Genesis 7

Noah walked with God in his generation, and God called him righteous. The way that God works righteousness among human beings who live after sin entered the world would await further explanation in the days of Abraham and beyond. What is clear from this passage is that Noah was alone in his generation as the man who would bring his family into the ark, which would be the only means of protection from the flood that was about to come upon the earth.

The ark was a holy sanctuary in a world that would soon face a deluge of the Lord's judgment. In a holy place, the distinction between clean and unclean becomes relevant. This is the first place in the Bible that the word “clean” is used. The number of animals of each species that Noah would bring on board the ark would depend on whether the animal was judged to be clean. Some of these would eventually be sacrificed to the Lord in the renewed world.

Two of every unclean animal would be brought on board, a male and “his mate,” but seven pairs of all birds. All of this planning, preparation, building, and gathering was necessary because of the event that was about to transpire. This event would seem most unlikely to a person judging likelihood based on his own experience or the reports of others. But to the man who walks with God, the Word is not a matter of what is probable. It is certain. Noah knew that in seven days God would send rain on the earth that would continue for forty days and forty nights. God would blot out every living thing from the face of the earth. The only place of survival would be in the sanctuary of the ark. Noah obeyed the voice of God.

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came. His father, Lamech, had died five years earlier, and his grandfather, Methuselah, died in the year of the flood. Noah, his sons, his wife, his sons wives, and all the creatures went into the ark with the man who was righteous before God in his generation. When everything was inside according to God's command, the Lord shut them in. When that door shut, it would not open again until the waters of God's judgment had entirely prevailed upon the earth.

When God created the earth on the second day, He spoke the waters into their appropriate places, the waters above in the skies and the waters below in the seas. On the third day, His Voice commanded that the waters below would be contained to certain limits so that the dry land appeared. But in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, something remarkable happened. From both the waters below in the seas and the waters above in the skies, the judgment of God burst forth upon the dry land. It rained, and the waters flooded the dry land.

When God sends blessing upon the earth, blessing will prevail. When God sends judgment upon the earth, judgment will prevail. The waters prevailed upon the earth. But the ark, the holy sanctuary that was the only place of safety, rose high above the earth, and floated on the waters.

The waters prevailed, and all flesh died. God blotted out everything in an immersion of His judgment. The ark was the only place of life. This was not a local disaster. This was a worldwide move of God that resulted in death of all that once was. The line of Cain was gone. Most of the line of Seth was gone. Those who were descendants of any of the other sons and daughters of Adam were gone. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

The waters prevailed on the earth 150 days, and Noah and the new world waited. This is the account of the flood, a worldwide judgment of God. The only place of safety was in the holy sanctuary of the ark that floated above the waters. Once God shut the door of that ark, there was no opportunity for anyone to get in.

How could people know that this kind of cataclysmic judgment would take place? A thing like this had never happened before. The only way to be adequately prepared for the event of the flood was through hearing the Voice of the Lord. Noah heard the Word of God and believed.

The Voice of the Lord is powerful. By His Voice God made all things. By His Word He sent forth judgment on the world that once was. That world is no more. A new age has begun.

Many centuries later, the Voice of the Lord became flesh in order to accomplish a powerful work of God's judgment and salvation. The flood and fire of God's wrath prevailed over the Son of God, the Voice of God, the Word of God, on the cross, and through His willing sacrifice, all those who would be found in Him have been granted His salvation, a new life in a new age of resurrection glory.

One day the Voice of the Lord will come again. This time the judgment of God will not be upon Jesus. He did that once, never to be repeated again. Now His judgment will be upon the world as we know it. The only place of safety against that Day of the Lord is in the holy ark of Christ and His church. He has faced the wrath of God for us through His death. Come to Him, and abide in Him forever.