The beginnings · Genesis 6–9
Noah and the Flood
The earth is corrupt and full of violence: the LORD decides to wipe out humanity. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” God commands him to build an ark of gopher wood, three hundred cubits long, and to enter it with his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, their wives, and animals of every kind. Noah obeys in everything. At six hundred years old, he enters the ark, and the LORD shuts the door behind him. The rain falls forty days and forty nights; the waters cover the highest mountains, and everything that lived on the earth perishes. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah sends out a raven, then a dove, which returns one evening with an olive leaf. Coming out of the ark, Noah builds an altar and offers burnt offerings. God makes a covenant with him: never again a flood, and his bow in the cloud will be the sign.
What happens
- Noah, a just man, finds grace in the eyes of the LORD Genesis 6:8–9
- God commands him to build an ark 300 cubits long Genesis 6:14–15
- The flood: 40 days and 40 nights of rain Genesis 7:11–12
- The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat Genesis 8:4
- The dove returns with an olive leaf Genesis 8:10–11
- The rainbow in the cloud, sign of the covenant Genesis 9:12–13
Who is in this story
The lesson
God judges sin, but he opens a way of salvation for the one who believes him: “By faith Noah … prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Heb 11:7). His grace comes before our obedience, and our obedience shows it.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Quick quiz on this story
How long does the rain fall on the earth?
“The rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” The one hundred fifty days are how long the waters prevailed. Genesis 7:12
What does the dove bring back in her beak?
The dove returns in the evening with “an olive leaf pluckt off” in her mouth: Noah knows the waters have gone down. Genesis 8:11
Where does the ark come to rest when the waters recede?
“The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” Genesis 8:4
There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.