If you have ever been cooped up on a rainy day, you know how dreary and depressing it can be. This is especially true if it goes on for several days. In today’s chapter, Noah and his family will spend 40 days and 40 nights in the storm that beat all storms. But God will keep them safe.
As this chapter begins, we see God’s instructions to Noah once the ark has been completed. In verse 1, God tells Noah to enter the ark he has just built. Noah and his family will be in the ark because of Noah’s relationship with God. Notice how God compares him to his generation. Noah is not one to follow the crowd.
Verse 2 tells us more about the animals Noah is to take with him into the ark. First, he is to take seven pairs of each of the ‘clean’ animals and birds. The ‘clean’ animals are the ones used in offerings to God. We will see later, in Genesis 8:20 that the first thing Noah does when he leaves the ark is to worship God so he will need more of these animals and birds. He is to take only one pair of each of the other types of animals. Verse 4 tells us he has one week, or seven days until the rains begin which will last forty days.
Notice all the Biblical numerology here. Two of the most commonly occurring numbers in the Bible… seven and forty. The number seven represents completion or perfection as we have seen earlier in creation. In the book of Revelation, God is said to have a seven-fold spirit and here in Noah’s story, we see seven pairs of the clean animals needed for His worship. This is not true for the unclean animals in which only one pair is needed in the ark. The number forty represents hardship, or trial. Noah and his family will spend forty days in the storm just as Jesus was tempted forty days in the wilderness and the Israelites wandered forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land.
Verse 5 tells us that, once again, Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. Noah and his family entered the ark. Look at verse 6. How old was Noah when the flood came? Verses 7-9 tell us who all entered the ark. Perhaps it took seven days for all those animals to get there, I don’t really know, but after seven days, the floodwaters came (verse 10), just as God had said.
Read verses 11-12 carefully. Remember when we studied creation and, on day 2, God separated the waters above from the waters below? We can see in these verses that the floodwaters came from both above and below. I believe that all the water contained in creation was involved in this flood. For forty days and nights, all the water above and below the earth was drawn together into one great and cataclysmic flood.
Verses 13-16 tell us about the day the flood came. Noah and his family, as well as the pairs of animals from God’s creation, obeyed God and entered the ark. The animals had come to Noah just as God had commanded. And then God Himself closed the door. Here, in the story of Noah, we see another picture of God’s plan of Salvation. Many times in the Bible, passing through a door is symbolic of God’s salvation (Matthew 7:7, Revelation 3:19-20). Here we see Noah, a man of faith, passing through the door of the ark, leaving God’s judgment for sin behind and coming into God’s salvation. Noah and his family were not able to save themselves… it was only by the grace of God.
Verses 17-20 tell us about the depth of the floodwaters. All the high mountains on earth were covered by more than 15 cubits. With a cubit being about a foot and a half (45.72 cm), we are talking 22-23 feet higher than any mountain on the planet. Now that is some floodwater! Noah was floating way up there above the timberline where the mountains are snowcapped and the air is thin. Not to mention, he is in a confined space with smelly, damp animals. This was not a pleasure cruise.
Read verses 21-23 carefully and assess the fatalities. Who was left alive after these 40 days and nights? And afterwards, how long did the earth stay flooded (verse 24)?
I think it is important that we understand, as we study God’s hand in this great storm, that He is able to calm the storm just as easily. We can always trust that He is in complete control at all times and is able to keep us safe. Read Mark 4:35-41. Speak to Him in prayer of any concerns you may be feeling in light of this study.
Responding to God: Praise God for the consistency of the numbers in the Bible and their confirmation that it is truly His inspired Word. Worship Him that He is in control of all creation. Thank Him that He allows us a relationship with Him that keeps us safe in His hands. Examine your life and determine whether you are prone to follow the sinful ways of the crowd or the more solitary path of faithfully obeying God? Have you sought His grace?
Further Research: If you would like to see God’s consistency demonstrated more clearly, use a concordance or online Bible to search for occurrences of ‘seven’ or ‘forty’.
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