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Genesis | Chapter 7

Genesis 7:1-24

“Come into the Ark”

  1. Intro.
  2. Vs. 1-10 All aboard
  3. Vs. 11-24 It’s raining, it’s pouring

Intro.

In the seventh chapter we are still looking at the history of Noah but it is the flood and God’s preservation of Noah and his family. One hundred twenty years passed from the time that God first spoke to Noah concerning the flood and the time in which they entered the ark. During those years he raised three sons saw them marry, built a massive ship on dry land and stored all the supplies that would necessary to care for the living cargo. Whenever I think of Noah I think of Heb. 11:7 where we read “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household.” It’s that “moving with godly fear, preparing an ark” that amazes me. One hundred twenty years after that divine warning Noah stayed obedient and faithful to God’s calling and because he did not only did he secure his salvation but that of his households as well. We can never underestimate the importance of faithful obedience to God’s call in our lives.

Vs. 1-10 All aboard

Vs. 1 In chapter 6:13-22 God’s commands to Noah were general direction for building the instrument which God would use to save them. Think of this a moment, God has for us general word’s that we ought to follow:

  • Obey only His word
  • Worship only Him
  • Love your neighbor

In our exercising obedience to those general commands we will experience ridicule from our neighbor’s, as did Noah. Live those standards and you will be labeled as religious and people will ignore you and your message. Yet God has even more specific commands for us. Follow those commands and the world that you are called to reach will do more then make fun of you!

In looking at this chapter we will see “Three keys to salvation”! We are not told if this was the first time in 120 years that God spoke to Noah but we do know that according to verse 4 that God spoke to Noah one week before the flood. These Words from God were absolutely essential for Noah’s salvation. Noah could have wasted the last 120 years of his life had he and his family not responded to God’s words. I mention this because a lot of folks spend their entire life build a religious ark, which may very well be capable of saving them, but in the end never personally get on board themselves. They end up drowning outside the boat they built alongside those who never picked up a board, nail or hammer a day of their lives. “It was not building the ark that saved Noah and his family it was getting on board!”

  1. Vs. 1a Invitation “Come into the ark”: The basis on which Noah’s as well as our salvation rests is always a personal invitation. Seven distinct times Jesus uses the same words “Come to Me”, four of them in the gospel of John. In the parable of the marriage feast Jesus uses the word “invite or invited” four times then closes with the words, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The word “come” implies something different then the word “go” doesn’t it? When Donna says, “Honey, will you GO to the store for me?” I know I’m going by myself. But when she says, “Honey will you COME to the store?” I know that we are going together. God said, “COME and not GO” thus he was telling Noah that He was going with him! The invitation by God to Noah, is not just to save us from judgment it is rather an invitation to be with God. Folk’s it’s being in a relationship with Jesus that saves us not just saying some words! There are a great many who want just to be saved from judgment but want nothing to do with a relationship with God!

Vs. 2-3 Noah is given further instructions of what God had told him concerning the animals he was to bring in 6:19. The word “clean” means pure so God brings into mankind the idea of things that are pure and things that are impure. The fact that Noah was told that there would be seven of the clean animals tells us that there were three pairs for breeding after the ark landed and one that was to be sacrificed as we shall see in 8:20. The reproduction of the “clean” animals would have reproduced six times faster than that of the unclean animals, six is the number of man! So comparing the seven of the clean animals with that of only 1 pair of the unclean reveals to us that God wanted mankind to be in constant reminder that the death of one innocent is the only way man is cleansed from his sin.

Vs. 3 Notice the words “to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.” Noah was given the assurance of salvation, thus the purpose of the ark was to keep seed alive the assurance of life after destruction of the world and all that dwelled upon it.

Vs. 4 Noah is given seven days of final preparation before the rain was going to come down for 40 days and nights. It appears that God had already established a seven-day week, which was initiated during His creation and has continued even after the flood. A worldwide rain lasting 40 days and nights would be impossible in today’s meteorological conditions. The only explanation that is logical is found in chapter 1:6 a “space to separate the waters above from the waters below.” The lush tropical plant life was uprooted and re-deposited into coal and oil beds. The fossil records bear witness to a universal flood as we see in fossils mainly those non-mobile plants and animals trapped in the geological column.

Vs. 5-6 Noah’s defining quality is that of obedience, he did not just “do” he “did all”! Simply put the words “did according to all that the LORD” is the summation of Noah’s 120 years of doing what the Lord commanded. Now based upon Noah’s obedience he was the logical choice of being the new head of the human race. But even that habitual practice of obedience to God’s word did not eradicate the possibility of sin in his life, as we shall see in chapter 9:20-21. So we need continually as Paul said to the Romans 6:11, “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Vs. 7 Obedient response “So Noah, .. went into the ark”: God’s invitation of salvation always requires an obedient response of the one invited. Just as there is no salvation in just knowing of the means or instrument of salvation neither is there salvation in just hearing the invitation. You may have the winning lottery ticket but without you obediently responding to how you claim your prize you do not receive your reward. Imagine how foolish Noah and his family looked as they obediently responded to God’s invitation to board the ark. What would have happened if peer pressure would have caused them to not respond? Perhaps Noah and his family were all wearing gold or silver “ark’s” around their necks and had “ark” bumper stickers faceted upon their carts, would that have been enough to save them? Folk’s grace only saves those who by faith respond! There is not one person ever born that can say they CAN NOT believe, instead all they can say is they WILL NOT believe.

Vs. 8-10 Noah did not have to gather the animals into the ark as it says that “two by two they went into the ark to Noah”. No doubt these were all young animals, which had not yet reached the age where by they would reproduce. It is thought that this included many of the extinct species including that of the dinosaurs, many of which became extinct a few 1000 years after the flood. Also it is believed that prior to the flood the animals did not hibernate and that during the flood they perhaps went into hibernation based upon the change of climate. Now can you imagine what those around the ark thought as they saw these animals lining up two by two entering Noah’s land boat? Why even the animals were witnessing to the unbelieving world.

Vs. 11-24 It’s raining, it’s pouring

Vs. 11 The exact date of the beginning of the flood was known and recorded. Based upon the Jewish calendar it is a bit difficult to determine the exact month as they had two different ways of counting which was the first month. One way was to start in spring the other in fall. I personally like the fall date as it would coincide with the as yet unfulfilled Jewish feast of trumpets which I believe will be on our near when the church will be taken away ushering in the great tribulation the second great judgment of those upon the earth.

Based upon verses 24 and 8:4 the ark floated for exactly 5 months and landed upon Mount Ararat. We are also given a twofold cause for the flood:

  1. Vs. 11a “day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up”: You will recall that the pre-flood hydrological cycle was made up of sub terrain reservoirs that were all connected. So most likely God caused great volcanic underwater eruptions to occur which released molten rock as well as great amounts of ground water; this changed the landmass raising some while lowering others.
  2. Vs. 11b “the windows of heaven were opened.”: The large amounts of volcanic eruptions would have placed large amounts of dust and gases into the earth atmosphere which would have impregnated the water canopy causing it to do what had not been done prior, rain.

The order of this verse makes sense as it would have produced more than enough water to cover the whole earth.

Vs. 13-16 The order of entrance into the ark is given us:

  1. On the first of the week prior to any sign of impending danger Noah and his family enter.
  2. Soon after God brought the animals two by two and this continued on throughout the week until we are told “all flesh went in as God had commanded”.
  3. Vs. 16b God’s seal of assurance “the LORD shut him in”: The last key to our salvation is seen in God’s sealing Noah and his family in the ark. So Noah was not only safe he was secure. We are told in Eph. 1:13-14 that “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.” Notice that this seal of assurance comes after the invitation and our obedient response.

Vs. 17 Based upon the estimate of the size and load of the ark as soon as the water rose to 270 feet the ark would have become buoyant and started to float. The same waters that destroyed all that was outside the ark carried Noah along in safety. In Colo. 3:3 says that “you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” To those who were drowning on the outside it looked as though Noah and those in the ark had died as well but they were just hidden in the ark of God as we are in Jesus.

Vs. 18-24 The word “prevailed” appears four times in these verses and means to “overwhelm mightily”. Earth and plant life was washed out of place, or as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:6 “the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” It covered the high hills of the earth by over 22 feet, which would include Mt. Ararat at 17,000 feet. Thus all flesh died (as many as 10 trillion of mankind) as well as all of the animal kingdom. This is supported by geological column, which shows the deposits of the flood in fossils not evolving as evolutionist’s claim, but completely scattered randomly. This continual flood last 5 months before it began to subside.