Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
The waters rose fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering even the highest peaks until the earth lay as a shoreless ocean with no refuge remaining. They prevailed by rain torrents from the opened heavens uniting with waters bursting from the broken-up fountains of the great deep. The covering came after one hundred and twenty years of faithful warning was mocked and rejected, so that all unbelievers outside perished while only Noah and his family, eight righteous persons, were shut in and saved. In fulfilling God's word it vindicated the honor of His law, mingling mercy in saving Noah with just judgment on corruption, and it stands as the pattern of the sudden destruction to come when the world is purified not by water but by fire.
Measurement and Extent
The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward above the mountains, so that even the highest mountains were covered. As the water reached the loftiest land and the highest points, people and animals alike could not escape by climbing to high ground and perished in the flood. The rain poured forty days and forty nights until houses were invaded, temples built for idol worship were swept away, the crust of the earth was broken and the waters concealed in its bowels burst forth with violence that threw large stones and rocks into the air. People fled for safety, cried for a place of safety, pleaded for admission to the ark and clung to it until washed away, while parents with children climbed the highest branches of trees yet standing and terrified animals and terrified people climbed the highest mountains, only for wind and foaming flood to fling trees and people in and sweep animals and people together into death. No others could enter because God had shut in those who believed His word, and by the power of God the immense ark rode safely upon the waters with Noah and his family safe inside while those who had mocked perished. For five long months those inside were tossed about apparently at the mercy of wind and wave so that it often seemed they must perish in a trying ordeal, yet with assurance that the divine hand was upon the helm, and as the waters later decreased God caused the ark to rest on a cluster of mountains He had preserved through the storm.
The rising flood kept rising until it reached the loftiest land, the tops of the tallest trees and the highest peaks, leaving a shoreless ocean with no refuge on earth remaining and no high ground able to save. The rain began slowly and then poured down in torrents, and the ark floated safely upon the troubled waters while the people who had refused a place of refuge tried to escape by climbing to the tops of the mountains. Even there the water reached them and swept them into the boiling deep, so that those outside wished they had a place within it. The drowning of those who mocked while the ark carried Noah and his family safely above them illustrates God's care for His faithful people when judgment comes. The covering of the mountains explains how men, animals and trees much larger than those now found were buried and preserved, leaving evidence that the antediluvians perished in the judgment God poured upon the earth because of human sin. After Noah entered the ark, people continued their ordinary, careless lives unaware that their doom was fixed, and the extent of the covering is set forth as an example of coming judgment.
The height the waters reached above the mountains was known on the plain of Shinar, where the tower builders tried to carry their structure much higher than those waters had reached so they would be safe beyond all possibility of danger if another deluge came. Their plan showed disbelief of God's covenant that He would not again bring a flood upon the earth, with many denying God and attributing the flood to natural causes and others believing a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world and rebelling against Him like Cain. They also wanted to ascend to the region of the clouds to ascertain the cause of the flood, and the whole effort exalted the pride of the projectors and was meant to turn future generations away from God into idolatry.
The high time-worn rocky walls and layered rocks still stand from that time when the waters rose to cover the mountains, washed smooth as if polished by mountain torrents.
How Waters Prevailed
The prevailing waters came from above and beneath together, with torrents of rain from the opened heavens uniting with waters from the broken-up fountains of the great deep in overwhelming force. The rain sent from heaven joined the foundations broken up so that waters from beneath united with waters from heaven to prevail and cover the mountains. That great sea itself bore up the immense vessel built on dry land, so no iron standards or human supports were needed to hold it.
The rain began slowly and then poured forty days and forty nights in torrents. The crust of the earth was broken, and the waters concealed in its bowels burst forth with violence that threw large stones and rocks into the air. Upheaved rocks and waters recalled the terror of the outpouring of divine wrath, an awful breaking forth with power from the great deep and from the earth.
The waters kept rising higher and higher until they invaded houses and covered the surface of the earth. People fled from place to place always seeking a higher foothold for safety, leaving idol groves, mansions, works of gold and temples of precious stones until the last refuge was reached and only a world of water remained. Parents with children climbed the highest branches of trees yet standing, and terrified animals and terrified people climbed the highest mountains, crying for safety and a place of safety. They pleaded for admission to the ark and clung to it until washed away, pleading for one hour's probation, one more privilege of mercy, one call that would no more be heard, while wind and foaming flood flung trees and people in and swept animals and people together into death in the boiling, seething deep.
The flood uprooted idolized trees and swept away the inhabitants with the groves, palaces, costly works for pleasure, idol temples, fruitful trees, shady avenues, forests and gardens. Temples built for idol worship were swept away, wrecks of palaces and temples were tossed about, and trees were uprooted into boiling waters. Places of idol worship were filled with masses of rubbish and earth, and rocks concealed under the earth were thrown up to cover the most lovely adored places men had adored. The lovely home given to man was turned into a broken uneven surface and frightful solitude, leaving deep gorges and seamed and cleft rocks, caverns and channels worn by cataracts as evidence.
Reason for Judgment
The flood came because human wickedness was great in the earth, every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually, and the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence, crime and every conceivable sin. The wickedness of the old world grew so great that God would no longer bear with it, and by water He washed the earth clean of its moral pollution. That history is to be kept before the mind and understood as the result of prevailing selfishness, covetousness, violence, crime and all kinds of wickedness, with nation rising against nation and watching for advantage. Though Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others had kept the knowledge of God continually before the world, the people despised the truth, and the imaginations of their hearts were evil and only evil continually. Secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence, and for this the Lord destroyed that long-lived race by a flood whose waters prevailed to cover the mountains.
Its inhabitants had transgressed God's commandments and holy law and refused to obey, going decidedly against known law with extraordinary self-importance, pride and unrighteousness. Justice was trampled in the dust and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven. Men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace by presuming on mercy and despising warnings, and after a probation of one hundred and twenty years with Noah preaching ever more earnestly amid scorn, and after a final week of testing in which believers were shut in by an invisible hand while mockers reviled, the steady rain came as divine interference. God in wrath vindicated the honor of His law, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, blotted out the race indifferent to His law, and prevented men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience. By the standard of God's law the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient at that most critical time, fulfilling the warning that all who would not keep the commandments of heaven should drink the waters of the flood and demonstrating the truth of His word with its reward of obedience and penalty of disobedience. Noah knew God's purpose and warned the antediluvian world for one hundred and twenty years while building the immense boat on dry land where the obedient could find shelter until God's indignation was overpast, yet only eight righteous persons, Noah and his family, lived to enter the ark while the impenitent rebellious race were swept away and died in the prevailing waters. Noah was not tempted by universal scorn heaped upon God's law and upon himself and his helpers to have less reverence and love for the law, but he and those believing ones who kept the faith and died triumphant preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn, and the upheaved rocks and waters from the deep recalled the terror of that outpouring of divine wrath on a world deluged because it transgressed God's law.
Indulgence of appetite had inflamed human passions and led to widespread corruption, with gluttony and drunkenness leading to debased passions and other crimes. That indulgence is among the most flagrant sins of the fallen race and brings the greatest amount of human woe, for God has tested fallen people just where He tested man before the fall. Prevailing selfishness, covetousness, ingratitude, disregard of God's Word, honoring of multitudes, festivities and seeking own pleasure brought the moral pollution that God washed away. Iniquity abounded among the nations through disregard for the Word of God as guide in circulating the Lord's money, honoring of multitudes, holding great festivities, making everything possible of men, and seeking own pleasure. When these things are seen taking place now in America, it proves the present condition is similar to the condition in the days of Noah and exposed to the same judgment.
God had surrounded people with the precious things of earth because He loved them, in a world far exceeding the present earth in beauty, grandeur and loveliness, even beyond its majestic mountains and towering rocks. They turned those blessings into a curse by using them to gratify pride and glorify themselves. Though they lived in His house and He provided them with food and clothing from His liberal treasury, they were unmindful of His goodness, never thanked Him, and continually worked in opposition to their Creator. They defiled the earth by sinfulness, violence and corrupting works, so the Lord destroyed them and the defiled earth. Even now the curse of sin corrupts the earth and every place inhabited by human beings is debased with sin, though without that curse it would be a happy place.
Warning Given and Rejected
One hundred and twenty years were granted to repent, to overcome bad habits and to form righteous characters. During that probation Noah stood as a preacher of righteousness and faithfully warned what was coming. Directed by God and assisted by Methuselah, his sons and grandsons, and others who received his instruction, he built the immense ark on dry land. So great a vessel on dry ground looked strange, yet it was prepared as a refuge and shelter for all who would believe and enter until the indignation was overpast.
Nearly all the inhabitants thought they were right and Noah was wrong. They trusted the regular order of nature and held that the waters could not overflow their boundaries. They closed their ears to truth, claimed to know more than God's faithful servant, and branded him a fanatic, visionary and alarmist. They laughed and mocked and scoffed at his words as parables, foolishness and superstition. By false science they argued that rain could never come because no sign of it had ever existed and rain seemed impossible.
Even the remarkable sight of the animals quietly entering two and two under God's invisible leadership, without a visible leader, failed to impress the hardened people, who made light of Noah and his family and did not humble themselves. Many helped Noah build the ark who did not believe the startling message, did not cleanse themselves from all wrong principles, and did not overcome temptation to do and say things contrary to the mind and will of God. After Noah entered, God Himself shut the door with an invisible hand, shutting Noah in and shutting the world out. A week then passed without rain while the people mocked and derided and reviled, until mercy ended and probation closed.
Their unbelief and disbelief did not prevent the predicted event, hinder it, or make the message of no effect. The steady rain came as divine interference, falling gently at first and then increasing in power. The waters truly covered the earth in general ruin, prevailing until they covered the mountains and overtook the scoffing world.
Justice and Deliverance
All outside the ark perished in their sins in the prevailing waters, with no person or animal left alive outside, while only eight righteous souls, Noah and his family, who believed the word were shut in and saved. The covering of the mountains fulfilled the warning that those who refused to obey the commandments would perish in the flood, and the vast population that followed its own pleasure and mocked was swept away until only those eight were saved. The waters drowned those who had mocked Noah while the ark carried him and his family safely above them.
By God's power the immense ark needed no iron standards or human supports, for the great sea itself bore it up and it rode safely upon the troubled waters and the deep. It floated safely on the troubled waters while those outside who had refused a place of refuge climbed to the tops of the highest trees and highest mountains and were overtaken and swept into the boiling deep, so that no high ground could save them and those outside wished for a place within it. For five long months those inside were tossed about apparently at the mercy of wind and wave in a trying ordeal that often seemed must end in perishing, yet faith did not waver for there was assurance that the divine hand was upon the helm. It was safe under protecting care, guided by a divine hand amid tempest, thunder and lightning, because the door God shut had shut Noah in and shut the world out and probation had ended.
The rising to cover the mountains vindicated the honor of the law and divine authority, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, put a check on sin, and showed the truth of the word with its reward of obedience and penalty of disobedience. Men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace, and after one hundred and twenty years of warning the measure of iniquity was full, so God in wrath blotted out the race indifferent to the law and prevented men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience. The destruction of the corrupt was an act of mercy to the world, and love no less than justice demanded that judgment put a check on sin when interposition was needed, with mercy mingled with judgment in saving Noah and appearing as avenger to the wicked and protector of the righteous. The loftiest mountains became the last retreat of doomed sinners in a shoreless ocean, where those who had ridiculed the warnings longed for one hour's probation and one more privilege of mercy, but the sweet voice of mercy was no more to be heard and the avenging waters swept over that last retreat until the despisers perished in the black depths.
That deliverance of the ark above the mockers illustrates God's care for His faithful people when judgment comes. Their rejection was followed by the withdrawal of God's Spirit, and they perished in the waters. By the standard of God's law the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient at a most critical time, when the one-hundred-and-twenty-year probation in mercy closed and universal scorn was heaped upon the law. Noah and his family preserved that law and were saved in the ark by God's miracle because they did right, and with his helpers he worked constantly and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn, while many believing ones kept the faith and died triumphant.
Earth Changed Afterwards
The covering of the mountains belongs to the flood that broke up the earth's surface and changed it, re-forming its crust and leaving it broken and uneven and solitary. That breaking and re-forming explains the great changes the earth has undergone, and in the new crust was preserved evidence of the plants and animals and trees that existed before the flood. The deluge that rose to cover the earth was a great increase of the curse upon the earth because of human sin and disobedience.
The flood that rose high enough to cover the mountains buried men and animals and trees much larger than any now found, and preserved them in the earth as evidence that the antediluvians perished in the flood. The remains found in the earth belong to a world that differed greatly from the present. Their time can be known only from the inspired history of the flood, and cannot be rightly inferred from geology alone.
The same waters that stood fifteen cubits above the highest mountains destroyed trees and flowering shrubs across the earth. Noah carried seeds with him in the ark, and God preserved some living trees and shrubs through the flood for later generations. As the waters decreased, God remembered Noah and caused the ark to rest upon a cluster of mountains which He had preserved through the storm.
The destruction by waters that prevailed until the mountains were covered was afterward murmured against by the builders of Babel as an act of arbitrary severity, instead of being gratefully remembered with God's mercy to Adam and His gracious covenant with Noah. While accusing God of severity for the flood, they were accepting the rule of Satan, the cruelest of tyrants. Many denied God and attributed the flood to natural causes, while others believed a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world and rebelled against Him like Cain, disbelieving His covenant that He would not again bring a flood upon the earth. The height the waters reached above the mountains was known on the plain of Shinar, and the tower builders tried to carry their structure much higher than those waters had reached so they would be safe beyond all possibility of danger if another deluge should come. They also wanted to ascend to the region of the clouds to ascertain the cause of the flood, and the whole effort exalted the pride of its projectors and was meant to turn future generations away from God into idolatry.
Warning for Last Days
The flood is real history, affirmed by Christ as fact, and Noah's generation foreshadows the character of the age just before Christ appears. After Noah entered the ark people went on with ordinary, careless lives, unaware their doom was fixed. They had forgotten admonition and warning, sleeping in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure, putting far off the coming of the Lord, laughing at warnings and calling those who would arouse them fanatics, enthusiasts, and not level-headed, while lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God pursued plans and inventions of iniquity and the routine of money-making without regard to principle. Taken unawares, their sudden destruction typifies the day when the Son of man is revealed, when Christ comes as a thief.
The flood came and swept away earth's inhabitants because wickedness had increased, and the same condition exists today with only a very short time left to prepare before another general destruction of the wicked. Even the remarkable evidence of the animals quietly entering two and two under God's invisible leadership failed to impress the hardened people, who would not humble themselves but made light of Noah and his family. After Noah entered, God Himself shut the door, and a week passed without rain while the people mocked and derided, then rain fell gently at first and grew in power until every living thing was destroyed and the waters prevailed to cover the mountains. That total destruction after the shutting of the ark, when waters rose over all high land and the old world perished, meets a present world whose wickedness is increasing as in Noah's days and whose time is very short. The coming of the animals two by two with no visible leader was a last sign, then came the command to close the ark and mercy ended.
The days of Noah that ended in flood were marked by prevailing selfishness and violence and crime, and the same selfishness and violence and crime prevail as the close of this earth's history approaches, so believers in the Bible must take their stand for righteousness and truth. The flood that swept away Noah's generation warns of judgment awaiting a world that turns from God and fills with violence and wickedness. The mountains were covered because the wickedness of the old world was so great God would no longer bear with it, and by water He washed the earth clean of its moral pollution. That history is to be kept before the mind and understood as the result of selfishness, covetousness, violence, crime, and every kind of wickedness, with nation rising against nation and watching for advantage, calling attention to the signs of the times. God regards the world today as He regarded it in Noah's time and sends His messages now as then, for this age repeats the wickedness before the flood, while calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea increase. Mere outward help in the warning work does not save, for many helped build the ark who did not believe the startling message, did not cleanse themselves from wrong principles, and did not overcome temptation to do and say things wholly contrary to God's mind and will, and they perished in the covering waters.
The rising flood left no refuge on earth and all unbelievers outside perished in their sins, with no person or animal left alive outside, because men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace by presuming on mercy, despising warnings, and going decidedly against known law with extraordinary self-importance, pride, and unrighteousness. After one hundred and twenty years of probation with Noah preaching ever more earnestly amid scorn, and after a final week of testing in which believers were shut in by an invisible hand while mockers reviled, steady rain came as divine interference. God in wrath vindicated the honor of His law, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, blotted out the race indifferent to His law, and kept men from continually spoiling one another in disobedience, showing that the whole human family can go so far in disgraceful transgression that destruction becomes necessary, a warning for the days of the Son of man. So now the last call of mercy will close unheard by men blinded by peace-and-safety theories, character will stand fixed as holy or filthy, and only those who humble themselves under God, serve Him alone, wake up, and get ready will escape being everlastingly too late. Even the highest peaks stood at last in a shoreless ocean and the loftiest mountains became the last retreat of doomed sinners, who no longer ridiculed God's servant but longed for slighted opportunities, pleading for one hour's probation, one more privilege of mercy, one call from Noah's lips. The sweet voice of mercy was to be heard by them no more, for love no less than justice demanded that judgment check sin, and the avenging waters swept over that last retreat until the despisers of God perished in the black depths.
The inhabitants left idol groves, mansions, works of gold, and temples of precious stones and fled from place to place ever seeking higher foothold until only a world of water remained and the mountains were covered. They were filled with remorse but not repentance, with hatred and sorrow as Noah's sermons and God's denunciations came vividly to mind, and would gladly have welcomed the invitation to the ark and Noah's prayers. Trees were uprooted into boiling, seething waters and wrecks of palaces and temples tossed about, but the ark was safe under God's protecting care, guided by a divine hand amid tempest, thunder, and lightning, because the door God shut had shut Noah in and shut the world out and probation had ended.
The destruction of the Noachic world by prevailing, mountain-covering waters came because after God granted one hundred and twenty years to choose between evil and good, men deliberately chose their own wicked ways and did not use the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. Once again before the great destruction of the world by fire there is granted a period of test and trial in which men may show whether they will be loyal to God and obey His law. The waters that prevailed and covered the mountains destroyed the old world as punishment for disobedience to God's requirements, and did not wash transgressors straight into glory, for God is too merciful to execute the final penalty of His law in that way. Transgression brings destruction, proving obedience to all of God's law absolutely essential to eternal life, and no one can reach heaven while both transgressing and obeying the law. The flood waters destroyed all who refused God's offers of mercy after one hundred and twenty years of probation, though God would have saved every obedient soul, and surrounding influences that draw attention from God and heavenly things are no excuse, for it is no harder to form a character for eternal life now than in Noah's days. Their destruction proves that whatever a man sows he must also reap, with a sure reaping time known by a God who understands every action of life. When disregard of God's law had become almost universal and almost all remembrance of Him had passed from the earth, with violence, crime, and every kind of sin intensely active and wickedness at so great a height, the Lord brought waters and swept away the wicked, mingling mercy with judgment in saving Noah and his family. God is mindful of what passes on earth and when crisis comes reveals Himself and interposes to hinder Satan's plans and sustain and vindicate His people, and He will do so again when defiance of the law is almost universal and His people, pressed in affliction, seek Him with all their hearts as Deliverer.
Noah fulfilled God's will in bearing warning to the impenitent, pleasure-loving, corrupt inhabitants of his world, yet only eight of that vast population accepted it, fled to the ark for refuge, and were saved when the waters prevailed. His message condemned the world and is the pattern for the last message of mercy now to be given, a truth requiring self-denial and the lifting of the cross, to be carried to regions beyond so all have sufficient light to accept saving truth, obey all God's commandments, and be saved, proving a savor of life unto life to some and of death unto death to others. The same unbelief that prevailed before the flood will exist before Christ's coming, when moral darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, yet duty remains to lift the warning voice and show professed children of God their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. The flood swept all the rest of the vast world out of existence while saving only Noah and his family, eight persons, showing God does destroy the wicked despite His goodness and mercy, even when great and good men, philosophers, scientific and learned men refuse to believe and perish with the rest. As in Noah's day, so now only a few who fear God and keep His commandments, who keep the Sabbath and believe the warning message, will be spared while the sinful and disobedient perish in the general conflagration by fire. Since the whole world perished, proving great numbers do not follow God and only a few believe and are saved, believers must not be discouraged when only a few believe present truth, must not follow the majority if they would see heaven, and must not turn aside to fables in place of truth.
Noah was preserved in the ark God had prepared for him while destruction fell on all outside when iniquity had become common and the world had become as in Noah's days. The same condition is fast coming on the whole world before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, when everything in nature will be convulsed with fire, earthquakes, and destruction of human life, and as Noah was preserved so God will be the refuge of His believing ones and hide them in trouble so no evil befalls them. The flood cleansed the earth when water from the heavens united with water in the earth's bowels until the mountains were covered. That cleansing by water points to the last great day when God's fire will purify the earth as fire from heaven unites with fire stored in the earth, warning to prepare for what is coming, to give account for wasted time and money, since Christ is soon coming to take those who loved Him and waited for His appearing and to reject those given to pleasure-seeking, display, and perishing riches. God once swept the earth's moral corruption away with a sea of water that prevailed over the highest ground in Noah's day. That destruction by water will not be repeated; God will soon sweep the earth's moral corruption away again, but by a sea of fire no human devising can quench, speedily avenging His own elect who cry to Him day and night.
The mountain-covering waters destroyed the antediluvian world because men transgressed God's holy law and would not heed the admonitions given them. That judgment gives a lesson embracing all time on the sure result of transgression, standing in one line with the destruction of Sodom for disobeying the laws of God's kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem for not heeding God's messages, and the final destruction of the whole impenitent world in the closing period of its history.
The waters rose fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering even the highest peaks until the earth lay as a shoreless ocean with no refuge remaining. They prevailed by rain torrents from the opened heavens uniting with waters bursting from the broken-up fountains of the great deep. The covering came after one hundred and twenty years of faithful warning was mocked and rejected, so that all unbelievers outside perished while only Noah and his family, eight righteous persons, were shut in and saved. In fulfilling God's word it vindicated the honor of His law, mingling mercy in saving Noah with just judgment on corruption, and it stands as the pattern of the sudden destruction to come when the world is purified not by water but by fire.
Measurement and Extent
The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward above the mountains, so that even the highest mountains were covered. As the water reached the loftiest land and the highest points, people and animals alike could not escape by climbing to high ground and perished in the flood. The rain poured forty days and forty nights until houses were invaded, temples built for idol worship were swept away, the crust of the earth was broken and the waters concealed in its bowels burst forth with violence that threw large stones and rocks into the air. People fled for safety, cried for a place of safety, pleaded for admission to the ark and clung to it until washed away, while parents with children climbed the highest branches of trees yet standing and terrified animals and terrified people climbed the highest mountains, only for wind and foaming flood to fling trees and people in and sweep animals and people together into death. No others could enter because God had shut in those who believed His word, and by the power of God the immense ark rode safely upon the waters with Noah and his family safe inside while those who had mocked perished. For five long months those inside were tossed about apparently at the mercy of wind and wave so that it often seemed they must perish in a trying ordeal, yet with assurance that the divine hand was upon the helm, and as the waters later decreased God caused the ark to rest on a cluster of mountains He had preserved through the storm.
The rising flood kept rising until it reached the loftiest land, the tops of the tallest trees and the highest peaks, leaving a shoreless ocean with no refuge on earth remaining and no high ground able to save. The rain began slowly and then poured down in torrents, and the ark floated safely upon the troubled waters while the people who had refused a place of refuge tried to escape by climbing to the tops of the mountains. Even there the water reached them and swept them into the boiling deep, so that those outside wished they had a place within it. The drowning of those who mocked while the ark carried Noah and his family safely above them illustrates God's care for His faithful people when judgment comes. The covering of the mountains explains how men, animals and trees much larger than those now found were buried and preserved, leaving evidence that the antediluvians perished in the judgment God poured upon the earth because of human sin. After Noah entered the ark, people continued their ordinary, careless lives unaware that their doom was fixed, and the extent of the covering is set forth as an example of coming judgment.
The height the waters reached above the mountains was known on the plain of Shinar, where the tower builders tried to carry their structure much higher than those waters had reached so they would be safe beyond all possibility of danger if another deluge came. Their plan showed disbelief of God's covenant that He would not again bring a flood upon the earth, with many denying God and attributing the flood to natural causes and others believing a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world and rebelling against Him like Cain. They also wanted to ascend to the region of the clouds to ascertain the cause of the flood, and the whole effort exalted the pride of the projectors and was meant to turn future generations away from God into idolatry.
The high time-worn rocky walls and layered rocks still stand from that time when the waters rose to cover the mountains, washed smooth as if polished by mountain torrents.
How Waters Prevailed
The prevailing waters came from above and beneath together, with torrents of rain from the opened heavens uniting with waters from the broken-up fountains of the great deep in overwhelming force. The rain sent from heaven joined the foundations broken up so that waters from beneath united with waters from heaven to prevail and cover the mountains. That great sea itself bore up the immense vessel built on dry land, so no iron standards or human supports were needed to hold it.
The rain began slowly and then poured forty days and forty nights in torrents. The crust of the earth was broken, and the waters concealed in its bowels burst forth with violence that threw large stones and rocks into the air. Upheaved rocks and waters recalled the terror of the outpouring of divine wrath, an awful breaking forth with power from the great deep and from the earth.
The waters kept rising higher and higher until they invaded houses and covered the surface of the earth. People fled from place to place always seeking a higher foothold for safety, leaving idol groves, mansions, works of gold and temples of precious stones until the last refuge was reached and only a world of water remained. Parents with children climbed the highest branches of trees yet standing, and terrified animals and terrified people climbed the highest mountains, crying for safety and a place of safety. They pleaded for admission to the ark and clung to it until washed away, pleading for one hour's probation, one more privilege of mercy, one call that would no more be heard, while wind and foaming flood flung trees and people in and swept animals and people together into death in the boiling, seething deep.
The flood uprooted idolized trees and swept away the inhabitants with the groves, palaces, costly works for pleasure, idol temples, fruitful trees, shady avenues, forests and gardens. Temples built for idol worship were swept away, wrecks of palaces and temples were tossed about, and trees were uprooted into boiling waters. Places of idol worship were filled with masses of rubbish and earth, and rocks concealed under the earth were thrown up to cover the most lovely adored places men had adored. The lovely home given to man was turned into a broken uneven surface and frightful solitude, leaving deep gorges and seamed and cleft rocks, caverns and channels worn by cataracts as evidence.
Reason for Judgment
The flood came because human wickedness was great in the earth, every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually, and the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence, crime and every conceivable sin. The wickedness of the old world grew so great that God would no longer bear with it, and by water He washed the earth clean of its moral pollution. That history is to be kept before the mind and understood as the result of prevailing selfishness, covetousness, violence, crime and all kinds of wickedness, with nation rising against nation and watching for advantage. Though Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others had kept the knowledge of God continually before the world, the people despised the truth, and the imaginations of their hearts were evil and only evil continually. Secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence, and for this the Lord destroyed that long-lived race by a flood whose waters prevailed to cover the mountains.
Its inhabitants had transgressed God's commandments and holy law and refused to obey, going decidedly against known law with extraordinary self-importance, pride and unrighteousness. Justice was trampled in the dust and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven. Men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace by presuming on mercy and despising warnings, and after a probation of one hundred and twenty years with Noah preaching ever more earnestly amid scorn, and after a final week of testing in which believers were shut in by an invisible hand while mockers reviled, the steady rain came as divine interference. God in wrath vindicated the honor of His law, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, blotted out the race indifferent to His law, and prevented men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience. By the standard of God's law the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient at that most critical time, fulfilling the warning that all who would not keep the commandments of heaven should drink the waters of the flood and demonstrating the truth of His word with its reward of obedience and penalty of disobedience. Noah knew God's purpose and warned the antediluvian world for one hundred and twenty years while building the immense boat on dry land where the obedient could find shelter until God's indignation was overpast, yet only eight righteous persons, Noah and his family, lived to enter the ark while the impenitent rebellious race were swept away and died in the prevailing waters. Noah was not tempted by universal scorn heaped upon God's law and upon himself and his helpers to have less reverence and love for the law, but he and those believing ones who kept the faith and died triumphant preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn, and the upheaved rocks and waters from the deep recalled the terror of that outpouring of divine wrath on a world deluged because it transgressed God's law.
Indulgence of appetite had inflamed human passions and led to widespread corruption, with gluttony and drunkenness leading to debased passions and other crimes. That indulgence is among the most flagrant sins of the fallen race and brings the greatest amount of human woe, for God has tested fallen people just where He tested man before the fall. Prevailing selfishness, covetousness, ingratitude, disregard of God's Word, honoring of multitudes, festivities and seeking own pleasure brought the moral pollution that God washed away. Iniquity abounded among the nations through disregard for the Word of God as guide in circulating the Lord's money, honoring of multitudes, holding great festivities, making everything possible of men, and seeking own pleasure. When these things are seen taking place now in America, it proves the present condition is similar to the condition in the days of Noah and exposed to the same judgment.
God had surrounded people with the precious things of earth because He loved them, in a world far exceeding the present earth in beauty, grandeur and loveliness, even beyond its majestic mountains and towering rocks. They turned those blessings into a curse by using them to gratify pride and glorify themselves. Though they lived in His house and He provided them with food and clothing from His liberal treasury, they were unmindful of His goodness, never thanked Him, and continually worked in opposition to their Creator. They defiled the earth by sinfulness, violence and corrupting works, so the Lord destroyed them and the defiled earth. Even now the curse of sin corrupts the earth and every place inhabited by human beings is debased with sin, though without that curse it would be a happy place.
Warning Given and Rejected
One hundred and twenty years were granted to repent, to overcome bad habits and to form righteous characters. During that probation Noah stood as a preacher of righteousness and faithfully warned what was coming. Directed by God and assisted by Methuselah, his sons and grandsons, and others who received his instruction, he built the immense ark on dry land. So great a vessel on dry ground looked strange, yet it was prepared as a refuge and shelter for all who would believe and enter until the indignation was overpast.
Nearly all the inhabitants thought they were right and Noah was wrong. They trusted the regular order of nature and held that the waters could not overflow their boundaries. They closed their ears to truth, claimed to know more than God's faithful servant, and branded him a fanatic, visionary and alarmist. They laughed and mocked and scoffed at his words as parables, foolishness and superstition. By false science they argued that rain could never come because no sign of it had ever existed and rain seemed impossible.
Even the remarkable sight of the animals quietly entering two and two under God's invisible leadership, without a visible leader, failed to impress the hardened people, who made light of Noah and his family and did not humble themselves. Many helped Noah build the ark who did not believe the startling message, did not cleanse themselves from all wrong principles, and did not overcome temptation to do and say things contrary to the mind and will of God. After Noah entered, God Himself shut the door with an invisible hand, shutting Noah in and shutting the world out. A week then passed without rain while the people mocked and derided and reviled, until mercy ended and probation closed.
Their unbelief and disbelief did not prevent the predicted event, hinder it, or make the message of no effect. The steady rain came as divine interference, falling gently at first and then increasing in power. The waters truly covered the earth in general ruin, prevailing until they covered the mountains and overtook the scoffing world.
Justice and Deliverance
All outside the ark perished in their sins in the prevailing waters, with no person or animal left alive outside, while only eight righteous souls, Noah and his family, who believed the word were shut in and saved. The covering of the mountains fulfilled the warning that those who refused to obey the commandments would perish in the flood, and the vast population that followed its own pleasure and mocked was swept away until only those eight were saved. The waters drowned those who had mocked Noah while the ark carried him and his family safely above them.
By God's power the immense ark needed no iron standards or human supports, for the great sea itself bore it up and it rode safely upon the troubled waters and the deep. It floated safely on the troubled waters while those outside who had refused a place of refuge climbed to the tops of the highest trees and highest mountains and were overtaken and swept into the boiling deep, so that no high ground could save them and those outside wished for a place within it. For five long months those inside were tossed about apparently at the mercy of wind and wave in a trying ordeal that often seemed must end in perishing, yet faith did not waver for there was assurance that the divine hand was upon the helm. It was safe under protecting care, guided by a divine hand amid tempest, thunder and lightning, because the door God shut had shut Noah in and shut the world out and probation had ended.
The rising to cover the mountains vindicated the honor of the law and divine authority, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, put a check on sin, and showed the truth of the word with its reward of obedience and penalty of disobedience. Men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace, and after one hundred and twenty years of warning the measure of iniquity was full, so God in wrath blotted out the race indifferent to the law and prevented men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience. The destruction of the corrupt was an act of mercy to the world, and love no less than justice demanded that judgment put a check on sin when interposition was needed, with mercy mingled with judgment in saving Noah and appearing as avenger to the wicked and protector of the righteous. The loftiest mountains became the last retreat of doomed sinners in a shoreless ocean, where those who had ridiculed the warnings longed for one hour's probation and one more privilege of mercy, but the sweet voice of mercy was no more to be heard and the avenging waters swept over that last retreat until the despisers perished in the black depths.
That deliverance of the ark above the mockers illustrates God's care for His faithful people when judgment comes. Their rejection was followed by the withdrawal of God's Spirit, and they perished in the waters. By the standard of God's law the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient at a most critical time, when the one-hundred-and-twenty-year probation in mercy closed and universal scorn was heaped upon the law. Noah and his family preserved that law and were saved in the ark by God's miracle because they did right, and with his helpers he worked constantly and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn, while many believing ones kept the faith and died triumphant.
Earth Changed Afterwards
The covering of the mountains belongs to the flood that broke up the earth's surface and changed it, re-forming its crust and leaving it broken and uneven and solitary. That breaking and re-forming explains the great changes the earth has undergone, and in the new crust was preserved evidence of the plants and animals and trees that existed before the flood. The deluge that rose to cover the earth was a great increase of the curse upon the earth because of human sin and disobedience.
The flood that rose high enough to cover the mountains buried men and animals and trees much larger than any now found, and preserved them in the earth as evidence that the antediluvians perished in the flood. The remains found in the earth belong to a world that differed greatly from the present. Their time can be known only from the inspired history of the flood, and cannot be rightly inferred from geology alone.
The same waters that stood fifteen cubits above the highest mountains destroyed trees and flowering shrubs across the earth. Noah carried seeds with him in the ark, and God preserved some living trees and shrubs through the flood for later generations. As the waters decreased, God remembered Noah and caused the ark to rest upon a cluster of mountains which He had preserved through the storm.
The destruction by waters that prevailed until the mountains were covered was afterward murmured against by the builders of Babel as an act of arbitrary severity, instead of being gratefully remembered with God's mercy to Adam and His gracious covenant with Noah. While accusing God of severity for the flood, they were accepting the rule of Satan, the cruelest of tyrants. Many denied God and attributed the flood to natural causes, while others believed a supreme being had destroyed the antediluvian world and rebelled against Him like Cain, disbelieving His covenant that He would not again bring a flood upon the earth. The height the waters reached above the mountains was known on the plain of Shinar, and the tower builders tried to carry their structure much higher than those waters had reached so they would be safe beyond all possibility of danger if another deluge should come. They also wanted to ascend to the region of the clouds to ascertain the cause of the flood, and the whole effort exalted the pride of its projectors and was meant to turn future generations away from God into idolatry.
Warning for Last Days
The flood is real history, affirmed by Christ as fact, and Noah's generation foreshadows the character of the age just before Christ appears. After Noah entered the ark people went on with ordinary, careless lives, unaware their doom was fixed. They had forgotten admonition and warning, sleeping in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure, putting far off the coming of the Lord, laughing at warnings and calling those who would arouse them fanatics, enthusiasts, and not level-headed, while lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God pursued plans and inventions of iniquity and the routine of money-making without regard to principle. Taken unawares, their sudden destruction typifies the day when the Son of man is revealed, when Christ comes as a thief.
The flood came and swept away earth's inhabitants because wickedness had increased, and the same condition exists today with only a very short time left to prepare before another general destruction of the wicked. Even the remarkable evidence of the animals quietly entering two and two under God's invisible leadership failed to impress the hardened people, who would not humble themselves but made light of Noah and his family. After Noah entered, God Himself shut the door, and a week passed without rain while the people mocked and derided, then rain fell gently at first and grew in power until every living thing was destroyed and the waters prevailed to cover the mountains. That total destruction after the shutting of the ark, when waters rose over all high land and the old world perished, meets a present world whose wickedness is increasing as in Noah's days and whose time is very short. The coming of the animals two by two with no visible leader was a last sign, then came the command to close the ark and mercy ended.
The days of Noah that ended in flood were marked by prevailing selfishness and violence and crime, and the same selfishness and violence and crime prevail as the close of this earth's history approaches, so believers in the Bible must take their stand for righteousness and truth. The flood that swept away Noah's generation warns of judgment awaiting a world that turns from God and fills with violence and wickedness. The mountains were covered because the wickedness of the old world was so great God would no longer bear with it, and by water He washed the earth clean of its moral pollution. That history is to be kept before the mind and understood as the result of selfishness, covetousness, violence, crime, and every kind of wickedness, with nation rising against nation and watching for advantage, calling attention to the signs of the times. God regards the world today as He regarded it in Noah's time and sends His messages now as then, for this age repeats the wickedness before the flood, while calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea increase. Mere outward help in the warning work does not save, for many helped build the ark who did not believe the startling message, did not cleanse themselves from wrong principles, and did not overcome temptation to do and say things wholly contrary to God's mind and will, and they perished in the covering waters.
The rising flood left no refuge on earth and all unbelievers outside perished in their sins, with no person or animal left alive outside, because men had exceeded the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace by presuming on mercy, despising warnings, and going decidedly against known law with extraordinary self-importance, pride, and unrighteousness. After one hundred and twenty years of probation with Noah preaching ever more earnestly amid scorn, and after a final week of testing in which believers were shut in by an invisible hand while mockers reviled, steady rain came as divine interference. God in wrath vindicated the honor of His law, repressed the increase of unrighteousness, limited human life, blotted out the race indifferent to His law, and kept men from continually spoiling one another in disobedience, showing that the whole human family can go so far in disgraceful transgression that destruction becomes necessary, a warning for the days of the Son of man. So now the last call of mercy will close unheard by men blinded by peace-and-safety theories, character will stand fixed as holy or filthy, and only those who humble themselves under God, serve Him alone, wake up, and get ready will escape being everlastingly too late. Even the highest peaks stood at last in a shoreless ocean and the loftiest mountains became the last retreat of doomed sinners, who no longer ridiculed God's servant but longed for slighted opportunities, pleading for one hour's probation, one more privilege of mercy, one call from Noah's lips. The sweet voice of mercy was to be heard by them no more, for love no less than justice demanded that judgment check sin, and the avenging waters swept over that last retreat until the despisers of God perished in the black depths.
The inhabitants left idol groves, mansions, works of gold, and temples of precious stones and fled from place to place ever seeking higher foothold until only a world of water remained and the mountains were covered. They were filled with remorse but not repentance, with hatred and sorrow as Noah's sermons and God's denunciations came vividly to mind, and would gladly have welcomed the invitation to the ark and Noah's prayers. Trees were uprooted into boiling, seething waters and wrecks of palaces and temples tossed about, but the ark was safe under God's protecting care, guided by a divine hand amid tempest, thunder, and lightning, because the door God shut had shut Noah in and shut the world out and probation had ended.
The destruction of the Noachic world by prevailing, mountain-covering waters came because after God granted one hundred and twenty years to choose between evil and good, men deliberately chose their own wicked ways and did not use the opportunity to repent and turn to Him. Once again before the great destruction of the world by fire there is granted a period of test and trial in which men may show whether they will be loyal to God and obey His law. The waters that prevailed and covered the mountains destroyed the old world as punishment for disobedience to God's requirements, and did not wash transgressors straight into glory, for God is too merciful to execute the final penalty of His law in that way. Transgression brings destruction, proving obedience to all of God's law absolutely essential to eternal life, and no one can reach heaven while both transgressing and obeying the law. The flood waters destroyed all who refused God's offers of mercy after one hundred and twenty years of probation, though God would have saved every obedient soul, and surrounding influences that draw attention from God and heavenly things are no excuse, for it is no harder to form a character for eternal life now than in Noah's days. Their destruction proves that whatever a man sows he must also reap, with a sure reaping time known by a God who understands every action of life. When disregard of God's law had become almost universal and almost all remembrance of Him had passed from the earth, with violence, crime, and every kind of sin intensely active and wickedness at so great a height, the Lord brought waters and swept away the wicked, mingling mercy with judgment in saving Noah and his family. God is mindful of what passes on earth and when crisis comes reveals Himself and interposes to hinder Satan's plans and sustain and vindicate His people, and He will do so again when defiance of the law is almost universal and His people, pressed in affliction, seek Him with all their hearts as Deliverer.
Noah fulfilled God's will in bearing warning to the impenitent, pleasure-loving, corrupt inhabitants of his world, yet only eight of that vast population accepted it, fled to the ark for refuge, and were saved when the waters prevailed. His message condemned the world and is the pattern for the last message of mercy now to be given, a truth requiring self-denial and the lifting of the cross, to be carried to regions beyond so all have sufficient light to accept saving truth, obey all God's commandments, and be saved, proving a savor of life unto life to some and of death unto death to others. The same unbelief that prevailed before the flood will exist before Christ's coming, when moral darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, yet duty remains to lift the warning voice and show professed children of God their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. The flood swept all the rest of the vast world out of existence while saving only Noah and his family, eight persons, showing God does destroy the wicked despite His goodness and mercy, even when great and good men, philosophers, scientific and learned men refuse to believe and perish with the rest. As in Noah's day, so now only a few who fear God and keep His commandments, who keep the Sabbath and believe the warning message, will be spared while the sinful and disobedient perish in the general conflagration by fire. Since the whole world perished, proving great numbers do not follow God and only a few believe and are saved, believers must not be discouraged when only a few believe present truth, must not follow the majority if they would see heaven, and must not turn aside to fables in place of truth.
Noah was preserved in the ark God had prepared for him while destruction fell on all outside when iniquity had become common and the world had become as in Noah's days. The same condition is fast coming on the whole world before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, when everything in nature will be convulsed with fire, earthquakes, and destruction of human life, and as Noah was preserved so God will be the refuge of His believing ones and hide them in trouble so no evil befalls them. The flood cleansed the earth when water from the heavens united with water in the earth's bowels until the mountains were covered. That cleansing by water points to the last great day when God's fire will purify the earth as fire from heaven unites with fire stored in the earth, warning to prepare for what is coming, to give account for wasted time and money, since Christ is soon coming to take those who loved Him and waited for His appearing and to reject those given to pleasure-seeking, display, and perishing riches. God once swept the earth's moral corruption away with a sea of water that prevailed over the highest ground in Noah's day. That destruction by water will not be repeated; God will soon sweep the earth's moral corruption away again, but by a sea of fire no human devising can quench, speedily avenging His own elect who cry to Him day and night.
The mountain-covering waters destroyed the antediluvian world because men transgressed God's holy law and would not heed the admonitions given them. That judgment gives a lesson embracing all time on the sure result of transgression, standing in one line with the destruction of Sodom for disobeying the laws of God's kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem for not heeding God's messages, and the final destruction of the whole impenitent world in the closing period of its history.