day, the picture is blurred even more by scientists who deliberately distort the evidence. Indeed, God Himself is written out of the history books and a generation has ceased to understand the relevance of the account of Noah, especially as it relates to God’s utter sorrow regarding the sin of mankind and the devastating destruction wrought on account of that sin.

The Bible’s Authenticity

The Book of Genesis spans so many generations that at first glance it might seem that much was lost and omitted over the many years between the key events. One might, therefore, imagine that over these long time-spans, stories handed down could easily be distorted into the realm of myth.

Yet, if one looks at the long and overlapping lives of the generations preceding Noah, we realise that this simply wasn’t the case. In fact, Adam was still alive during the lifetime of Noah’s father, Lamech - so Noah would likely have had first-hand accounts of the Creation from his forefathers.

Likewise, if we look at the details of the lives of Noah’s descendants, particularly of Shem (Gen 11:10-32), we find that it was just 282 years from Shem to Abram, and that Noah and all the rest of Abram’s forefathers would have still been alive at his birth – all those listed as Shem’s descendants. The accounts of both the Creation and of the Flood would have been passed on by those who experienced directly what God had done.

This takes away any concern that we might have of the authenticity of what we read. Strengthened by the faith that God gives us, we know that what we read in the Bible is what happened - word for word.

That We Might Prepare

What does God want us to take from this? Perhaps He wants us to realise just how relevant the account of the Flood is to us today; not just to children at Sunday School, but also to adults as they study all the later history of the world and grapple with what is now transpiring.

It is relevant because we must remember both God’s patience and His utter sorrow over the sins of mankind. Today, the judgment of God is being held back until all His covenant purposes are fulfilled. The covenant with Noah is therefore foundational to the outworking of all of His other covenant purposes.

It is no surprise, then, that Jesus reminded us to remember the Great Flood, warning that the sins of mankind would one day increase again to be like the sins at the time of Noah (Matt 24:36-44), as a prelude to His return as judge of all the earth. Is not this the day in which we ourselves live? Jesus warned us to watch and pray, which might include studying what has passed, that we might prepare for what is to come.

With this in mind, let us read the account of Noah afresh this week, pondering its significance.

Author: Clifford Denton