Genesis 7:11 “In the six hundredth year in the life of Noah, during the second month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, on this day all the springs of the deeps burst forth, and the waterfalls of the heavens were opened.”
The flood account provides a specific day for the start of the deluge. Most likely, the second month refers to the year of the flood and not to the second month of Noah’s six hundredth year. But that still doesn’t tell us when the flood occurred. If you read the previous post with the Excel sheet, you know why it is impossible to pinpoint the year of the flood. But why tell us the day?
The simple answer? The day is there to help with the timeline of events during the duration onboard the ark. Three distinct milestones took place while Noah’s family was on board. We’ll call them the raining, the floating, and the waiting.
Genesis 7:17 says that the deluge lasted for forty days and forty nights. Most people believe that forty days and forty nights was how long the flood lasted. But this is only the raining portion of the ark story.
Next came the floating period. Genesis 7:24 says that the water rose above the earth for 150 days. At first glance, it would seem the total number of days would be 190, but Genesis 8:4 makes it clear that the ark ran aground at the end of 150 days. That’s when the waiting began.
Chapter eight records that the ark ran aground on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month. The water continued to decline through the tenth month. On the first day of the eleventh month, Noah could see the mountain tops. After the ark ran aground, it was another three months, and then some before Noah saw any land.
The text says that after forty more days, Noah released a raven to seek ground. And then he released a dove, which came back. The additional forty days would put the timeline to the tenth day of the twelfth month. Noah waited seven days and sent the dove again with the same results. Another seven days went by, and Noah sent the dove again. This time it didn’t come back. This day would have been the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month. In less than a week, it would be the first of the first month. Noah uncovered the roof of the ark and saw that the water had receded.
It was the twenty-seventh day of the second month when God told Noah to come off the ark, exactly one year from the beginning of the deluge. Including the week of waiting for rain, Noah and his family were on the ark for one year and one week.
Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God. Noah did everything God had commanded him, and he and his family survived the destruction of all living things.