The Lord Told Noah to Enter the Ark
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain the instructions God gave to Noah at the time God told Noah to build an ark to preserve his family and two of every creature living on the earth. In this topic, we will see that the promised flood came on the earth.
It took Noah one hundred years to build the ark and gather the food that would be needed by all of the animals in the ark. However, we see in 2 Peter 2:5 that he was doing one other thing during those one hundred years. That verse says, “And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.” In this verse, we see that Noah also preached the need to repent and turn from their unbelief and turn to God to all who came to see what he was doing. However, we see that during all of those years, no one responded and came to God in repentance and faith. As a result, we see that it was only the family of Noah that entered the ark when it was completed.
In Genesis 7:1-3, we read, “Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.’” In these verses, we see the day came that the ark was complete and the food that would be needed to feed all of the creatures was on the ark. Then, the Lord told Noah that it was time for he and his family to enter the ark. God repeated the reason why He had chosen to save Noah and his family and preserve them through the flood.
God said He saw that Noah was righteous. The word that is translated “just” in Genesis 6:9 is the same word that is translated “righteous” here in Genesis 7:1. We saw in chapter 6 that the word means righteous or one who is right with God. God was able to see both the actions of Noah and the heart of Noah because 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” God had been looking at the hearts of all of the people of that day. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The thoughts of the hearts of most of the people were evil continually. In contrast, God saw that the heart of Noah was righteous. In addition, his actions showed that he was obedient to God and had built the ark.
God told Noah to take seven of every clean animal and two of each of the unclean animals. We see the first thing Noah did after he came off the ark was offer one of each clean animal as a sacrifice. Genesis 8:20 says, “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” That left three pairs of clean animals to multiply on the earth. For the unclean animals, he was to take one male and one female so every species of animal that was on the earth at that time would be preserved. We also see that Noah was told to take seven of each of the birds of the air so they would also be preserved. God is the One who brought all of the animals, birds, and creeping things to Noah so they could be loaded onto the ark.
Then, God told Noah, in Genesis 7:4-6, “‘For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.’ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.” God told Noah that it was only seven more days until He was going to bring the flood on the earth. God said He was going to cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. We will see in the next topic that the rain was only one of the sources of the water that covered the earth. We will also see that the great fountains of the deep were broken up, which may have provided much more water than the rain.
God said He would destroy from the earth all living things that He had made. Here, we see that the sins of mankind also affected everything else that lived on the earth. Romans 8:20-21 says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” We see that the whole creation had been subjected to futility because of the sins of men. Since mankind returned to his evil thoughts and ways, the creation still continues to suffer because of the sinfulness of man and looks forward to the time when it will be set free from the consequences of sin.
We also learn another very important lesson about Noah. These verses state that Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Here, we see that Noah was a man of obedience. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” This verse shows that Noah had a godly fear and reverence for God that caused him to be obedient to God. We see that the obedience of Noah had two very different effects. First, his obedience saved his household. In contrast, his obedience also condemned the world because the world and everyone on the earth were destroyed.
We also see that Noah was six hundred years old at the time of the flood. Genesis 5:32 says, “And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 6:8-10 says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Then, Genesis 6:13-14 adds, “And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.’” These verses taken together would indicate that it probably took Noah and his sons about 100 years to build the ark and prepare for the coming flood. It was when the ark was complete that God told them to enter the ark.
Genesis 7:7-10 says, “So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.” These verses begin by telling us that Noah, his sons, his wife, and the wives of his sons went into the ark. God could have chosen to just take Noah and two of every creature and seven of every clean creature off the earth while He destroyed everything on it. Instead, God had Noah and his sons take one hundred years to build the ark so they could go through the flood. As a result, God gives us an example of the fact that He will take us through the trials we face as we go through our lives. However, He will go with us through those trials.
God also brought the animals to the ark so they could board the ark and go through the flood. The clean animals are mentioned first since Noah had been told to take seven of every species of clean animal. Then, we see that the unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the earth came to the ark two-by-two. As they came two-by-two, God made certain that one was a male and the other was a female. The Bible does not tell us whether the animals were young or old. However, some of the larger animals may have been young, so they were a smaller size and would require less food. This would be especially true of the animals described in Job chapters 40:15-41:34, as those verses describe some rather large animals. Job 40:15-24 describes what sounds like a dinosaur. Verses 19-22 say, “He is the first of the ways of God; only He who made him can bring near His sword. Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him.” Here, we see that this creature needed the mountains for food but spent his time in the marsh. He is described as the first of the ways of God. Since Job was probably written about the time of Abraham, these animals were still alive only a little over four thousand years ago. Many of the fossils of these animals were created by the destructive waters of the flood since Noah only took two of each species into the ark and the rest were destroyed.
God had said in verse 4 that He would bring the flood after seven more days. In verse 10, we see that after seven days, the waters of the flood were on the earth. This means that God even allowed one week after the ark was complete and the animals were entering the ark for sinful men to repent. Any who would have been willing to repent, even at that last moment, would have been allowed into the ark. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Here, we see that even after waiting one hundred years while Noah built the ark, God gave the wicked another seven days to repent. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain that God is a loving God who shows great mercy. However, when there is no repentance, He will finally bring judgment on those who reject the mercy He offers. This is why each person must personally come to God in repentance. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain that God is a God of mercy.
