(Gen 7:1 NASB) Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household; for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
Gen 7:1: The ark was now constructed, the animals were assembled, and Grandpa Methuselah, who probably served Elohim longer than any man who had ever lived, was on his deathbed.
(Gen 7:2 NASB) “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;
(Gen 7:3 NASB) also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Gen 7:3: Most Christian theologians and scholars believe that man has not been told yet what constitutes a clean animal. Dr. Henry Morris supposes God may have told Noah which ones to specifically take seven of. He also adds that God may have let Noah pick out his favorite animals that he used for domestication and sacrifice. That is ridiculously silly.
There is no hint that this is special revelation to Noah. It is stated as an order which Noah obviously fully comprehended. The logical reason for Noah to have known which animals were clean and which were unclean is for Noah to already have knowledge of Elohim’s Torah.
As mentioned earlier, it makes more sense that Elohim’s Law predated Sinai. Just because the formal writing of the Covenant occurred at Sinai, that time does not mean it wasn’t revealed much earlier. How did Abraham know to follow Elohim’s commandments, statutes, and laws (Gen. 26:4-5)? How did Abraham know to teach his children to follow way of the Elohim as commanded in Torah (Gen. 18:19)? What is the “way of Yahweh?” How did Abraham know what it is? How is this blessing to Abraham almost identical to the one given to over 1000 years later in Psalm 128?
Abraham is given the blessing of many descendants for following Elohim’s statues and His ways. Others are given the same blessing for the same acts thousands of years later. It makes sense that Abraham was doing the same things that Elohim’s Law (Torah) calls for.
How did Joseph know that having relations with Potiphar’s wife was a sin against Elohim (Gen. 39:7-9)? As mentioned earlier, how did Abel know what was a proper sacrifice? To attribute these things to luck, intuition, or even special revelation is not called for by any of these texts. It is much more likely that Elohim’s Word, including His Torah, pre-existed man (John 1:1-2). It is obvious from these texts in Genesis, and others, that Torah was revealed to mankind long before Sinai. Especially since we know that Elohim was still in communication with man after sin came into the world. Elohim still talked with Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others.
(Gen 7:4 NASB) “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
Gen 7:4: This seven day countdown could have had several purposes. It gave Noah a chance for last minute preparations and to get the animals in their stalls. It was also one last warning to the people of that day. This may also have been the period of mourning for Grandpa Methuselah (See Joseph mourning for Jacob in Gen. 50:10).
(Gen 7:5 NASB) And Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
Gen 7:5: Noah was to do as Elohim had commanded and make a final break with the world around him. He was placing himself totally on Elohim’s mercy. Noah obeyed Elohim without hesitation.
(Gen 7:6 NASB) Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
Gen 7:6: Noah has been working on the ark for what was most likely 100 years.
(Gen 7:7 NASB) Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
(Gen 7:8 NASB) Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground,
(Gen 7:9 NASB) there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
Gen 7:9: Each animal is represented by a male and a female. Once again, Noah did as he was commanded.
(Gen 7:10 NASB) And it came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.
(Gen 7:11 NASB) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Gen 7:11: Why are we given such a precise date of the flood? We don’t know what calendar system this event is on, so we don’t know exactly when this took place. This date is probably given to further signify this as a definite historical event and is not to be taken lightly.
The description given here of the events is undoubtedly cataclysmic. It is interesting to determine precisely what the text is saying here.
We are told in the record of creation that the waters were separated above and below the “firmament” or atmosphere (Gen. 1:6-8). The “waters above the firmament” probably constituted a water vapor canopy that maintained a worldwide tropical climate in that day. The “waters below the firmament” are referred to as the “great deep” in this verse. Rivers existed in that day but they were not formed by rainfall runoff (Gen 2:5). They came from fountains or springs from within or below the earth’s crust (Gen. 2:6). The hydrologic process probably consisted of rivers and seas running into the depths of the earth crust, getting heated up by the earth’s heat implanted at creation, then there was pressurizing and steaming due to the heat, and springing from the ground as a fountain to once again eventually run into the rivers and oceans. We are not given details of this system, but as long as the heat endured and the underground conduits remained intact, this system would work indefinitely since it is hydraulically and thermodynamically sound.
However, the time had now come for these waters above and below the firmament to meet once again. The waters above the firmament were to condense and the waters below were burst forth.
The Scriptures do not say exactly what caused the underground waters to spring forth, but there is enough igneous and metamorphic rock in the earth’s crust to signify that severe volcanic activity was involved. Many of the world’s geologic features also show tremendous volcanic and hydraulic activity in the earth’s past. This volcanic activity could have caused a failure in the underground water system and set off a chain reaction. The volcanic dust, ash, and heat high in the atmosphere could have caused the collapse and condensation of the vapor canopy. This is somewhat reasonable, but still speculation due to the lack of details given.
(Gen 7:12 NASB) And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Gen 7:12: The rain continued for the length of time Elohim said it would in verse 4.
(Gen 7:13 NASB) On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
(Gen 7:14 NASB) they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
(Gen 7:15 NASB) So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
(Gen 7:16 NASB) And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him.
Gen 7:16: The authors are repeating what was said just a few verses ago to emphasize the historicity of this event. It was written in this manner in order to establish the matter (Deut. 19:15, John 8:17).
It says here that Elohim shut them in. This provided final assurance to the passengers that they were in the will of Elohim and under his protection.
(Gen 7:17 NASB) Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
(Gen 7:18 NASB) And the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
Gen 7:18: These verses and the remainder of chapter 7 tell us without a doubt that the flood was a worldwide event. Some examples of this are as follows:
1. The wording of the entire record is obviously an attempt to describe a worldwide flood. If it was a local flood, Elohim would have told Noah to merely migrate elsewhere instead of taking one hundred years to build an ark.
2. Expressions implying a universal flood occur more than thirty times in Genesis 6-9.
3. The Hebrew word used to describe the flood is exclusive to this event alone.
4. The ark was far too large to have been carried off by a local flood and was plenty big to hold two of every species, much less two of every “kind.”
5. There are more than 270 stories from different parts of the world that tell of a worldwide flood in earth’s history.
6. Yeshua Messiah and the Apostle Peter verified this was a worldwide flood (Matt. 24:37-39, 2 Peter 3:6).
(Gen 7:19 NASB) And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
(Gen 7:20 NASB) The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.
Gen 7:20: This event is recorded as if it were an eyewitness account. Other evidences that indicate a worldwide flood are:
7. The waters covered all the mountains by 22 feet (presumably the submerged depth of the ark).
8. The elevation of Mount Ararat is 17,000 feet. Floodwaters at elevation 17,022 mean sea level is a lot more than a local flood. However, it is more likely that the mountain ranges as we know them today were created at this time.
9. It says that “all” the high mountains were covered under “all” the heavens. This was worldwide.
(Gen 7:21 NASB) And all flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
Gen 7:21: 10. “All flesh died that moved upon the earth….” If this was not a worldwide flood, then this is a false statement
11. “Every man” died which was the whole idea. Anthropologists do agree that the whole earth was once populated by man at a date earlier than 4000 years. A local flood would not have reached every man.
(Gen 7:22 NASB) of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
(Gen 7:23 NASB) Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.
Gen 7:23: If one believes Scripture, there is a host of irrefutable evidence of this worldwide catastrophe:
12. The moose deer, a native of America, has been found buried in Ireland.
13. Elephant remains, native of Asia and Africa, have been discovered in the midst of England.
14. Crocodile remains, natives of the Nile, have been found in the heart of Germany.
15. Shell fish, never known in any but the American seas, along with the entire skeletons of whales, have been found in the most inland counties of England.
This passage says evil man was “blotted out from the earth.” It would appear that they were blotted out forever and judged accordingly (Psalm 9:5, 69:28).
(Gen 7:24 NASB) And the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Gen 7:24: 15. A local flood would not keep rising for 120 days.
16. The floodwaters did not recede enough to permit the occupants to leave the ark for over one year.
17. Dr. Henry Morris, in his book “The Genesis Record,” lists 100 Biblical and scientific reasons for believing the flood was worldwide.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas