1 NOAH AND HIS HOUSEHOLD ENTER THE ARK THE FLOOD ENGULFED THE EARTH GENESIS 7:1-24
2 Text: NOAH AND HIS HOUSEHOLD ENTER THE ARK Genesis 7:1-24, THE FLOOD ENGULFTED THE EARTH 1. The Lord said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 2. You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 3. and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth. 4. For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made. 5. And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. 6. Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 7. Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons wives because of the floodwaters. 8. Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 9. male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10. And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 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 open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12. And the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
3 13. On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons three wives. 14. They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 15. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 16. Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in. 17. The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18. The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19. The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20. The waters rose more than twenty feet above the mountains. 21. And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23. So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 24. The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days. (NET) Commentary: The Lord told Noah that it was time to take his family and come into the Ark. The reason that Noah and his family were spared was because he was a righteous man! He took seven pairs of the clean animals and one pair of the unclean animals into the Ark. The clean animals were later used for food and for sacrifice. Seven pairs of fowls of the air or the birds were also taken into the
4 Ark. The animals were kept alive so that there would always be animals and birds on the earth. When the flood came it rained for forty days and forty nights and the fountains of the deep were also broke up. Noah was six hundred years old when he went into the Ark to escape the flood. Noah, his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law all went inside the Ark. The door of the Ark was shut by God, so that no more people and no more animals could enter. Seven days after Noah, his family and the animals entered the Ark the flood came on the earth. Noah and his family were saved in the Ark and they were saved by water. "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1 Peter 3:20) The sky opened and the rain poured for forty days and nights. The fountains of the deep were also broken open. There is a massive amount of underground water in the world. "The Geological Survey of Alabama has estimated Alabama's groundwater supply to be 553 trillion gallons of freshwater stored in 19 major aquifers or aquifer systems across the state." The flood began in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month. Noah and his wife along with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives had entered the Ark. The animals that God sent were in the Ark along with the necessary food. When they were all in the Ark God closed the door. During forty days the underground water supply was flooding the earth and it rained non-stop. The flood was world wide. All the mountains were covered. The flood water was about 22 feet above the top of the mountains. Not a bird, animal, reptile, or human was left alive anywhere on earth. Everything that breathed was destroyed. The only humans left were the 8 souls in the Ark. The rain lasted forty days and nights after which the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. When these two periods of time, the forty days and then the one hundred and fifty days are added together that makes up about six months and ten days of the flood time that had past.
5 Come into the Ark -- Genesis 7:1-4: The work on the Ark continued for a hundred and twenty years and then the flood came. During this time Noah maintained his faith in God and continued to follow His instructions. "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7) Noah's faith saved him and his family physically. But, far more than that Noah s faith saved him from eternal destruction. "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 14:14) Noah obeyed God and preached righteousness. "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9) God did not tell Noah and his family to "Go" into the Ark. Instead He said, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." God's presence was inside the Ark and He invited Noah to come in. God sent the animals to Noah to be preserved alive in the Ark. He said, "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth." (Genesis 7:2-3) Here God classified some animals as clean and some as unclean. It was not until Leviticus 11 that we read of God giving instructions to the Jews concerning clean and unclean animals. These may have been the same animals listed as clean or unclean in Leviticus 11 but I do not know for sure. The flood begins upon the earth -- Genesis 7:5-10: Upon the command to come into the Ark Noah readily obeyed God. God spoke to him, "And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." (Genesis 7:5) God promised that the flood would come in seven days and Noah believed God. There was no evidence that the flood was coming. He only had the word of God on the matter. In every step Noah took, he walked by faith and not by sight. Noah took with him his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law into the Ark. He was six hundred years old when he went into the Ark to escape the
6 flood. When Noah entered the Ark all of the animals, birds and insects came in by pairs, a male and a female, until all the animals were safely inside. It was never the will of God that males be with males or females with females. "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." (Romans 1:26-28) The things happening in our society with men and other men and women and other women are lustful, vile, unnatural, unseemingly (improper, not suitable or not right or not appropriate) and these actions are anti-god! God sent the wild animals to Noah and then into the Ark just as He had at first sent them before Adam to be named. Seven days after Noah's family and the animals were in the Ark the flood began to cover the earth. Eight souls were in the Ark -- Genesis 7:11-16: In a very somber statement the Bible says, "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." (Genesis 7:11) When the flood began the water under the earth started gushing out everywhere. The rain poured down for forty days and nights. On the day that Noah entered the Ark with all the animals God shut the door behind them! God's place of safety for Noah, his wife, his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives was in the Ark. The place of safety for those living today is the one church that you read about in your Bible. (Acts 20:28) Along with the eight souls in the Ark there were the animals. In Genesis 7:14 God classified the animals on the Ark into four groups. "Every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort." (Genesis 7:14) The wild animals were called "beasts." The animals that
7 had been tamed or domesticated were called "cattle." The insects were called "creeping thing." The birds were called "fowl." Those animals in the Ark with Noah were all air breathing animals. (Genesis 7:17) We are not told how God preserved the plant life that He had created on the earth. It is possible that seeds could have floated on the water. The flood was worldwide -- Genesis 7:17-24: The broken fountains of the deep and the heavy rain continued for forty days. During the forty days the water got deeper and deeper, until the Ark started floating high above the earth. During those forty days, "the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters." "Prevailed" means they did not stop, but increased continually. The Ark floated safely and the water increased until it was 15 cubits or more than 22 feet above the highest mountain. The flood was a worldwide flood. The absolute authority for the world wide flood is what God said in his word. "And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered." (Genesis 7:19-20) The Bible says, "And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." (Genesis 7:23) This was not just a local flood in the Middle East. There is overwhelming evidence all over the earth of the world wide scope of the Flood. Sea fossils are found on every major mountain range on earth. Noah and his family were in the Ark for over one year. God's provision for man and His ultimate plan of salvation was riding on the waters of the flood. God destroyed wicked mankind and preserved righteous Noah and his family. Because God saved Noah, the righteous line of Seth continued and Christ later came to earth born of a virgin, a descendent of Shem, a son of Noah. Allow your faith to move you to obedience. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus as the
8 Christ (Mark 16:16), repent of all sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized for remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) After baptism remain faithful to God. (Revelation 2:10) By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037
9 QUESTIONS ON GENESIS 7:1-24 1. How much time elapsed from God s commands to Noah to build the ark and the start of the flood? 2. Why did God command Noah to take seven of every kind of clean animal and its mate? What was the purpose of two each of male and female of the unclean animals? 3. God ordered Noah and his household into the ark days before the start of the rain.
10 4. After days of rain the flood waters engulfed the earth. (Verse 10) The rain continued for days and. 5. How many people were on the ark? Name them. 6. Precisely how old was Noah when the flood came? 7. The waters rose more than feet above the mountain tops. 8. The fountains of the great deep burst open... Verse 11 refers to 9. How did Noah gather all the animals to the ark?
11 10. All living things on earth perished in the flood. Verse 21 lists the five groups of species of living things. They were: 11. What evidence exists today that proves the veracity of the world wide event. Give two examples. 12. The flood waters covered the earth for days. Including the days of rain this is a time span of about months. 13. Explain the symbolism of verse 6, Then the Lord shut him in.
12 14. Noah was a righteous man, a descendant of, a righteous man. Noah s son, another righteous man, continued the lineage through which was born.