True or False - According to the Bible.... -More than two of every animal went into the ark; -The historical revelation of Noah and the flood is given to explain the existence of rainbows; -The historical revelation of Noah, the ark, the flood and the rainbow occurs only one time in one book of the Bible (Genesis,) making its belief inconsequential; -The lesson of Noah and the ark is God’s love for animals, thus making it a nice, pleasant children’s story.
Dear Prayer Warriors, Each week a series of True and False questions will be posted, with the answers below. The object of these questions is for you to test yourself--not a test of obscure Bible trivia, but a test of whether you are holding to Biblical revelation or to myths and legends passed down by ignorant men. You should ask yourself, “If I have believed this myth, what other myths do I believe?” The goal is that you will be challenged to faithfully read and study the Holy Scriptures and base your convictions on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God.
True or False - According to the Bible....
Noah and the Ark...
1. More than two of every animal went into the ark - True Gen 7:2 "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female.
2. The historical revelation of Noah and the flood is given to explain the existence of rainbows - False The reason for the flood – Genesis 6:5-7 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." The reasons given in this passage for the flood are as follows –Sin, Sorrow (of God, caused by the sin of man); Wrath (of God, in response to the sin of man); Judgment (by God, in response to the sin of man); Salvation of God’s elect or chosen ones, who will perpetuate the existence of mankind after the flood. After the flood, God made a covenant with man to never again destroy the world with water. In the context of this, He (God) points out the occurrence of the rainbow and what this should bring to mind in the hearts of men. Gen 9:13-117 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. "And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow 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; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon 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."
God does not say that this was the first rainbow. It may or may not have been. God does say that the meaning or symbolism of the rainbow from this time forward is that it is a symbol of God’s covenant with man. This revelation is recounted in other places in the Bible, always in relation to the sovereign judgment of God, not to why there are rainbows. The accounts in Genesis are the accounts of man’s relation with His creator and not mythological explanations for natural occurring phenomena. To reduce the great historical revelation of the judgment of God upon the world and the preservation of mankind in the midst of this judgment, is simplistic, at best--at worst it is to play into the hands of liberal theologians and secularists who wish to reduce the great accounts of God’s actions in Holy Scripture to myths.
3. The historical revelation of Noah, the ark, the flood and the rainbow occur only one time in one book of the Bible (Genesis) making its belief inconsequential. References to Noah and the flood occur in numerous places throughout Holy Scripture. So numerous, in fact, that to question the historical and doctrinal truths of this account is to question the entire revelation of God the Holy Spirit in Holy Scriptures. Some examples of this are… The Law - Genesis 7:11-12 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." The Psalms - Psalms 29:10 The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever." The Prophets - Isaiah 54:9 "For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you." Jesus (The Gospels) - Matthew 24:38-39 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be." The Apostles (The Epistles) - 2 Peter 2:5 "...and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly."
Notice, in the above passages, that the historical revelation of Noah and the flood is given in the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. It is held as true by both Jesus and the Apostles. To question Noah and the flood, is not only to question the authority of Scripture but of the very divine nature of Jesus.
4. The lesson of Noah and the ark is God’s love for animals, thus making it a nice, pleasant children’s story. - False Genesis 7:21-23 21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The historical revelation of the flood in Genesis is not meant to be a teaching on the importance of zoos, nor of ecology, nor of God’s love for animals. It is a teaching of God’s judgment of all mankind and, with mankind, all animals. Reference to animals in this account is purely secondary and these creatures are preserved, not because of God’s mercy and favor but out of necessity to man. Man is to rule over these animals and eat them.( Genesis 9:2 & 3 "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.") Animals were preserved but not for the same reason that mankind was preserved. Man will put animals to work, man will raise animals to eat, man will hunt them down and eat them. They are preserved for man not for their own existence. One can see this in the first action in which Noah was to slaughter animals as a sacrifice to God. (Genesis 8:20-21 "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. The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, 'I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.'") This slaughter was pleasing to God. Parents do a great disservice to their children by perpetuating the apocryphal myths of Noah, the ark and the pretend zoo story of the ark. Parents should remember that those cute pretend animals in the children’s stories with goofy human-like expressions are destined to be slaughtered for a pleasing sacrifice to God or for food for man. Parents need to teach their children the truth about Noah and the flood and not perpetuate myths concerning animals, zoos, rainbows, animal rights and the vegan lifestyle.
Later this week – Sanctity of Marriage Part Three By His Mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon - Director Grace Community International
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