What an awesome time we had in Bible Study
on 3-11-15. God is truly moving in Grace Community Church. Tonight we were continuing
our study of "Hearing from God" and discussing Noah. As we
continued, we began reading in Genesis 7:
Gen 7:20–24 The
water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 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; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils
was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 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 water prevailed
upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”
A great question
was posed: “Where did the fishes go?”
The initial answer was “I don’t know.” This is not a question that I had ever thought
of. But with the benefit of time and some
research, we can actually answer the question.
1. One thing to
consider is the fossil record which says that fishes actually existed and there
were many different types. Genesis 1:20
discusses the creation of the sea creatures and the things that swarm in the
sea. Whether we take an “old earth” or “young
earth” position, the fossil record speaks for itself. Even if this was millions of years ago, there
are fossils that say that fish thrived during this time.
2. If we examine
the scripture in Genesis 7 closely, it says that God blotted out every living
thing that was on the face of the land.
The sea creatures were not mentioned.
The fact that they were not mentioned leaves room for interpretation.
3. We have to
consider the reason for the flood in the first place. Genesis 6:5-8 “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.”
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
The true reason
for the flood was the sinfulness of mankind.
The animals died as a result of the sins of man. We would call that collateral damage. We understand from this and from what we read
later that the Lord was getting ready to perform a hard reset on the earth and
repopulate it using Noah and his family and the animals that were saved with
them. The scripture says who/what will
be blotted out but did not mention the fishes.
4. The excess water
would not really affect the fishes because this was their natural habitat. It is rational that they should have been
able to survive. The sin of man is what
grieved God, the animals did not grieve Him because they could not/cannot
sin. When we think about the current
state of the animal world and their aggression/ survival instincts, we have to understand that in
light of how sin corrupted the natural order and brought death to both man and
beast alike.
So what is the
verdict? Did the fishes survive? I am inclined to say that many died just from
the sheer force of the currents and waves.
But we have to also think about the preservative nature of God. He told Noah to take 2 of every kind, male
and female. Genesis 6:19-20 “And of
every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them
alive with you; they shall be male and female. “Of the birds after their kind,
and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground
after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them
alive”
God took the
animals that survived and thrived using the surface of the earth as their home
and preserved them in the Ark with Noah.
There was no place for the fishes in the Ark but I am sure that, just as
the preservation of land animals was for the eventual repopulation of the earth;
God preserved some of the sea creatures so that they too would be able to multiply
when the time came. So, where were the
fishes? They were in the water and the
ones that God allowed to survive eventually mated and repopulated just like the
animals that lived on the dry land.
