Genesis 7 - Printer Friendly

Genesis 7 tells the story of the coming of rain, and the terrible destruction God's flood brought on the world. In the prior chapter, Noah is given instructions for building a massive box—an ark—meant to hold a small number of people and a massive number of animals. This chapter begins after Noah has completed his task. After restating that Noah is being saved from the flood because of his righteousness, as compared to the rest of his generation, God commands Noah to go into the ark. He's not meant to go alone, though. Along with his wife, three sons, and their wives, Noah is to bring all the animals that God is sending to him, so they too can be saved.

Those animals include seven pairs each of the "clean" animals. The idea of clean and unclean animals will become common in the rest of Genesis, but this is the first we hear of it. What we will learn later is that, at least in part, the extra pairs of clean animals are meant for sacrificial offerings to God after the flood is over.

Birds, animals, and insects of every kind will be sent to Noah to occupy the ark. God reveals that the rain will start in seven days, and that is what happens. God shuts Noah and his family and the animals into the ark, and the rain begins on a specific date in the history of the world.

For 40 days and nights, a torrential rain falls while at the same time the fountains of the great deep burst forth. The language is poetic, but the picture is of a great upheaval sending waters from below the earth and emptying out the waters stored above the "expanse" described in Genesis 1.

The ark rises with the flood and rides the surface of the waters. The waters are said to prevail or triumph over all the earth, including the highest summits of the highest mountains "under the whole heaven." There is debate, at times, over whether the extent of this flood was planetary, or confined to the region occupied by mankind. The terms for "whole earth," "land," and "hills / mountains" can be interpreted in ways consistent with either possibility.

Regardless, the Bible's claim is clear: The flood covered the surface of the earth such that every land-dwelling, air-breathing creature in its path died, including every single human being not aboard the ark. The devastation is unimaginable. God exercised His authority as Creator, Judge, and Lord to end sin on the earth and to destroy so much of what He had made. Just as God transformed the newly-created earth from water to dry land (Genesis 1:9–10), He now seems to be "resetting" His creation by returning it to water.

We can't help but ask: If that is God's response to unchecked human sin in the world, what hope is there for any of us? How can any sinful, mortal human be loved by God and find peace with Him? That's the question the rest of the Bible is written to answer.

After the 40 days of rain, the waters continue to triumph on the earth for another 110 days before the ark finally comes to rest.

Genesis 7 tells the story of the actual flood itself. God again commends Noah for his righteousness. The animals of every kind come to the ark. God shuts Noah and his family and the animals in, and it begins to rain. Water pours from above and bursts forth from below with incredible intensity. This outpouring of water lasts for 40 days, and covers the surface of the earth for another 110 days. The ark floats, rises, moves across the surface of the water. Outside of it, every land-dwelling, air-breathing thing dies. God wipes it all out, including every human being other than Noah and his family.

In chapter 6, God saw the wickedness and violence of humanity and resolved to wipe it all out. He revealed that plan to Noah, and He commanded Noah to build the ark. In chapter 7, the ark is finished, the animals arrive, the door is shut, and the rain begins on a specific date in the history of the world. All life aboard the ark is saved; all land-dwelling, air-breathing life outside of it is ended. The waters burst from below the earth and pour from above with great intensity for 40 days and then covered the earth for another 110. In the following chapter, the ark will come to rest, and the remade earth will begin to dry out.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.