Noah's Knowledge

Tree of Life said:

Did Noah know that a flood would cover the earth before it actually happened? If so, how did he know?

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Well, he would have known what he was directly told, verses 13 and 17 here in this fuller (and very helpful) passage --

5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,c for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ..."
Genesis 6 ESV

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side note, the interesting footnote 'c' retained here, as it points out a possible other meaning:
c 13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me

(my thought here is this other translation could possibly suggest that God foresees the longer term outcome of allowing this pervasive evil to continue unhindered...that it would lead to a self-destruction anyway, and so...when a Garden is truly overwhelmed by weeds, it can be best to plow it under and start over... note also that we can notice later that it is revealed to Peter that these souls which are then 'in prison' will later get a visit from Christ in the Spirit no less!....)

Tree of Life said:

So you are saying that Noah did indeed know that a flood was coming rather than only believe that a flood was coming. And this knowledge came from faith in God's word. Is this right?

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Well, yes, I do think verse 13 actually happened, literally, such as in a vision or dream or by a direct voice -- one way or another. It's not really important just how of course. But yes, I think it was directly conveyed to Noah, ahead of time. Also, during the very lengthy time of the building of the boat, Noah would have plenty of time to consider the meaning of building such a boat, able to hold so many, but that's just another aspect. To believe and know can be a lot alike at times! ;-) In this case, I would think that the vision or conveyance was rather convincing, so that the 2 are going to be very much alike here. Now, when a person knows something at one point in time...but many years pass....then eventually belief matters too, faith. Abraham is such an example of that. He got a very clear message, but then a very long time passed....

Halbhh said:

Well, he would have known what he was directly told, verses 13 and 17 here in this fuller (and very helpful) passage --

5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,c for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ..."
Genesis 6 ESV

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The substance of what was happening is conveyed within the written word so we are without excuse as to the meaning, so it would seem.

Halbhh said:

side note, the interesting footnote 'c' retained here, as it points out a possible other meaning:
c 13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me

(my thought here is this other translation could possibly suggest that God foresees the longer term outcome of allowing this pervasive evil to continue unhindered...that it would lead to a self-destruction anyway, and so...when a Garden is truly overwhelmed by weeds, it can be best to plow it under and start over... note also that we can notice later that it is revealed to Peter that these souls which are then 'in prison' will later get a visit from Christ in the Spirit no less!....)[Well, yes, I do think verse 13 actually happened, literally, such as in a vision or dream or by a direct voice -- one way or another. It's not really important just how of course. But yes, I think it was directly conveyed to Noah, ahead of time. Also, during the very lengthy time of the building of the boat, Noah would have plenty of time to consider the meaning of building such a boat, able to hold so many, but that's just another aspect. To believe and know can be a lot alike at times! ;-) In this case, I would think that the vision or conveyance was rather convincing, so that the 2 are going to be very much alike here. Now, when a person knows something at one point in time...but many years pass....then eventually belief matters too, faith. Abraham is such an example of that. He got a very clear message, but then a very long time passed....

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while here we see the shadow of the understanding of the cause as it relates to the substance, to the effect on understanding it now?(like seeing old customary ways compared to new) Iow, the shadow is not the substance so it can only be seen in hindsight. 2020 vision may not be seen till a later time ...

Tree of Life said:

Did Noah know that a flood would cover the earth before it actually happened? If so, how did he know?

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God told him

Tuesday at 3:54 PM #2

yeah - like that.

After Adam and Eve sinned and were thrown out of the garden, God still spoke to man---not face to face as He had in the garden, but He still would speak in an audible voice. After the flood, then it was not in an audible voice, but in visions and dreams, except for Moses who did hear his audible voice. It says face to face with Moses, but the interpretation of that is through His veiled presence---smoke, clouds, fire for no man can actually see God and live.

Tree of Life said:

So you are saying that Noah did indeed know that a flood was coming rather than only believe that a flood was coming. And this knowledge came from faith in God's word. Is this right?

Click to expand...

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"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.

....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, [p. 92] 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 [p. 95] 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. ..."
The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets, by Ellen G. White. Chapter 7: The Flood

Tree of Life said:

Did Noah know that a flood would cover the earth before it actually happened? If so, how did he know?

Click to expand...

God said to Noah:

"I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark" (Genesis 6:13-14).

"For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground (Genesis 7:4).

Tree of Life said:

Did Noah know that a flood would cover the earth before it actually happened? If so, how did he know?

Click to expand...

All Noah knew was that all he could see and know about was to be destroyed. The extent of it he could not know.



"Earth" simply meant the ground on which men stood on in Noah's day. It did not have to mean the entire planet. They had no concept of living on a planet like we know today.

All things that lived on the ground where man was living were also to be destroyed by flood waters.





Keep in mind, Noah was a preacher of righteousness. That means?

In order to condemn all men? All men had to first hear Noah's preaching.

That means? Men were not yet living outside of the range of knowing about Noah. For mankind was yet in its infancy, and probably living within an area about the size of New York City. Therefore, this flood did not have to reach the other side of the planet to do what God wished to accomplish. For man was only living on a spot of the planet at that time.

God was out to destroy corrupted man, not the entire planet. All forms of life living on the ground where man was living needed to be destroyed to do so. God had no need to destroy animals of different types and species where man was not inhabiting. There was no need. God was not out to destroy life on the entire planet. Not where man was not yet living. God said He was to destroy corrupt mankind.

That is why all the animals to be saved could fit on the Ark. For only the animals indigenous to the location to where man was living were to be destroyed. Otherwise? To fit on the Ark every species and type of animal from the entire planet? It would have been impossible to fit on such a small ark.

Traditional thinking blurred what the Scripture has been telling us. For years no one questioned the traditional Sunday School version. And, as a result? Modern secularism has been having in colleges a hay day in disproving the Bible account according to the unquestioned traditional Sunday School version.

The destruction of corrupted man did not require to flood the entire planet. For God's objective of the flood was to destroy corrupted mankind. Everything else destroyed where man lived was secondary.

Where mankind had been living was to be completely flooded out. And, all the animals that lived where man was living? They were the ones to be saved on the Ark. Otherwise, a huge fleet of arks would have been required to save all the different types of animals that lived all over the planet.

So be it.

grace and peace........