Chronological Life Application Study Bible Sampler - Book - Page 21
BEGINNINGS
undated–2100 BC
GOD’S CHOSEN FAMILY
2100–1800 BC
BIRTH OF ISRAEL
1800–1406 BC
GENESIS 6:9-22 (cont.)
and was filled with violence. 12God observed all this
corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was
corrupt. 13So God said to Noah, “I have decided to
destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the
earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along
with the earth!
14“Build a large boat* from cypress wood* and
waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct
decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15Make the
boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.*
16Leave an 18-inch opening* below the roof all the way
around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build
three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
17“Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood
that will destroy every living thing that breathes.
Everything on earth will die. 18But I will confirm my
covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your
wife and your sons and their wives. 19Bring a pair of
every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the
boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.
20Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal,
and every kind of small animal that scurries along the
ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21And be sure
to take on board enough food for your family and for
all the animals.”
22So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
POSSESSING THE LAND
1406–1050 BC
UNITED MONARCHY
1050–930 BC
The Flood Covers the Earth
GENESIS 7:1-24
When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah,
“Go into the boat with all your family, for among all
the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are
righteous. 2Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and
for sacrifice,* and take one pair of each of the others.
3Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must
be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all
life will survive on the earth after the flood. 4Seven
days from now I will make the rains pour down on the
earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights,
until I have wiped from the earth all the living things
I have created.”
5So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded
him.
6Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered
the earth. 7He went on board the boat to escape
the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their
wives. 8With them were all the various kinds of
animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the
birds and the small animals that scurry along the
ground. 9They entered the boat in pairs, male and
female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10After
seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
Gn 6:14a Traditionally rendered an ark. Gn 6:14b Or gopher wood. Gn 6:15 Hebrew 300 cubits [138 meters] long, 50 cubits [23 meters] wide, and 30 cubits
[13.8 meters] high. Gn 6:16 Hebrew an opening of 1 cubit [46 centimeters]. Gn 7:2 Hebrew of each clean animal; similarly in 7:8.
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Bible isn’t the only ancient document that tells about a
great flood with a lone surviving family and pairs of animals
on board; in fact, there are several flood stories from many
different cultures that have strikingly similar details to Noah’s
story in Genesis. A Sumerian story called Eridu Genesis tells
how king Ziusudra was warned that the gods had decreed a
deluge to destroy mankind and was told to build a great boat
in which to escape. An Akkadian story called the Atrahasis
Epic describes a flood sent by the gods to destroy humanity
after earlier attempts to control them had failed. The pious
Atrahasis was warned by the creator god Ea to build a boat
and escape with his family, treasure, and animals. The most
famous of these flood stories is the Babylonian Story of the
Flood, which is pictured on tablet 11 of the longer Epic of
Gilgamesh. This story, focused on the hero Gilgamesh, tells
of the boat coming to rest on a mountain and the dispatch in
succession of a dove, a swallow, and a raven—the occupants
of the boat disembarking when the raven did not return.
The fact that all of these different cultures trace their
lineage back to a great hero who survived a great flood in a
boat filled with animals, and who left only after sending birds
out from the top of a mountain, is interesting confirmation of
the claim in Genesis 6–9 that there was indeed a great flood
in ancient times.
Gen 6:15 The boat Noah built was no canoe!
Picture yourself building a boat the length of
one and a half football fields and as high as
a four-story building. The boat was exactly
six times longer than it was wide—the same
ratio used by modern shipbuilders. This huge
boat was probably built miles from any body
of water, but Noah was motivated by God’s
promises and obeyed his commands.
Gen 6:18 When God said, “I will confirm my
covenant,” he was making a promise. This is
a familiar theme in Scripture—God making
covenants with his people. How reassuring it
is to know God’s covenant is established with
us. He is still our salvation, and we are kept
safe through our relationship with him. (For
more on covenants, see Gen 9:8-17; 12:1-3;
15:17-21.)
Gen 6:22 Noah got right to work when
God told him to build the huge boat. Other
people must have been warned by Noah
about the coming disaster (2 Pet 2:5), but
apparently they did not expect it to happen.
Things haven’t changed much. Each day
thousands of people are warned of God’s
inevitable judgment, yet most of them don’t
really believe it will happen. Don’t expect
people to welcome or accept your message
of God’s coming judgment on sin. Those who
don’t believe in God will deny his judgment
and try to get you to deny God as well. But
SPLINTERED NATION
930–586 BC
EXILE
586–538 BC
RETURN & DIASPORA
538–6 BC
11When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth
day of the second month, all the underground waters
erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty
torrents from the sky. 12The rain continued to fall for
forty days and forty nights.
13That very day Noah had gone into the boat with
his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—
and their wives. 14With them in the boat were pairs
of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large
and small—along with birds of every kind. 15Two by
two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16A male and female of each
kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah.
Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
17For forty days the flood waters grew deeper,
covering the ground and lifting the boat high
above the earth. 18As the waters rose higher and
higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on
the surface. 19Finally, the water covered even the
highest mountains on the earth, 20rising more than
twenty-two feet* above the highest peaks. 21All the
Gn 7:20 Hebrew 15 cubits [6.9 meters].
JESUS CHRIST
6 BC–AD 30
THE CHURCH
AD 30–present
living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along
the ground, and all the people. 22Everything that
breathed and lived on dry land died. 23God wiped out
every living thing on the earth—people, livestock,
small animals that scurry along the ground, and the
birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people
who survived were Noah and those with him in the
boat. 24And the floodwaters covered the earth for
150 days.
The Flood Recedes
GENESIS 8:1-22
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a
wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters
began to recede. 2The underground waters stopped
flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were
stopped. 3So the floodwaters gradually receded from
the earth. After 150 days, 4exactly five months from
the time the flood began,* the boat came to rest on
Gn 8:4 Hebrew on the seventeenth day of the seventh month; see 7:11.
NOAH
The story of Noah’s life involves not one but two great and
tragic floods. The world in Noah’s day was flooded with evil. The number of those
who remembered the God of creation, perfection, and love had dwindled to one.
Only Noah still worshiped God. God’s response to the severe situation was a
120-year-long last chance, during which he had Noah build a graphic illustration
of the message of his life. Nothing like a huge boat on dry land to make a point! For
Noah, obedience meant a long-term commitment to a project. • Many of us have
trouble sticking to any project, whether or not it is directed by God. It is interesting
that the length of Noah’s obedience was greater than the life span of people today.
The only comparable long-term project is our very lives. But perhaps this is one
great challenge Noah’s life gives us—to live, in acceptance of God’s grace, an entire
lifetime of obedience and gratitude.
• Only follower of God left in his generation
Strengths and
accomplishments • Second father of the human race
• Man of patience, consistency, and obedience
• Got drunk and embarrassed himself in front of his sons
Weakness
and mistake
• God is faithful to those who obey him
Lessons from
• God does not always protect us from trouble, but cares
his life
for us in spite of trouble
• Obedience is a long-term commitment
• We may be faithful, but our sinful nature always travels
with us
• Where: We’re not told how far from the Garden of Eden
Vital statistics
people had settled
• Occupation: Farmer, shipbuilder, preacher
• Relatives: Grandfather: Methuselah. Father: Lamech.
Sons: Ham, Shem, and Japheth.
Key verse
“So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded
him” (Gen 6:22).
Noah’s story is told in Genesis 5:28–10:32. He is also mentioned in Isaiah 54:9;
Ezekiel 14:14, 20; Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 3:36; 17:26-27; Hebrews 11:7;
1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5.
remember God’s promise to Noah to keep
him safe. This can inspire you to trust God
for deliverance in the judgment that is sure
to come.
Gen 7:1ff Pairs of every animal joined
Noah in the boat; seven pairs were taken of
those animals used for sacrifice. It has been
estimated that almost 45,000 animals could
have fit into the boat.
Gen 7:16 Many have wondered how this
animal-kingdom roundup happened. Did
Noah and his sons spend years collecting
all the animals? But the Creation, along
with Noah, was doing just as God had commanded. There seemed to be no problem
gathering the animals—God took care of
the details of that job while Noah was doing
his part by building the boat. Often we do
just the opposite of Noah. We worry about
details over which we have no control, while
neglecting specific areas ( such as attitudes,
relationships, responsibilities) that are under
our control. Like Noah, concentrate on what
God has given you to do, and leave the rest
to God.
Gen 7:17-24 Was the Flood a local event,
or did it cover the entire earth? A universal
flood was certainly possible. Enough water
exists in the oceans to cover all dry land
( the earth began that way; see Gen 1:910). Afterward God promised never again
to destroy the earth with a flood. Thus, this
flood must have either covered the entire
earth or destroyed all the inhabitants of the
earth. Remember, God’s reason for sending
the Flood was to destroy all the earth’s wickedness. It would have taken a major flood to
accomplish this.
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