05.012. Chapter 7

Genesis 7:1-24 The word “come” appears for the first line in Genesis 7:1—a gracious gospel invitation. No reason is given why Noah was commanded to take seven pairs of clean animals into the ark, but only one pair of unclean. Perhaps it was for food and in anticipation of the clean animals being needed for sacrifice (see Genesis 8:20). The ark was filled with its inhabitants for seven days before the rain began and the underground reserves of water gushed out. The torrent continued for 40 days and 40 nights; 40 is the number of probation or testing in the Bible. Was this a local flood, as some allege? Consider the following! “All the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered” (Genesis 7:19 NASB). God need not have told Noah to build an ark equivalent to 1 1/2 football fields in length and 800 railroad cars in volume to escape a local flood. He could easily have moved eight people and the animals to a different location. Traditions of a universal flood have come from all parts of the world. The mountains of Ararat range up to 17,000 feet. The flood was 15 cubits higher (Genesis 7:19-20). By what sort of miracle was this water kept in a localized area? In Genesis 9:15 God promised that the water would never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. There have been many local floods since then, but never a universal flood. If the flood was local, then God’s promise has been broken—an impossible conclusion. Peter uses the destruction of the world by water as a symbol of a still future destruction of the earth by fire (2 Peter 3:6). The ark is a picture of Christ. The wafers depict God’s judgment. The Lord Jesus went under the waters of divine wrath at Calvary. Those who ate in Christ are saved. Those who are outside are doomed.