7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,1 the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs2 of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing3 that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits4 deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
Section Overview
Genesis 6 gives us very few details about the process of building the ark. There is no mention of what Noah’s neighbors think or of the construction challenges and cost overruns that typically accompany such a massive project. God tells Noah to build an ark, and he does—just as, at creation in Genesis 1, God spoke the word and it was so.131 Now, in Genesis 7, it is time to gather the animals and enter the completed ark, for the judgment rains are about to fall. The lives of Noah and his family depend upon their trusting God’s word and entering their coffin-shaped boat, dying to the world, as it were, while believing that God’s promise to protect them will keep them safe. So it transpires: judgment falls upon the world around them, but they are kept safe in the midst of the storm, just as God has promised. God judges the wicked while preserving the lives of those who trust in him.
Section Outline
IV. The Family History of Noah (6:9–9:29) . . .
B. God’s Judgment Descends (7:1–24)
Response
Since the beginning the serpent has sought to deny the doctrine of divine judgment (Gen. 3:4) and has had considerable success in sowing doubt into human minds (cf. Mal. 2:17). Even believers sometimes struggle to believe that evil will have its proper day in court and that the righteous will be vindicated (cf. Ps. 73:2–14). Throughout history, however, the Lord has given us clear lessons of his judgment, of which the flood is perhaps the most prominent. Does God see the wicked? Is he able to judge them? Can he preserve the righteous in the midst of that sweeping judgment upon sin? The flood narrative answers all those questions with a resounding “Yes!” God sees; God judges; God preserves a righteous remnant141 alive.
The implications of these realities are clear. Those who do not know God live their lives in the face of clear and present danger. Just as no one knew ahead of time exactly when the flood would come, so no one knows when Christ will return to bring the final day of judgment (cf. Matt. 24:36–39, which explicitly draws a comparison to the days of Noah). As a result, we should strive constantly to be ready for the Lord’s return (Matt. 24:44). Now is the time to make one’s peace with God, before the judgment draws nigh.
In addition to a warning to unbelievers, however, this passage provides a comfort for believers that “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Pet. 2:9; again explicitly referencing the flood—cf. 2:5). Believers too wonder about God’s deferred justice in a wicked world, but the flood shows us that justice is not always delayed and will not be deferred forever. At the same time, the Lord is able to keep safe in that coming judgment those with whom he has covenanted (Gen. 6:18). As we follow his commandments faithfully—however strange that obedience may look to a watching world—the Lord will seal us safely into the ark that preserves our lives from the deluge of his wrath.
For us as Christians the fulfillment of that theme is found in Christ himself. Christ is the righteous covenant-keeper in whom we, like Noah’s family, find undeserved safety. Faith in Christ calls us to die to the world around us, just as the inhabitants of the ark voluntarily entered their coffin-shaped vehicle of salvation. We are called to trust not in our ability to pilot the vessel of our lives—for the ark had neither sails nor rudder—but in the God who has sealed us into the vessel that he will guide safely into the harbor of heaven. Through a final act of cataclysmic judgment God will bring about his new heavens and new earth, where righteousness reigns (2 Pet. 3:13), and we will be free from the sin and wickedness that currently still afflicts us all.Genesis 7