Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood: Exploring God’s Judgment and Mercy
Noah’s Ark & the Flood
Detailed Bible Story: The Flood and Noah’s Ark in the Bible
Introduction: The Significance of the Flood in Scripture
The Flood narrative in Genesis 6-9 is one of the most profound stories in the Bible. It illustrates God’s judgment on a corrupt world, His mercy in preserving Noah’s family, and the establishment of a covenant symbolized by the rainbow.
Reference Bible Text (ESV):
Genesis 6
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Genesis 7
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,
3 and also seven pairs of birds of the heavens, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
6 Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean, and birds, and everything that creeps on the ground,
9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
14 they and every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth,
15 pairs of all creatures in which there is the breath of life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood came upon the earth to the degree that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
18 The waters prevailed above the mountains, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
19 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
20 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
21 So he blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
22 The waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
COMMENTS:
It is amazing to me that pairs of all kinds of creatures & birds obeyed and entered the ark to safety and salvation however, the human race refused, except Noah and His family.
Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made.
7 And he sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
10 He waited another seven days and again sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11 And the dove came back to him toward evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
15 Then God said to Noah,
“Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
16 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh - birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth - that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
17 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
18 Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
19 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
20 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart,
“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
21 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Genesis 9
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it, and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,
9 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.
10 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
11 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
12 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
13 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,
14 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
15 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
16 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.
21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.
29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
The Great Flood and Noah’s Ark: God’s Judgment and Mercy
Introduction: A World Gone Wrong
Long ago, in the days after Adam and Eve, humanity multiplied upon the earth. But instead of growing in righteousness, the world grew corrupt. Violence, evil thoughts, and selfish ambition filled every heart. Creation, once called “very good,” had become poisoned by sin.
Genesis 6:5–6 – “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.”
God’s sorrow over human sin wasn’t born of rage but of love disappointed. The Creator longed for relationship, but the world had turned away. Yet in the midst of universal corruption, one man shone like a light in the darkness — Noah.
Genesis 6:8–9 – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”
Section 1: God’s Warning and the Ark of Salvation
As judgment loomed, God revealed His plan to Noah. He would cleanse the earth with a great flood, destroying all living things corrupted by sin — but He also provided a way of salvation.
Genesis 6:13–14 – “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me… Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”
God gave Noah exact instructions for building the Ark — a massive vessel about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (Genesis 6:15–16). It was to have three decks, one door, and one window, symbolizing one way to salvation— just as Christ would later be the one way to eternal life (John 14:6).
For 120 years (Genesis 6:3), Noah faithfully obeyed God’s command, preaching righteousness and warning the people. But the world mocked him, choosing pleasure over repentance.
2 Peter 2:5 – “Noah, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
The Ark stood as both a testimony of God’s patience and a symbol of His mercy.
Section 2: The Flood Begins
When the time came, God called Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives into the Ark — eight people in total. Pairs of every kind of living creature entered the Ark as God had commanded.
Genesis 7:1–2, 7–9 – “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark… 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.”
Then, the Lord Himself shut the door. It was a solemn act — the door of mercy was closed.
Genesis 7:16 – “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.”
Soon after, the skies darkened. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights, and the fountains of the deep burst open. Waters rose until every mountain under heaven was covered. The world that once ignored God now faced His righteous judgment.
Genesis 7:17–19 – “And the flood was forty days upon the earth… and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”
Every living thing outside the Ark perished, but Noah and his family were safe — sheltered by faith and obedience.
Hebrews 11:7 – “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.”
Section 3: A New Beginning After the Storm
After 150 days, the waters began to recede. The Ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. Weeks passed as Noah waited patiently for God’s signal to leave the Ark. He sent out a raven and a dove to test if the earth was dry.
When the dove returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf, Noah knew peace had returned to the world.
Genesis 8:11 – “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.”
When God finally commanded Noah to come out, the first thing he did was build an altar and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Genesis 8:20–21 – “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake.”
God made a covenant with Noah — a promise never again to destroy the earth with a flood. As a sign of His faithfulness, God placed the rainbow in the sky.
Genesis 9:12–13 – “And God said, This is the token of the covenant… I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.”
The rainbow stands as a timeless reminder that mercy triumphs over judgment, and that God always keeps His promises.
COMMENTS:
It is important to note here that the Rainbow is a symbol of God’s Covenant and Promise throughout all generations that there will never be a Worldwide flood that covers the entire earth again.
Section 4: Spiritual Lessons from the Flood
The story of Noah’s Ark is not only history—it’s a message for today.
God’s Patience and Justice – God waited 120 years before sending the flood. His justice is always balanced with mercy. (2 Peter 3:9)
Faith in Obedience – Noah didn’t understand rain or floods, yet he obeyed. True faith acts even when the outcome is unseen. (Hebrews 11:7)
Salvation in Christ Alone – The Ark had only one door — a symbol of Christ, the only way to be saved.(John 10:9; John 14:6)
A New Beginning – Just as Noah stepped into a cleansed world, every believer who accepts Christ steps into a new life. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The Flood warns us of the seriousness of sin but also offers hope through divine grace.
Matthew 24:37–39 – “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Jesus used the story of Noah to remind us that another day of judgment will come—but just as the Ark provided safety for Noah, Christ is our Ark of salvation today.
Conclusion: The Ark of Grace
The story of the Flood is more than an account of destruction—it’s a portrait of redemption. In Noah’s obedience, we see faith in action; in God’s covenant, we see mercy extended to all generations.
The Ark represents Christ, the refuge from judgment and the vessel of new beginnings. Those who enter by faith find peace, safety, and eternal life.
1 Peter 3:20–21 – “…while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…”
The rainbow reminds us still that God’s promises never fail. The God who judged the world with water has now offered the world salvation through His Son.
Psalm 145:9 – “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
So, as the rainbows still shine across the sky, they whisper the same truth that echoed through Noah’s day:
God saves those who trust and obey.
COMMENTS:
Due to the wickedness of mankind and how long their lifespans were at the time. The Lord decided to limit the lifespan post flood to limit how long man could develop an evil character and lifestyle in the future.
Genesis 6:3 – Before the flood:
“Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.’” (ESV)
This verse is commonly interpreted as a divine decision to limit human lifespan.
Some scholars argue it might also refer to the time remaining until the flood (120 years), but in the context of post-flood genealogies, the shorter lifespans suggest it also had long-term implications.
Post-flood lifespans (Genesis 11)
Before the flood, people lived extraordinarily long lives (e.g., Methuselah: 969 years; Noah: 950 years). After the flood, we see a gradual but clear decline:
Shem (Noah’s son): 600 years
Arphaxad (Shem’s son): 438 years
Shelah: 433 years
Eber: 464 years
Peleg: 239 years
Reu: 239 years
Serug: 230 years
Nahor: 148 years
Terah (Abraham's father): 205 years
Abraham: 175 years
Moses: 120 years
By Moses’ time, the standard lifespan had dropped to around 70–80 years, which Moses himself reflects on:
COMMENTS:
Always Remember to take some time each day in Thoughtful Prayer and in His Holy Word the Bible.