Genesis Part 1 - Week 15

Day 1 

READ 

Genesis 7:13-16 

13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them. 

Noah and his family as well as all the designated animals were on board. “Then the Lord closed the door behind them.” One wonders what the family may have thought as the water deluged around them. They were safe but everything outside the boat would be destroyed.  

REFLECT 

Do you recognize the eternal safety you have in Jesus? Unbelievers will suffer God’s judgment, but those who have trusted in Jesus have security in Him. 

RESPOND 

Notice that Noah did what he could do; he obeyed God’s commands. Then God did what Noah could not do; He caused all the animals to come to Noah and He closed the door of the boat. Believers must honor the Lord by doing what they can do, but trust the miracle-working God to do what they cannot do. 

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 7:17-20 

17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. 

The water grew deeper for 40 days. “Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks.” The peaks may not have been as high then as they are now. This reveals it was more than a local flood. Those who think the creation days were each a long age and that the flood was only local, do not believe the book God inspired to be written. They prefer to believe what those say who reject a miracle-working God.  

REFLECT 

Sometimes it is difficult to believe something one does not completely understand. On the other hand, would you rather believe the God of the Bible or those who reject what the God of the Bible has said? 

RESPOND 

Visit with a friend about what true science is. It is based on something that is observable, testable, and provable with further testing. There is no way any person can do this with creation and the Genesis flood. But some people would rather believe in what is not true science to explain what they think took place with creation and the Genesis flood. Do not be misled. 

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 7:21-24 

21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God 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. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days. 

This passage reveals what was accomplished by the Genesis flood. The only survivors were “Noah and those with him in the boat.” It will be several more days before those in the boat will be able to exit, but at this point “the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.” 

REFLECT 

Think about this cataclysm that destroyed all not in the boat.  

RESPOND 

Remember why all of this was being done. God created a perfect man and woman who had the freedom to choose whether to obey God or go their own way. They rejected the God who made them and wanted to be gods themselves to decide what is right and wrong. Their descendants became so wicked that God decided to wipe them off the earth, saving only Noah and his family (see Genesis 6:5-8).  

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 8:1-3 

1 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. 2 The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped. 3 So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth. After 150  

days. . .  

Notice another reference to the “underground waters” that now stopped flowing. These were in addition to the water from the heavens. There will be many days before the water completely receded and the land became dry, but now they were “gradually” receding.  

REFLECT 

Think of the comforting words, “God remembered Noah.” Do you sometimes think God has forgotten you? 

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about 2 Timothy 2:18-19. Some taught God had forgotten them and that the resurrection was already past. Not so. Read and talk about this text.  

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 8:4-5 

4 exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 Two and a half months later, as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible. 

Notice how specific the Bible is in giving the amount of time that had elapsed. Notice also the plural of the “mountains of Ararat.” How could the water recede if it entirely covered the earth? Read Psalm 104:1-9 and see that the mountains rose and the valleys sank. God caused these changes in the surface of the earth to occur so the water could recede.  

REFLECT 

Do you find it hard to believe what the Bible says about these matters? If so, why should you believe people who were not eye-witnesses and do not believe in what the miracle-working God did? 

RESPOND 

Be reminded again of what Hebrews 11:3 says. It is by faith that one believes what God did in His creative work. Those who do not accept what the Genesis account says also take what they believe by faith.