Catastrophe: The Destructive Deluge of the World

Genesis 6–9:17

by Evan Beach on October 25, 2023

After the fall and the corruption of God’s creation because of Adam and Eve’s sin, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1–2), but Cain killed his brother Abel in anger, and Cain was cursed because of his sin (Genesis 4:8–12). But Adam’s family continued to grow (Genesis 4:25–5:32).

Around 1,636 years1 after creation and the fall, God observed his creation and “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” (Genesis 6:5). This grieved God “to his heart” (Genesis 6:6).

Noah obeyed the Lord’s instructions.

God determined that he would wipe out all air-breathing terrestrial creatures on the earth (Genesis 6:7). But there was one man that God favored, and that man was Noah (Genesis 6:8). In the Bible, we read that “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation,” and he “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). God told Noah about his plan to destroy his creation with a flood and instructed Noah to build a HUGE ark out of wood to preserve Noah, his family, seven or seven pairs of the winged and clean creatures (Genesis 7:2–3) and two of each kind of other land creature (Genesis 6:13–21). Noah obeyed the Lord’s instructions (Genesis 6:22, 7:5).

Table 1: Dates of biblical events from Creation2
Event/PersonPassageTotal Time from Creation (years)
God created everything.Genesis 1–20
Adam became the father of Seth at 130.Genesis 5:30 + 130 = 130
Seth became the father of Enosh at 105.Genesis 5:6130 + 105 = 235
Enosh became the father of Kenan at 90.Genesis 5:9235 + 90 = 325
Cainan became the father of Mahalalel at 70.Genesis 5:12325 + 70 = 395
Mahalalel became the father of Jared at 65.Genesis 5:15395 + 65 = 460
Jared became the father of Enoch at 162.Genesis 5:18460 + 162 = 622
Enoch became the father of Methuselah at 65.Genesis 5:21622 + 65 = 687
Methuselah became the father of Lamech at 187.Genesis 5:25687 + 187 = 874
Lamech became the father of Noah at 182.Genesis 5:28874 + 182 = 1056
The Flood started when Noah was 600.Genesis 7:61056 + 600 = 1656

When Noah was 600 years old, God told him to enter the ark with his family. The flood began, and water continued to rise above the surface of the earth (Genesis 7:12). Water rose so high that even the highest mountains were covered by 15 cubits, or about 25.5 ft (Genesis 7:20). After the rain stopped, Noah, his family, and all the animals were in the ark for 330 days (Genesis 8:14–17).3

After God told them to exit the ark, Noah built an altar and made an offering, which was pleasing to God. God promised that he would never destroy the earth with a flood again (Genesis 9:11). He declared that the rainbow would be a sign of his promise (Genesis 9:13–17). God then blessed Noah and his family and told them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” and God gave dominion to mankind (Genesis 9:1–3).

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Footnotes

  1. David Wright, “Timeline for the Flood,” Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/timeline-for-the-flood/.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Bodie Hodge, “Biblical Overview of the Flood Timeline,” Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/biblical-overview-of-the-flood-timeline/.