Noah. And the flood. Genesis 7

Chapter 7 answers the often asked question, How many animals did Moses bring into the ark? 

Just kidding! There is a lot of detail in this chapter, which tells me Moses intended us to understand this as a literal, historical event. My main emphasis in this series is Noah so I will focus on him, but I will also consider the flood events.

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.
My Bible, the KJV, says come into the ark. Other translations have go into and enter the ark.* I prefer come into the ark, it says to me God was in the ark and was inviting Noah to join Him.

for thee have I seen righteous – once again, God states it clearly, Noah was righteous.

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. 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.
How many animals did Noah bring into the ark? Seven pair of clean animals, one pair of unclean. He must have had some concept of clean and unclean.

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.
Noah was in the ark for seven days before rain fell. Do you realize how foolish he must have looked to his neighbors? “I thought you said it was gonna rain, Noah!” Faith.

cause it to rain 40 days and 40 nights  But as we shall see, it did not simply rain.

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

This is the second time this is said. He really was righteous, whole-hearted, and walked with God.
6  And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
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,
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.
5  And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

More details: v 6 he was 600 years old when the flood came; v 7 there were only 8 people in the ark; v 9 there went in two and two, this is the same word as in v 1, the Tanakh+ says, two of each came to Noah into the ark (this is repeated in v 15). How did Noah get all these animals into the ark? I believe God drew them and they came to Noah.

And then, just as God said, in seven days the waters of the flood were upon the earth. Noah walked with God: He trusted God and did what He said; and God did what He promised. This is what it’s like to walk with God.

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.

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

This chapter abounds with details! We are told specifically when the rains came – 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah’s 600th year. This is history.

The rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights But not simply showers – the fountains of the great deep were broken open, and the windows of heaven were opened. It has never, ever rained like this since. I honestly don’t even know what this means exactly, but I believe it was over pretty quickly, the people didn’t even know what hit them. 

16  and the LORD shut him in God told Noah to come into the ark and then God shut and sealed the door. Praise the Lord! “Come into the ark and I will lock the door”!!

17-20 How much water was involved? The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth so that the whole earth was under water (19). Even the mountains were fifteen cubits under water (20). 

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:

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

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.

This is somber and sobering. v 21 All flesh died. v 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. v 23 All existence on earth was blotted out.+ 

All except Noah. And those with him in the ark. The ark was salvation.

24  And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. The waters covered the earth for 150 days. Again, specific details. Not ‘a long time’ or ‘for some time’ or some other indefinite expression; but 150 days. I say it again, the Bible presents this as a literal, historical event.

This was the judgment of God. Noah was a righteous man, a man who walked with God, who was literally saved by the grace of God. 

“The grace of God?? He had to build his own ark!!”

Yes he did. But it was God who revealed to him the coming judgment, who told him to build the ark. God invited him in, God shut the door, God kept him his safe through the flood. The grace of God. Noah believed God, built the ark, and went into the ark seven days before it even rained. Faith.

That’s salvation by grace through faith.

Next: Noah. And the flood. Genesis 8

* The Hebrew word means “to go in, enter, come, go, come in”. It is a very popular word in the OT, occurring 2,577 times! The KJV translates it “come” 1,435 times. 
But in Genesis chapters 1-10 we find it 19 times: 6x brought/bring; 7x came/come; 3x went/went in; 1x entered; 1x goest; 1x pulled her in. So it’s kinda hard to be dogmatic!

+ Tanakh Jewish translation of the Old Testament. Jewish Publication Society