Transcript Genesis 7:6-9 A Summary Statement as 6:13-16 is

The Flood
Genesis 7-9
Land-bound Noah’s Ark:
The Hong Kong-based Noah's Ark theme park was built in
2009 and is popular among tourists
Matthew (the Director) added: 'The reason we chose that
moment in the Bible's story is because this is the message
we want to bring to Hong Kong, to China , to the world.
'In our lives we always face floods, we will face trials, we
will face difficulties. Hopefully Noah's Ark will inspire
people to pass through those troubles as Noah did in his
day.’
The Ark opened in May 2009, 17 years after plans were first
made for the enormous structure.
Genesis 7:6-9
A Summary Statement as 6:13-16 is
6 “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood
of waters was upon the earth.
7
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his
sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the
waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and
of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the
earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark,
the male and the female, as God had commanded
Noah” (KJV)
Genesis 7:10-12
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters
of the flood were upon the earth
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the
second month, the seventeenth day of the month,
the same day were all the fountains of the great
deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were
opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty
nights
Genesis 7:10-12
Q: What calendar was used for the exact dating of the
Flood?
Q: Was the date later editorially emended by Moses to
correspond to the Jewish religious calendar?
A: Because ‘all scripture is inspired by God and
profitable’ there must be a reason for the precision
mentioned here. We just aren’t sure why it is.
The Jewish civil year began in late fall, as did most other
ancient calendars, corresponding with the agricultural
harvest.
Genesis 7:10-12
The Jewish calendar is based on the date of Adam’s
creation. It can be assumed that the chronological
information in Genesis is based upon the date of
Creation.
In this case, the data given would lead to the simple
conclusion that the Flood came on the earth 1,655 years,
one month, and seventeen days after Creation. But this
would require that in Genesis 5, each named son was
born on the exact named birthday of his father (which is
unreasonable). “And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah
became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (5:32)
Genesis 7:10-12
We can be sure that the Flood began on a certain
particular day, making the prophesied end of the
antediluvian world, on that one day, and ‘all the
fountains of the great deep (were) broken up, and the
windows of heaven were opened.”
1. The antediluvian hydrological cycle was different
from the present day
2. There seems to have been two gigantic reservoirs of
water, one ‘above the firmament’ (Gen. 1:6-8; 2:5, 1014; 5:5) and one under ‘the primordial deep’ (Gen. 1:2)
Genesis 7:10-12
3. The ‘waters above the firmament’ constituted the
vast vaporous canopy which maintained the earth as
a beautiful greenhouse, preventing cold
temperatures and therefore preventing wind and
rain storms. Being in a vapor state, it was invisible
and fully transparent, but nevertheless contained
vast quantities of water extending far out into space.
4. Water in a liquid state, in seas (Gen. 1:10) and rivers
(Gen. 2:10-14) existed, but not as runoff from rainfall
(Gen. 2:5). They emerged from fountains or springs.
Genesis 7:10-12
5. Such subterranean reservoirs were apparently all
interconnected with each other, as well as with
surface seas and rivers. The energy for
repressurizing and recycling the waters must have
come from the earth’s own subterranean heat
implanted there at Creation. This must have been a
marvelous heat engine, which would have operated
with wonderful effectiveness indefinitely, as long as
the earth’s internal heat endured and as long as the
system of reservoirs, valves, governors, and conduits
maintained their structure. The details of this were
not revealed. There is no reason to questions God’s
ability to provide such a structure (Morris, p. 195)
Genesis 7:10-12
Q: How did Almighty God actually cause this to happen?
• A sudden tilting of the earth’s axis?
• A bombardment of asteroids or meteorites (as the
2013 movie “Noah” suggests)?
• A sudden slipping of the earth’s crust?
• Nuclear explosions detonated by extraterrestrial
space travelers?
• Gravitational and electromagnetic forces resulting
from a near miss of a wandering planet or comet?
Genesis 7:10-12
Occam’s Razor Principle: the simplest hypothesis which
explains all the data is the most likely to be correct.
The Theological principle of the Economy of Miracles:
God has, in His omnipotence and omniscience, created a
universe of high efficiency of operation and will not
interfere in this operation supernaturally unless the
natural principles are incapable of accomplishing His
purpose in a specific situation.
God could have accomplished the entire event
miraculously (by special creation of the waters of the
Flood, and uncreated them later) but that is unlikely.
Genesis 7:10-12
Bombardment of asteroids or ‘astral visitors’ is unlikely,
and unnecessary. The Bible makes it clear there were
two events---and not more:
1. The bursting of the fountains of the great deep
2. Pouring down of torrential rains from heaven
These two phenomena are sufficient in themselves to
explain the Flood and all its effects without the
necessity of resorting either to supernatural creative
miracles or to providentially ordered extraterrestrial
interferences of a speculative nature
Genesis 7:10-12
“breaking up” (literally means ‘cleaving open’) of the
fountains of the great deep is mentioned first and so
evidently was the initial action which triggered the rest.
“What world-wide cause was there? Most likely would
have been a rapid buildup and surge of intense pressure
throughout the underground system, and this in turn
would presumably require a rapid rise in temperature
throughout the system…a world-wide chain reaction
with volcanic explosions and eruptions, pouring great
quantities of magma up from the earth’s mantle along
with the waters” (Morris, p. 196)
Genesis 7:10-12
Volcanic dust blown skyward, along with gigantic sprays
of water and turbulent surges of the atmosphere, with
expanding and cooling gases, and a vast supply of dust
and other particles to serve as nuclei of condensation
would suffice to penetrate the upper canopy of water
vapor and trigger another chain reaction there, causing
its waters to begin to condense and coalesce and soon
to start moving earthward as a torrential global
downpour of rain.
The simple statement of verse 11 provides the basic
information needed to explain the physical cause of the
great Flood, under the supervision of Almighty God
Genesis 7:10-12
Q: What does the phrase ‘windows’ of heaven mean?
“floodgates?”
“sluiceways?”
Large quantities of water that were restrained in the sky
as water vapor---or ‘humidity’, suddenly were released
to deluge the earth.
This intense downpour continued for 40 days/nights--worldwide.
Genesis 7:13-16
A Summary Statement with
addendum
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and
Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s
wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into
the ark;
14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle
after their kind, and every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every
fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and
two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
Genesis 7:13-16
A Summary Statement with
addendum
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all
flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut
him in! (KJV)
Genesis 7:13-16
A Summary Statement with
addendum
Q: Why another summary statement so soon?
Perhaps because the writer/s realized future
generations would find such a story exceedingly
difficult to believe.
Perhaps because of the catastrophic events, and the
animals that were saved, the story would seem
incredible.
Genesis 7:13-16
A Summary Statement with
addendum
Q: How did God ‘shut him in?”
The details are not provided, but the occupants inside
the Ark were in the will of God, and under His divine
protection.
They were dead to the world; they were beginning a
new life, in a new world.
Gal. 1:4 So Christ, dying for our sins, triumphed over sin
‘that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father.”