Genesis 6:12-22

Ge 6:12

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

Man’s sin is counted as “against the earth” and God had looked at the earth and saw that it was totally corrupted which included the animal kingdom.  Sin had corrupted the entire creation even the plant kingdom with its weeds and thorns.  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)  The sin was so bad and was just like today where sin was in the open and not hidden so as to cause shame to the doer of the sinful act, whatever it may be.

Ge 6:13

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Then the LORD begins to tell Noah the situation and will tell Noah his solution.  God tells Noah that the end of all flesh has come before him because the earth is so filled with violence because of man’s sin that he was going to destroy man along with the earth.  God was going to do a major cleansing of the earth from all the sin that has corrupted it.  Unfortunately sinful man thinks the earth is an entitlement for them and that their actions will not have consequences.  It is the same thought patterns that  modern man has.

Ge 6:14

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Then Noah was commanded by God to build an ark of Gopher wood.  It is not known exactly what type of wood this was because gopher is the Hebrew word for a common tree.  It may have been the cypress tree which was used in shipbuilding.  Then to prevent any leakage, Noah was to use pitch on the inside of the ark and also on the outside.  Pitch was the same thing used in the little ark of Moses when his mother floated him down the Nile.  The pitch may have been bitumen which is a clay like pitch.  Noah was to make rooms in the ark which would house the individual animals and also places for him and his family to stay.

Ge 6:15

And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

The size of the ark was to be 300 cubits in length, the height of it was to be 30 cubits, and the breadth or width was to be 50 cubits.  Since a cubit was about 18 inches, the dimensions would have been 450 feet (137.1 meters) in length, height was 45 feet (13.7 meters) and the breadth was 75 feet (22.9 meters).  This would have been twice the length of a Boeing 747 which is 232 feet in length.

Ge 6:16

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

Since the ark was to be totally pitched, it meant there was no openings to let the water in which also meant no air would be getting in either.  So God tells Noah to make a window about the size of one cubit.  The word “window” carries with it the meaning of “light.”  He was to make this window towards the top of the ark to let in light and air plus he would need it to dispatch the raven and the dove at the end of the flood.  He was to make a door in the side which would be big enough to allow the larger animals to enter in.  Then the ark was to be portioned in three stories.  Probably the highest story was for the man and the birds and flying insects.  Probably the second floor was for animals like pigs or cows.  The lower floor was probably for animals like elephants and rhinos.  The heavier animals would keep the ark afloat in an upright position by means of their weight.  The Epic of Gilgamesh describes the ark as a cube which would have rolled around on the water and would topple killing everything inside.  Any nautical engineer would know the Epic was a farce and just a created story but Noah’s ark was a sea worthy vessel.

Ge 6:17

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Here God is making a full disclosure that he is the one who is bringing the flood so Noah makes no error in who is the cause of the flood.  The focus of the flood was to destroy all the flesh wherein is the breath of life which included both humans and animals.  The end result is that every living thing on earth will die as a result of the flood.  It seems the fish are not mentioned in this indictment maybe because they live in the water and were not subject to the sins of humanity.

Ge 6:18

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Then God tells Noah that he is going to establish his covenant with Noah that him and his family would be the only people on earth who will not be affected by the flood in the area of being killed.  God is promising Noah that he and his family will be safe during the deluge.  They would be protected by God as they would come into the ark and the door would be sealed and the judgment of God upon the whole world would not touch them. This will be a picture of the last day when the whole world will be judged for their sins but the true believers who have had their sins removed by Christ in salvation will not be affected by the Great White Throne Judgment.

Ge 6:19

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Then the command is given that the animals and birds would also be coming into the ark, a pair of every animal on earth and the birds.  They were to be male and female so after the flood they can repopulate the earth with birds and land animals.  This is also a picture of salvation as God is the one who brought the animals to Noah to place them on the ark.  When God saves an individual it is he who is the one who places them into the ark which is Christ.  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)  The body of Christ will consist of men and women from all the countries of the world who were named before the foundation of the world.

Ge 6:20

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

The flood of Noah was the dividing line between the antediluvian world and the post flood era and that meant that out of all the animals, God may have decided to forego preserving some of the species such as the dinosaurs which would not be able to coexist with man as they were too ferocious, especially the Raptors and Tyrannosaurus Rex and others.  This is why we have their fossils but no living specimens beyond the flood.  However, God did save lizards and crocodiles which could be considered mini-dinosaurs.  Then God uses a term in reference to the animals “after their kind” which teaches us that each species of animals will only procreate after its kind.  For example, the Rhinoceros will only produce a Rhinoceros, or a sheep will only produce a sheep.

Ge 6:21

And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Then Noah was to prepare all the food they would need for his family.  This may have also included food for the animals.  Noah was to make sure they had ample supply for both his family and the animals.

Ge 6:22

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.