Bible Commentaries
Genesis 6

Verses 1-22

XIII

CAUSES OF THE DELUGE

Genesis 6:1-22

1. Nature and grounds of man’s race title to the earth.

2. Light and help for maintaining title.

3. Limit at which title lapses.

4. Gradual approach to the limit (Gen. 4-5).

5. Limit passed by worldwide race corruption (Genesis 6:1-6; Genesis 6:11-12).

6. Worldwide race destruction announced (Genesis 6:7; Genesis 6:13).

7. Respite of mercy or space for repentance (Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:19-20).

8. Means for preservation of race remnant for new beginning (Genesis 6:14-22).

In the study of Genesis 1:26-28, we have already considered, somewhat, man’s race title to the earth. In Genesis 3, we have considered man’s forfeiture of this title by violation of its conditions, but also learned how that by intervention of grace forfeiture was not declared, but held in abeyance under the conditions of a new probation.

Now in view of the impending race catastrophe set forth in this lesson, resulting from another lapse of title by violation of the new grace conditions, it is fitting to carefully restate the first item of the outline, viz.:

NATURE AND GROUNDS OF MAN’S RACE TITLE TO THE EARTH
It was never an absolute title arising from man’s sovereignty, but always in subordination to God. His title was that of tenant or steward of a divine Sovereign. In the garden of Eden he was a tenant of his Creator-landlord, under a covenant of works whose conditions of forfeiture of title were expressed in the law concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By the intervention of grace after his fall he became the tenant of a Saviour-landlord under a covenant of grace expressed by the law of propitiatory sacrifices then and there appointed. So that we may summarize the conditions of his race title under these heads:

(1) He holds as steward or tenant of God. When the tenant disregards his relations toward God the title is vitiated and he may be evicted by summary process at the will of the real owner.

(2) He must multiply and fill the earth, yet within the divine laws of multiplication. Multiplication by illegal methods is not obedience to this condition.

(3) He must subdue the earth and develop its resources, yet in lawful ways and with lawful ends in view. The building of cities by Cain’s descendants, or their construction of tents, or invention of musical instruments, or implements of industry, etc., these are innocent per se, but if perverted to ends of alienation from God, this is not obedience to the condition.

In entering upon the study of the sixth chapter of Genesis, we must, therefore, bear in mind two things: First, that we are not considering the individual but the race title to the earth. Second, that this title is now held not under the conditions of Adam’s original probation, but under the conditions of grace probation, which intervened to suspend lapse of title by Adam’s disobedience. The divine relations are now expressed in expiatory laws. Keeping these essential points in mind, we are prepared to advance to the second division of the outline:

LIGHT AND HELP FOR MAINTAINING TITLE
It has always been an interesting inquiry, What gospel light had the world before the flood? The briefness of the narrative has led many to underestimate the degree of this light. By so much as this light is underestimated, by that much is the mind inclined to revolt at the wholesale and stupendous catastrophe and to impugn the divine goodness. But a fair comparison of this brief record with later scriptures makes it evident that this light was very great and well understood by the antediluvians. They did not fall through ignorance, but by willful, deliberate, and persistent transgression. It is conceded on all hands that they had the external light of nature (Psalms 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20; Acts 14:17), and its internal light of conscience (Romans 2:15). But this is not gospel light and could not avail to salvation after the fall. So the question recurs, What gospel light had they? In briefest outline this light consisted in:

(1) The promise of a Redeemer (Genesis 3:15) who would save them from the defilement, guilt, and penalty of sin. Adam understood the promise, for he called his wife Eve, that is, mother of life (Genesis 3:20). That Eve understood is indicated by her expression at the birth of her first-born (Genesis 4:1).

(2) A throne of mercy was established at a definite place where sinful man might approach God by a new and living" way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). "God dwelt between the Cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, as a Shekinah, to keep open the way to the tree of life."

(3) He instituted expiatory sacrifices as a means of approach to this throne (Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:3-4). Adam and Eve must have thoroughly understood, for we find their children instructed in regard to sacrifices, and that God in a perfectly intelligible way signified his approval or disapproval of their worship (Genesis 4:4-5; Hebrews 11:4). When Cain willfully misunderstood, Jehovah from his throne of grace patiently expostulated, and re-explained (Genesis 4:6-7). Cain understood God as well as you understand now in a face to face conversation with your earthly parents.

(4) The mark or sign of Cain, whatever it was, had to be conspicuous and instantly recognizable in order to avail in protecting Cain from the summary vengeance of all who met him. But such a sign would be a perpetual and visible memorial of his sin and a mighty preacher to warn against its repetition. It would be the most talked about thing in the world, more striking and comment-inspiring than the Pyramids of Egypt.

(5) Sabbath privileges, or a set time of worship (Genesis 2:1-3; Genesis 4:3).

(6) The brightest and surest light of tradition the world has ever known. It was best and surest because of the longevity of the early Christians and because the whole race was close together, not yet having been dispersed over a wide area. Only two lives were sufficient to reach the deluge, Adam, and Methuselah. For 930 years the first man, the head of the race, was living and approachable, able to tell, as doubtless he did a thousand times, of his wonderful history and more wonderful relations with God. Then this longevity provided for verification of testimony by the long overlapping of lives of great contemporaries. The power of this tradition in the testimony of the first man may be inferred from the fact that the rapid and awful approaches to the race doom were after his death. The brightness and accuracy of the tradition is further evident from the fact that Lamech, the fifth generation from Cain, remembered and cited the Almighty’s exemption of Cain from the punishment of man.

(7) The ministry and example of associated godly people (Genesis 4:26).

(8) Revelations and warnings through specially commissioned prophets like Enoch (Judges 1:14).

(9) The supernal light of Enoch’s translation (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5).

(10) Preachers of righteousness like Noah (2 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 4:6).

(11) The ministry of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:19).

(12) Special space for repentance after announcement of destruction (Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:20).

Here are twelve distinct elements of external, gospel light.

LIMIT AT WHICH RACE TITLE TO THE EARTH LAPSES
Here the light of subsequent revelations helps greatly to illumine the brief statements of our lesson. From a vast number of these later scriptures it is necessary to cite only a few as examples to guide us safely in determining the limit, under the grace probation, at which the race title to the earth is forfeited.

Our Saviour declares that his people are the salt of the earth and adds: "But if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13).

Ten righteous men could have saved Sodom and Gomorrah, but there was only one (Genesis 18:32).

Says Jehovah to the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast; though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ezekiel 14:13-14). And said the Lord to Jeremiah, "Then said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, when they shall say unto thee Whither shall we go forth? then thou shall tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah: the sword to slay, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy" (Jeremiah 15:1-3).

And our context: "And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh" (Genesis 6:3).

From these and kindred passages three things are evident:

(1) That God made his spiritual seed the conservators of the world. To the Jehovah worshippers he has committed the ministry of reconciling and preserving the earth.

(2) The efficacy of this reconciling and preserving power is vested in the Holy Spirit, who blesses their life and ministry by applying through regeneration and sanctification the benefits of the expiatory sacrifice.

(3) Whenever, therefore, and from whatever causes, there is brought about a reduction in the number of his people to such a minimum as to destroy the saving power of this ministry, and whenever and from whatever causes the world’s persistent despising of the Spirit’s grace brings about the withdrawal of the Holy One, then we may know that the measure of iniquity is full, and the race must perish from off the face of the earth.

So we may easily understand the limit: It is just where the salt of world preservation has so lost its quality of saltness, or become so reduced in quantity as to be powerless to affect so great a mass of corruption, or, leaving figures of speech and coming to plain words, it is just where God’s people become so worldly-minded as to nullify the force of their testimony, or so few in numbers that the sound of their testimony is lost in the World’s uproar of noises and the grieved and insulted Spirit is withdrawn.

GRADUAL APPROACH TO THE LIMIT
Before considering the final causes of the destruction of the race as set forth in our lesson, let us briefly revert to the approximate causes developed in Genesis 4-5. As a double basis for race deterioration there was first, a nature depraved by the fall of Adam, and second, the activity, craftiness, and malignity of Satan as a tempter. From these were developed in practice:

The infidelity of Cain, that is, his rejection of the whole plan of the atonement, as if his nature was unfallen and he stood where Adam had stood in the garden of Eden, under a covenant of works, admitting indeed that he was a tenant of the Creator, but denying that he was a tenant under grace. Under the promptings of Satan he opened a way for all later infidels who deny that they need a Saviour, or that they need regeneration, or sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and consequently refuse to approach God through the expiation of a substitute.

By the murder of Abel, his brother, and the time which elapsed until Seth became a Christian, Cain’s descendants got much the start in numbers.

By his going away from the presence of Jehovah at the place of worship his descendants were separated from the means of grace, and so waxed worse and worse, willfully being without God, without a worship, and without a sabbath.

Through Lamech, one of his descendants, bigamy was introduced, violating the law of marriage. This precedent deepened and widened social corruption (Genesis 4:19) and bigamy led to murder again (Genesis 4:23), and as hinted later, to polygamy and a horde of murders (Genesis 6:2-4). And so the way of Cain led ever downward with accumulated velocity into the deeper darkness.

LIMIT PASSED BY WORLDWIDE RACE CORRUPTION (Genesis 6:1-5)

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all they chose. And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh; yet shall his days be one hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown" (Genesis 6:1-4).

The final causes of the deluge are here portrayed in vivid flashes of sublime brevity. We see how nearly all the salt lost its quality of saltness; how the quantity that retained its saltness was too small to overcome such a mass of corruption; how the grieved and insulted Spirit ceased his striving. Just here I must turn aside for a moment and dispose of some poisonous interpretations.

This paragraph has been made the occasion of the wildest vagaries of exposition ever generated by unbridled fancy and speculative criticism. Many books have been published in support of one or the other of two heretical theories. If you young preachers ever dip much into general reading you are sure to meet some of these books, advocating one of these theories. It is more than probable that agents for books advocating these theories may canvass your own communities and poison the minds of many of your congregations by the circulation of their evil literature. In such case you might be disposed to censure your Bible teacher if his silence left you without warning and without antidote for the poison. Somewhat hesitatingly therefore I venture to clear away the brush of these false interpretations before submitting what I conceive to be the true exposition. I say hesitatingly, for ofttimes it is best not to advertise evil by notice of it, but to trust rather to preoccupation of the ground by the good and true. So we now take up…

First Evil Theory
That the sin which provoked the flood was miscegenation between the Adamites made in God’s image, and pre-Adamites, who were a soulless generation of beasts though in human form, the highest connecting link between the man of Genesis 1:26, and the lower animals.

According to this theory the "sons of God" in our text were the Adamites and the "daughters of men" were female Negroes. This theory denies that any but the white race are children of Adam and proper subjects of gospel address, and so it vitally and practically affects the foreign mission enterprise. Just before and during the War Between the States it had many advocates both North and South. The belief was the product of a political exigency. Van Evrie, in the New York Day Book, a paper widely circulated in the South, published a series of articles to show, on scientific and historical grounds, that whites and blacks could not have a common race origin. Drs. Nott and Gliddon of Mobile advocated a similar theory, with labored argument, in a book entitled the Types of Mankind. Other books of like purport were written and published in Texas resting on the additional ground of scriptural argument.

This theory, so far as it is based on scientific grounds, that is, anatomy, physiology, and history, has been utterly abandoned. The danger now from teachers of science comes from the opposite extreme. They now not only concede that all men of whatever race or color had a common origin, but affirm that all life, whether vegetable, beast or man, had a common origin.

This complete somersault in scientific teaching within the memory of living men admonishes us to waste no time in trying to reconcile the Bible with the human science of today, lest tomorrow, when science changes again, we should be obliged to make another adjustment, and so on ad infinitum go far as the theory is based on Bible argument, it is opposed to the text and the whole trend of Scripture teaching relative to the unity of the races. The word translated "men" in our text means Adamites. The "daughters of men" means the daughters of Adamite. More plausible is the…

Second Evil Theory

That the sin which provoked the flood was miscegenation between the angels and women. According to this theory "sons of God" means angels who intermarried with the daughters of men. The scriptural arguments on which this theory rests are:

Angels are often called the sons of God.

Some manuscripts of the Septuagint have "angels" in the text instead of "sons of God."

Judges 1:6-7 are cited to show that the sin of the angels was giving themselves over to strange flesh like the Sodomites.

The giants, Nephilim, of Genesis 4:4, are angels.

The monstrous character of the offspring from this unnatural cohabitation is cited in support of the theory (Genesis 4:4), latter clause. See a recent work of fiction, Man or Seraph. Reply…

It is conceded that in the Scriptures angels are called sons of God, but never in Genesis.

The presence of "angels" instead of "sons of God" in some Septuagint manuscripts is not a translation of the Hebrew, but an Alexandrian interpretation substituted for the original.

The whole argument in Jude is based upon the assumption that the pronounn "these" in Judges 1:7 has for its antecedent the noun "angels" in Judges 1:6, whereas a nearer antecedent may be found in Judges 1:7, namely, "Sodom and Gomorrah." With this nearer antecedent Jude would read: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, with these," i.e., with Sodom and Gomorrah, not with the angels. Moreover the offense in Judges 1:7 is not the offense in Genesis 6:2. The latter is marriage, legal in itself.

"Nephilim," or giants, neither here nor in Numbers 13 -33, means "angels." This would be to have another offense of the angels after the flood.

The offspring of the ill-assorted marriage in Genesis 6:2-4, are not monsters in the sense of prodigies resulting from cross of species, but "mighty men," men of renown.

"Sons of God" means the Sethites, or Christians, men indeed by natural generation, but also sons of God by regeneration. In Genesis 4:26, directly connected with this lesson, we have the origin of the name: "Then began men to be called by the name of the Lord." This designation of Christians is common in both Testaments. I cite particularly Psalms 82:6-7, where we have precisely the same contrast between the regenerate and the unregenerate as in our lesson: "All of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, ye shall die like men."

The inviolable law of reproduction within the limits of species – "after their kind" – forbids the unnatural interpretation of this second theory.

According to our Lord himself the angels are sexless, without human passion, neither marrying nor giving in marriage (Luke 20:35).

With this disposition of the two evil theories, we resume the interrupted exposition. The offenses which so largely provoked the deluge are these:

Ill-assorted marriages of believers with infidels whereby their testimony for God was hampered and clouded. So the gait lost its savour. All through both Testaments the inexpediency of such marriages is reprobated. See the evil consequences avoided by Abraham in Isaac’s case (Genesis 24:3-4) and by Isaac in Jacob’s case (Genesis 28:1), and the evil consequences entailed in the cases of Ishmael and Esau. Compare Ezra 10, and Nehemiah 13, with the law in Exodus 34:15-16, and Deuteronomy 7:3. When we come to study the later history of Israel in Kings and Chronicles the examples of these evil marriages will be found to multiply. In the New Testament we need to cite only 2 Corinthians 6:14-17: "Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you."

With this passage, compare latter clause of 1 Corinthians 7:39.

The sins of the sons of God consisted in entering the sacred marriage relation under the promptings of mere desire for beauty, regardless of the effect on their holy mission as world preservers.

The expression, "all that they chose," seems to imply the sin of polygamy. The bigamy of Lamech had thus become polygamy with the sons of Seth.

The result was that the offspring took after the mother instead of the father, full of worldly ambition, becoming "Mighty men, men of renown." Military glory and worldly fame was their god. In this way every source of gaining recruits to the Christian army was cut off. When the old Christians died there were no young ones to take their place. So the salt diminished in quantity until Noah was left alone.

In the meantime some of the sons of Cain had become Nephilim, or giants, that is, men of unbridled violence and lawlessness. Human life and property were no longer safe from these murderers and freebooters. Cain’s murder had generated a brood of vipers.

The idea in Nephilim, or giants, means putting physical developments foremost in education. The product is the prize fighter, or the man of violence. The body is on top. Might is right. Gibborim, i.e., "men of fame or ambition," means putting intellectual development foremost in education. It is a higher and worthier education than mere physical development. It is like saying: "There were John L. Sullivans and Captain Kidds and Jesse Jameses in those days; and after the ill-assorted marriages there were Voltaires and Humes and Ingersolls and Bonapartes," but no Washingtons or Gladstones or Spurgeons or Edmond Paysons, except Noah alone. Dr. Conant thus disposes of the whole statement: "The meaning of the passage may be stated thus: The descendants of Cain were an irreligious race, and some were distinguished for personal prowess and the oppressive use of it. Descendants of Seth intermarried with women of this race; and from this union sprang men distinguished for like character and conduct. Thus the whole race of man becomes corrupt."

The Withdrawal of the Grieved and Insulted Spirit
This was prefigured in the case of Cain, who, having committed the unpardonable sin, was never again wooed by the Holy Spirit. Now the withdrawal is general. The influence of the Spirit is both mediate and immediate. Mediately he works through the ministry and the word of God. Immediately in convicting of sin and in disposing the sinner’s heart to accept the gospel preached. This immediate influence ceases when the whole spiritual nature is so debauched as to become "past feeling," so as our text puts it "for that he is flesh" meaning altogether carnal. Flesh in this sense is not limited to the body, but includes the moral and intellectual man as in Romans 8:5-8; Galatians 5:19-23; Galatians 6:8.

We can also readily understand the withdrawal of the Spirit’s immediate influence from the ministry of the backslidden Sethites, leaving it powerless, and even from the ministry of faithful Noah when that is persistently and insultingly rejected (compare Matthew 10:13-15).

The calamity has come to any sinner when God says to his Spirit: "Let him alone," while also saying to his praying people interceding for the sinner: "Let me alone." This is the fatal conjunction: "Let him alone – Let me alone." What Jehovah Saw

"And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of the man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). This statement is sweeping in its totality: (a) Every device of the thoughts of his heart; (b) in its depravity, only evil; (c) in its continuity, all the day. There can be no mistake about it, for it was not as man saw it, but as Jehovah saw it. And what a sight for the pure eyes of the infinitely Holy One!

How the Sight Affected Jehovah
"And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Genesis 6:8).

Just here we confront two difficulties: (a) The doctrine of our creed that God is impassive; (b) the emphatic statement of other scriptures that God cannot repent (1 Samuel 15:29). How may we surmount these difficulties?

I think we can let the creed part take care of itself. We set out not to study human creeds, but the Bible, and we agreed to let the Bible interpret itself and mean what it wants to mean. Our text says, "It grieved him at the heart." Dr. Conant says, "We cannot presume to fathom the depth of meaning of such language, when spoken of the infinite and all-perfect God. How the divine nature is affected by the guilt and folly of sin is unknown to us; but this language is designed to bring it as near our conception as is possible for our finite and imperfect nature." It seems to me that the doctor is too guarded. For while indeed the finite cannot comprehend the infinite, we can accept what the Infinite One reveals concerning himself. Jesus Christ reveals the very heart of the Father. He came for that very purpose. The grief of Jesus will reveal the grief of the Father. Suppose, therefore, we allow as exposition of this difficulty Luke 19:41-44: "And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

The other difficulty is not a very troublesome one. When it is said: "God is not a man that he should repent," it means, as men repent. A man may change his mind when he gets more light on a subject, or he may change his mind from mere instability of character. The Almighty never changes his mind from either of these considerations. His very unchangeableness of nature, however, necessitates a change of mind and con duct toward a creature who has changed moral positions toward him. To illustrate, we may say at night, "The sun has hidden his face," and in the morning, "He returns to smile upon us." Yet it was the earth that changed faces toward the sun. The sun kept steadily shining.

WORLDWIDE RACE DESTRUCTION ANNOUNCED
"And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I created from the face of the ground; both man and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh has come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

"And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die."

This judgment is both sweeping and inclusive:

(a) As to man, literally: I will wipe man from the face of the earth, (b) All living creatures of the land; from man to cattle, to reptile and to the fowls of heaven. "All flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under the heavens. All that is upon the earth shall expire." These perish with man, for they were made for him. (c) The earth itself. "I will destroy them with the earth." It too was made for man. There is no need for an empty house or a desert land. The earth was cursed for man’s sake and must share his fate in woe (2 Peter 3:5-7) and in weal (Romans 8:22-23; 2 Peter 3:13).

Means of Destruction
"And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth." We cannot help going back to Genesis 1:8-10, and noting how the earth was formed. It was all water, then God, by atmosphere, separated the waters above from the waters below. Then he separated sea and land. Now in the flood he does two things: (a) opens the windows of heaven and lets down all the water above; (b) opens the fountains of the deep by convulsions below; so again overwhelms all the land and makes a shoreless ocean. He who separates can unite again.

RESPITE OF MERCY OR SPACE FOB REPENTANCE
"His days shall be one hundred and twenty years." This does not refer to the average limit of human life in the future in contrast with previous longevity, but the race limit until the flood. Compare the message of Jonah: "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed." In like manner here: Yet 120 years may the Spirit strive before the world is destroyed. This is the space for repentance. The threatened doom may be a verdict by repentance, as in the case of Nineveh. Compare the case of the fig tree in Luke 8:6-9; and of Jezebel in Revelation 2:21; and of Jerusalem’s day of visitation in Luke 20:42. In this time of 120 years Jesus preached to them in the Spirit by Noah (1 Peter 3:19-20; 2 Peter 2:5).

MEANS FOR PRESERVATION OF RACE REMNANT FOR NEW BEGINNING
"Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch; and this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it" (Genesis 6:14-16).

This wonderful vessel occupies a large space in the Bible story and thought. The same Hebrew word, Tebah, is employed to designate the vessel in which the infant Moses was preserved (Exodus 2:3). It was the prototype of the ark of the covenant (Hebrew word, Aron) (Deuteronomy 10:1), Jehovah saying to Moses as to Noah: "Make thee an ark." In the New Testament the same Greek word, kibotos, designates both these vessels (Heb. 9:4-11:7). Its material was the durable gopher wood, probably cypress. It was made waterproof within and without by a coating of pitch. It was not designed for steering or sailing, merely to float. Its shape was the best possible for this purpose and for tonnage or carrying capacity. Reckoning the unit of measure, the cubit, at 22 inches, nearly, we may compare its dimensions with the Great Eastern’s:

Ark – 547 1/5 ft. long, 91 1/5 ft. wide, 54 18/25 ft. high. Great Eastern – 680 ft. long, 821/2 feet wide, 58 ft. high.

This furnishes ample room space for all its occupants and their food for the time needed. While varieties of species of land animals in our time are numerous, the number of species is not very great. Its arrangement in stories and rooms was the best possible for the purpose. Its provision for light was suitable and adequate.

Its Occupants
"But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive" (Genesis 6:18-20).

"Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female; of the birds also of the heavens, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth" (Genesis 7:2-3).

This is the first direct reference to the distinction between clean and unclean animals, which, however, originated at the appointment of animal sacrifices just after the fall of man. The reference here assumes that the distinction is well understood, too long established and common to call for explanation.

With these was food for all: "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them" (Genesis 6:21).

Its Builder
Noah was remarkable in character, life, and faith. He was a just man and perfect in his generation. Like Enoch he walked with God. His faith was marvelous: "By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" (Hebrews 11:7). See Andrew Fuller’s great sermon on this text.

The Time of the Building
Common opinion takes the "one hundred and twenty years" of Genesis 6:3, equal to Peter’s phrase, "While the ark was preparing" (1 Peter 3:21). There is a serious difficulty in accepting this view. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (Genesis 7:11). He was 500 years old when Japheth was born (Genesis 5:32). Yet his sons are grown and married when, as it seems, the directions for building the ark were given (Genesis 6:18). It is not impossible to remove this difficulty thus:

(a) The date of the statement in Genesis 6:3, is not given. It may have been twenty years before the birth of Japheth.

(b) What is said in Genesis 6:18, may have been just after the ark was completed.

(c) There is no date given for the order, "Make thee an ark" (Genesis 6:14). So it is not impossible that the preparing of the ark was 120 years.

In a subsequent chapter will be considered the great lessons connected with the building of the ark and the flood.

QUESTIONS
1. State the nature and ground of man’s race title to the earth.

2. Give twelve elements of gospel light possessed by the antediluvians.

3. At what limit would the race title to the earth lapse?

4. What double base was there for race deterioration?

5. What four facts of evil practice were the remote causes of the deluge?

6. By what last disastrous sin was race corruption brought about and world destruction necessitated?

7. State the first evil theory of this sin and reply to it.

8. The second evil theory and its alleged scriptural basis?

9. How do you answer it?

10. Show how the ill-assorted marriages of believers and unbelievers brought about this race corruption.

11. What was the awful result as Jehovah saw it?

12. How did this sight affect him?

13. How do you harmonize the statement of Jehovah’s grief with the doctrine of the creed that God is impassive?

14. What fact of Christ’s life illustrates the grief of God?

15. How do you explain the phrase, "It repented Jehovah that he had made man," when compared with 1 Samuel 15:29?

16. What judgment did God pronounce?

17. Show how sweeping and inclusive was this judgment.

18. What means were appointed to bring it about?

19. What creative act did this reverse?

20. What respite of mercy and space for repentance was granted?

21. Does this 120 years refer to the future limit of the individual human life, or the race limit until the flood?

22. What other Old Testament case similarly shows a space for repentance?

23. What New Testament cases?

24. Explain 1 Peter 3:19-20, in connection with Genesis 6:3.

25. What means of preservation, for the race remnant spared, appointed?

26. Of what was the ark a prototype?

27. Of what an antitype?

28. Show this by explanation of Acts 10:11-15.

29. Reckoning the cubit at twenty-two inches nearly, show relative dimensions of the ark and the Great Eastern.

30. For what occupants with a year’s supply of food must room space be provided?