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| .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 by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. .4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. |
1 -
House
We would say "household."
2 - Clean beast But this is the first Bible mention of such a concept. What would Noah have known about what a clean beast was and which animals were clean? The fact that we do not find all of God's requirements in the Bible record of earlier times does not mean we can assume that He had not made them clear ge2605. 4 - Seven days See re0801b. |
| .5
¶ And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
.6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. .7 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. .8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. .10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. |
6 -
Noah
was six hundred years old Literally "... a son of 600 years."
But he was 599 years old as we think of it. Look at verse 11. For us a
child is six after he has reached six full years of life. He might say
he is "going on six" meaning he was in the period when he would reach six
full years. This is not of major importance but affects how we figure dates
according to the ages of the patriarchs.
6 - Flood A unique Hebrew word, mabbul, is used for the universal flood. See note below. 8, 9 - Clean beasts ... not clean Do you see what is happening? The animals were not herded into the ark but came by the direction of the Holy Spirit or guided by the angels. If the people, after 120 years were still waiting for a sign that entering the ark was God's plan, they certainly had it but it made no difference. See explanation below. |
© GoodSalt, Inc., Used by permission |
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| .11
¶ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. |
11
- Fountains ... windows God used the action of the waters
above and below the firmament to bring about the world-wide flood ge0106,
re1407g-fo
12 - Rain ... forty days The precision of God's planning confirms our faith that God was in control and that the story is true. The term "same day" in verse 11 and a similar term in verse 13 also imply this precision. |
| .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;
.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. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 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. |
16
- The Lord shut him in The Lord shut
the door. Probation (the time to make decisions for salvation) closed for
the antediluvian world (world before the flood). At the end of time, just
ahead, the Lord will protect His faithful ones is2620.
This will be during the time of trouble da1201.
Also mt2437,
2pe0306.
Remember to read more than the verse indicted in the link codes. |
| .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.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. .19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. |
17
- Waters increased Scan the next few
verses to see the increase of the water.
19 - Waters ... upon ... high hills Were they above the present Mount Everest? Not necessarily. With the convulsions of the earth during and after the flood we expect that mountains were formed from uplifts and lowered as well. |
| .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:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. .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. .24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. |
21
- All flesh ... both of We find many
fossil fish but fish were apparently not taken into the ark. God protected
enough to provide fish for us today. Representatives of plant life were
also preserved outside the ark.
22 - All in whose nostrils ... breath This agrees with our observation from the previous verse. 24 - [150] days Including the forty days of v17 is seen from v11 and ge0804 considering 40-day months. |
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Few scholars believe this today. The following comments are based on ideas of Richard Davidson, John Baldwin, Randall Younker and others from Andrews University seminary.  The
book has 12 section markers like "These are the generations..." The Hebrew
word for "generations" is toladote and usually indicates an annotated
genealogy and thus a historical record. (Toladote literally means
"begettings" or "bringings-forth.") For example, the genealogy of Jacob
lists his sons with comments about them 25:19.
The reality of this text is not doubted. However, Adam who is generally
considered to be part of the folk tale chapters is introduced in the same
way 2:19 leading us to conclude that
his life is likewise historical. The first appearance of toladote2:4
shows God creating the heavens and the earth. We have no textual reason
to believe that the early chapters of Genesis are folklore. |
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Face
of all the earth 7:3, an echo of 1:29.
Face
of the ground, 7:4, an echo of 2:6.
All
flesh corrupted, 6:12.
Thus, global destruction of wicked life.
Every
living thing (all life) 6:19,
compare 7:4.
Under
the whole heaven, 7:19.
Elsewhere at Deut.
2:25; 4:19; Job
28:24; 37:3;
41:11;
Dan.
7:27;
9:12.
Face
of the deep. "Deep" is from tahom, 8:2
and echoes 1:2.
A
unique word, mabbul, describes the universal flood. 6:17;
7:6;
Ps.
29:10. and in 12 other verses. |
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This truth thus rests on the truth of the texts cited. Universal
divine purpose (for all people), 6:7.
Universal
charge after the flood to fill the whole earth, 9:1.
Universal
covenant promise after the flood, 9:15.
Whole
earth covered, 6:19 (above)
Universal
or complete aspect seen in NT comments. Matt.
24:39; Luke
17:24; 2
Peter 2:5; 1
Peter 3:20. |
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God
has given us minds to know the right path. The Holy Spirit may help us
to understand (or He may not). Isa.
30:21. We generally do not know that the Spirit is impressing our minds.
If we keep our hearts yielded to God's will and feast on His word, He will
simply lead us Isa.
40:11.
Asking for a
sign may be a demonstration of doubt especially
when we are ignoring principles of right behavior that are in the Scriptures
Matt.
16:4. This is a trap for those who believe in Spirit manifestations
like speaking in tongues. This is not to say that such activity is always
wrong but tongues is the last on the lists of spiritual gifts. In churches
which emphasize such activities, dreams and impressions come which are
not tested by the Bible. We cannot depend on feelings. Satan can provide
the answers. Also see 1
Cor. 13:1.
So
how do we know which person to marry or which job to take? These are major
decisions. We seek God to make us willing to follow Him in all things,
yielding heart and mind to Him. This seeking must be with perseverance
and not just a quick prayer now and then. Then we may make the decision
which seems to us to yield the most glory to Him asking for Him to close
the door if it is not His will.
An
example: The people before the flood did not believe the true sign that
God had given. See on verses 7-10 above. |