How many believers were there before and at the flood?
Before the flood, there were precious few believers. By the time the flood came, only eight souls remained. Scripture indicates that even before the flood, very few people were counted as God’s own. The number was extremely small, not a large believing population.
Les explains that when you go back before the flood, there were precious few believers, and by the time you got to the flood, only 8 souls. He points out that even before the flood there were very few that God could count on as His. This fits his larger contrast: the little nation of Israel never had more than probably 10 million people, and only a few were true believers; throughout Israel’s history very few Jews percentage wise were believers; even in Christ’s earthly ministry only 120 Jewish believers were in the upper room in Acts chapter 1. Compared to the millions brought in during the Church Age, the pre-flood and Old Testament numbers were small.