Genesis 7:13-24
Ge 7:13
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and
Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with
them, into the ark;
The day when the rain started to fall was the same day
that Noah and his three sons and their wives entered into the ark which was the
seventeenth day of the second month.
Some commentators attempt to name the wives of Ham, Shem, and Japheth but
that would only be speculation.
Ge 7:14
They, and 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.
Then the family of Noah and all the animals which God
brought to the ark were now safe within the ark as the deluge was now in force.
Notice in this verse too we read “after his kind” in which God is
emphasizing that animals will only produce their own kind such as a rabbit will
produce rabbits or giraffes will only produce giraffes.
Ge 7:15
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
They all entered the ark which included Noah and his
family and all the living animals which came in two by two.
They went in by number, order and obedient to the call of God.
Ge 7:16
And they that went in, went in male and female of all
flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
All the family of Noah went into the ark along with all
the animals who were male and female so repopulation of the earth would take
place after the deluge was over.
Notice that Noah did not close the door but it was the LORD who shut them in.
This is also a picture of salvation when the LORD named everyone to be
saved before the foundation of the world and then salvation was only for those
he named and not the rest.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall
worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
Ge 7:17
And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the
waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
The rain had stayed steady for forty days and forty
nights and as a result the water levels kept rising all over the earth.
The ark was borne by the water as it was lifted above the earth.
This meant that the water level was rising so high that the ark was taken
from the place on earth where Noah built it and was now floating on the flood
waters.
Ge 7:18
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon
the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
The waters prevailed which means the water became
stronger or greater and it increased in height and ferocity with each hour.
Then we are told that the judgment of God by flood did not affect those
in the ark as it went along on the face of the waters.
Just like the believers on Judgment day.
The final judgment will not affect the true believer because all their
sins were removed by Christ on Calvary and therefore they have no sins to stand
for.
Ge 7:19
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and
all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
The waters remained mighty and stronger as the rain
continued to fall. The waters had
prevailed vehemently upon the earth to the point that all the high hills were
now covered all over the earth. I
am sure that people had headed to the hills to try and escape or to postpone the
inevitable but any place of refuge was now destroyed because the flood waters
had risen over and above the hills.
Ge 7:20
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the
mountains were covered.
Then we are told that the water level had reached 15
cubits which would be 22.5 feet (6.85 meters) high.
Now this measurement must have been from the top of the highest mountain
because if the measurement was taken from the ground it would only rise 22.5
feet which would hardly reach the top of a tree so the measurement has to be
from the top of the highest peak.
15 cubits above would be more than enough to kill the largest beasts or the
biggest man. Remember the giants of
Genesis 6 were probably still alive and were very tall.
We do not know how high the mountains were at this time.
Ge 7:21
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth, and every man:
Here we have the complete destruction of all the living
creatures on the earth from man to the animal kingdom to the fowls of the air.
Who said our sins do not affect others.
It was man’s sin that caused the annihilation of the animal kingdom and
the birds of the air. We never sin
alone as there will always be a ripple effect.
Ge 7:22
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of
all that was in the dry land, died.
The destruction was complete as all living creatures who
had the breath of life on the dry land were now dead.
Ge 7:23
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.
Here we are given the details of the effect of the flood
which destroyed everything which lived on the dry ground.
Both man and cattle and also the insects along with the fowls of heaven
were destroyed from the earth but the flood did not affect Noah and his family
because they were in the ark and all those specially separated animals were also
saved to repopulate the earth.
Ge 7:24
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and
fifty days.