Genesis 7

          God gave Noah further instruction regarding the animals that he was to bring into the ark. The extra pairs of clean beasts were for the blood sacrifice after the Flood. (Genesis 8:20, Leviticus 10:10, Deuteronomy 14:3, Ezekiel 44:23) This was yet another sign from God to Noah that he and his family would indeed survive the Flood, that there would be life beyond the judgment. This was also a foreshadowing of the law that was to be given to the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt.
           
          Verse 5: “And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.” Yet another reminder of why God chose to spare Noah and his family. Noah did all that God instructed him, obeying without question, and following those instructions to the letter. Noah didn’t try to improve on God’s plans for the ark by adding another level, or changing the basic design and dimensions, nor did Noah try to gather any more animals than the number and kind that God specified. When God gives us a task to complete, all He expects from us is trust and obedience; nothing more, nothing less. As long as we follow His guidance and direction, we will prosper. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
 
            Verses 10-12: The Flood was universal. The rain that fell for 40 days and 40 nights, as well as the canopy of water vapor that had been suspended above the earth (Genesis 1:7), as well as the underground reservoirs (Genesis 2:6), all served to cover the entire earth with water, extending well above even the tallest mountain peak by at least 22 ½ feet. (v.17-20) Every man, woman, child, land animal and fowl of the air perished. Only those in the ark were saved. (v. 21-24) God’s judgment on proud, wicked, and sinful mankind was universal and complete. All these verses emphatically state that this was not just a localized flood or a brief rainstorm. The entire earth was one vast ocean by the end of the 40-day deluge. God, through the hand of Moses, makes it crystal clear in this chapter that His judgment and wrath was absolute, complete and universal. None except for Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives were spared.
 
            Verses 13-16: God rewarded Noah’s faith and obedience. “…the Lord shut him in.” (v.16) God supernaturally sealed the door from without after Noah and his family went into the ark. Those last five words of verse 16 are both joyously reassuring and heartbreakingly ominous. For Noah, God’s sealing of the door meant that no water would get into the ark. He and his family and all the animals could rest in the comfort of the assurance that they would be kept safe and sound during the Flood. But for all the people outside, God’s sealing of the door meant that His time of grace and mercy was at an end. They had had their chance to repent, to join Noah and his family inside the ark, but, time and again, they had instead laughed and mocked and derided Noah when he tried to warn them of God’s coming judgment. They were very likely still laughing and mocking when they suddenly felt the first few raindrops.
            And then, as the clouds burst, and as the fountains of the deep exploded upwards, their laughter must have quickly turned to panic and fear. The crowds must have surged forward, banging against the wall of the ark, shouting and pleading with Noah to let them in. But it was too late. God had kept His word, and His judgment was final.
            Jesus warned his disciples in Matthew 24:38-39 that His second coming would be in much the same manner as the sudden onset of the Flood here in Genesis. One of the signs of the last days, of the time just before God’s judgment on sinful mankind once more, will be much the same as it was in Noah’s day. Men today are going about their lives, deliberately rejecting God, living selfishly and proudly in wickedness and sin. Anyone who dares to stand for what is right, who preaches God’s coming judgment, who tries to warn the lost and call them to repentance is ignored, or mocked, or ridiculed and scorned.
            And yet God, in His mercy and compassion and love, stays His hand, waiting for just one, or two, or three more to come to Him before it’s too late. But his mercy and grace and longsuffering will not last forever. There is quickly coming a day, when we who have accepted the blood of Jesus as payment for our sins and been sealed with the Holy Spirit will suddenly, instantly – in the twinkling of an eye – disappear from this world. Those that remain behind will be stunned, confused and bewildered. There will be much chaos, and even many will still be laughing and mocking, claiming that the world will be a better place without those “fascist, intolerant, Christians”.
            But this time, the judgment will be much longer than just 40 days and forty nights.
 
            Verse 24 is further evidence of just how great the volume of water was that covered the whole earth. It did not begin to recede until about six months after the 40 days of rainfall. This is also one last, clear statement that confirms the death of every man, woman, child, land animal and fowl. Nothing could have survived for those six months except those in the ark and the aquatic animals.
         God’s judgment upon the earth and upon the wicked was whole and complete.