Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #19 of Genesis, chapter 7 and we are going to read Genesis 7:17-20:

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

I will stop reading there. In these verses God is telling us the effects of the flood. It was forty days upon the earth and this time He does not say “forty days and forty nights.” I am not sure why. In the other places where He does speak of “forty days and forty nights” He does so in connection with the rain. Here it is a different word. It is the word “flood” that identifies primarily with the flood of Noah’s day and the deluge that destroyed the earth. We know that the number “40” has to do with judgment and testing, so it is judgment day for the first earth and the flood was “forty days upon the earth” and this has to be referring to the forty days of rain, but for some reason the Lord is noting that forty-day period, but we know that the waters continued to rise and prevail for five months and the earth was not fully dry until a year later. The Lord is emphasizing the first forty-day period. Again, it says in Genesis 7:17:

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

The waters increased. The rain continued to fall and the waters from beneath continued to come up and the level of the water rose continually, especially during the forty-day period and this served to “bare up the ark.” It was like a boat in “dry dock” and they flooded the area until there was sufficient water to bear up the vessel. The ark had been on dry land, but the waters of the flood continued to rise. The ark was an enormous vessel and very heavy and it would have required a great deal of water to lift it up, but God supplied the water and the ark was lifted up above the earth.

This is one reason the Bible tells us that they were “saved by water.” It says in 1Peter 3:20-21:

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…

The word “sometime” would better be translated as “aforetime.” The water is said to have saved the eight souls. In reading the historical account, those waters lifted them up above the earth. The water was destroying everything outside the ark and killing everything with the breath of life in the earth, but for those in the ark it served to lift them up or exalt them. This is one reason that “water” is such a good word to represent the Word of God. The Word of God is a twoedged sword that brings condemnation and destruction to the unsaved of the world, but for God’s elect it brings deliverance and eternal salvation. With the historical action of the water that literally lifted up the ark, the more it rained God’s wrath the more it lifted up the ark along with those that were in Christ.

So the way God views the flood, it was a victory for God, His Word and His people and we can see that in the language of the next verse in Genesis 7:18-20:

And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

In the last verse of this chapter it says in Genesis 7:24:

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

The word “prevailed” is used again, and again. It is an interesting word choice by God and God did choose that Word because the entire Bible is the Word of God. When a man speaks, he chooses his words. With mankind, sometimes we choose words without thinking first and that can be a problem and, yet, man chooses his words and so does God. God chose the word “prevailed” and I believe He used it four times in these verses to describe the waters of the flood. It is used in association with the “waters” in every case. It is not in regard to Noah. It is not in regard to the eight souls. It is not even in regard to the ark, but it is the “waters” that prevailed upon the earth. In each case the emphasis is the waters prevailing upon the “earth.” So God is telling us that the waters prevailed and what they prevailed against: the earth, the mountains and all the high hills. It is a strong emphasis. God chose the word “prevail” even though it is a word that is more apt to be used in connection with a battle or warfare. When enemies meet each other on the battleground, one group prevails. For instance, it is the same word that is used in Exodus 17:10-11:

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

This was an historical battle between these two nations and the Lord worked it out in order to teach the spiritual truth that when Moses held up his hand they would prevail, but when he got tired and his hand came down, Amalek prevailed. So they took a stone and put it under him and bore up is hand and Israel prevailed and they won the battle and defeated the enemy.

On the other hand, the defeat of the people of God by the hand of their enemies (typifying the destruction of the corporate church) is described in Lamentations 1:16:

For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.

That was the character of the 23-year Great Tribulation. Satan and his forces prevailed over the churches and they overcame the camp of the saints and they were victorious. They were the winners. The enemies of God and His kingdom prevailed over the corporate church, according to the purpose and will of God.

Using the same word “prevail,” it says in Isaiah 42:13:

JEHOVAH shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

So God did allow Satan to win when judgment came upon the house of God and Satan and his forces were victorious, but it only served to accomplish the will of God because the Lord had loosed Satan to accomplish His purpose of destroying the corporate church, so Satan and his kingdom of “Babylon” prevailed for 23 years. It was done in a mighty way, like never before in history, but then came the end of the Great Tribulation and “immediately after that Tribulation,” the sun was darkened, and so forth, and the judgment transitioned from the churches to the world, as represented by Babylon. Babylon had been victorious over the outward representation of the kingdom of God, but now they would fall because God was no longer using them to destroy the corporate church. Now came the time of their reckoning and Babylon fell. Its image was shattered as it came under the fierce anger of God and it was time for it to drink the portion of the cup of the wrath of God, so God made a special point to emphasize that Babylon will be prevailed against in the end. For 23 years Babylon had been the “winner.” For instance, it says in Revelation 11:7:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

It also says, concerning the beast, in Revelation 13:7-8:

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

He was winning, winning, winning throughout the entire Great Tribulation. Then the Tribulation ended on May 21, 2011 and the transition took place to judgment on the world and that was the date that identified with the beginning date of the flood. The “seventeenth day of the second month” was when the waters began to fall and we read that the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth. God is trying to be clear to avoid any confusion, especially since He is describing a spiritual judgment and according to what man saw with their physical eyes on May 21, 2011, nothing happened and nothing changed. Things are getting worse in the churches and worse in the world and we would think that Satan is still winning and still overcoming the saints. It seems like it would be the time of his power and the time of the power of darkness, but we would be absolutely wrong and we would be far away from the truth. That is why God makes it so clear. You know, I do not know how the Lord could emphasize things more than He is doing here: the “waters,” or the Word of God, has brought judgment. It is through the revealing of the Scriptures that God brought judgment on the churches. It is through revealing of the Scriptures that God brought judgment on the world and made His people aware of that judgment. The “waters” prevailed and God wants us to know that. There is an overwhelming emphasis on the “earth” in Isaiah, chapter 24 where the judgment upon the earth is in view. God kept repeating the word “earth” and He said the “inhabitants of the earth were burned and few men left.”

God wants us to know that judgment began on “the seventeenth day of the second month” and the Word of God has won. The Word of God has prevailed and is victorious. The Word of God has overcome and defeated Satan and his kingdom of this world, the earth. It is the kingdom of “Babylon” and it includes all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. When we read that the waters prevailed upon the earth, it means that the Word of God has prevailed against all the unsaved inhabitants that occupy the earth. God has defeated them. He defeated them on the day He pinpointed, which was May 21, 2011. That is when the “waters” of the Word of God began to bring judgment upon all the unsaved occupants of the world when God shut the door of heaven. The tares were bundled and cast into the fire and the image of the beast was shattered. It all occurred on that date and the “waters” continue to rise and all the high mountains and hills of the earth are submerged. The waters have risen above by 15 cubits, which is “3 x 5” and this indicates the purpose of God for the atonement of the wicked people of the world; it is the atonement they are fulfilling as they make atonement for their own sins and they have become their own sacrifice offered to God for their sins. Every sacrifice is a picture of God’s wrath and judgment upon sin, so as God is pouring out His wrath and He is consuming the sacrifice of each unsaved individual in the world. That is why it is important that the “waters” rose so high that the highest mountain was covered. We will see the significance of that later, but everything in the world was covered.

Again, when God’s people are going through this difficult and grievous time of testing and the world has thrown off all constraints in the pursuit of sin, we should not think it is an indicator that Satan has won, but it is actually an indicator that the world is under the wrath of God and they are experiencing punishment for their sin. Part of that judgment is the abounding iniquity and the losing sight of all morality. Just think of the churches after God abandoned them and they went further and further astray and became almost unrecognizable as a Christian church. Mankind in the past had some basic morality as God restrained sin in the world, but now they have been give up to sin and it is not a good thing for the world – it is part of the world’s punishment.

On May 21, 2011 the Bible was victorious. The kingdom of God was victorious. The Lord Jesus Christ was victorious. At that time all whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life had become saved. God completed His salvation program and that was certainly a victorious act as the Lord Jesus finished ransacking the kingdom of Satan and translating the last one of His people out of darkness and into His glorious kingdom. That was the winning of the battle that had raged over the souls of the elect over the course of time. God was seeking His lost sheep and Satan was attempting to resist Him at every turn and he would not let his prisoners go free, but God freed every one that belonged to Him and, therefore, He worked perfect salvation as He completed a project begun at the foundation of the world when Christ made payment for the sins of all those He intended to save. Over thousands of years, beginning with Abel, God carried out His redemption process until He saved the last person before the door shut on May 21, 2011. It was a triumphant day for that reason alone.

But not only did God complete the salvation plan He had set in motion at the beginning of time, but it was on May 21, 2011 that the kingdom of “Babylon” fell. The kingdom of Satan fell because they were defeated. The battleground was the souls of the elect and never again would God have to send forth His Word into enemy territory to seek His lost sheep. The battle was over. It was fought for a particular purpose and God accomplished His purpose and, therefore, there is no more reason to continue the battle. The longstanding spiritual battle that raged for thousands of years came to a close on May 21, 2011. The Lord had loosed Satan and permitted him to enter into the churches and rule over the congregations. It was all God’s doing. God was the one that gave Satan his official title to rule over the churches, but God took back that sceptre of rule and God put down Satan and deposed him. Satan no longer rules over the churches or over the world.

Instead, the Lord Jesus Christ has taken the kingdom, just like the King of the Medes and the Persians took Babylon or just like Haman was hanged on the seventeenth day of the second month and Mordecai reigned over the house of Haman. Christ now rules over everything that Satan had previously ruled over, but Christ is now ruling with a rod of iron. He is not ruling for the benefit of those in the churches or the benefit of those in the world, but He is ruling to punish them for the wages of sin, which is death. Christ reigns. He is ruling over all the world and the final judgment is under way.

There was an enormous change in the world that occurred May 21, 2011. That is why things seem so different and unusual to the people of God and, yet, it is a positive change when viewed through the Word of God, the Bible. We cannot look at events or things that have happened through our own experiences or the outward appearance, but we have to look at things through the Bible. When we do, then we see that God has prevailed. The Word of God has prevailed. It has brought the judgment it declared it would. It has conquered the kingdom of Satan and set all the captives free. The Lord Jesus Christ has been greatly exalted and lifted up and His people with Him. As Christ is judging the world, the Bible says, “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?” God’s people are judging the world with Him. Christ is the stone that has smitten the image of the beast and God’s people are the “living stones” that are also involved in that task. It was a glorious day, much to be remembered.