Bible Study: Genesis 7
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning
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Let’s pray
Text: Genesis 7:1-10
Text: Genesis 7:1-10
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,
3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,
9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
In verses 1 through 10 we witness the gathering and preservation of this remnant which is a prototype of God’s salvation of His elect in the day of the Lord.
As Matthew 24:31 says:
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Now, having made the ark according to God’s direction, Noah is now told to embark.
He is instructed to take on board seven pairs of all clean animals and a pair of the animals that are not clean.
The clean and unclean distinction for sacrifice is made explicit only with the law, long after Noah.
So, we can conclude rightly that Noah knows the distinction between clean and unclean through special revelation.
Fundamental institutions of the Mosaic law—the Sabbath, the ideal sanctuary, and sacrifice—reach back to the pre-flood creation order.
Other commands such as tithing and circumcision go back at least as far back as the time of the patriarchs.
Now, the reason for the extra number of clean animals is that after the flood those animals would be offered as sacrifices as Genesis 8:20 records.
That verse says:
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Additionally, some of the clean animals will be eaten as food as Genesis 9:3 says:
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
So, to ensure the survival of the clean animals it was necessary to an extra 6 pairs of each kind in the ark.
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In verse 4, we see that God allowed one more week for sinners to repent.
So, we see God’s compassion and slowness to execute His wrath.
Now, one hundred twenty years were needed to build the ark as Genesis 6:3 says:
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
However, only one week was necessary to fill it.
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Now, a worldwide rain for forty days and forty nights is impossible in post-Flood atmospheric conditions, but not then.
The canopy that covered the whole earth, which was a thermal water blanket encircling the earth, was to be condensed and dumped all over the globe...
And the flood came on schedule, just as God had said.
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So, Noah and his sons Eight people—four married couples—are saved from the flood and they would be the ones that God would make His covenant with as Genesis 6:18 records:
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
Text: Genesis 7:11-16
Text: Genesis 7:11-16
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,
14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.
15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
A great feature of the flood narrative is the number of detailed chronological notices.
By pinpointing the exact date of the flood within Noah’s life, the text underlines that it was a real event.
In fact, even though the calendar system of Noah’s day was unknown, it appears that one month equaled 30 days.
If calculated by the Jewish calendar of Moses’ day, it would be about May.
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Now, when verse 11 says “all the fountains of the great deep burst open,” it was referring to the subterranean waters sprang up from inside the earth to form the seas and rivers, which were not produced by rainfall (since there was none), but by deep fountains in the earth.
The phrase “the windows of the heavens were opened” or as other translations render “the floodgates of the sky” refer to the celestial waters in the canopy encircling the globe were dumped on the earth and joined with the terrestrial and the subterranean waters.
This ended the water canopy surrounding the earth and unleashed the water in the earth; together these phenomena began the new system of hydrology that has since characterized the earth.
The sequence in this verse, indicating that the earth’s crust breaks up first, then the heavens drop their water, is interesting because the volcanic explosions that would have occurred when the earth fractured would have sent magma and dust into the atmosphere, along with gigantic sprays of water, gas, and air—all penetrating the canopy triggering its downpour.
So, this is a powerful imagery used to capture the intensity of the flood.
From below and above, water poured out to cover the land...
And rain fell continuously for forty days and forty nights.
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Now notice in verse 16 that it is LORD who closed or shut the door behind them.
No small event is spared in the telling of this episode.
The Lord’s actions here show God’s works of grace are both sovereign and particular.
God is the chief actor throughout the biblical account.
In shutting the door, God also distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked.
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Elsewhere in Scripture, doors provide safety for God’s people in times of judgment.
While God rained judgment on the wicked, Lot (Genesis 19:10), the nation of Israel (Exodus 12:23), and Rahab (Joshua 2:19) found safety behind closed doors.
Those passages are as follows:
10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.
23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.
Jesus also uses this symbol of separation in describing the safety of the righteous in the day of the Lord’s coming as seen in Matthew 25:10–13 which says:
10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Text: Genesis 7:17-24
Text: Genesis 7:17-24
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.
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In this climactic section the devastating results of the flood are described, fulfilling the judgment that God had previously pronounced.
We see that the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days which is a five-month period.
It will be a further seven months before the land is sufficiently dry for those in the ark to disembark safely as we will cover is Genesis 8:13–14.
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Now notice that even all the high mountains were covered in water.
This describes the extent of the Flood as global.
Lest there be any doubt, Moses adds “under the whole heaven are covered.”
The highest mountains were at least “fifteen cubits deep” or 22.5 feet under water, so that the ark floated freely above the peaks and was a depth sufficient to keep the ark from grounding.
This would include the highest peak in that area, Mount Ararat, which is 17,000 feet high.
That depth further proves it was not a local flood, but a global one.
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This event was so monumental to human history that there are over 270 flood stories told in cultures all over the earth, which owe their origin to this one global event.
Additionally, the New Testament uses the flood account as an analogy for the future judgment of all of humanity as seen with 2 Peter 3:6–7 which says:
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
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The flood was God’s means for punishing human wickedness, purifying a defiled world, and preserving the human race for the fulfillment of His redemptive purposes.
So, the flood brought a whole world to an end...
And it prefigures the final judgment, which ends the present heavens and earth and brings a new world as Revelation 21:1 says:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
So, God preserves those who belong to Christ, the final Noah, if you will.
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Now, it took over 2½ months before the water receded to reveal other mountain peaks, over 4½ months before the dove could find dry land, and almost 8 months before the occupants could leave the ark.
We will cover those events in our future studies on the upcoming chapter, Chapter 8 of Genesis.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Please join me one more time in prayer.
