In our study of Genesis chapter seven, we look at the first rain upon the earth and the flood of judgment that it brought. In chapter six, we saw how God made preparations for this day of judgment by preserving a remnant of mankind as well as the animals of the earth.
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ADONAI said to Noach, "Come into the ark, you and all your household; for I have seen that you alone in this generation are righteous before me.
Noach (Noah) and his family were invited into the ark because he was "righteous" before God. The letter "tsadi" is translated as righteous and it speaks of applying the commands of God to his life. We saw that God had commanded Noach to build this ark in the last chapter but, in reality, 100 years have elapsed since the command was given. So, Noach had spent one hundred years obeying God by getting up every day and building a boat in the desert and that my friends is faith in action. Just like Noach, the outcome of applying God's commands to our lives is righteousness. All the preparations have been made and now comes the time of decision. God instructs Noah to take his family and enter the ark. There, they would be saved from the judgment that is to come through the waters. This is a picture of the salvation that was to come through Jesus Christ. This verse has caused some confusion and false teaching because of the fact that Noah's family was allowed to enter the ark because of him. There are many who think that they can ride another person's faith and have a right relationship with God through them but that is not what happened with Noah's family. Noah would have explained to them what God said was going to happen and, at that point, they had the chance to either believe God (by faith) or to reject it and stay outside the ark and perish. Therefore, each person was acting on their own faith in God and the fact that God was going to do what he said he would do.
Of every clean animal you are to take seven couples, and of the animals that are not clean, one couple; also of the birds in the air take seven couples - in order to preserve their species throughout the earth.
God instructed Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals and birds into the ark with him. This was God's way of providing for the sacrifices that are to come. He also had Noah take two pairs of unclean animals to repopulate the earth.
For in seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; I will wipe out every living thing that I have made from the face of the earth."
Why did God wait seven days? Throughout the Bible, the number seven is associated with completion and here we see that God gives everyone the chance to repent. During these seven days, others could have accepted the word of God by faith and been saved but they did not. He gave them every (complete) opportunity to repent. God explains to Noah that it is going to rain for forty days and nights and we are reminded that the number is associated with complete earthly trouble/testing.
Noach did all that ADONAI ordered him to do.
What difference can a single man make in this world? We see the answer in this simple verse. Noah simply did what the Lord told him to do and, because of that, we are all here today.
Noach was 600 years old when the water flooded the earth.
In our world today, it seems like everyone is working for the goal of retirement but that is not the biblical pattern to life. We see that this one man did not lay around in his house waiting to die but was instead was active in serving the Lord. There is a huge pool of older Christians that need to heed this example of Noach (Noah) and get to listening and working for the Lord. Imagine what work the Lord could do through them and their wisdom!
Noach went into the ark with his sons, his wife and his sons' wives, because of the floodwaters. Of clean animals, of animals that are not clean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, couples, male and female, went in to Noach in the ark, as God had ordered Noach. After seven days the water flooded the earth.
So, we see that all that were called boarded the ark for safety from the coming judgment. It is interesting to note that Noah did not have to go and round up the animals but instead God brought them to him.
On the seventeenth day of the second month of the 600th year of Noach's life all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the sky were opened. It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.
At the appointed time, this judgment was brought upon the earth. The phrase "mayan rab tehom" is translated here as "fountains of the great deep" and that is the abyss that is spoken of in Revelation 9. So, a great fountain of water was released from this very deep hole and water rained down from the sky to cover the earth. We see that this lasted for forty days and nights and, throughout the Bible, the number forty relates to a transition from a period of trials and tribulation to the will and purpose of God.
On that same day Noach entered the ark with Shem, Ham and Yefet the sons of Noach, Noach's wife and the three wives of his sons accompanying them; they, and every animal of every species, all the livestock of every species, every animal that creeps on the ground of every species, and every bird of every species - all sorts of winged creatures. They went in to Noach in the ark, couples from every kind of living thing that breathes. Those that entered went in, male and female, from every kind of living being, as God had ordered him; and ADONAI shut him inside.
We see again that all were aboard the ark and it happened just as God had commanded. Then, we see that it was God who shut the door and sealed them in. It is a reminder that, once the judgment starts, it is too late to accept the provision of God.
The flood was forty days on the earth; the water grew higher and floated the ark, so that it was lifted up off the earth. The water overflowed the earth and grew deeper, until the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water overpowered the earth mightily; all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered; the water covered the mountains by more than twenty-two-and-a-half feet.
The number forty throughout the Bible is related to the completion of the earthly trials and temptations. Here, we see that it took this long for the waters to rise up and cover everything on the earth. Meanwhile, these rising waters lifted the ark containing God's people above the judgment. In the same way, God's Word (water) lifts us up today above this fallen world. Though we are still in it just as the ark and its passengers were, we are not submerged in the ways of the world.
All living beings that moved on the earth perished - birds, livestock, other animals, insects, and every human being, everything in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life; whatever was on dry land died. He wiped out every living thing on the surface of the ground - not only human beings, but livestock, creeping animals and birds in the air. They were wiped out from the earth; only Noach was left, along with those who were with him in the ark.
The same thing is repeated three times in this passage and that should make us take notice. Everything on the earth outside the ark was wiped out and that is a picture of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. All can be saved through Him but nobody can be saved outside of Him.
The water held power over the earth for 150 days.
It took that long for the waters to completely cover the earth and then for them to go down far enough for the ark to rest on a mountaintop. The number 150 is very significant here in the fact that the Hebrew for 15 is "Yod Hey" which is also the first and last letters in the proper name of God. This 150 speaks of the completion of the wrath of YHWH on the earth.
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