Day 54: One True Cleansing
Read Genesis 7:17–20
Almost every culture in history has some form of a flood story. As a child, I remember sitting down and reading the different historical stories about the flood. Dazzling and colorful pictures of waters and animals, mountains and sky filled my young mind. Although each story varied slightly, there were many symbols within these stories that were in common.
Christian and other scholars all agree on one thing for certain: something to do with a flood in the world’s early history deeply impacted humankind. There are just too many documents and stories to assume that there was not a flood or that the flood was just a fantastical story passed from group to group. Of course, as Christians, we know that the flood was real, and it was no small flood either.
Genesis 7:17-20 clearly lays out the fact that when the waters came down, the flood levels rose. The ark was no longer the laughingstock of humanity but became the piece of equipment that saved mankind from being entirely wiped out. The waters rose so high that the highest mountains were entirely covered with large amounts of water.
Some scholars and groups have tried to argue that the flood only covered a section of earth. They argue this because a full earth flood seems impossible. But as believers of the inerrancy of the Bible, Moses’s words in Genesis 7 lay out very clearly that all of the earth was covered, stating “For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.”
This flood fulfilled the promise God made to wipe out the darkness and depravity that he saw which so deeply disturbed Him and violated the commands He told the people to uphold. The flood is a clear display of His justice and commitment to do what He says He will do, even when it is hard to swallow or comprehend. He is a powerful God who was able to make the earth rain for 40 days, and to cover heights we cannot even imagine. The power of the Ark in this narrative is that God had not given up his love for all humanity, and, even in his sorrow at depravity, spared Noah and his family to continue on.
Today, take a moment to thank God for his majesty and loving power. He has redeemed us as His people and brought us from spiritual darkness and depravity into His glorious never ending love. This is something to rejoice in! Have you taken the time to comprehend this truth? If not, really pause and take it all in.