Bible Studies

A Flood Narrative

by John Owens 
10/25/17
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THE TIME OF THE FLOOD…AND LATER

“Noah—Come, and your entire house, into the Ark…”

Darkness had overtaken the afternoon sky. Inside the cypress tree-dwelling the old man lay motionless, a small clay tablet in his hand. Lines of grief were still embedded in his face, traces of the tension the family had borne for the past century. Methuselah had lived 969 years

Next to the deceased, the white haired father sat erect as he listened to the words of his Lord. By faith he had built the Ark according to the instructions issued by God—300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high (the cubit being a forearm’s length). It was huge, encompassing three levels with numerous cubicles and stalls—enough space to take in over 35,000 animals, leaving plenty of room for Noah and his three sons and all their families. It was time for the father to take a final step of faith.

Seven days had been given and it was exactly seven days later—on the second month and seventeenth day of the year—that it happened. As the last two of the animals were secured in their stalls, the ground trembled. The water had started to fall—a mist at first, then increasingly harder. The people gazed upward with puzzled expressions, but soon their faces reflected annoyance. And eventually they disappeared from sight.

The families of Noah were aware of the approaching judgment and already clustered inside the vessel. Noah proceeded up the ramp. There was nothing more that he could do. He had known all along that such a moment would come and suddenly it had. His throat tightened uncontrollably and tears mixed with rain dripped from his beard as he took his last step into the Ark. He could not bear to look back.

As he entered, a sweeping darkness caused him to turn. The wide open doorway was no longer there. A solid door had taken its place—tightly shut. Even the pitch had been applied as a seal, like that used throughout the vessel, inside and out. They were separated from the world, and in a way that no man could have done.

Oil lamps mounted on bulkheads illuminated the interior so that the family of eight could make their way past the cages and up the ladder to the third level where they would live. It took no persuasion for them all to gather in the center for prayer. In a close circle they joined arms and knelt. The Spirit of God was strongly sensed and His grace was needed for what was ahead.

Soon the skylight from the narrow upper window grew dim. The trembling earth was felt, intense flashes were seen, and overhead rumblings were heard. Noah’s wife drew closer and he held her more tightly. Looking around he was thankful for the courage evident in the faces of his sons. Noah knew that they would be kept safe as Holy God had promised. The place of scorn had become their shelter.

It was not long until a different kind of movement was detected—with the creaking of beams. At first the weight of the Ark shifted, and then it began to swing in position. Then, with a battering crash of water against the side, it lifted, and floated free. Noah realized that from this time they had totally placed themselves in the care of their Creator.

Tremblings continued within the earth below as fissures cracked open and mountain tops erupted, spewing their fiery red rivers into the climbing seas. Torrential outpourings continued to build as churning waters whipped and driven by powerful winds raged across changing land masses. With the bursting of deep fountains below and the deluge from the waters above, soon all mobile life forms scrambled to survive, climbing ever higher, until their last stronghold was swallowed—then they too perished. Everything with the breath of life that had lived on dry land was washed from the face of the earth. Nothing could challenge the merciless waters that stood fifteen cubits above the highest peaks.

The very good earth that God had created was carved and sifted by the waters of judgment. The perfect design and marvel of nature was ripped apart by catastrophe. With each successive wave, layers of death accumulated and were left as a witness to subsequent generations. The primal giants of vegetation and animal kind were crushed and compressed beneath tons of roiling debris. The palaces and places of ingrown pleasure with their temptations to unrestrained evil were taken away as easily as dust with a broom. Fleshly transgressions that had manifested as Nephilim and other creature abominations had been left as legends.

It was a full year before the ark settled and the family and animals were able to re-occupy the earth. Noah’s first act was a blood sacrifice using those animals that God had specified. God stated to Noah that never again would He destroy the earth with water, and as long as it remained, seed-times and harvests would continue for the benefit of mankind. The rainbow was the sign.

The generations that followed the flood were marked by sharply declining longevity. Noah lived another 448 years to a final age of 950. Shem lived to 600. But within four more generations, the human life span had decreased to 239 years with Peleg. Abraham, who was born 352 years after the flood, lived 175 years (150 of those years, Shem was still alive). Joseph, the third generation from Abraham, lived 110 years. Records of ages were carefully preserved by the Hebrew descendants within the sacred Scriptures.

Gone were the days of the towering reptiles. Yes, they hatched and dispersed from the Ark, but the post-flood climate had changed—no longer able to supply the oxygen and food requirements for the growth of such beasts. Gradually, they too declined in size and number, hunted and destroyed, until they became so few that they were labeled extinct. Neither could the great winged warriors develop the span once obtained, in an atmosphere unable to provide the lift needed. The bones of their ancestors layed down in the flood provided testimony to their once spectacular presence. And stories continued to be told around fires, captivating the imagination of those with child-like faith.

Within the nature of man, even after such a judgment, there still existed a tendency toward evil—even from childhood, in thoughts and actions. While the flood had buried the physical corruption, it had not changed the human heart, nor had it removed the roaming spirits of the Nephilim which were driven to seek, inhabit, and manipulate other bodies. Also, still present, were many of the unchained fallen angels that had sided with Lucifer in his rebellion. Their evil hierarchy would continue and their judgment would be future.

The identity of the Seed had been mysteriously concealed, and continued to be, for over two thousand more years—until the fullness of time. A prophet of God, Micah, hundreds of years before it happened, had declared that out of Bethlehem He would come—the Ruler whose origin was from eternity. Another prophet, Isaiah, provided a further clue, foretelling that as a sign from God, a virgin would give birth to a Son. Over three-hundred prophecies had predicted the arrival and workings of mankind’s Savior, the long-hidden Seed of the woman that would crush the head of the age-old serpent, Lucifer.

Because His arrival and ways were without a show of outward force, most failed to recognize the One who came down from Paradise. He did not choose the existing world’s kingdoms, but declared His Own—offering entrance to those who would turn to Him.

After four thousand years of waiting, Lucifer and his angels realized that the Seed had arrived. Enraged with pride, after repeatedly being eluded, they made their move, throwing all their powers to the task of human manipulation with the goal of destroying the Seed before He could gain any further human following or threaten their own worldly dominion. Driven by an ancient hatred of the Holy, they seized the Son and subjected Him to the cruelest, most torturous form of death devised. To the cross-members of a tree they nailed Him, then lifted Him, and finally drove a spear into His side, watching His Life Blood as it spilled to the ground.

For a moment in time, Lucifer believed himself the victor, but had he realized the plan of God, he would never have crucified the Prince of Glory. For in carrying out their vengeance, the rebelling angels committed the one act that, by the legal decree of God, both sealed their destruction and provided release for their prisoners.

Beginning in the garden with the clothing of Adam and Eve, and continuing through ancient times, a blood sacrifice had been required. Without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sins—no right-standing with God. The outpouring of innocent blood from an unblemished animal had been established by Holy God to provide a covering of forgiveness for those who looked to it by faith. But concealed in the use of such animals was a far greater promise, one that would loose human captives and restore the glory that had been lost—the walk and oneness with God that by faith Enoch and others had obtained.

The fulfillment of all the law and sacrifices had arrived. Because the promised Seed had no biological human father, He did not inherit sin—His blood was Holy. And because He committed no sin, He was able to become the unblemished Sacrifice for man—to whom all the slain animals pointed. With the offering of the Perfect Sacrifice, there would need to be no more. Because He was a man, He could take man’s place—providing a like substitute for all who would believe. Because the Son of God bore man’s sins in His own Body, mankind could be released from the penalty and separation of sin, and be rejoined to God.

On the third day following His crucifixion, Jesus was raised from the dead, validating His identity as the Son of God and prophesied Savior of mankind. He appeared to over five-hundred eye witnesses before ascending back to heaven. He demonstrated God’s love for man and promised that those who repented and placed their trust in Him, would also live eternally. Lucifer’s greatest weapon of fear—death—suddenly lost its power.

The doorway to the kingdom of righteousness, joy and peace was opened on the cross. The victory that the serpent had been able to achieve through Adam in gaining dominion was turned to defeat by the second Adam, the only begotten Son of God. Mankind could enter that spiritual kingdom—which would one day be observable—now by faith. By repentance from sin and faith in the Blood Sacrifice—the finished work of Jesus on the cross—man would be kept safe from the final judgment and outpouring of God’s wrath, and restored to the relationship and blessings intended for man from the beginning.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

(Article taken from The Ninth Generation, a novel by John L Owens)