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We have ourselves a flood (Genesis 8:1-14)

1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.
7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.
8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.
9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself.
10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark.
11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.
14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.

The flood began in Genesis 7 (see notes). One year and ten days on the ark with a bunch of animals - it beats the fatal swim everyone else took. A raven and three dove flights later they get the go ahead to disembark.

Off the boat (Genesis 8:15-19)

15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

God instructs Noah to take his crowd and leave the ark. Everybody departs and touches dry land for the first time in over a year.

First order of business - an altar and sacrifice (Genesis 8:20-22)

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
22 “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

The first order of business is to make an animal sacrifice. That's why we needed the extra clean animals (verse 20) that Noah had been directed to load onto the ark back in Genesis 7:2-3 (see notes). Hmmmm...animal sacrifice...have we seen this done before? Well, recall Genesis 3:21 (see notes); there we recall that God made coats of skins to clothe Adam and Eve. I'd say that there was some sacrifice involved there, but Adam didn't do the actual sacrificing. And in Genesis 4:1-5 (see notes), it is likely (but not specified per se) that Abel placed his offering of the "firstborn of his flock and of their fat" on an altar before God. However, here we see Noah literally building his own altar and making a burnt offering of the clean animals. Today some would exclaim, "Hey...Noah...that's no way to treat an animal!" What was God's reaction to this slaughtering of innocent animals? There's your answer in verse 21, "And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma." The Hebrew word for "burnt offerings" here is "olah." This offering became a formal part of the Mosaic Law; this is the first usage of "olah" in the Old Testament.

Notice the guarantees God gives after Noah makes his burnt-offering sacrifice (verses 21-22) regarding the destruction of the earth. The guarantee from God is plain in verse 21, "... nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." That's right...no more world-wide destruction of the earth...period. In this context, God speaks directly about the flood in 9:11-17 (see below).

The Noahic covenant (Genesis 9:1-17)

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Then it's on to establishing a covenant with Noah. This covenant begins with God's promise in verse 8:21 when he says, "... nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." We know this as the Noahic Covenant (obvious...right?) Gen. 9:1 says, "So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'" Does that sound like a command to you? We'll see in Genesis 11 (see below) the significance of this verse as man declined to replenish the whole earth. They chose to stay in one locale instead.

Verse 6 says, "Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man." Here is the foundational statement regarding capital punishment. The Mosaic Law would later add much detail upon this foundation.

Then God establishes an unconditional covenant in verses 8-17.

For perspective, let's list the provisions and requirements of the Noahic Covenant:

• Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Genesis 9:1, 7)
• No more vegetarian diet (Genesis 9:2-3)
  They started out as vegetarians in Genesis 1:29-30 (see notes)
• No eating blood (Genesis 9:4)
• Personal accountability for loss of life - first mention of capital punishment (Genesis 9:5-6)
• No more global floods (Genesis 9:9-11, 15)
• The rainbow as a token of the covenant (Genesis 9:12-14, 16-17)

Regarding verses 8-17, take note of this entry found in the Jewish Study Bible:

In the Talmud, it is taught that "descendants of Noah: - that is, universal humanity - are obligated by seven commandments: (1) to establish courts of justice, (2) to refrain from blaspheming the God of Israel, as well as from (3) idolatry, (4) sexual perversion, (5) bloodshed, and (6) robbery, and (7) not to eat meat cut from a living animal (b. Sanh. 56a). Whereas Jews have hundreds of commandments in addition to these seven (traditionally, 613 altogether), Gentiles who observe the "seven commandments of the descendants of Noah" can meet with God’s full approval.

In other words, observant Jews today regard all Gentiles who observe these seven components of the "Noahide Laws" as those who meet God's approval. They fully acknowledge that the Law of Moses is for Jews - not Gentiles.

Verses 11-17 deal with the token God gave for the accompanying provision that the earth would never be destroyed by flood again. Actually, 8:21 declared that the earth would not be destroyed in its entirety by God's judgment by any means, but the immediate interest here is by flood. Hence, the rainbow becomes the token of that covenant. The rainbow wasn't just a decorative touch placed there by God as a token, there was a functional reason for it.

Consider the following with regard to the token of the rainbow:

• The "firmament" of Genesis 1:6-7 (see notes) was created to "divide the waters from the waters." This firmament "divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament." The earth was engulfed with a canopy of water.
• There was no rain before the flood according to Genesis 2:5-6 (see notes). The earth was watered by a process of evaporation and condensation between the water on the earth and the water "above the firmament."
• In Genesis 7:11 (see notes) we are told that "the windows of heaven were opened." Specifically, the canopy of water above the earth began to disintegrate, and continued to do so for 40 days. Add that to "the fountains of the great deep" (water under the surface of the earth) that were broken up, and you have a lot of water suddenly dumped upon the surface of the earth.
• So, while the canopy of water was in place over the earth, the earth was never exposed to direct rays of sunlight. It was always diffused by the moisture comprising the canopy.
• After the flood, the canopy of water over the earth was gone. Now, direct sunlight did make it all the way to the surface of the earth. Rays of sunshine refracting through pockets of moisture create rainbows. With the canopy gone, rainbows were possible. The rainbow was a sign that the canopy of water that had collapsed, causing the flood, no longer existed. Hence, no more floods were possible as long as rainbows were visible because rainbows were not possible until the canopy of water was removed.

As an aside to this discussion, you will notice that life spans began to shorten after the flood. Some have speculated that it had been the canopy of water diffusing the harmful effects of the sun on one's body that permitted extreme longevity while it was in place. Hmmmm...sounds like a viable theory to me.

An unfortunate incident (Genesis 9:18-29)

18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.
25 Then he said:
“Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brethren.”
26 And he said:
“Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

Noah had a little too much to drink from his vineyard. His son Ham went into Noah's tent and saw him uncovered. He went to tell his brothers, Shem and Japheth. They backed into Noah's tent and covered him up. When Noah awoke, he was outraged over what Ham had done (seen him disrobed), so he passed out some cursings and blessings - a curse on Ham's youngest son, Canaan, and blessings on Shem and Japheth in verses 25-27.

Incidentally, this curse was used as the basis for slavery in the early foundations of the United States of America by the proponents of the practice. It was taught that this curse meant that the black population of the continent of Africa (Ham's descendants) were preordained to be servants. Many slave owners in early America had a sincere, abiding faith in God and the Bible. However, their doctrinal basis for slavery was misguided - based on a skewed teaching of scripture.

Here's the real story regarding the curse Noah issued that day. Canaan was the only one of Ham's sons who was cursed according to verse 25. Why? I don't know. There was no curse on his other sons - the ones who actually migrated into Egypt and then into Africa. The land of Canaan should sound familiar to you. We see in Genesis 10:15-19 (see below) that this is where the descendants of Canaan landed after the flood. It was the land that became Israel's homeland per God's decree in Genesis 12:7 (see notes). This curse, whatever its generational reach, applied only to Canaan, not to the whole line of Ham. Perhaps it was only one generation, but if it applied to successive generations, we see in Joshua's conquest of the land of the Canaanites hundreds of years later that these descendants of Canaan became the servants of the Hebrews when they conquered the land.

One more thing, some have elaborated upon the scenario of Ham's sin in this passage to make his deeds much more sinister than stated. Was his shortcoming only that he "saw" the nakedness of his father? Was more than that involved? It is impossible to know. All we see here is that the actions of Ham are contrasted to the actions of his two brothers. Anything beyond that is mere speculation.

After 950 years, Noah died.

A chapter of genealogies (Genesis 10)

1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.”
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).
15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth;
16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite;
17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite;
18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed.
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.
21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.
22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24 Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber.
25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
26 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
30 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.
31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.
32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

Great excitement here - a chapter devoted to genealogies. This is one of those chapters that gives us perspective - who begat whom. Let's just make a few observations. First, notice that everyone on earth is descended from one or more of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. In verses 8-10 we see the birth of the troublemaker of chapter 11 (see below), Nimrod, the grandson of Ham through Cush. It would appear that he was a fierce fighter and exercised dominion over others.

Here's another interesting note stuck into verse 25. We are told that in one man's lifetime, the earth was divided. That man is Peleg, the great grandson of Shem. It is commonly held that, in the years following the flood, the continents of the earth were divided by the waters of the oceans. While secular scientists believe this division happened over an extended period of time, it would appear that the initial division took place while Peleg lived. It does make sense that some significant land settling must have taken place after the waters receded. I am convinced that this was the natural result of the earth's recovery from the upheaval caused by the flood. Incidentally, today's secular scientists commonly hold that the continents are still drifting in relation to each other. For more information on this subject, click here to read an article from the web site of the Institution for Creation Research. It should be noted, however, that many scholars believe that verse 23 refers to the scattering of 11:9 (see below), and not the actual drifting of the continents.

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God did give a command to Noah and his sons after they exited the ark back in Genesis 9:1 (see above). He told them to replenish the earth. Their descendants did not do so. They stayed together in one spot on the earth (verse 2), and they all had a common language. From chapter 10, we deduct that Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, headed up this venture to build a tower that would provide a common bond to the people and keep them together under one kingdom.

What exactly was this structure they attempted to build? Verse 4 gives us a hint, but not a clear answer when it says, "...let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens." In the KJV, the editors added the words "may reach (the heavens)" in italicized type, indicating that they were added for the purpose of supplying a verb that does not exist in that phrase in Hebrew. The NKJV simply says "whose top is in the heavens." In my opinion, many have read waaaaaay too much into this verse, adding their own verb combinations to make it everything from a tower that could climb up to God's abode...to a structure that displayed the signs of the zodiac on it's dome. Here's the real point: It was a city and a monument to organize a rebellion against God's command to populate the earth. Look at the last part of verse 4 to see their motivation for building the structure, "...lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." In short, God said replenish the earth; the people said, "We're staying right here!"

And...what was the name of this city? Babel, of course. The Hebrew word for "Babel" is..."Babel." As a matter of fact, it's the exact same word translated "Babylon" later in the Old Testament. And in the Book of Revelation, it's the "Babylon" (transliterated Greek word) of Revelation 18 (see notes). Since its first mention as Nimrod's base of operation in Genesis 10:10 (see above), it's always been the epitome of a city in rebellion against God - Old Testament and New Testament.

As they embarked upon this project, God confounded their language, causing them to disperse over the earth. After they gathered with people who spoke their own newly-acquired common language, the continents drifted apart to form separate land masses (remember Peleg in 10:23, see above). When we look at the genealogical record of chapters 10 and 11, we see that the descendants of Shem basically traveled east and settled on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, the descendants of Japheth northwest into Europe and the sons of Ham southwest into Egypt and Africa. Incidentally, we're all related to at least one of the three sons of Noah. Since this continental separation took place after the confusion of tongues, it is logical to assume that intermarriage between the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth took place prior to the continental separation. This obviously accounts for the unique physical characteristics of more than three races of people. Likewise, it stands to reason that, after the separation of the continents, certain physical traits would then be accentuated over the centuries that followed as they only married others with similar physical traits.

More genealogies (Genesis 11:10-32)

10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug.
21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.
23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah.
25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Here's the significance of this genealogical record - the family tree of Abraham (aka Abram). As a descendant of Shem, his ancestors had settled in Ur, a city located in the southeastern part of current-day Iraq (see map). We see in this passage that his father (Terah) took the family and migrated northwest to Haran, a city close to the border of current-day Turkey and Syria. We'll see in Genesis 12 (see notes) that God led Abraham southwest from Haran to the land of Canaan. Incidentally, Abram's father, Terah, began this move to Canaan according to verse 31. They traveled along the Euphrates to get there, a trip which led them to Haran where they settled. It would not have been feasible to head directly west across the mountain range to go to Canaan. Abraham finishes the trip to Canaan from Haran in Genesis 12 (see notes). Altogether, through Haran, the trip to Canaan would have been approximately 1,500 miles. As for the religious affiliation of Terah, notice the comment Joshua makes about Terah and Abraham's ancestors in Joshua 24:2 (see notes), "And Joshua said to all the people, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.'" Prior to Abraham, his people were polytheists. As a matter of fact, the evidence suggests that the relatives back in Haran remained polytheists when we see Laban with his idols (Rachel had lifted them) in Genesis 31 (see notes) as Jacob decides it's time to leave Laban and head back to Canaan.

One more thing...did you notice how the life spans have decreased compared to the genealogical record of Genesis 5 (see notes)? What's up with that? Well...two notable things are different at this point in contrast to Genesis 5. First of all, that canopy of water engulfing the earth disappeared after the flood (Genesis 2:5-6, see notes). Perhaps that had previously offered some protection from harsh environmental effects on the body. Secondly, their diet changed (Genesis 9:2-3, see above). However, it didn't happen immediately after the flood. It took a few hundred years of gradually-decreasing life spans before they began to fall into the range to which we are accustomed.