How significant is the Flood in the overall biblical history?

Today Bible Study:

How significant is the Flood in the overall biblical history? 

The Bible treats the Flood as a worldwide event directly brought by God as a judgment on the sin of humanity. The flood hangs like a warning cloud over all subsequent history. Fortunately, that cloud also holds a rainbow of God’s promised grace.

Conditions in Noah’s day were ripe for judgment.“ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). This verse provides one of the strongest and clearest statements about man’s sinful nature. Many other verses make it clear that God had every reason for radical action: Jeremiah 17:9, 10; Matthew 12:34, 35; 15:18, 19; Mark 7:21; Luke 6:45. Other notable Scriptures on the worldwide flood brought by God include Job 12:15; 22:16; Psalms 29:10; 104:6–9; Isaiah 54:9; Matthew 24:37–39; Luke 17:26, 27; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:5, 6.

The Flood illustrates several important aspects of God’s character and God’s relationship with His creation: 1) God retains ultimate control of world events; 2) God can and will judge sin; 3) God can and does exercise grace even in judgment; 4) An even more universal and final judgment will be carried out on the world based on God’s timetable.