How many people died in the flood when Noah’s ark was built?
Well, my dear friend, I believe it would be very difficult to say with any certainty how many souls died in the flood of Noah’s day, except to say that only 8 souls were saved alive out of the total population of the earth at that time (1 Peter 3:20). If you look at Genesis 5, you’ll see the 10 generations from Adam, each with the number of years that each father lived. I suppose that number could be added up to give an idea of the timespan from Adam to Noah, But, as to children for each of these fathers, we are not given those numbers in most cases, we generally read only that they “…begat sons and daughters.” Given that people in those days lived many times the lifespans of people today, it would be very difficult to guestimate how many actual children came from these families, and then how many children each of them had in turn. The actual number of souls not recorded in Genesis 5 could certainly be very great. Regarding Noah himself, we read in Genesis 5:32 that “…Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” No children are recorded for Noah’s sons prior to the flood, and we read that the ark contained only Noah and his wife, their 3 sons and their wives, for a total of 8 souls. All the others of the world then died in the flood, and there could have been a very great number of people indeed, perhaps several millions given what I have shared above.
In any case, I believe that what we should learn from the account of Noah and the flood is that despite the fact that very many people experienced God’s judgment for their sins, God found one man, Noah, who was righteous in the sense that He believed and obeyed God, and He saved that man and his entire family based on his faith in and obedience to God’s Word. We read in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God is holy, and sin must be judged. But He is also a God of Grace. In Genesis 6:8 we read: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Noah believed God’s word about the coming judgment, and he followed God’s instructions to the letter in building an ark over the course of the next 120 years. Noah believed God and acted in faith, despite the unbelief of all the rest of the world! And, my dear friend, so must we! We read in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith”. Thus, through his actions and his words, led by the Spirit of Christ, Noah was a “preacher of righteousness,” and through his faith and obedience to the Word of God, he and his family alone were saved. Now please note, if you will, the reason for God’s grace to Noah in the words of Genesis 7:1, “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” And how is it that God saw Noah, a mere man, as righteous? I believe righteousness in God’s sight is based on our faith in the promises of God, and not on any righteousness of our own, just the same as in Noah’s day. God imputes righteousness to believers based on faith alone: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, (Romans 4:5). Faith is the key, as we see in Ephesians 2:8-9.
And now, my dear friend, I must ask you if you (or any others reading this document) have as yet been saved from the wrath that is to come? Judgment will soon come upon this sin-sick world, and it will be visited upon all ungodliness (2 Peter 3:7; Acts 17:30-31; Matthew 24:37-39). But there is good news for mankind, at least for all who will turn in faith for salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” (John 3:16-18). My dear friends, if you have not yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray you, listen to the warnings of the Scripture, for as sure as you are reading this paper, the Lord Jesus will one day return from heaven in power and righteous judgment against all evil doers. But the golden door of grace is open to you even as you read this document. Jesus truly wants to be your Savior from wrath, and this is why He came to the earth 2000 years ago. He laid down His very life upon the cross of Calvary in payment for all our sins, for all time. And all we must do is believe on Him in order to enter the ark of salvation (Christ), “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life,” (John 5:24). (SF) (633.5)