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The Deluge

the name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is recorded in Genesis 7 and 8

The cause of this judgment was the corruption and violence that filled the Earth in the ninth generation from Adam. God in righteous indignation determined to purge the Earth of the ungodly. Amid a world of crime and guilt there was one household that continued faithful and true to God, the household of Noah. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations.”

At the command of God, Noah made an ark 300 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high. He slowly proceeded with this work during a period of one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3). At length, the purpose of God began to be carried into effect. Here is a list of the order of events as they occurred.

  1. In the six hundredth year of his life Noah is commanded by God to enter the ark, taking with him his wife, and his three sons with their wives (Gen. 7:1-10).

  2. The rain begins on the seventeenth day of the second month (Gen. 7:11-17).

  3. The rain ceases, the waters prevail, fifteen cubits upward (Gen. 7:18-24).

  4. The ark grounds on one of the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, or one hundred and fifty days after the Deluge began (Gen. 8:1-4).

  5. Tops of the mountains visible on the first day of the tenth month (Gen. 8:5).

  6. Raven and dove sent out forty days after this (Gen. 8:6-9).

  7. Dove again sent out seven days afterwards; and in the evening she returns with an olive leaf in her mouth (Gen. 8:10,11).

  8. Dove sent out the third time after an interval of other seven days, and returns no more (Gen. 8:12).

  9. The ground becomes dry on the first day of the first month of the new year (Gen. 8:13).

  10. Noah leaves the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month (Gen. 8:14-19).

The historical truth of the narrative of the Flood is established by the references made to it by our Lord ( Matt. 24:37; compare Luke 17:26). Peter speaks of it also (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5). In Isa. 54:9 the Flood is referred to as “the waters of Noah.” It swept away all men living except Noah and his family, who were preserved in the ark; and that the present human race is descended from those who were thus preserved.

Traditions of the Deluge are found among all the great divisions of the human family; and these traditions, taken as a whole, wonderfully agree with the Biblical narrative, and agree with it in such a way as to lead to the conclusion that the Biblical is the authentic narrative, of which all these traditions are corrupted versions. The most remarkable of these traditions is that recorded on tablets prepared by order of Assur-bani-pal, the king of Assyria. These were, however, copies of older records which belonged to somewhere about B.C. 2000, and which formed part of the priestly library at Erech (q.v.), “the ineradicable remembrance of a real and terrible event.”

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  • Frequently asked questions about the Genesis Flood, including:
    • Where did the Flood water come from? Answer
      How could there have been enough water to possibly cover the entire Earth?
    • Where did the Flood water go afterwards? Answer
      If the whole Earth was deeply flooded, where did all that water go after the Flood?
    • Does the Bible claim that the Flood of Noah covered the entire Earth? Answer
      Could Noah's Flood have been a large, but localized flood? Learn nine Biblical evidences that the flood was global.
    • Could Noah's Ark really hold all the animals preserved in the flood? Answer
      Just how big was Noah's Ark? Learn how the animals came to the Ark, fit in, and survived the months.
    • How did various animals get from the Ark to isolated places, such as Australia? Answer
      How can we explain unrecorded events such as post-Flood animal migration patterns to various parts of the world? Learn the possible explanations for this interesting question.
    • How did FISH survive the Flood? Answer
      How could freshwater and saltwater fish cope with changes in salinity?
    • How did LAND PLANTS survive the Flood? Answer
    • Was there a thick water vapor canopy in the pre-Flood world? Answer
    • Did Noah need oxygen above the mountains? Answer
      If mountain climbers need oxygen tanks to climb Mount Everest, how were Noah, his family, and the animals able to breathe on the Ark when they were above the mountains?
    • Is the Black Sea flood the flood of Genesis? Answer
      Many people have naively accepted the press reports about these claims.
    • What is “Gopher Wood?” Answer
      Gopher wood is only mentioned once in the Bible in connection with the construction of the Ark (Genesis 6:14). What is it?
    • Genesis and ancient Near Eastern stories of Creation and the Flood: an introduction. Answer
      An up-to-date overview of stories from ancient Mesopotamia regarding the relationship between the early chapters of Genesis and Creation and the Flood.
    • What does the fossil record teach us about evolution? Answer
      What do the fossils teach us? Do they demonstrate the progression from simple structures to complex organisms?
    • Where are all the human fossils? Answer
      Why don't we find thousands of human fossils if the Flood of Noah is true? What happened to all the people who were not on board Noah's Ark?
    • How could all the human races come from Noah, his three sons and their wives? Answer
      Are the differences in the races justifiable reasons to disprove that all races descended directly from Noah and his family? Learn the truth of the matter.
    • Has the Garden of Eden ever been found? Answer
      Many Christians naively assume that the Garden of Eden was located near the modern Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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