There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
The living creatures came to Noah into the ark in male-and-female pairs as God had commanded, and he received them into prepared places of refuge, while the clean kinds came in larger groups by sevens. Holy angels gathered and guided them quietly in perfect order from every direction with no human leader, with birds flocking in numbers that darkened the heavens by a power above natural law. Their obedience stood against human disobedience, for the world watched the solemn manifestation of God's power with wonder and alarm yet explained it away and mocked Noah with jesting and scoffing. After the open invitation had stood for all, God shut the eight believing ones in by an invisible hand, their faith was tried by a week with no storm while those outside triumphed and reviled, and then the flood truly came and swept away the impenitent, vindicating God's word and law in both judgment and mercy. As they knew not until the flood took them all away, so the coming of the Son of man will surprise a wicked, pleasure-absorbed generation, yet God will preserve the faithful few who obey all His commandments and make Him their refuge through the final destruction.
Animals Entering the Ark
Living creatures went in to Noah into the ark two by two, the male and the female together, exactly as God had commanded Noah, with Noah receiving them and placing them in prepared spaces where they found refuge. The beasts went into the ark built on dry land in pairs, and the birds came in such numbers that they darkened the heavens as they went two by two into the ark. Noah walked by faith and obeyed all the Lord commanded him after God declared him righteous in his generation.
Clean beasts and birds entered in larger groups, by sevens, while the other kinds entered in male-and-female pairs. The distinction held through the whole gathering, with unclean kinds preserved by a single pair and clean kinds preserved sevenfold for continuance.
Holy angels gathered and guided them quietly and peacefully in perfect order from mountain, forest, field and every direction, with no visible human leader but under the invisible leadership of God. Beasts of every kind, fiercest as well as gentlest, came quietly toward the ark, and birds flocked from all directions with a sound like rushing wind in numbers that darkened the heavens. Their coming by themselves from the wild and their departure from forests and fields to enter the ark was an unnatural sign displaying God's power, which onlookers could not explain by natural laws.
The coming went on over seven days after the ark was finished and provisioned and the goods were stored, marking the close of human probation and the final sign before the door was shut. Their being housed inside was followed by God shutting the believers in by an invisible hand, and then by a testing week with no rain and no sign of storm. After the animals were housed the entrance thus marked the close of the 120-year probation and the separation of the obedient from the disobedient.
The setting was a real historical flood in Noah's real lifetime, belonging to the inspired Old Testament record in Genesis 7. Noah warned the antediluvian world for one hundred and twenty years while building the ark, with his family and others receiving his instruction about the coming flood and helping build it, including carpenters he employed and converts, some of whom died before the flood and others backslid. That long probation was given in mercy so evildoers could repent or be swept from the earth, amid extraordinary self-importance, swelling pride, deeds of unrighteousness, and universal scorn thrown upon God's law and upon Noah and his helpers, while many believing ones kept the faith and died triumphant. All this stood against the record that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and that the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence.
Only eight obedient righteous people lived to enter, Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, entering because of the waters of the flood, and the Lord shut them in. The few who obeyed God found shelter in the ark as a refuge from the storm, with the door closed upon them until God's indignation was overpast. It was the six hundredth year of Noah's life on the seventeenth day of the second month when the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened with rain forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed one hundred and fifty days.
Obedience Tested and Judged
The beasts and birds came to the ark in pairs, male and female together, in obedience to God and found there a place of refuge, while men were disobedient and unbelieving. They had separated so far from God that they did not hear His voice, so the obedience of dumb animals guided quietly by holy angels stood against human disobedience. The animals came by themselves from mountain and forest and field and from every direction, fiercest as well as gentlest, and the birds flocked in such numbers that they darkened the heavens with a sound like rushing wind, entering in perfect order with clean kinds by sevens. This open sight was a warning that would have been for salvation if believed, yet the wicked still would not believe though Noah walked by faith and had built on dry land.
Their orderly arrival was a solemn scene and a signal manifestation of divine power witnessed by the world outside. Angels gathered them from field and forest and led them peacefully to the ark over seven days while Noah received them and placed them in prepared spaces, and their coming from the wild by themselves with no visible human leader displayed a power beyond natural law. The departure from forests and fields and entrance into the ark was unnatural, proving the building of the ark was the work of God and giving unmistakable evidence to people still engrossed in worldly things despite warning. Onlookers and philosophers watched the strange sight with wonder, curious interest, alarm and fear, silencing for a time the mocking throng, yet they could not fathom it, tried to find a natural reason for it, and could not explain it.
Because men had hardened themselves by persistent rejection of light, the sign produced only a momentary impression on unbelieving minds. Through fellowship in unbelief and corruption they put it away from their minds, banished fear with merriment and violence, made light of it and laughed it away. They mocked and derided Noah and his family, made a jest of the animals entering, and did not humble themselves before God even after seeing this wonderful sight. The remarkable evidence failed to impress the hardened inhabitants and did not turn them from rebellion, but left them in sport and revelry under already awakened wrath.
The invitation stood open for all who would enter for safety, with hope for every inhabitant before the door was closed. After the cattle and all other living creatures were housed, God shut the believers in by an invisible hand and the angel closed the door upon the eight persons, Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives, as refuge from the storm. Then followed a testing week with no sign of storm and no rain, the sun rising and setting daily in a clear sky, during which the faith of those inside was tried and severely tried while they rested in the word that the flood was coming. Those outside triumphed, took the delay as proof the message was a delusion and the flood would never come, gathered in crowds about the ark in daring violence never ventured before, and poured out reviling, mockery, scoffing and defiance amid temptation to doubt suggested by the enemy.
Then the flood really came as warned and fulfilled the word, for after six days clouds gathered and steady rain fell gently as a new thing and continued until every living being and animal outside perished in sin. Nearly all the world had thought Noah wrong and themselves right, claiming to know more than God's faithful servant, closing ears to truth, calling him a fanatic, and explaining by false science that rain was foolish because no sign of it had ever existed, but their unbelief and laughter did not stop the waters that covered the earth and that they finally drank. Only Noah and his family, eight obedient righteous people, lived to enter and found shelter until the indignation was overpast, while the impenitent rebellious race who would not keep heaven's commandments were swept away and death was their portion. This destruction after one hundred and twenty years of warning and long forbearance vindicated God's law and truth, distinguished the obedient from the disobedient by the standard of the law, and showed judgment for sin as wrath against transgressors and mercy to the world and protection for the righteous.
Pattern for Last Days
The generation of Noah foreshadows the present age, for human nature left uninfluenced by the Spirit of God is the same now as then before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. Wickedness is increasing now as in the days of Noah, with the world fast becoming as it was then, full of iniquity, eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day of entering the ark, and absorbed in worldly things. God regards the world today as He regarded it then, and sends startling warning messages now as He sent them through Noah to a wicked world, because this age repeats the wickedness before the Flood. The Spirit of the Lord is being withdrawn, His keeping power is refused to those who disregard His commandments, and iniquity has become so common that it no longer shocks, while increasing calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea stand as the judgment of that time repeated. The short time left must be used to obtain a genuine experience in truth and obedience that prepares whole families to enter the city of God.
As the wicked knew not until the Flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Noah's generation was warned but did not believe until the Flood swept them away, and the sudden arrival of judgment after rejected warning illustrates that Christ's coming and the final judgment will likewise take many by surprise. That coming will be at a day and hour unknown, arriving as a snare and as a thief upon the unprepared who are eating and drinking, planting and building. The world is absorbed in pleasure-loving, amusements, gains, traffic, moneymaking, dishonest practices, luxury, extravagance, wine-drinking, reveling and robbing the poor, while the church follows the world and ministers cry peace and safety in blind slumber, calling the warnings impossible. Unbelief did not prevent fulfillment then, when rain came and those outside perished in the waters, and it will not prevent fulfillment when sudden destruction comes before Christ's second appearing.
Safety in the ark, with God shutting Noah and his family in, shows God preserving the faithful through judgment. Noah preserved God's law, and he and his family were saved by God's miracle for their right-doing. As Noah was preserved through the deluge in the ark God had prepared for him, so in the coming days of destruction and calamity with convulsed nature, fire, earthquakes, and great loss of life before the Son of man appears, God Himself will be the refuge of His believing ones. This provides the pattern for the deliverance of God's people, who warn the world and remain faithful when facing the final crisis and entering into final safety.
The same work is going on now, for the gracious invitation still stands open for all who will enter into safety, with hope for every inhabitant before the door is closed. It is a last message of mercy requiring self-denial and the lifting of the cross, cleansing from all wrong principles, overcoming temptation to do and say things entirely contrary to the mind and will of God, conversion, pardon of sins, and wholehearted service. Sufficient light is given to all to accept saving truth and obey all God's commandments and be saved, heard by some to life and by others to death, and moral darkness covering the earth does not change the duty to lift the voice in warning. But the last message of warning will soon be given and the last call of mercy will soon end, those blinded by peace and safety will not hear it, and cases will be fixed holy or filthy for eternity. Therefore all must search their hearts diligently, humble themselves under God, serve Him wholly, wake up and get ready before it is everlastingly too late.
Only eight of that vast population accepted the warning, fled for refuge into the ark, and were saved, while the message condemned the world. Only Noah and his family lived to enter and find shelter, proving that those who follow Christ are the few, not the great numbers. Nearly all the world thought Noah was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than he did, closed their ears to truth, called him fanatical, explained by false science that rain was foolish, and laughed and mocked and scoffed at him as a preacher of righteousness, yet their rejection did not make the message of none effect and did not stop the Flood. The same unbelief that prevailed before the Flood will exist prior to the coming of Christ. Therefore believers must not be discouraged when only a few believe, must not follow the world against God's law into amusements, gains, luxury and dishonest practices, but must stay loyal and true on God's side so as to be found keeping His commandments when sudden destruction comes on the unprepared.
The living creatures came to Noah into the ark in male-and-female pairs as God had commanded, and he received them into prepared places of refuge, while the clean kinds came in larger groups by sevens. Holy angels gathered and guided them quietly in perfect order from every direction with no human leader, with birds flocking in numbers that darkened the heavens by a power above natural law. Their obedience stood against human disobedience, for the world watched the solemn manifestation of God's power with wonder and alarm yet explained it away and mocked Noah with jesting and scoffing. After the open invitation had stood for all, God shut the eight believing ones in by an invisible hand, their faith was tried by a week with no storm while those outside triumphed and reviled, and then the flood truly came and swept away the impenitent, vindicating God's word and law in both judgment and mercy. As they knew not until the flood took them all away, so the coming of the Son of man will surprise a wicked, pleasure-absorbed generation, yet God will preserve the faithful few who obey all His commandments and make Him their refuge through the final destruction.
Animals Entering the Ark
Living creatures went in to Noah into the ark two by two, the male and the female together, exactly as God had commanded Noah, with Noah receiving them and placing them in prepared spaces where they found refuge. The beasts went into the ark built on dry land in pairs, and the birds came in such numbers that they darkened the heavens as they went two by two into the ark. Noah walked by faith and obeyed all the Lord commanded him after God declared him righteous in his generation.
Clean beasts and birds entered in larger groups, by sevens, while the other kinds entered in male-and-female pairs. The distinction held through the whole gathering, with unclean kinds preserved by a single pair and clean kinds preserved sevenfold for continuance.
Holy angels gathered and guided them quietly and peacefully in perfect order from mountain, forest, field and every direction, with no visible human leader but under the invisible leadership of God. Beasts of every kind, fiercest as well as gentlest, came quietly toward the ark, and birds flocked from all directions with a sound like rushing wind in numbers that darkened the heavens. Their coming by themselves from the wild and their departure from forests and fields to enter the ark was an unnatural sign displaying God's power, which onlookers could not explain by natural laws.
The coming went on over seven days after the ark was finished and provisioned and the goods were stored, marking the close of human probation and the final sign before the door was shut. Their being housed inside was followed by God shutting the believers in by an invisible hand, and then by a testing week with no rain and no sign of storm. After the animals were housed the entrance thus marked the close of the 120-year probation and the separation of the obedient from the disobedient.
The setting was a real historical flood in Noah's real lifetime, belonging to the inspired Old Testament record in Genesis 7. Noah warned the antediluvian world for one hundred and twenty years while building the ark, with his family and others receiving his instruction about the coming flood and helping build it, including carpenters he employed and converts, some of whom died before the flood and others backslid. That long probation was given in mercy so evildoers could repent or be swept from the earth, amid extraordinary self-importance, swelling pride, deeds of unrighteousness, and universal scorn thrown upon God's law and upon Noah and his helpers, while many believing ones kept the faith and died triumphant. All this stood against the record that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and that the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence.
Only eight obedient righteous people lived to enter, Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, entering because of the waters of the flood, and the Lord shut them in. The few who obeyed God found shelter in the ark as a refuge from the storm, with the door closed upon them until God's indignation was overpast. It was the six hundredth year of Noah's life on the seventeenth day of the second month when the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened with rain forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed one hundred and fifty days.
Obedience Tested and Judged
The beasts and birds came to the ark in pairs, male and female together, in obedience to God and found there a place of refuge, while men were disobedient and unbelieving. They had separated so far from God that they did not hear His voice, so the obedience of dumb animals guided quietly by holy angels stood against human disobedience. The animals came by themselves from mountain and forest and field and from every direction, fiercest as well as gentlest, and the birds flocked in such numbers that they darkened the heavens with a sound like rushing wind, entering in perfect order with clean kinds by sevens. This open sight was a warning that would have been for salvation if believed, yet the wicked still would not believe though Noah walked by faith and had built on dry land.
Their orderly arrival was a solemn scene and a signal manifestation of divine power witnessed by the world outside. Angels gathered them from field and forest and led them peacefully to the ark over seven days while Noah received them and placed them in prepared spaces, and their coming from the wild by themselves with no visible human leader displayed a power beyond natural law. The departure from forests and fields and entrance into the ark was unnatural, proving the building of the ark was the work of God and giving unmistakable evidence to people still engrossed in worldly things despite warning. Onlookers and philosophers watched the strange sight with wonder, curious interest, alarm and fear, silencing for a time the mocking throng, yet they could not fathom it, tried to find a natural reason for it, and could not explain it.
Because men had hardened themselves by persistent rejection of light, the sign produced only a momentary impression on unbelieving minds. Through fellowship in unbelief and corruption they put it away from their minds, banished fear with merriment and violence, made light of it and laughed it away. They mocked and derided Noah and his family, made a jest of the animals entering, and did not humble themselves before God even after seeing this wonderful sight. The remarkable evidence failed to impress the hardened inhabitants and did not turn them from rebellion, but left them in sport and revelry under already awakened wrath.
The invitation stood open for all who would enter for safety, with hope for every inhabitant before the door was closed. After the cattle and all other living creatures were housed, God shut the believers in by an invisible hand and the angel closed the door upon the eight persons, Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives, as refuge from the storm. Then followed a testing week with no sign of storm and no rain, the sun rising and setting daily in a clear sky, during which the faith of those inside was tried and severely tried while they rested in the word that the flood was coming. Those outside triumphed, took the delay as proof the message was a delusion and the flood would never come, gathered in crowds about the ark in daring violence never ventured before, and poured out reviling, mockery, scoffing and defiance amid temptation to doubt suggested by the enemy.
Then the flood really came as warned and fulfilled the word, for after six days clouds gathered and steady rain fell gently as a new thing and continued until every living being and animal outside perished in sin. Nearly all the world had thought Noah wrong and themselves right, claiming to know more than God's faithful servant, closing ears to truth, calling him a fanatic, and explaining by false science that rain was foolish because no sign of it had ever existed, but their unbelief and laughter did not stop the waters that covered the earth and that they finally drank. Only Noah and his family, eight obedient righteous people, lived to enter and found shelter until the indignation was overpast, while the impenitent rebellious race who would not keep heaven's commandments were swept away and death was their portion. This destruction after one hundred and twenty years of warning and long forbearance vindicated God's law and truth, distinguished the obedient from the disobedient by the standard of the law, and showed judgment for sin as wrath against transgressors and mercy to the world and protection for the righteous.
Pattern for Last Days
The generation of Noah foreshadows the present age, for human nature left uninfluenced by the Spirit of God is the same now as then before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. Wickedness is increasing now as in the days of Noah, with the world fast becoming as it was then, full of iniquity, eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day of entering the ark, and absorbed in worldly things. God regards the world today as He regarded it then, and sends startling warning messages now as He sent them through Noah to a wicked world, because this age repeats the wickedness before the Flood. The Spirit of the Lord is being withdrawn, His keeping power is refused to those who disregard His commandments, and iniquity has become so common that it no longer shocks, while increasing calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea stand as the judgment of that time repeated. The short time left must be used to obtain a genuine experience in truth and obedience that prepares whole families to enter the city of God.
As the wicked knew not until the Flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Noah's generation was warned but did not believe until the Flood swept them away, and the sudden arrival of judgment after rejected warning illustrates that Christ's coming and the final judgment will likewise take many by surprise. That coming will be at a day and hour unknown, arriving as a snare and as a thief upon the unprepared who are eating and drinking, planting and building. The world is absorbed in pleasure-loving, amusements, gains, traffic, moneymaking, dishonest practices, luxury, extravagance, wine-drinking, reveling and robbing the poor, while the church follows the world and ministers cry peace and safety in blind slumber, calling the warnings impossible. Unbelief did not prevent fulfillment then, when rain came and those outside perished in the waters, and it will not prevent fulfillment when sudden destruction comes before Christ's second appearing.
Safety in the ark, with God shutting Noah and his family in, shows God preserving the faithful through judgment. Noah preserved God's law, and he and his family were saved by God's miracle for their right-doing. As Noah was preserved through the deluge in the ark God had prepared for him, so in the coming days of destruction and calamity with convulsed nature, fire, earthquakes, and great loss of life before the Son of man appears, God Himself will be the refuge of His believing ones. This provides the pattern for the deliverance of God's people, who warn the world and remain faithful when facing the final crisis and entering into final safety.
The same work is going on now, for the gracious invitation still stands open for all who will enter into safety, with hope for every inhabitant before the door is closed. It is a last message of mercy requiring self-denial and the lifting of the cross, cleansing from all wrong principles, overcoming temptation to do and say things entirely contrary to the mind and will of God, conversion, pardon of sins, and wholehearted service. Sufficient light is given to all to accept saving truth and obey all God's commandments and be saved, heard by some to life and by others to death, and moral darkness covering the earth does not change the duty to lift the voice in warning. But the last message of warning will soon be given and the last call of mercy will soon end, those blinded by peace and safety will not hear it, and cases will be fixed holy or filthy for eternity. Therefore all must search their hearts diligently, humble themselves under God, serve Him wholly, wake up and get ready before it is everlastingly too late.
Only eight of that vast population accepted the warning, fled for refuge into the ark, and were saved, while the message condemned the world. Only Noah and his family lived to enter and find shelter, proving that those who follow Christ are the few, not the great numbers. Nearly all the world thought Noah was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than he did, closed their ears to truth, called him fanatical, explained by false science that rain was foolish, and laughed and mocked and scoffed at him as a preacher of righteousness, yet their rejection did not make the message of none effect and did not stop the Flood. The same unbelief that prevailed before the Flood will exist prior to the coming of Christ. Therefore believers must not be discouraged when only a few believe, must not follow the world against God's law into amusements, gains, luxury and dishonest practices, but must stay loyal and true on God's side so as to be found keeping His commandments when sudden destruction comes on the unprepared.