Genesis 7:11-24 Evidence for the Flood CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

In this lesson, we will discuss where the waters for the flood came from, lunar calendar months, the historical and geological evidence for the flood, and the spiritual significance of the Lord shutting Noah and his family in the ark.

The Great Deep and the Windows of Heaven

The waters for the flood did not come from underground water sources, but rather from a huge body of water that is contained above the universe.  The water was put there when the firmament was created in Gen. 1:6-7.  Look at these verses:

1. There are waters above the firmament called heaven, Gen. 1:7
2. There are waters above “the heavens,” Ps. 148:4
3. The top side of these waters (called “the face of the deep”) is frozen, Job 38:30
4. This frozen face looks like “a sea of glass like unto a crystal,” Rev. 4:6
5. References to the “windows of heaven” are found in Mal. 3:10 and 2 Ki. 7:2

The Lunar Calendar

Months in a lunar calendar contain 30 days each.  Notice how to calculate this:

1. The flood began in the second month on the seventeenth day of the month, 7:11.
2. The ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month 8:4.
3. The time between these two events is five months, to the day.
4. This period was “an hundred and fifty days,” 7:24.
5. Therefore, each month was a 30-day month.
6. On a solar calendar, from one day of one month to the same day five months later never equals 150 days.

Historical Evidence for the Flood

In the ancient histories of the following countries, there are records of the flood: Assyria (2316 BC), Greece (2300 BC), Phoenicia (2700 BC), Egypt (2600 BC), Mexico (2297 BC), China, Polynesia, East Africa, India, Alaska, and Iceland.

Geological Evidence for the Flood

There are many phenomena that cannot be explained by any other means than a universal flood.  We will just look at a few.  The pressure of the water, coupled with huge tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes give the best explanation for:

1. Orogenesis – The formation of mountains.
2. Erratic Boulders – Huge boulders (ranging in size from cars to houses) in the same location brought from opposite directions.  Conventional explanations had the boulders brought down from the north in glaciers.  However, many were brought from the south as much as 100-500 miles.  Louis Agassiz’ “glacial theory” cannot account for glaciers beginning at sea level when none start at less than 6000 feet above sea level; glaciers moving uphill as much as 3000 feet when none ever move uphill; glaciers moving over fossils and shells leaving them unharmed; and mammoths frozen instantly in ice that was supposed to have formed gradually to make his theory work.

3. Ossificatory Fissures – Crevices at high altitudes containing the bones of men and animals.  In Nebraska, these contain the bones of camels, bears and rhinoceroses.

4. Marine Deposits – Found on mountaintops, and in oil deposits with fins and spines extended from fright.

The Significance of “The Lord Shut Him in”

There are great spiritual lessons found in the act of the Lord shutting Noah in the ark.

1. Man cannot finish his own redemption; the Lord has to complete it, the Holy Spirit seals us in Christ (Eph. 1:13, 4:30).
2. Man cannot save himself from God’s wrath against sin; the Lord must protect him (Jn. 3:36; Rom. 5:9).
3. There is no need for man to “hold out to the end” to be saved; Noah went “into” the ark, he didn’t “hold on” to the outside hoping to survive (2 Cor. 5:17; Jn. 10:27-29).
4. The Lord “shut” the door; if you’re not “in” Christ, you’re left “out,” Matt. 25:10.