Genesis 11: The Corruption Of The Earth

Noah gathers animals on the Ark. * Earth and all living destroyed. * Flood ends after

In both Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood, man’s wickedness leads to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water sweeping the earth’s surface. The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. The floods represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, as well as the gods and God’s wrath. In Gilgamesh the gods decide to destroy mankind by flooding the earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim is chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible God also decides to flood the earth due to the increase in wickedness. God chooses Noah to build an ark and store seven pairs of every clean animal and two of every other kind of animal on it

Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” This was God’s command to Noah, unlike Utnapishtim who was told the secret of the flood by one of the gods.

At the time of this story God saw how the thoughts of mankind were evil and he decided to destroy what he had created with a great flood intending to drown the earth. He chose Noah and his family to build an ark big enough to contain two of every animal to repopulate the earth. The world was flooded for a hundred and fifty days until the water subsided back into land.

“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy the earth. Make yourself an ark…” (Genesis 6:13-14, English Standard Version) “For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6:17, ESV) “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19, ESV) “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22, ESV) “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of

Both Gilgamesh and Noah build arks because of an impending devastation of the earth by rain and flooding. Shamash had warned, "In the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down." (p. 147) God told Noah, "For in seven days' time I will make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created." (p. 172) Both boats were built to detailed specifications in order to withstand the torrents of rain. Following the cessation of the rain, both Noah and Gilgamesh send out birds as a test of the recession of the waters so that they can safely exit onto the land. Gilgamesh sends first a dove, then a swallow, and then a raven, who, "…saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back." (p. 148) Noah first sends a raven which, "…went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. " (p. 173) He then sends a dove that returns to the ark having found no resting place. After seven days Noah again sends the dove which returns with an olive leaf in its bill. "Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth. He waited still another seven days and sent the dove forth; and it did not return to him any more." (p. 173) Both Noah and Gilgamesh, immediately upon leaving their boats, make a sacrifice. Gilgamesh says, "Then I threw everything open to

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was just a man and perfect in all generations, Noah walked with God”(Genesis 6). Then the story says build an ark, “And behold, I, Even, I, do bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh”(Genesis

Reading Noah’s story from the Bible and Qur’an shows the readers that are many similarities that come up between them. They both start off with a world that has turned wicked. God in both of the texts tells Noah to construct an Ark and to make sure a pair of every animal and his family is on the Ark. When the Ark was completed and all the creatures and his family were inside, the rain came for many days. In both texts, they described that the flood covered over the highest mountains and wiping out all of civilization and all of the creatures that roamed the Earth. When the rain stopped and the flood started to dry up, Noah from the Bible and the Qur’an waited patiently in the Ark, until his boat was placed on a mountain side and he was commanded

“In the beginning Almighty God created heaven and earth and everything that goes with them and, last of all, two human beings, Adam and Eve, from who have come families. Their progeny multiplied and spread over all the world” (p. 83). As time passed, some people were good and obedient to God’s commandments, however, some people were not. They turned to a life of sin. God did not create heaven and earth for people to misbehave, so he sent a destructive flood to “drown the world and all creatures living in it” (p. 84). Before He drowned the world, God has Noah build an ark so that he could save

Noah and his family entered the ark as God had commanded. After seven days, the waters of the flood were over the earth. All the wellsprings of the great deep burst and the casements of the heavens were opened. (Genesis pg 32) It rained for forty

Noah had much faith in God. Anything that God told Noah to do, he did. One day, God asked Noah to do something huge. God told Noah to build an ark and that he would send a huge flood. God told Noah to put two of each animal that He had created in the ark and that they had to be male and female, so that they could reproduce after the flood. He also told Noah to bring his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives with him.

The destructive power of water and the flood are seen to wipe out everyone on earth except Noah and his animals he brought. God uses the flood in Genesis 8 to wipe out the sinful and corrupt people the earth is filled with. When the flood is over Noah has an earth to himself and his animals that is empty and pure again, “For the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its break was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.

The rains lasted for 40 days, but the waters rose for 110 days. The waters flooded the earth for a total of 150 days, which equals out to be five months. When the waters began to recede the ark was resting on Mount Ararat. At first the dove could not find a place to land, but eventually it was safe to leave the ark. The ark on the mountain was more than just a place to dock, it was the new beginning for the world now that it was clean and at rest.

Genesis starts off with creation. God spoke into nothing and said, “ Let there be light” and there was light. God then created the sky, land, nature, animals, and humans. It was good until sin entered the world and corrupted it. Adam and Eve sinned against God and here was the start of man’s sinful downfall. Adam and Eve had two sons Cain and Abel. Cain was jealous of God’s favor towards Abel’s sacrifice, and so he killed Abel. Cain’s ungodliness leads to a flood that was supposed to destroy man kind except for one family. God chose Noah and faithful righteous man to build an ark big enough for his family and a pair of every kind of animal to survive. God continues his plan of salvation with Noah’s family and decedents. Noah’s son Ham lead to the start of another sinful downfall. The time of the Tower of Babel came along, and a group of men wanted to build a tower tall enough to reach the heavens. God was angry, so sent confusion to the men by giving them different languages causing them to separate. God begins once again with a chosen man named Abraham. God told him to be faithful, and that he would be blessed with many descendants. Abraham wasn't patient with God and wanted to do things his own way. He went ahead and made a child with his wife’s maid

In Genesis 6:5, the heavy amount of sin that is taking place on earth is acknowledged. From this point God begins to implement a plan to erase all sin from the earth. He uses Noah as a vessel to save not only the animals