Genesis: Study 4
The flood that nearly wiped out all of creation is an event that lingers in the collective memory of almost every culture throughout the world. It was such a hugely catastrophic event that even cultures who kept histories through oral tradition without any formal written language were left with flood stories that were based on the very same event we read about in the book of Genesis. The magnitude of the flood and its effect on God’s creation is sometimes overlooked because the account of Noah, his ark, and the animals he takes on the boat with his family is one of the favored bible stories to teach in children’s Sunday school. Now there’s nothing wrong with teaching children about Noah and the ark, but the lessons we are taught early in life about the flood are, at times, sugar-coated and it is easy to come into adulthood without a full grasp of the seriousness and apocalyptic nature of the story of the flood. Let’s take a good, long look at the next two chapters to make sure we understand the momentousness of this event.
Genesis 7:1-24 (The Great Flood)
Questions for Discussion
In the first verse of this chapter, God tells Noah to go into the ark with all of his “household”. What exactly does the word “household” mean here? What was the nature of a “household” in the days of Noah?
How does God create the flood? Is it simply through the agent of rain, or is there another source?
What are “the fountains of the great deep” and what does it mean for “the windows of the heavens” to open?
Why do you suppose there is so much reiteration in the telling of the flood within chapter 7?
How was Noah able to get all of those animals into the ark? Wouldn’t that have been quite a difficult task?
In chapter 6, God tells Noah to bring two (or one pair) of every kind of living thing into the ark with him. In chapter 7, God tells Noah to bring with him seven pairs of each kind of clean animal, seven pairs of each kind of bird and one pair of each kind of unclean animal (according to the NRSV). Are these details conflicting? Why does this chapter tell us God said something completely different than what He said in the previous chapter?
Genesis 8:1-22 (The Flood Subsides, God’s Promise)
Questions for Discussion
Exactly how long was Noah in the ark according to the account we have in Genesis? Does Genesis give us conflicting answers on this question?
What is God’s promise to Noah? Why does He make this promise this to Noah? Does God regret His decision here to wipe all the life He created from the face of the earth?
Do you agree with what God says here, that “the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth”? Why would the human heart be inclined towards evil from youth if human beings were created in God’s image?
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