Genesis 7:4, commentary and pictures

God gave seven days' warning that rain would fall for forty days and forty nights to destroy every living thing He had made from the earth. Those stated periods were exact, and what was foretold came to pass precisely as announced. The seven days were the final test after the one-hundred-twenty-year probation had closed, when God Himself shut the door of the ark to shut Noah in for safety and shut the ungodly out, fixing every destiny for life or death before any rain fell. That destruction was God's judgment for continual transgression of His law, yet in cutting off the incurable wicked it was mercy to vindicate His authority and prevent further corruption. As they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be, when the door of mercy is finally closed and the ark, the only place of safety, illustrates the salvation offered through Christ.

Warning and Flood Described

The warning gave seven days before God would send rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights to destroy every living substance He had made from off its face. The seven days and the forty days are precise stated periods, and the events foretold for them were fulfilled exactly as announced. It came when human wickedness was great, when every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually, and when the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence, and it stands as literal history with Noah as a literal person.

Until that time no rain had ever fallen, for a mist rose to water the earth, falling at night like dew to nourish vegetation. Noah with his wife, his sons and his sons' wives, only eight persons, entered the ark because of the waters of the flood, and the animals and birds came two by two under God's direction and invisible leadership and were placed in prepared places and housed. God Himself shut them in by an invisible hand. For seven days after their entry there appeared no sign of the coming storm, and the sun rose and set in a clear sky, giving the family that interval to prepare and to store goods for their long stay.

That enclosed week severely tried the faith of those inside, while outside was a time of triumph, with mocking, deriding, scoffing, sport and revelry, and crowds gathering about the ark with unusual daring and violence never ventured upon before. At the end of the seven days clouds never before seen gathered thicker and thicker, and rain began slowly and gently as a new thing never seen before, then increased in power to torrents as if the windows of heaven were opened. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month on the seventeenth day, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the waters rose daily higher and higher above the mountains and the tops of the highest trees, swept away the people, beasts and fowls outside until escape was impossible, floated the ark upon the troubled waters under divine care and guidance, and prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Judgment After Mercy Ended

The Flood was God's judgment for continual transgression of His law, and the destruction of the incurable wicked was an act of mercy to the world. The waters declared the verdict that they would not submit to divine authority, but followed their own settled choice in rebellion. God bore long with men, yet set limits to forbearance, and when wickedness became unbearable to Him as a sin-hating God He vindicated His authority, repressed unrighteousness, limited life, and cleansed the world to prevent further corruption. Their destruction remains a warning to later generations that He punishes those who disregard His law.

That guilty race was given one hundred and twenty years of mercy and probation while the immense ark, a boat on dry land, was building. During that time Noah, Enoch, and many others warned and entreated the people, with every blow struck on the ark itself serving as a warning message. By the standard of God's law the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient, and the believing ones who died in the faith kept it triumphant amid universal scorn. When with a thus saith the Lord men presumed on mercy, despised warnings, rejected and went decidedly counter to His will, they exceeded the limits of grace and long-sufferance. The measure of iniquity became full, the boundaries of divine mercy were passed, and God interfered in wrath to vindicate the honor of His law.

The seven days before the rain were the final period of testing after the one-hundred-twenty-year probation had closed. Probation was nearly over while the animals entered two by two by God's direction as a striking sign of divine power. In those days Noah made his last effort with tearful eye, trembling lip and quivering voice, warning, entreating and appealing to the rejecters to believe and secure refuge in the ark. God's shutting of the door by an invisible hand shut Noah in for safety and shut the ungodly out. Up to that time a door of refuge had stood open where the old world might be saved by believing, but when God shut the door the day of probation, long forbearance, refuge and hope ended, mercy ceased and justice took the sword of vengeance. Destiny was fixed for life or death before visible judgment fell, the cup of injustice was full, the golden opportunity was past forever, and no man could open what God had shut.

The solemn scenes of beasts and birds entering and the angel closing the door only briefly stirred wonder and fear, and did not turn the hardened people from rebellion. For seven days after entry there appeared no sign of storm, giving time to prepare for the long stay, since before the Flood rain was unknown and only a mist rose to water the earth and fall at night like dew to nourish vegetation. The unbelieving people wrongly treated the apparent delay as proof that Noah was deceived and his message a delusion and that the flood would never come. They still continued their careless, pleasure-loving life in eating, drinking, planting, building, sport and revelry, even making a jest of those displays of God's power. They gathered in crowds about the ark, deriding its inmates with a daring violence never ventured before, and mocking the warnings of impending doom until the rain came.

Outsiders turned from Noah with impatience and contempt, ridiculing him, caricaturing and criticizing him, and laughing him to scorn as a crazy fanatic. They called him insane and egotistical for claiming only his family was right among the vast population and for building an immense boat on dry ground. They reasoned from science and philosophy and the laws controlling nature, and from the example of wise and honored men who did not believe, that a flood could not come. Their rejection did not make the message of none effect, for God fulfilled His word until every living person and dumb animal outside perished in sin and none remained alive outside. The destruction came because talented men possessed of skill and knowledge became lifted up in their own imaginations, left God out of their plans and counsels, and became wise to do evil God had never told them to do, so that their wisdom would have worked destruction to future generations, and the Lord cut them off from the earth.

Only eight persons of that vast population believed, accepted sufficient light to obey all God's commandments, fled for refuge into the ark, and were saved, while Noah's message condemned the rest of the world. All were tested by the truth Noah preached so that all who would hear and turn from unrighteousness could be saved, yet even many who helped build the ark did not believe because the warning required cleansing from all wrong principles and overcoming all doing and saying contrary to God's mind and will. Noah preserved the law by teaching it to his descendants. Thus the account shows that God delivers the faithful from the destruction He brings on the wicked who mocked the warning and perished.

Pattern for Final Crisis

As in the days of Noah so it will be in the days of the Son of Man, for the wicked perished knowing not until the flood came and took them all away. After the 120-year probation closed and the ark was finished, the believers with cattle and every other living creature entered two by two, God shut them in by an invisible hand, and for six to seven days no rain fell while Noah and his helpers held to the law and preached more earnestly amid universal scorn. That week was a final period of testing in which unbelieving mockers fully revealed themselves by reviling the ark, continuing a careless pleasure-loving life of planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and mocking warnings of impending doom until steady rain set in. When a people with a thus saith the Lord presume on mercy, despise warnings, and go decidedly counter to His will, they exceed the limits of grace and long-suffering, so God interferes in wrath to vindicate His law, repress unrighteousness, limit life, and prevent men spoiling one another in continual disobedience. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month on the seventeenth day, the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened, rain fell forty days and forty nights, the waters prevailed a hundred and fifty days, and every living person and dumb animal outside perished in sin while Noah, righteous before God and obedient to all commanded, was preserved with his house.

Those seven days when doom was fixed but the people lived on careless and unconscious illustrate the close of the investigative judgment a short time before the Lord appears in the clouds of heaven. Probation for the world was already ended with destiny decided for life or death before visible judgment fell, God having shut Noah in for safety and shut the ungodly out, yet righteous and wicked still lived together on earth in mortal state unconscious of it. The final irrevocable decision is pronounced in the sanctuary above while men continue together below, coming silently unnoticed as the midnight thief in the decisive hour that fixes every man's destiny with the final withdrawal of mercy's offer to guilty men. The closing of the ark ends the last call of mercy, after which the holy remain holy still and the filthy remain filthy still and it is everlastingly too late, so all must humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, serve one master, wake up and get ready, for time is very short. The flood account thus serves as a pattern for God's final deliverance of His people, who warn the world of coming wrath and refuse to obey the beast's decree or receive its mark, and as Noah was preserved in the deluge so God will be the refuge of His believing ones in days of destruction and calamity before the Son of man appears.

The wickedness of the world before the Flood is repeated in this age, with the whole world fast becoming the same again in disregard of commandments and common iniquity, increasing sins, and increasing calamities, earthquakes, floods, fires and disasters by land and by sea showing how quickly the ungodly will perish. God looked upon the world then as He looks upon the world today, sending plain messages now as He sent the startling warning then that He would destroy every living thing, with judgments already falling in flood and flame to show that very short time remains and another general destruction of the wicked is coming. The same unbelief that prevailed before the Flood will exist prior to Christ's coming, when only eight of that vast corrupt pleasure-loving population accepted sufficient light to obey all commandments, fled for refuge into the ark and were saved while Noah's message condemned the rest, so God's workers must still lift the warning voice despite moral darkness covering the earth. Present believers should not be discouraged when only a few believe present truth and regard the commandments, and must not follow the majority, for following the majority leads to destruction and loss of heaven. A gracious invitation to come because all things are ready still goes out to all before the last warning is given and cases are fixed for eternity, requiring diligent heart-searching, conversion, pardon of sin, cleansing from all wrong principles, overcoming all doing and saying contrary to God's mind and will, and preparation for earth's closing scenes, even though many who helped build the ark did not believe. The ark was the only place of safety and illustrates the great salvation offered through Christ's complete sacrifice, so to stay outside is to neglect that salvation and fight against God even without openly opposing truth, and all must awake, respond to mercy, be converted and united with Christ, with mothers accountable for their children's souls and unable to expect their children to enter while they themselves remain outside. That destruction for continual transgression of the law, preached against by Noah seeking to turn the people from disobedience though only his family accepted, stands as a warning to later generations that God punishes those who disregard His law.