Noah's Ark and the Flood

Genesis 6:1–9:29

The flood story is one of the longest units in Genesis. It presents both severe judgment and deliberate preservation. Human violence has filled the earth, and God announces that the corruption of creation will be met with de-creation through waters. But at the same time, Noah finds favor with God. Detailed ark instructions, preserved life, and a post-flood covenant show that divine judgment is not random destruction — it is moral response within a larger purpose to sustain life and carry history forward.

The Corruption and the Commission

The narrative begins with a description of escalating wickedness and violence. The text says: "When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose."

The text mentions "sons of God" taking human wives and producing mighty men. Interpreters have debated this phrase for centuries. Augustine and a long line of Christian interpreters read them as descendants of Seth — the godly line that had called upon the name of the Lord. Others in Jewish and Christian tradition read them as angelic beings who crossed a boundary they should not have crossed. Regardless of the interpretation, the narrative point is clear: disorder is escalating. Boundaries are being crossed. The world is becoming increasingly corrupt.

God responds: "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." God announces that He will not tolerate this corruption indefinitely. His Spirit will not contend with humanity forever. There is a limit to God's patience. Judgment is coming.

The text then describes the state of the world: "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." The corruption is not superficial; it is deep. Every intention, every thought is evil. The world has become thoroughly corrupted.

God says: "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." God is grieved. He regrets creating humanity. The judgment will be total — not just humans, but all living creatures will be destroyed.

But then God turns to Noah. The text says: "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." Noah is different. He is described as righteous and blameless, walking with God. He stands out in a world of corruption.

God gives Noah a constructive task: "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits."

God gives Noah specific measurements and detailed instructions. Noah is to build an ark — a vessel of preservation. He is to gather representatives of every living creature, male and female, to keep them alive with him.

The chapter links righteousness and obedience. Noah is not merely spared; he is called into active trust. He must build the ark in faith, preparing for judgment he has not yet seen. He must obey God's word even though the flood has not yet come. His faith is demonstrated through his obedience.

The Flood

Noah does as God commands. The text says: "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him." Noah obeys completely. He builds the ark. He gathers the creatures. He enters the ark with his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives.

Then the judgment comes. The text says: "The Lord shut him in." God closes the door of the ark. Noah and those with him are sealed inside.

"The fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights."

The waters come from above and below. The rain falls for forty days and forty nights. The floodwaters rise and increase greatly upon the earth. The waters prevail above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.

The text emphasizes the totality of the judgment: "All flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died."

What has breath outside the ark perishes. All life is destroyed. The judgment is complete and total.

The narrative pace slows around dates and durations, underlining that this is not mythic chaos but a measured event under divine command. The waters prevail upon the earth for 150 days. The ark floats on the waters. Time passes. The judgment is not instantaneous; it is sustained.

John Walton and other Old Testament scholars have described the flood language as a reversal of creation order. In Genesis 1, God separated the waters and brought forth dry land. God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." Creation was the ordering of chaos, the separation of waters, the bringing forth of dry land.

In the flood, the waters return. The separation is undone. The dry land is covered. Creation is reversed. The world returns to the state of chaos that existed before creation. The waters cover everything.

The Remembrance and the Covenant

A central turning point appears with the words: "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark."

God remembers Noah. The judgment is not forgotten, but it is not endless. God's attention turns toward preservation and restoration.

"God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually."

The waters begin to recede. The process is gradual. Time passes. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continue to decrease.

Noah opens the window of the ark and sends out a raven to see if the waters have receded. The raven flies back and forth. Then Noah sends out a dove to see if the waters have receded from the face of the ground. The dove finds no resting place and returns to the ark. Noah waits seven days and sends the dove out again. This time the dove returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knows that the waters have receded.

The exit from the ark is careful and ordered. Noah waits for God's command: "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 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."

Noah and his household and all the creatures come out of the ark. Preservation is complete enough for new beginning, but the memory of judgment remains.

Noah builds an altar to the Lord and takes some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offers burnt offerings on the altar. The sacrifice rises to God.

God establishes a covenant. God says: "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. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

This is remarkable. God acknowledges that human hearts are inclined toward evil. The flood has not changed human nature. Yet God commits never again to destroy all flesh by flood. The judgment will not be repeated. God will work with humanity despite their inclination toward evil.

God blesses Noah and his sons: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." The command to fill the earth is repeated. Life is to continue. Humanity is to repopulate the earth.

God establishes a sign of the covenant: "I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 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."

The rainbow becomes a sign of that promise to all generations. Whenever the rainbow appears, it is a reminder that God has made a covenant with all living creatures. The flood will not be repeated.

Human life is reaffirmed as image-bearing. God says to Noah and his sons: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."

This anchors human dignity and accountability in the image of God. Humans are made in God's image, and that image carries both dignity and responsibility. Bloodshed is restrained through justice language — not through endless revenge, but through proportional accountability. The image of God is to be protected and honored.

The Unfinished Story

Yet the final scene with Noah and his sons shows that sin has not been erased. The text says: "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent."

Noah plants a vineyard and makes wine. He drinks the wine and becomes drunk. He lies uncovered in his tent, exposed and vulnerable.

"And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside." Ham sees his father's nakedness and tells his brothers. Instead of covering his father's shame, he exposes it. He dishonors his father.

Shem and Japheth take a garment and walk backward and cover their father's nakedness, not seeing his nakedness. They honor their father by covering his shame.

When Noah wakes from his wine and knows what his youngest son had done to him, he says: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." Noah curses Ham's son Canaan. The incident reveals that the flood has not transformed human nature. The world is preserved, but not yet transformed into final peace.

Sin persists. Shame persists. Dishonor persists. The fundamental problem of human hearts inclined toward evil remains.

This is the pattern that will continue through the rest of Genesis and beyond: God judges, preserves, and makes covenant, but human sin persists. The story is not finished. The flood is not the end of the story. It is a new beginning, but the same fundamental problem remains. Humanity must still choose obedience or disobedience, honor or dishonor, faithfulness or rebellion.

What to Notice

Justice and mercy are held together. God's judgment is real and total, but it is not the final word. Preservation and covenant follow.
The covenant includes all living creatures. This is not just about Noah's family; it is about the continuation of all life on earth.
Image-of-God language anchors human dignity. Even after the flood, humans are still made in God's image, and that image carries both dignity and accountability.
Obedience is active, not passive. Noah doesn't just wait for rescue; he builds the ark. Faith involves response to God's word.
Sin persists after judgment. The flood does not erase human sinfulness. The story continues with the same fundamental problem: human hearts are inclined toward evil.