It Rained 40 Days And Nights
April 24, 2024
Commentary
There are books written by liberal theologians that take the position that the Flood was local. They say that it was confined to the Tigris – Euphrates valley and formed sort of a big swimming pool over there, and that is all there was. May I say that the Bible makes it very clear that there was a universal Flood that covered the whole earth. God said the earth was filled with violence and He would destroy it. It is inconceivable that the Great Flood was anything else but a universal judgment of God upon a universally wicked society. After all the preparations had been made the Flood came. On the one hand there was a torrential rain for 40 days and nights (vv. 17-18). On the other hand, the springs and fountains of the earth gushed forth water. It is also interesting to note that after Noah and the animals had gone into the Ark that God allowed an entire week to pass (v. 10) before the storm came (vv. 11-12). Perhaps this was done to give the world more opportunity to repent and join Noah his family and two of every creature were in the safety of the Ark (vv. 13-16).
The Flood was the mightiest catastrophe and physical phenomenon the world has ever experienced. Since there had been no rain on the Edenic earth (Gen. 1:5) this was the first and mightiest rain the earth had felt. Gradually the water level rose higher and higher until the earth’s highest mountains were covered (vv. 19-20). Everything living (outside the ark) was destroyed. Only marine life survived (vv. 21-23). From the initial storm until God commanded Noah to leave the ark was one year and ten days. The heavy rain lasted 40 days but the waters continued to rise for 110 days which was a total of 150 days (v. 24). There were gigantic upheavals such as earthquakes and volcanic activity which shifted the earth’s surface which caused chains of mountains and rivers to be formed.
Application
It is important to believe that the Flood covered the earth just like the Scripture says. I must either accept the Bible or end up making excuses for it.
Genesis 7:11– 24 (NET)
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 open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. 14 They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 16 Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18 The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters rose more than 20 feet above the mountains. 21 And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 24 The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.