In December 2004, a massive earthquake on the floor of the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that affected over a dozen countries, some as far as 5,000 km away. More than 200,000 people died as the waves swept through villages and towns, the majority perishing in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

The tsunami, however, pales in comparison to the great flood: “On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:11–12). Noah’s flood didn’t reach just the coastlines of some countries; the entire landmass of the inhabited earth was engulfed.

The flood is an act of judgment that destroys much of what God had created, as it had been described in Genesis 1.

At creation, all the water was gathered to one place and dry ground appeared (1:9–10). Now, the water breaks through its limits and all the dry land disappears, including the highest mountains (7:17–20).

At creation, God produced birds, livestock, creatures that moved along the ground, wild animals, and human beings (1:20–27). Now, all these land creatures die: “every living thing that moved on land perished” (7:21). And as if to confirm that there is no chance that any of these creatures survived, the author informs us that the floodwaters remain in place for 150 days (v. 24).

In the three verses describing the flood (vv. 21–23), the author uses the words “every” or “all” several times to emphasise that the flood is a comprehensive act of divine judgment: “every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out” (v. 23).

But that’s not all there is to the story. In verses 13–16, the same words “every” and “all” occur even more times, conveying the fact that Noah’s ark will be God’s means for a comprehensive act of divine salvation. Four human couples and at least one pair of “all creatures that have the breath of life” (v. 15) are carried along over the flood, and they experience the miracle of God’s power to save.

In our self-absorbed world that prides itself on self-sustenance, it can take a universal flood—or global pandemic—to draw our attention to our utter vulnerability. But will people be more open at times like these to recognise God’s sovereign power, both to punish and to save?