Genesis 7
1 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.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 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. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
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.
14 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.
17 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. 19 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.
21 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. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. 24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
SS8: LIFT ME UP!
Genesis 7
Ever wonder why Noah did not beg God to spare the earth? Others changed God's mind in this way later in the Bible. I think I would have tried just to get out of building a floating zoo.
God told Noah to emb-ark on the ark. Yep. I went there. Go gave the order to take all the animals. I hope God made that easy! He gave Noah a week. But in 15 we are told:
15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.
Sounds like everything was arranged by God. I have tried getting two cats in a carrier and cannot imagine the logistic of the ark.
Numbers in the Bible are symbolic. Seven (used 735 times in the Bible) is used to show perfection, completion, healing and promises fulfilled. The number 40 (used 146 times in the Bible) usually means a time of testing or trial. We have both here.
This is the first time rain is mentioned, so it may have been an unknown experience for the people there. Probably made Noah look even nuttier when he spoke about water falling from the sky.
The rain was for 40 days, but the flood lasted 150 days. That is 5 months. Yikes!
This story is a hard one for me in terms of believability as to the scale. But one thing I always think about is the confirming history. Every culture has a story about a great flood. The details are different and the messages are different. But all cultures recall it through their traditions. That is a big puzzle piece for me in terms of external confirmation of an event.
It always is a head scratcher for me when people put arks in baby rooms. The animals were cute, but this really was a horrible event. Warn um young, I suppose.
God could have protected Noah another way. He could have had everyone sit on an unaffected mountain. He could have put them in bubbles or taken them out of the water. But He didn't. Noah went through the flood. God usually makes us go through things, but He goes with us. I always think of this when I have to go through a storm rather than God removing it. Sometimes God lifts you out, but many times He uses your obedience to bring you through the storm.
I feel a Jars song coming on:
But if I can't swim after 40 days
And my mind is crushed
By the crashing waves
Lift me up so high
That I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up when I'm falling
Lift me up I'm weak and I'm dying
Lift me up I need you to hold me
Lift me up and keep me from drowning again
