Genesis Chapter 7

Isaiah 28:10 Says, For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

One may ask themselves, Why doesn’t God just spell everything out right up front with us on every issue? The answer is multifaceted. If the Bible were like any other book you could read it once and understand most everything about it, but the Bible is alive as no other book is.

When you receive a love letter you read it over and over again trying to get to know all of the authors intent behind their words. God’s word is the same.

To the uninterested person, the Bible is a book of Thees and Thous and things that are hard to be understood, but to a person who loves God the Bible is like a love letter with each page revealing something new about the Author.

This is the very reason that Jesus, when He spoke openly, often spoke in Parables so that only those who had ears to hear would hear and understand. If the devils crowd had understood everything Jesus had said they would have tried to crucify Him before His time.

      The Ark Is Entered

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.

[Gen 19:12, Joshua 6:22, 2nd Peter 2:9, Matt 11:28, 2 Peter 2:5]

2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

[Lev 11:1-31, Lev 10:]

[“by sevens” = seven pairs.]

“clean…not clean” – a full listing of which animals fall into which of these categories is found in Leviticus chapter 11; Noah would not have had to have known which were which as God probably brought the animals to Noah.  Note also how this is a “further revelation” of the original command of 6:19.  This pattern of God giving initial instructions and then at a later point more specific instruction is found often in scripture.

3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

[seed=offspring]

4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

[Job 22:16, Gen 7:12,17]

[substance=thing, destroy=blot out]

Of the seven clean animals, some were used for sacrifice, while the extras were for reproducing more of the clean animals, since these would be the animals used for meat.

the number “forty” is usually connected with trials and testing in the Bible

5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

[Gen 6:22]

6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

[Gen 5:32]

[was=came]

7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

[Gen 7:2-3]

9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

[after=on the seventh day, were=came]

      The Earth Is Flooded

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

[Gen 8:2-3 Prov 8:28, Ezek 26:19 Ps 78:23]

“windows of heaven” – compare with Isaiah 24:18 & Malachi 3:10

12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

[Gen 7:4,17]

[was=fell]

13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

[Gen 8:16, Gen 7:7]

[their=its, sort=wing]

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

[Gen 1:24, Gen 6:20, Gen 8:19, Gen 7:9]

[their=its, sort=wing]

15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

[Gen 6:20, Gen 7:9]

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

The last six words of Genesis 7:16 are very important to us because God shuts Noah’s family in the Ark of safety. God did not instruct Noah to build a large raft and to tie the animals down as best as he could and whoever endures unto the end shall be saved.

They were sealed by God, inside the Ark, until the day of redemption. They didn’t have to row to safety. God did the saving, not them or God plus them. The reason I mention this is that there are so many Denominations today that teach that Jesus died to save you from your past sins but that you have to keep yourself saved by either not sinning or keeping yourself prayed up.

There was nothing for Noah or anyone in his family to do to make it to dry ground God took care of them completely as He still does today. God doesn’t make the down payment on your salvation and expect you to pick up the installment payments.

Ephesians 4:30 Says, And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

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.

18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

[went=floated]

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

[Ps 104:6]

20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

[“Fifteen cubits upward” – A cubit is equal 18 inches, therefore, 22 1/2 feet above the highest mountains in that area]

Forty is the number synonymous for testing or judgment in the Bible: The children of Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness and Jesus was tempted of the Devil 40 days.

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

[Gen 6:13, Gen 6:17, Matt 24:39, Luke 17:27, 2nd Pet 3:6]

22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

“all that was in the dry land…” – this excludes all of the fishes; they obviously survived by remaining in their natural habitat

23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

[2 Peter 2:5]

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

[Gen 8:3-4]

---

Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.

Verse 1-12 – The call to Noah is very kind, like that of a tender father to his children to come in-doors when he sees night or a storm coming. Noah did not go into the ark till God bade him, though he knew it was to be his place of refuge. It is very comfortable to see God going before us in every step we take. Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and now he was himself kept alive in it. What we do in obedience to the command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, first or last. This call to Noah reminds us of the call the gospel gives to poor sinners. Christ is an ark, in whom alone we can be safe, when death and judgment approach. The word says, “Come;” ministers say, “Come;” the Spirit says, “Come, come into the Ark.” Noah was accounted righteous, not for his own righteousness, but as an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Hebrews 11:7. He believed the revelation of a saviour, and sought and expected salvation through Him alone. Thus was he justified by faith, and received that Spirit whose fruit is in all goodness; but if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. After the hundred and twenty years, God granted seven days’ longer space for repentance. But these seven days were trifled away, like all the rest. It shall be but seven days. They had only one week more, one sabbath more to improve, and to consider the things that belonged to their peace. But it is common for those who have been careless of their souls during the years of their health, when they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the few days of their sickness, when they see death approaching; their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. As Noah prepared the ark by faith in the warning given that the flood would come, so he went into it, by faith in this warning that it would come quickly. And on the day Noah was securely fixed in the ark, the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The earth had within it those waters, which, at God’s command, sprang up and flooded it; and thus our bodies have in themselves those humours, which, when God pleases, become the seeds and springs of mortal diseases. The windows of heaven were opened, and the waters which were above the firmament, that is, in the air, were poured out upon the earth. The rain comes down in drops; but such rains fell then, as were never known before or since. It rained without stop or abatement, forty days and forty nights, upon the whole earth at once. As there was a peculiar exercise of the almighty power of God in causing the flood, it is vain and presumptuous to attempt explaining the method of it, by human wisdom.

Verse 13-16 – The ravenous creatures were made mild and manageable; yet, when this occasion was over, they were of the same kind as before; for the ark did not alter their natures. Hypocrites in the church, who outwardly conform to the laws of that ark, are yet unchanged; and it will appear, one time or other, what kind they are after. God continued his care of Noah. God shut the door, to secure him and keep him safe in the ark; also to keep all others for ever out. In what manner this was done, God has not been pleased to make known. There is much of our gospel duty and privilege to be seen in Noah’s safety in the ark. The apostle makes it a type of christian baptism, 1st Peter 3:20,21. Observe then, it is our great duty, in obedience to the gospel call, by a lively faith in Christ, to come into that way of salvation which God has provided for poor sinners. Those that come into the ark, should bring as many as they can with them, by good instructions, by persuasions, and by good examples. There is room enough in Christ for all comers. God put Adam into paradise, but did not shut him in, so he threw himself out; but when God put Noah into the ark, and so when he brings a soul to Christ, the salvation is sure: it is not in our own keeping, but in the Mediator’s hand. But the door of mercy will shortly be shut against those that now make light of it. Knock now, and it shall be opened, Luke 13:25.

Verse 17-20 – The flood was increasing forty days. The waters rose so high, that the tops of the highest mountains were overflowed more than twenty feet. There is no place on earth so high as to set men out of the reach of God’s judgments. God’s hand will find out all his enemies, Psalms 21:8. When the flood thus increased, Noah’s ark was lifted up, and the waters which broke down every thing else, bore up the ark. That which to unbelievers betokens death unto death, to the faithful betokens life unto life.

Verse 21-24 – All the men, women, and children, that were in the world, excepting those in the ark, died. We may easily imagine what terror seized them. Our Saviour tells us, that till the very day that the flood came, they were eating and drinking, Luke 17:26,27. they were deaf and blind to all Divine warnings. In this posture death surprised them. They were convinced of their folly when it was too late. We may suppose they tried all ways and means possible to save themselves, but all in vain. And those that are not found in Christ, the Ark, are certainly undone, undone for ever. Let us pause, and consider this tremendous judgment! Who can stand before the Lord when he is angry? The sin of sinners will be their ruin, first or last, if not repented of. The righteous God knows how to bring ruin upon the world of the ungodly, 2nd Peter 2:5. How tremendous will be the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men! Happy they who are part of Christ’s family, and safe with him as such; they may look forward without dismay, and rejoice that they shall triumph, when fire shall burn up the earth, and all that therein is. We are apt to suppose some favourable distinctions in our own case or character; but if we neglect, refuse, or abuse the salvation of Christ, we shall, notwithstanding such fancied advantages, be destroyed in the common ruin of an unbelieving world.