When was the flood?
For those of us that didn’t know this, it’s probably astounding to find out that the Bible tells exactly when the flood occurred, to the year, month and day. How is that possible? Let’s follow through the Book of Genesis and find out.
Let’s begin in Chapter 5, where we read in verse 3, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” (Genesis 5:3). So far we have 130 years from the creation of the world. In verse 6 we read: “And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:” (Genesis 5:6). Now we are in the year 235 (130 for Adam and 105 for Seth).
In verse 9 we read: “And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:” (Genesis 5:9). This makes the year 325 (235 years plus 90 years). In verse 12 we read: “And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:” (Genesis 5:12). This adds up to 395 since Creation (325 plus 70). In verse 15 we read: “And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:” (Genesis 5:15). Now we have 460 years since Creation.
Verse 18 talks about Jared’s first born: “And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:” (Genesis 5:18). This makes a total of 622 years. In verse 21, we find out about Methuselah, Enoch’s first child: “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:” (Genesis 5:21). Now we have 687 years. Methuselah has his first child when he is 187 years old: “And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:” (Genesis 5:25). Now we are in the year 874 since Creation.
Lamech, Methuselah’s son, has his own son when he is 182 years old: “And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:” (Genesis 5:28). This makes 1056 years. Who was Lamech’s son? “And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” (Genesis 5:29).
Noah has his first child when he is considerably older than his predecessors: “And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Genesis 5:32). This makes 1556 years since Creation.
So then when was the flood? The Bible is very clear on this: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” (Genesis 7:11). Therefore, we add another 100 years to our previous total of 1556 years, and this makes the year of the Flood to be 1656 from Creation. I would be interested to find out what day of the week this happened, but I could not find any resources on this. Before the year 3761, the Jewish Calendar was not computed according to mathematical formulas, but rather by the cycle of the moon, which did not always yield predictable dates. Since these cycles were not recorded, there is really no way that I know of to trace back in time and correlate the days of the week with certain dates.
How long did the people of the earth have to repent of their sins and be saved back then? It turns out that God gave them plenty of time to get ready: “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3). That means that Noah was 480 years old when God spoke this message. His first children were yet to be born 20 years later.
How long did the Flood last? “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 7:11, 12. “And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.” Genesis 7:24. “And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. ” Genesis 4, 5.
Therefore, the Earth was under the water of the Flood from the 17th of Iyar (2nd month of the Jewish Calendar, approximately April 29th) to the 17th of Tishri (7th month of the Jewish Calendar) - approximately 147 days according to a modern Jewish calendar, and 150 days according to Genesis 7:24. I’ll take God’s word and believe on 150 days myself.
June 1st, 2006 at 1:11 pm
[...] The phrase “children of men” is explained a little better by a passage from Genesis 6:2: “… the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” This sets up a clear distinction between those who belonged to God, and those who were worldly. It’s not that the men belonged to God, and the women to the world. No, what this passage refers to is quite simple. Godly men, who should have stayed close to God and married women who also believed in God, strayed away, attracted by worldly women who did not believe in God, and married them instead, corrupting their own relationship with God, and angering Him, as detailed in verse 3 of that same chapter. As a matter of fact, I encourage you to read the entire 6th and 7th chapters of Genesis, and for some extra information, refer to this article as well. [...]