Chap. 7 - The Flood
This chapter is based on Genesis 6 and 7.
In the days of Noah a double curse was resting upon the earth in consequence of
Adam’s transgression and of the murder committed by Cain. Yet this had not greatly
changed the face of nature. There were evident tokens of decay, but the earth was
still rich and beautiful in the gifts of God’s providence. The hills were crowned with
majestic trees supporting the fruit-laden branches of the vine. The vast, gardenlike
plains were clothed with verdure, and sweet with the fragrance of a thousand flowers.
The fruits of the earth were in great variety, and almost without limit. The trees far
surpassed in size, beauty, and perfect proportion any now to be found; their wood was
of fine grain and hard substance, closely resembling stone, and hardly less enduring.
Gold, silver, and precious stones existed in abundance.
The human race yet retained much of its early vigor. But a few generations
had passed since Adam had access to the tree which was to prolong life; and man’s
existence was still measured by centuries. Had that long-lived people, with their rare
powers to plan and execute, devoted themselves to the service of God, they would
have made their Creator’s name a praise in the earth, and would have answered the
purpose for which he gave them life. But they failed to do this. There were many
giants, men of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom, skillful in devising
the most cunning and wonderful works; but their guilt in giving loose rein to iniquity
was in proportion to their skill and mental ability.
God bestowed upon these antediluvians many and rich gifts; but they used his
bounties to glorify themselves, and turned them into a curse by fixing their affections
upon the gifts instead of the Giver. They employed the gold and silver, the precious
stones and the choice wood, in the construction of habitations for themselves, and
endeavored to excel one another in beautifying their dwellings with the most skillful
workmanship. They
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sought only to gratify the desires of their own proud hearts, and reveled in scenes of
pleasure and wickedness. Not desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon
came to deny his existence. They adored nature in place of the God of nature. They
glorified human genius, worshiped the works of their own hands, and taught their
children to bow down to graven images.
In the green fields and under the shadow of the goodly trees they set up the
altars of their idols. Extensive groves, that retained their foliage throughout the year,
were dedicated to the worship of false gods. With these groves were connected
beautiful gardens, their long, winding avenues overhung with fruit-bearing trees of
all descriptions, adorned with statuary, and furnished with all that could delight the
senses or minister to the voluptuous desires of the people, and thus allure them to
participate in the idolatrous worship.
Men put God out of their knowledge and worshiped the creatures of their own
imagination; and as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist
describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says,
“They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” Psalm
115:8. It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will
rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never
exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite
wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower. The worshipers
of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their
standard of character was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity. They were
defiled in consequence. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually....
The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.” God
had given men his commandments as a rule of life, but his law was transgressed, and
every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring,
justice was trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven.
Polygamy had been early introduced, contrary to the divine arrangement at the
beginning. The Lord gave to Adam one wife,
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showing his order in that respect. But after the Fall, men chose to follow their own
sinful desires; and as the result, crime and wretchedness rapidly increased. Neither
the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected. Whoever coveted the
wives or the possessions of his neighbor, took them by force, and men exulted in
their deeds of violence. They delighted in destroying the life of animals; and the use
of flesh for food rendered them still more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to
regard human life with astonishing indifference.
The world was in its infancy; yet iniquity had become so deep and widespread
that God could no longer bear with it; and he said, “I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth.” he declared that his Spirit should not always strive
with the guilty race. If they did not cease to pollute with their sins the world and its
rich treasures, he would blot them from his creation, and would destroy the things
with which he had delighted to bless them; he would sweep away the beasts of the
field, and the vegetation which furnished such an abundant supply of food, and would
transform the fair earth into one vast scene of desolation and ruin.
Amid the prevailing corruption, Methuselah, Noah, and many others labored to
keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to stay the tide of moral evil. A hundred
and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord by a holy angel declared to Noah his
purpose, and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark he was to preach
that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those
who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and
reformation, should find pardon and be saved. Enoch had repeated to his children
what God had shown him in regard to the Flood, and Methuselah and his sons, who
lived to hear the preaching of Noah, assisted in building the ark.
God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark and explicit directions in regard to
its construction in every particular. Human wisdom could not have devised a structure
of so great strength and durability. God was the designer, and Noah the master builder.
It was constructed like the hull of a ship, that it might float upon the water, but in some
respects it more nearly resembled a house. It was three stories high, with but
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one door, which was in the side. The light was admitted at the top, and the different
apartments were so arranged that all were lighted. The material employed in the
construction of the ark was the cypress, or gopher wood, which would be untouched
by decay for hundreds of years. The building of this immense structure was a slow
and laborious process. On account of the great size of the trees and the nature of the
wood, much more labor was required then than now to prepare timber, even with the
greater strength which men then possessed. All that man could do was done to render
the work perfect, yet the ark could not of itself have withstood the storm which was
to come upon the earth. God alone could preserve his servants upon the tempestuous
waters.
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7. While Noah was
giving his warning message to the world, his works testified of his sincerity. It was
thus that his faith was perfected and made evident. He gave the world an example
of believing just what God says. All that he possessed, he invested in the ark. As
he began to construct that immense boat on dry ground, multitudes came from every
direction to see the strange sight and to hear the earnest, fervent words of the singular
preacher. Every blow struck upon the ark was a witness to the people.
Many at first appeared to receive the warning; yet they did not turn to God with true
repentance. They were unwilling to renounce their sins. During the time that elapsed
before the coming of the Flood, their faith was tested, and they failed to endure the
trial. Overcome by the prevailing unbelief, they finally joined their former associates
in rejecting the solemn message. Some were deeply convicted, and would have heeded
the words of warning; but there were so many to jest and ridicule, that they partook
of the same spirit, resisted the invitations of mercy, and were soon among the boldest
and most defiant scoffers; for none are so reckless and go to such lengths in sin as do
those who have once had light, but have resisted the convicting Spirit of God.
The men of that generation were not all, in the fullest acceptation of the term,
idolaters. Many professed to be worshipers of
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God. They claimed that their idols were representations of the Deity, and that through
them the people could obtain a clearer conception of the divine Being. This class
were foremost in rejecting the preaching of Noah. As they endeavored to represent
God by material objects, their minds were blinded to his majesty and power; they
ceased to realize the holiness of his character, or the sacred, unchanging nature of his
requirements. As sin became general, it appeared less and less sinful, and they finally
declared that the divine law was no longer in force; that it was contrary to the character
of God to punish transgression; and they denied that his judgments were to be visited
upon the earth. Had the men of that generation obeyed the divine law, they would
have recognized the voice of God in the warning of his servant; but their minds had
become so blinded by rejection of light that they really believed Noah’s message to be
a delusion.
It was not multitudes or majorities that were on the side of right. The world was
arrayed against God’s justice and his laws, and Noah was regarded as a fanatic. Satan,
when tempting Eve to disobey God, said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 3:4.
Great men, worldly, honored, and wise men, repeated the same. “The threatenings
of God,” they said, “are for the purpose of intimidating, and will never be verified.
You need not be alarmed. Such an event as the destruction of the world by the God
who made it, and the punishment of the beings he has created, will never take place.
Be at peace; fear not. Noah is a wild fanatic.” The world made merry at the folly
of the deluded old man. Instead of humbling the heart before God, they continued
their disobedience and wickedness, the same as though God had not spoken to them
through his servant.
But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. Surrounded by popular contempt and
ridicule, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness.
A power attended his words, for it was the voice of God to man through his servant.
Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while for one
hundred and twenty years his solemn voice fell upon the ears of that generation in
regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom could judge, were impossible.
The world before the Flood reasoned that for centuries the laws of nature had been
fixed. The recurring seasons had come in their order. Heretofore rain had never fallen;
the earth had been
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watered by a mist or dew. The rivers had never yet passed their boundaries, but
had borne their waters safely to the sea. Fixed decrees had kept the waters from
overflowing their banks. But these reasoners did not recognize the hand of him who
had stayed the waters, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” Job 38:11.
As time passed on, with no apparent change in nature, men whose hearts had at
times trembled with fear, began to be reassured. They reasoned, as many reason now,
that nature is above the God of nature, and that her laws are so firmly established that
God himself could not change them. Reasoning that if the message of Noah were
correct, nature would be turned out of her course, they made that message, in the
minds of the world, a delusion—a grand deception. They manifested their contempt
for the warning of God by doing just as they had done before the warning was given.
They continued their festivities and their gluttonous feasts; they ate and drank, planted
and builded, laying their plans in reference to advantages they hoped to gain in the
future; and they went to greater lengths in wickedness, and in defiant disregard of
God’s requirements, to testify that they had no fear of the Infinite One. They asserted
that if there were any truth in what Noah had said, the men of renown—the wise, the
prudent, the great men—would understand the matter.
Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the
Lord would have turned aside his wrath, as he afterward did from Nineveh. But by
their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and the warnings of God’s
prophet, that generation filled up the measure of their iniquity, and became ripe for
destruction.
The period of their probation was about to expire. Noah had faithfully followed
the instructions which he had received from God. The ark was finished in every part
as the Lord had directed, and was stored with food for man and beast. And now the
servant of God made his last solemn appeal to the people. With an agony of desire
that words cannot express, he entreated them to seek a refuge while it might be found.
Again they rejected his words, and raised their voices in jest and scoffing. Suddenly a
silence fell upon the mocking throng. Beasts of every description, the fiercest as well
as the most gentle, were seen coming from mountain and forest and quietly making
their way toward the ark. A noise as of a rushing wind was heard, and lo, birds were
flocking from all
