Secular scholars make fun of the story of the flood and treat it as if it were a myth or a fairy tale. However, several ancient documents report striking parallels to the flood story.
The stories of a global or great flood is a theme that appears in various cultures and mythologies around the world, not just in the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. Many of these stories share common elements, such as a catastrophic deluge, a means of survival, and a small number of survivors. Some notable examples include:
Mesopotamian Flood Myths:
- The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian text, tells of a great flood sent by the gods. Utnapishtim is warned by the god Ea to build a boat to save himself, his family, and representatives of each animal species.
- The Sumerian Epic of Ziusudra and the Akkadian Atrahasis Epic also recount stories of a devastating flood and a hero who builds a boat to save himself and various living beings.
Greek Mythology:
- In Greek mythology, the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha parallels the Noah's Ark tale. Zeus decides to end the Bronze Age with a great deluge, and Deucalion, with advice from his father Prometheus, builds an ark to survive the flood.
Hindu Mythology:
- The Hindu scriptures, particularly the Puranas, talk about a great flood where the sage Manu saves humanity. He builds a boat and is guided by a fish (an avatar of the god Vishnu) to survive the flood.
Chinese Mythology:
- The Chinese have the story of Gun and Yu, which involves a great flood that lasted for generations. Yu is famous for successfully controlling the flood and saving the people.
Native American Myths:
- Many Native American tribes have their own flood stories. For example, the Hopi people tell of a great flood that occurred in the third world that their ancestors had to survive.
Scandinavian Mythology:
- In Norse mythology, there's a reference to a great deluge in the story of Bergelmir, a frost giant who survives a flood of blood, which kills all but him and his wife.
Mesoamerican Cultures:
- The Maya and the Aztecs have myths about a great flood. The Aztec story talks about a deluge that ended the previous sun (world age), and only a man and a woman survived, sheltering in a huge cypress tree.
African Myths:
- Some African cultures have flood stories, like the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Masai of Kenya, involving a great deluge from which few humans escape.
Australian Aboriginal Myths:
- Australian Aboriginal cultures also have flood stories. These tales often involve a great deluge that shapes the landscape and is survived by a few ancestors or animals.
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1)
“Come into the ark” -That’s an invitation
Notice the Lord did not say, “Go into the ark”. It was as if the Lord was inviting him into the ark where He Himself was present
Something about an invitation: You can accept it or you can ignore it.
This invitation was not only to Noah, it was also to his household.
God was not only interested in saving Noah from the flood but He was also interested in saving his household.
One man was righteous, the entire household got an opportunity to receive salvation.
One woman Rahab’s faith in the living God brought salvation to her entire family.
This will happen to you too. Your family will be saved.
The reason you are invited because you have been declared righteous by virtue of your acceptance of the sacrificial death of Lord Jesus.
2You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:2-3)
Some have wondered how the animals came to Noah. Did Noah go in search of the animals? No!
In Genesis 6:20 God said the animals would come to Noah by migration.
Speaking scientifically, God has created a migratory instinct (which can operate in an amazing manner). It is no difficult thing for Him to miraculously place an urge to migrate to the ark in each pair of animals He planned to be preserved in the ark.
God definitely spoke to the animals and they heard the voice of their creator. God never has a problem getting the animals to do what He wants. Only man is more stupid than the animals. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. (Isaiah 1:3)
Prior to the Flood, a distinction arose between clean and unclean animals. We read this in Genesis 7:1-4 NKJV
[1] Then the Lord said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. [2] You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; [3] also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. [4] For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made."
Moses later enacted this distinction into law. The law was based partly on their wholesomeness as food, and partly on religious considerations. These laws were designed to serve as one of the marks of separation of Israel from all other Gentile nations.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. (Genesis 7:11-12)
Enoch was one of the first prophets in human history to receive a divine revelation pointing to the Lord's return to earth with 10,000 of His saints (Jude 14, 15).
When Enoch named his son Methuselah, he gave the pre-flood society a child who would become a walking prophecy of future events. As previously stated, the name Methuselah signified that his death would thrust the world into judgment. Methuselah died the same year the flood erupted. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (Genesis 7:11), and Methuselah was 969, the oldest human on record.
Seven days after Methuselah's death, the world was inundated with a universal flood—its murky waters topping the highest mountain peak by 15 cubits, or over 31 feet (Genesis 7:20). This kept anyone from surviving the deluge. Methuselah was a walking sign to the pre-flood generation that the earth would one day be covered underwater.
Scientists have recently discovered a massive reservoir of water, estimated to be three times the volume of all the world's oceans, deep beneath the Earth's surface. This water is contained within a blue rock called ringwoodite, located about 700 kilometres underground in the Earth's mantle, the layer between the planet's surface and its core. This discovery offers significant evidence that Earth's water may have originated from within, challenging the theory that water arrived via comets.
This massive underground water reservoir could explain why the Earth's ocean levels have remained stable over millions of years, as it might act as a buffer. Jacobsen suggests that without this deep reservoir, much of the Earth's surface would be submerged, with only mountain tops visible.
So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. (Genesis 7:16)
Noah did not have to shut the door on anyone’s salvation; God did it. After the same pattern, it is never our job to disqualify people from salvation. We let God shut the door.
God kept the door open until the last possible minute, but there came a time when the door had to shut. When the door is open, it is open, but when it is shut, it is shut. Jesus is He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens (Revelation 3:7).
The ark was salvation for Noah, but condemnation for the world. There were no second chances for those left out.
The animals coming towards the ark itself should have served as a warning to the people but they were so blinded that seeing it they could not see it.
Lord Jesus said in Matthew 21:31
“I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes are getting into the kingdom but even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe in Him and repent of your sins.
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Chapter 45
- Chapter 46
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- Chapter 50