Genesis 7:6-24

Genesis 7:6-24

We have been studying the toldot of Noah which begins in Gen 6:9 and extends through 9:29. We have covered verses 6:9 through 7:5. To review,

The World before the Flood, 6:9-12.

Vs 9, This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 

Gen 6:9 notes Noah,

1. was a righteous man, indicating his status with God.

2. He was blameless, indicating his status with the outside world.

3. He walked faithfully with God, indicating his relationship to God.

Vs 10, Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Verse 10 tells us Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, whom we will learn more about when we come to Gen 9 and 10.

Vs 11, Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

Verse 11 notes the condition of the world in which Noah lived; it was corrupt and full of violence. We noted the word corrupt refers partly to the unnatural marriages and relationships of the fallen angels and the daughters of men, but also to the whole state of the earth at that time. The word violence refers to the general disposition of people. They were angry and acted upon it. The amplified states the earth was depraved and putrid in God’s sight.

Vs 12, God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

 Verse 12 goes on to say all the people on earth had corrupted their ways, which means Noah was the only exception. We are not sure of his family but we assume they were saved because of their association with him.

The Command to Build the Ark, 6:13-22.

Because of the ubiquitous presence of evil, God decides to destroy the earth. But God chooses to save Noah, and commands him to build an ark.

Vs 13-14, So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress^[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 

Verse 13 tells us God who made the world, is now going to destroy it due to their violence and corruption. Verse 14 tells us,

1. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. We noted the word for ark was an Egyptian word that referred to a box. This word is used here and in reference to the much smaller ark the parents of Moses used to hide Moses in the reeds of the Nile river (Ex 2:3-5).The second key word here is cypress wood (other translations have gopher wood). I noted there is no such thing as gopher wood so we are unsure of what the ark was made of.
2. Make rooms in it. The Hebrew word for rooms is nest, like a bird’s nest. In other words, Noah was to construct a box with many rooms that would serve as nests for the animals to reside there.
3. And coat it with pitch inside and out. The word for coat means a covering. It is the same root word used for atonement. There is a correlation because the covering of the outside of the ark with pitch saved the inhabitants from the judgement of the water, just as we are saved by the covering of Christ’s blood, thus from the judgement of God’s wrath.

Vs 14-15, This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.^[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit^[e] high all around.^[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.

Vs 15 and 16, give us the dimensions of the ark and what it is to look like. We noted it was to be 450 ft long, 75 ft wide and 45 ft high with 3 decks and a circumferential 18 inch window under the eve of the roof for ventilation. The reason Noah was to build the ark is given in verse 17,

Vs 17-22,I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” ²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Then, in Gen 6:17 through 6:22 God states He will destroy the earth by water, but he will establish a Covenant with Noah that is more fully explained in chapter 9. God then commands Noah to gather the animals whom God has determined to save and the food to sustain them. The chapter ends with a commendation, Noah did everything as God commanded him.

The Command to Enter the Ark, 7:1-5.

Vs 1-5, The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you, and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” ⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

In 7:1-5, God tells Noah to enter the ark with the animals, as he will bring rain and floodwaters to the earth in 7 days. Note after each command, i.e. to build the ark, and to collect the animals, Noah is commended for his obedience. We now come to the third section of the toldot and that is the entrance to the ark in 7:6-9.

The Entrance into the Ark, 7:6-9.

Vs 6, Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.

Gen 5:32 states Noah was 500 years old when he had his last son. We know from Gen 6:10 Noah’s sons were married prior to the command to build the ark. So it is estimated that Noah spent from 50-80 years constructing it. He is now 600 years old when the flood waters come.

Vs 7, And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Verse 7 details the entry and why they did it—to escape the waters of the flood.

Vs 8-9, Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, ⁹ male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.

Verses 8 and 9 detail the animal life that also entered. Note the four categories; the clean and unclean animals, the birds, and those animals who crept along the ground.

We now come to the start of the flood in verse 10.

The Start of the Flood, 7:10-16.

Vs 10, And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

Here is something to remember; when God says something will transpire, it will happen. Seven days prior in 7:4 God had told Moses He would send rain to the earth-something Noah was not familiar with nor had he experienced it before. Yet Noah was faithful and obedient and entered the ark. Now the fulfillment of God’s promise has come. I’m sure the start of the rain was both wondrous and terrifying.

Vs 11a, in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—

Verse 11 gives us the date, the seventeenth day of the second month. When was this? I have copied a table from an article called Timeline for the Flood from Answersingenesis.org that is helpful and is listed at the end of this paper.

Vs 11b, on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 

Verse 11b tells us there were two sources of water; springs and the floodgates of heaven (i.e. rain). It is interesting to ponder that the flood uncreated the creative events of Gen 1, and brought the world back to a formless world as described in Gen 1:2 (Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the face of the deep).

Vs 12, And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

We are not told the proportion of the flood that came from below and that from above, but we are told the weather was worse than that in Seattle as it rained for forty days and forty nights.

Vs 13, On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.

Verse 13 records the actual entrance of Noah and his family into the ark.

Vs 14-16, They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. ¹⁶ The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

Verse 14-16 describes the entrance of the animals. I want to focus on 16b for a bit. It states the Lord then shut them in. This phrase signifies two things; first, it is the point of no return. Once Noah, his family, and the animals are on board God seals the ark and no one, be it human or animal, can now enter. Second, it has spiritual significance as it indicates two things; God will always protect and persevere His remnant and God secures Noah’s salvation. We now come to verses 17-24 which is a description of the flood itself.

The Flood, 7:17-24.

Vs 17-18, For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

Verse 17 again tells us the waters rose for 40 days, which initially lifted the ark, then floated it. The ark had no steering mechanism and no propulsion. It was completely at the mercy of the wind and current and would be directed to wherever God would lead it. There is a spiritual lesson here as well. In many ways this is a good picture of our being led. We abandon our own means of steering and propulsion-our ambitions, our striving, and we let God direct our lives.

Vs 19-20,They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. ²⁰ The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.

Verses 19-20 describe the universality of the flood. They do this in three ways.

1. The verse states the waters rose greatly. It does this twice, once in vs 19 and again in vs 20. This is an emphatic grammatical construction to convey the idea that the waters really, really rose.
2. All the high mountains were covered. A simple reading of the text implies this flood covered all the earth and was not a localized event.
3. The verse states the water was 15 cubits (22 ft) above the tallest mountain. How Moses knew this I am not sure, but this is why the mountains didn’t impede the ark and why the ark never scraped bottom.

Vs 21-23a, Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.

Verses 21-23a describe the universality of destruction. Every living thing was wiped out. The Hebrew word for wiped out is erased.

Vs 23b, Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

Again Moses states that only Noah and his family are left, again another reference to God preserving his remnant.

Vs 24, The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Verse 24 tells us the flood lasted a total of 150 days, that is, it rained for forty and then another 110 days of complete coverage. We examine a more complete timeline of the flood when we get to chapter 8.

To conclude, Let me make some observations,

A. Noah was saved by faith and walked by faith. How did that play out?

1. Gen 5:32 tells us Noah was 500 years old he had the last of his sons. We know from Gen 6:18 that his sons were all married when the command to build the ark was given. We know from Gen 7:6 Noah was 600 years old when he entered the ark. So, most scholars estimate that the command to build the ark was given after his last son was married –probably when his last son was 18-25. So Noah was given a promise roughly 82-75 yrs before it was to be fulfilled. Here is the point: Noah consistently held onto God’s promise throughout this time. He didn’t know what rain was, he didn’t know what a flood was, yet he held true to the promise God gave him. Let us assume Noah was 520 years old when this promise was given. It changed his whole life. We know he had come to faith and was a righteous man, but now the course of his life is dramatically altered. I don’t know his profession before, but whatever it was he now is to leave it and become a boat builder. MacArthur notes, “He must have been a very wealthy man to build such a massive, massive ship. He let go of the world he had in his hand for a world he couldn’t see and couldn’t know. Isn’t he like us in that? We don’t love the world or the things that are in the world, do we? We gladly let go of this world for the world that we’ve never seen. He was a man who believed God. He was a man who was declared righteous. He was a man who let go of the world he could see for a world he couldn’t see.”  Like Moses, Noah persevered because he saw Him who is invisible (Heb 11:27).
2. He not only held onto the promise, but Noah also acted upon it daily. He builds a boat over a 75-82 year period. James 2:14-18, What good is it, dear brothers, and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. ¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. (NLT). Faith is always accompanied by action. Heb 11:7, It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.
3. He maintains his walk with God and his faith in God in the midst of an evil generation. In many ways Noah is like Lot. A Noah was in the midst of an evil and reprobate world, Lot was in the midst of an evil city. In Gen 13 and 18 we will see Lot, Abrahams nephew, settle in the ungodly city of Sodom, where 2 P 2:7-8 tells us, But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. ⁸ Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. Just as Lot was in the midst of an evil city, Noah was in the midst of an evil world. I can’t imagine the ridicule and mockery Noah must have received.
4. As a result of walking faithfully he brings a witness to those around him. 2 Pet 2:5, And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Heb 11:7b By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. When you come to faith and God begins to express Himself though you, your very life begins to condemn those unbelievers around you. When you begin to not use swear words, or laugh at the same jokes, or want to see the same entertainment they seek, they will begin to ridicule you, mock you, and ostracize you. Why because they can’t stand the light reflected in you life. Jn 3:19-21, And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants (NLT).
5. God blesses Noah’s family as a result. All are saved. All are delivered. As I mentioned before, never underestimate the positive influence you have on unbelieving family members. Whether they know it or not they are blessed because of your walk.

B. The chronological record of the flood matters. It fixes the flood in time and history. Ancient historical records are usually dated from some point in a man’s life. This is done many times in the OT and is also noted in extra Biblical writings. The other way is to date is from an event, like an earthquake (see Amos 1:1). The point is Moses, as writer of the Pentateuch, is fixing the flood in time as a factual historical event.

C.  The earth changes dramatically after the flood. Before the flood the earth’s climate was presumably uniform and ideal. The temperature was lovely. Water came from springs, streams, rivers, and underground seepage. Though cursed the ground was amenable to farming. Now, after the flood, we have our world today. Cold and heat, wet and dry. Desert and jungle. Forest and grassland, Our current topography, Snow, hail, and rain, drought, and flood. The four seasons. I could go on, but the differences are marked.

Event/Person	Passage	Total Time from Creation (years)
God created everything.	Genesis 1–2	0
Adam became the father of Seth at 130.	Genesis 5:3	0 + 130 = 130
Seth became the father of Enosh at 105.	Genesis 5:6	130 + 105 = 235
Enosh became the father of Kenan at 90.	Genesis 5:9	235 + 90 = 325
Cainan became the father of Mahalalel at 70.	Genesis 5:12	325 + 70 = 395
Mahalalel became the father of Jared at 65.	Genesis 5:15	395 + 65 = 460
Jared became the father of Enoch at 162.	Genesis 5:18	460 + 162 = 622
Enoch became the father of Methuselah at 65.	Genesis 5:21	622 + 65 = 687
Methuselah became the father of Lamech at 187.	Genesis 5:25	687 + 187 = 874
Lamech became the father of Noah at 182.	Genesis 5:28	874 + 182 = 1056
The Flood started when Noah was 600.	Genesis 7:6	1056 + 600 = 1656

As you can see from above, the year in which the Flood came was 1656 AM1 (Anno Mundi – “year of the world”). From the rest of the Old Testament and other well-documented historical events we understand that creation, as calculated by Ussher, was about 4004 BC. So with a little more math we can calculate the second date.

Calculated BC date for creation:	4004
Calculated AM date for the Flood:	– 1656
Calculated BC date for the Flood:	2348
Current Year (minus one2):	+ 2011
Number of years since beginning of Flood:	4359

Using the Bible, well-documented historical events, and some math, we find that the Flood began approximately 4,359 years ago in the year 1656 AM or 2348 BC. Some may look for an exact date (i.e., month and day), but we are not given that sort of precision in Scripture.

(note this article was published March 12, 2012, hence the current year (minus one) is listed as 2011).