Genesis chapter Seven
Kraig J. Rice
www.7-star-admiral.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction:
"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"
Noah was saved and had Christ's righteousness imputed to him:
As God invited Noah into the ark of safety, so He invites you and I into His Kingdom
of Heaven. And, like Noah, we are invited on the basis of His righteousness to us.
It is not based on the righteousness of the flesh
By perseverance the snail reached the Ark
"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. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth"
God humorously sends the animals:
What was a clean beast or animal? Does that mean that God gave them a bath? No. There
were certain animals that could be sacrificed to God and these were called clean
animals. There were also certain animals that could not be sacrificed to God and these
were called unclean animals. God chose the sacrificial animals that He considered to
be clean. These are the only ones that He would accept. Due to Cain's sacrifice offering
that God did not accept, Noah did not want to offend God by offering to the King of the
Universe a sacrifice that He did not want or approve of. Because some of these animals
were to be used in sacrifices, God commanded more of them be brought aboard the ark.
How is that relevant? Noah's obedience to Christ can serve as a good example to
you and I and that is probably one reason that he is in the bible book of Hebrew's
hall of fame
"And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth"
Was it a universal flood or just a local flood?
Are there some other scriptures that refer to the great flood? Yes.
I recommend a book written by two Christian conservatives about the universal flood:
A storm that lasted for forty days and forty nights:
How much time had elapsed from the creation of Adam and Eve to the great flood? No one knows for sure but many bible scholars think that it was from 1,600 years (sixteen centuries) to 2,000 years (twenty centuries). The population of the earth at that time has been estimated to have been one to three billion (1,000,000,000 to 3,000,000,000) people.
Forty days and forty nights:
God closed the door- the end of grace in that time:
How can that be relevant? Let us take advantage of God's grace period for us today before time runs out,
"...as God's partners, we beg you not to reject this marvelous message of God's great kindness. For God says, "at just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you"
If you have not yet invited Jesus Christ to come to live in your heart, don't put it off. Now is the day of salvation. Satan wants you to procrastinate (to put it off for some other time) but do not do it. Accept Christ now while God the Holy Spirit is dealing with you. Tomorrow may be too late because you never know when the door of your life is going to close and you will be ushered into eternity.
Professionals built the Titanic
"And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits (twenty-two feet) upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 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: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 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. And the waters prevailed upon the earth
an hundred and fifty days"
The end of the world by the Great Flood:
It might have been that the Lord tilted the angle of the earth on it's axis to its present 23.5 degree angle. This would have moved the oceans out of their sea beds to cause widespread destruction on land and on the sea to take place.
"Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished"
As they were afloat on the water, Noah looked at his wife and said with a lamented voice: "there are millions of fish in the ocean but we only brought 2 worms to fish with":-)
The end of the Second Dispensation:
The Destruction of the World with a Flood:
In this chapter, we see God's willingness to save. He physically saved His faithful remnant and He saved some animals. God loves animals and did not want them to perish at that time, however, mankind is His highest priority. God is very patient, but He will only put up with evil for so long before He takes action. Some folks believe that Noah preached for 120 years while the ark was being built. If that is so, then God's grace was extended, at the minimum, for 120 years in that evil and violent environment. As it is today, and as it was before the flood, God loves every person and waits patiently for each one to repent of their sins, accept Christ as their Savior, and love Him in return. I believe God would much more love a person than judge him. Jesus said that He did not come to destroy (the law) but to fulfill (His purpose)
(Matthew 5:17). He knows when it is time to judge a person, a family, a community, a city, a county, a state, a nation, and the world. He offers grace for a limited time. When that grace has been continually refused, it starts the clock ticking for the inevitable judgment to follow. He sends certain individuals into certain situations at a certain time to give His message of love, grace, and pardon to those who will listen, give heed, and accept it
(Revelation 11:3). Let us always be those individuals who will listen, take action, and be obedient to His calling and His will.
(Genesis 7:1).
This verse reveals the doctrine of righteousness. Notice that one is saved and
then Christ shares (imputes or gives) His righteousness with the individual- not the
other way around
(Luke 18:9-14). Like Abel and Seth, Noah came to God on God's terms. God's terms for
salvation and righteousness (justification) are simple. One must come to God by
grace through faith and only by the blood of Christ
(Romans chapter 5; Hebrews 11:7). Then God accepts the ownership
of that individual and welcomes him or her into God's spiritual family.
Noah was righteous and God invited him into the ark of safety. How is that relevant?
Are you righteous based upon what Christ did for you at the cross? Have you accepted
Christ and has His blood been applied to your life and cleansed you of your sins?
If not, I encourage you to make that choice now.
(Ephesians 2:9). So, the emphasis is on who we are and not what we do. So many folks want to do this or do
that in order to buy their way into Heaven. They become a "human doing"
working feverishly to earn Christ's love, grace, and forgiveness. But they do not have
to do that if they have Christ's righteousness imputed to them because salvation is a
free gift. Christ purchased it for us on the cross and gave it to us- free.
All we have to do is accept it. Have you accepted His free gift of salvation? If not,
I encourage you to do it now.
(Genesis 7:2-3).
"Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah"
(Genesis 7:8-9). "They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him- and the Lord shut him in"
(Genesis 7:14-16).
This was quite a sign to the world at the time. Multitudes of folks saw all of these
animals being stored aboard a boat that had never floated before as it was sitting
on dry ground. To the peoples of the world, this seemed illogical and I am sure Noah
was ridiculed because of it. However, God and His grace are not to be mocked
(Galatians 6:7). Sometimes, when we see something in God's Word that
seems illogical to us, we have to consider God's sense of humor. I see God's sense of
humor here. I imagine that He was able to laugh about the very set of circumstances,
in regards to the ark and the animals, that He brought about. I think that He likes to confound the
devil and his servants to keep them guessing. He can use mankind's illogic as a tool for
His own purposes even though He is a Creator of precise order
(1 Corinthians 1:27). What are some of the
other humorous things that He has done? He had Balaam's donkey talk to him. He
created a great fish for Jonah to taxi him to Niveveh. He created the strongest man
who has ever lived (Samson). Peter caught a fish and took money from its mouth.
And there are many other examples of God's sense of humor not mentioned here.
As well, there is a spiritual message accompanying each one.
It is believed that God worked a miracle and brought all of the animals to the ark so Noah could safely place them inside the ark. What a witness this must have been to the unsaved world of people around them. Those folks must have really had hard hearts in order not to see that God was at work and performing miracles right in front of them. Some of them might have had good intentions to get on the ark but failed to follow through. A good intention will not get a person to Heaven unless there is a commitment to God to go along with it.
(Hebrews 11:7). As well, we cannot go spiritually wrong as we are obedient to Christ and follow
Christ's example for us in the way of obedience as we walk daily through this life.
(Genesis 7:10).
It was a universal flood. Why? Because there is a Hebrew word in
Genesis 8:9 for earth, 'erets, that refers to the whole earth as opposed to just a part of it.
That scripture reads, "...for the waters were on the face of the whole earth"-
and it is accurately translated.
"...when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water"
(1 Peter 3:20). "...and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly"
(2 Peter 2:5).
Morris and Whitcomb, The Genesis Flood, published in 1960.
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights"
(Genesis 7:11-12).
God may have sunk the land masses under the surface of the waters as well as bringing the waters over the tops of the land masses. There had never been a catastrophe of this magnitude before in the recorded history of modern mankind. It was an event that changed the earth and those left alive on it. This event showed God's awesome power. There is nothing that He cannot do.
There is an interesting spiritual side note I see in the Word of God in regards to the words "forty days and forty nights". There is
quite a contrast here. God had it rain for forty days and forty nights to bring destruction on the human race
(Genesis 7:12). Later, Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights to receive the words of salvation and holiness for the human race from God
(Deuteronomy 9:11-18). Later, the prophet, Elijah, drank and ate angel food to build
up his strength. Then he traveled for forty days and forty nights without food on a
mission for the Lord for the salvation of Israel
(1 Kings 19:8). God's provision is always behind His call.
Later, Jesus, the Son of God, fasted for forty days and forty nights with no food or water
(Matthew 4:2). That was the beginning of His ministry because He is the fulfillment of the Word of salvation and holiness
for the human race. God specializes in new beginnings. And He works miracles.
The greatest is when you accept Him as your Savior. You can experience that miracle
right now as you invite Him into your heart and life.
"In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark, they, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut them in (God closed the door)"
(Genesis 7:13, 15-16).
God shut the door of the ark. Why? God has already given
us the answer to that question in His Word, "My spirit will not always
contend against (rebellious and evil) mankind"
(Genesis 6:3). That scripture simply means that God's grace ended. It means that the time of God's mercy for the wicked had passed. In the future, at God's appointed time, the gospel age of mercy will come to an end. When it does, God's judgment will fall on the wicked.
(Isaiah 49:8). Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation"
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2 Living Bible).
The Ark is a type for God's salvation:
Noah's ark has been called the Ark of Safety. The ark, in typology, is a type for salvation. The deliverance of Noah and his family (the righteous) before destruction came (the great flood) is a type for salvation. The deliverance of Lot (Abraham's nephew) and his family (the righteous) from the city of Sodom before destruction came (the fire from heaven that destroyed the city) is also a type for salvation. Abraham had a discussion with God about this salvation. You can read about it in
(Genesis 18:16- 19:25). Because of His great love for each of us, God is a saving God. We are saved from destruction by the blood of the Lamb. He will save us if we repent and turn to Him. Save us from what? He will save us from the spiritual destruction to come (eternal torment in hell fire). We are saved from hell. And we can expand this to also mean "saved from our sins" so that now we can say that salvation is in three tenses of the English language- we have been saved, we are now saved, and we will be saved in the future.
Amateurs built the Ark
(Genesis 7:17-24).
God destroyed the earth the first time with water. How did God destroy the earth with water? No one knows. Do you have an opinion on how God might have destroyed it? Yes.
The continents sank beneath the waves, there were massive tidal waves (tsunamis) around the earth, there was massive amounts of rainfall, and vast quantities of water gushing forth from subterranean water sources. The Lord might have miraculously added water volume to the earth's water.
(2 Peter 3:6).
The end of Genesis chapter seven ends the Second Dispensation for those who are studying the Word of God by this method. The amount of time of this period is not known and it is called by theologians the antediluvian period, meaning "before the flood." This was the Dispensation of Conscience
(Genesis chapters 3-7). This dispensation ended in God's judgment: the great flood. In this dispensation was
1) Cain and Abel
2) The generations of Seth's family
3) The wickedness of the people at that time
4) God saves the righteous
5) The great flood
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As of July 1, 2014
God usually warns before He judges, but was there anyone listening to Him?
Probably the only ones were those who had ears to spiritually hear