The Lord Opened the Fountains of the Deep
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain that God is a God of mercy who even gave a final seven days after waiting one hundred years for anyone to repent, even up to the last moment. However, we will see that when God shut the door, the time to repent was past. In this topic, we will learn about the judgment that came on the whole earth.
In Genesis 7:11-12, we read, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.” In these verses, we see that the exact age of Noah is given down to the day of the time that the flood began. The last previous age of Noah that is mentioned is in Genesis 5:32, where we read, “And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” As a result, it probably took Noah about one hundred years to build the ark and gather the food that would be needed during the flood.
These verses tell us that large amounts of water flooded the earth from two different sources. First, all of the fountains of the great deep were broken up. Before the flood, there had been no rain. The word translated “fountains” means a spring or source of water that comes from within the earth. The rivers throughout the earth came from fountains of water that were in the earth. Genesis 2:4-5 says, “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.” Then, Genesis 2:10 adds, “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.” Here, we see that rivers came out of the ground because God had not given rain. These rivers and other sources of water all came from the fountains of the deep.
Since there was no rain before the flood, the sources of the waters that came out of the earth to form the rivers and streams were the great fountains of the deep. We also see illustrations of such fountains of water after the flood. Moses was told, in Exodus 17:6, “’Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.’ And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” In this case, God caused enough water from a fountain in the deep to provide water for two-and-a-half to three million Israelites and their flocks from one such fountain. Many towns and cities today are also supplied by springs and artesian wells where the water comes up out of the ground. Here, we see that God caused all of these fountains of the deep to open up at the same time and pour huge amounts of water onto the earth.
Second, as the water was pouring out of these great fountains of the deep, God began to send rain from the clouds above. In fact, we see that it rained continuously on the earth for forty days and forty nights. Beginning at that time, God has continued to provide water to the earth through the rain. Isaiah 55:10 says, ““For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” As a result, God changed the primary way that He watered the earth with these great changes.
Genesis 7:13-16 says, “On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.” Once the ark was ready, God told Noah that his family as well as all of the animals and creatures that God was bringing to Noah were to go into the ark, so they were in the ark before these two sources of water brought the flood.
God is a very patient God. He had given the people a final one hundred years as the ark was being built to repent and turn to Him. However, the family of Noah was the only family that entered the ark because no one else had repented of their sin of unbelief. Now, it was time for the judgment of the rest of the people. 1 Peter 3:18-20 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” The rest of the people were destroyed, but the family of Noah was saved and taken through the water by the ark.
In addition to the family of Noah, God brought two of every kind of beast, cattle, creeping thing, and bird of every sort to enter the ark with Noah. We also see in other verses in this section that God brought seven of each of the clean animals to be taken through the flood with Noah and his family. This meant that all flesh on the earth at that time - mankind, animals, birds, and creeping things - was represented by those who were sent into the ark by God. God made sure that every species of life on the earth would be able to continue after the flood.
Once Noah and all of the creatures God had brought were in the ark, we see that the Lord shut them in. This is a key statement. God had given the wicked many years to repent. However, the day came when the promised judgment had to be carried out. Once God shut the door, no person could open it. The same thing is true for every person. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Once a sinful person dies without repentance, there is no second opportunity to repent. At that moment, the day of judgment for that person has come and there is no second chance. That is why it is important to warn all who do not believe and repent that a day of judgment is coming and they need to get ready.
Genesis 7:17-24 says, “Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.” The fountains of the deep and the rain caused the flood to cover everything.
We see that the flood waters lifted the ark high above the earth. The water continued to increase on the earth. The result was the ark was lifted off the ground and began to float. The winds and the movement of the water caused the ark to begin to move from place to place. First, all of the high hills on the earth were covered. Then, as the waters continued to increase, the day came when all of the mountains were covered. God said that the highest mountain was covered by fifteen cubits of water. A cubit is the distance from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger (about eighteen inches). This meant that the water level rose to at least twenty-two-and-a-half feet higher than the highest mountain.
That meant that every living thing on the earth that was not in the ark died. This included all of the birds, all of the cattle, all of the wild animals, and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth. Most important, every person on the earth, except those in the ark, died in the flood. Those in the ark were preserved and taken through the flood. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” This verse makes it clear that Noah was saved by faith. In contrast, the rest of the people of the world were destroyed because of their lack of faith.
God said that all those who had breath, because they had the spirit of life on what had been the dry land, died. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” In this verse, we see that Adam was given physical life when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Here, we see that when the flood waters covered those on the land who had the spirit of life, they died, because they could no longer breathe. God destroyed all living things on the earth including both man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the air. Nothing on the land survived.
In contrast, we see that Noah and those with him in the ark remained alive. The mighty acts of God were revealed by the fact that this water covered all of the mountains by the one hundred and fiftieth day. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain the fact that the flood showed the mighty acts of God by sparing those who trusted in Him while at the same time judging all of those who continued in their rebellion against Him. God is the One who has the power to save those who repent and judge those who do not. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain these things.
