1 “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female; of the fowl also of the air, seven and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 3 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground. And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. 4 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 5 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of everything that creepeth upon the ground, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 6 And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 7 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 8 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 9 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; they, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every fowl after its kind, every bird of every sort. 10 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. 11 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him: and the Lord shut him in. 12 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. 13 And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 14 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. 15 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 16 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 17 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 18 And every living thing was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping thing, and fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark. 19 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”
NOTE.—Note that the book of Genesis is a definite revelation. It is just as precise and sacred a history as the book of Revelation is definite and divine as prophecy. It is the only authentic record of the world before the Deluge, and perhaps for a long time thereafter. It is beautiful in its simplicity, and glorious in its expression of the infinite thought of God towards man in the Gospel of creation and redemption.
QUESTIONS.
(1) What invitation did the Lord give to Noah and his house? Why was Noah, with his household, saved? V. 1. Note 1. (2) What preference was shown towards clean beasts? V. 2. Note 2. (3) What order was given concerning the fowls of the air? For what purpose were all these taken into the ark? V. 3. Note 3. (4) What did the Lord say He would do after seven days? For how long? For what purpose? V. 4. (5) How did Noah regard the Lord’s command? V. 5. (6) How old was Noah at this time? V. 6. (7) Who went into the ark with him? V. 7. (8) What remarkable event now took place? Vs. 8, 9, 13–16. (9) Who shut the door? V. 16. (10) How was Noah’s faith tested? V. 10. (11) Describe the flood which followed. Vs. 11, 12, 17–20. (12) On what day of Noah’s life did the Deluge begin? What happened to all the fountains of the great deep? to the “flood-gates” of heaven? V. 11. Note 4. (13) How long did the rain continue? Vs. 12, 17. (14) How extensive was the flood? V. 19. Note 5. (15) How high did the waters reach? Vs. 19, 20. (16) What now became of man and animal alike? Vs. 21–23. (17) Who only remained alive? V. 23. (18) How long did the waters prevail upon the earth? V. 24. Note 6.
Suggestive Readings.—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pp. 98–104. “Great Controversy,” pp. 613–652.
NOTES.
1. Thee have I seen.—God notices every one of His children. For “the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.”
2. By sevens.—That is, seven pairs. The dual number in the Bible is expressed by the simple plural. Boothroyd renders, “seven pairs.”
3. Of the fowl.—The Septuagint and Samaritan13reading of verse 3 is, according to Boothroyd, as follows: “Of the fowls of the air also that are clean, seven pairs, the male and the female; and of the fowls that are not clean, two pairs, the male and his female; to keep their seed alive upon the face of the whole earth.” In verse 8 the Septuagint reads, “and of clean fowls and of fowls that were not clean.”
4. Fountains of the great deep, etc.—Note that the Deluge was not caused by the rain alone, but largely by the breaking up of the great deep. Evidently much more of the earth’s surface was then above water. At the Deluge the earth subsided, and the water overflowed; a mixture of the elements took place, and the whole plan and arrangement was changed. “The world [cosmos, order, arrangement] that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” 2 Peter 3:6. The flood of waters reveals to us the present state of the world as no geological or astronomical science can. The wonderful changes wrought in the earth can only be imagined from that which is now seen in the things of nature, or known from divine revelation itself.
5. All the high mountains.—How few there are among professed Christian teachers, let alone scientists, who are willing to say that they believe the simple story of the flood! They tell us that it was “merely local.” But in all parts of the earth among aboriginal tribes are traditions of a universal flood. Go where we will and the earth itself presents evidence of submergence, the water-mark of the flood. Why not admit the truth of the Bible record that it was all at one time, and that God’s great power, perverted and unperverted, wrought changes in days that have at other times taken ages?
6. Prevailed upon the earth.—Not that at the end of 150 days they were gone, but at that time they began to subside. Noah was in the ark over a year.
ADDITIONAL STUDY.
(1) What did the shutting of the door of the ark mean to the antediluvians? What did it mean to Noah? (2) What kind of sorrow, repentance, and fear did that guilty race manifest after the closing of the door? How will it be after the closing of the door of mercy? (3) What destruction is soon coming upon the world? 2 Peter 3:5–7, 10. (4) Note the special sins which characterized the antediluvian world, and compare with 2 Tim. 3:1–7, etc. (5) Noah was a preacher of righteousness. What special message is to be given now? (6) What test will the people of God have to bear after the close of probation? Will they be preserved from harm? Jer. 30:5–7; Psalms 91; Rev. 3:10; Isa. 27:5. (7) What became of the earthly paradise?
