Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Genesis Chapter 7 mean?

Genesis 7 tells the story of the coming of rain, and the terrible destruction God’s flood brought on the world. In the prior chapter, Noah is given instructions for building a massive box—an ark—meant to hold a small number of people and a massive number of animals. This chapter begins after Noah has completed his task. After restating that Noah is being saved from the flood because of his righteousness, as compared to the rest of his generation, God commands Noah to go into the ark. He’s not meant to go alone, though. Along with his wife, three sons, and their wives, Noah is to bring all the animals that God is sending to him, so they too can be saved.

Those animals include seven pairs each of the “clean” animals. The idea of clean and unclean animals will become common in the rest of Genesis, but this is the first we hear of it. What we will learn later is that, at least in part, the extra pairs of clean animals are meant for sacrificial offerings to God after the flood is over.

Birds, animals, and insects of every kind will be sent to Noah to occupy the ark. God reveals that the rain will start in seven days, and that is what happens. God shuts Noah and his family and the animals into the ark, and the rain begins on a specific date in the history of the world.

For 40 days and nights, a torrential rain falls while at the same time the fountains of the great deep burst forth. The language is poetic, but the picture is of a great upheaval sending waters from below the earth and emptying out the waters stored above the “expanse” described in Genesis 1.

The ark rises with the flood and rides the surface of the waters. The waters are said to prevail or triumph over all the earth, including the highest summits of the highest mountains “under the whole heaven.” There is debate, at times, over whether the extent of this flood was planetary, or confined to the region occupied by mankind. The terms for “whole earth,” “land,” and “hills / mountains” can be interpreted in ways consistent with either possibility.

Regardless, the Bible’s claim is clear: The flood covered the surface of the earth such that every land-dwelling, air-breathing creature in its path died, including every single human being not aboard the ark. The devastation is unimaginable. God exercised His authority as Creator, Judge, and Lord to end sin on the earth and to destroy so much of what He had made. Just as God transformed the newly-created earth from water to dry land (Genesis 1:9–10), He now seems to be “resetting” His creation by returning it to water.

We can’t help but ask: If that is God’s response to unchecked human sin in the world, what hope is there for any of us? How can any sinful, mortal human be loved by God and find peace with Him? That’s the question the rest of the Bible is written to answer.

After the 40 days of rain, the waters continue to triumph on the earth for another 110 days before the ark finally comes to rest.

Chapter Context
In chapter 6, God saw the wickedness and violence of humanity and resolved to wipe it all out. He revealed that plan to Noah, and He commanded Noah to build the ark. In chapter 7, the ark is finished, the animals arrive, the door is shut, and the rain begins on a specific date in the history of the world. All life aboard the ark is saved; all land-dwelling, air-breathing life outside of it is ended. The waters burst from below the earth and pour from above with great intensity for 40 days and then covered the earth for another 110. In the following chapter, the ark will come to rest, and the remade earth will begin to dry out.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

A common theme of the book of Genesis is the fact that God “sees.” God observes what is true and acts on it. In Genesis 1, He saw what He had made was good. In the previous chapter, He saw all the wickedness which man’s sinfulness had made on the earth (Genesis 6:5).

Now God says He has seen Noah’s righteousness. Specifically, God has noticed the contrast between Noah’s choices and those of his generation. Throughout Scripture, God calls His people not to allow their peers, culture, or the moral standards of their times to set the direction of their lives. Instead, He calls His people to be committed to obeying Him. Noah did that. The last verse of the prior chapter specifically says that Noah obeyed all that God told him, exactly as it was told him (Genesis 6:22).

Now that Noah has obeyed God by building the ark according to the Lord’s specifications, God commands Noah to take his family into the boat to be saved from the coming flood while the rest of his generation remains unprotected.

Context Summary
Genesis 7:1–10 confirms that Noah fulfilled all that he was commanded in chapter 6. In addition to the two pairs of all animals, Noah is also told to bring seven (total) pairs of ”clean” animals, most likely for sacrificial purposes. God gives Noah a last-minute warning of the coming flood. As the preparations are completed, the great catastrophe occurs, just as God said it would. The next passage describes the colossal event.

Verse 2. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,

In the previous verse, God instructed Noah and his family to enter the ark. They are to take with them the animals, and here additional creatures are added. Specifically, they must bring seven pairs (male and female) of the clean animals and one pair each of the unclean animals. The first readers of Genesis would likely have understood what was meant by clean and unclean animals, but this is the first hint in Scripture that God had designated some kinds of animals as clean and others as unclean.

Why seven pairs of the clean animals? After the flood, Noah will offer animal sacrifices to God (Genesis 8:20). Only clean animals are acceptable as a sacrifice, and Noah will need more than just one pair of those if each kind of animal is to survive as a species.

We know from Genesis 6:20 that the animals Noah was to take on the ark would have come to him; he didn’t have to go search for, select, and bring them back to the ark. However, Noah and his family were responsible to take them in with them. These last-minute preparations would have taken time (Genesis 7:4), and according to this chapter, Noah and his family complete their work just in time (Genesis 7:13).

Verse 3. and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

In the previous verse, God instructed Noah to take the clean and unclean animals with him into the ark. This verse completes that instruction. Noah was also to take seven pairs each of all the kinds of the birds of the sky. This is an enormous number of animals.

God is clear about His intention, though. The point is to preserve life, to keep the offspring alive on the face of the earth. In the case of the birds, as we will see in the coming chapter, the flood would cover every surface that a bird might land on. There would be no food or shelter for the birds during the flood. Without the ark, birds and all other land-dwelling life would cease to exist on the earth. God did not want that.

Why seven pairs of birds instead of just one pair? First, as the waters are receding after the flood, birds will be used as a test to see if any dry land is to be found in the area. If they did not return, that would be evidence that a habitat was reemerging (Genesis 8:7–12). Second, birds would be offered along with other clean animals as a sacrifice to God after to the flood, meaning extra birds would be needed (Genesis 8:20).

Verse 4. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”

In the prior verses, God instructed Noah to board the ark along with his family, and all the animals God intends to save. As one would expect, this took quite some time to complete. God reveals His final deadline for the flood to Noah: seven days. In seven days from this moment, the rain would start. It would continue for 40 days and 40 nights, a deluge that would end all life “from the face of the ground.”

Noah had one week to get everything inside the ark which would be needed during the coming wrath of God. Everything left outside, including the rest of the human race, would be utterly destroyed. According to verse 13, they are able to complete this task in exactly the amount of time they have left.

The word used for “earth” here is from the Hebrew root ‘erets. Some Bible scholars interpret this account as a local flood—one covering the territory of men, but not necessarily the entire globe. Terms such as this are part of that discussion. There are other Hebrew terms used to explicitly describe the entire planet, such as tebel, but these are not used in the flood accounts.

Regardless of a local or global interpretation, what’s clear is both the intent and the effect of this catastrophe: the complete elimination of the human race, except for Noah and his family.

Verse 5. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Again in this verse, we are told very simply that Noah did all that the Lord commanded. Faithful Noah obeyed God. Period. That was his lifestyle. His obedience is all the more remarkable to us because of the strangeness of the commands God gave to him: building a massive ark, preparing it to carry representatives of all of the animals of the earth, and then receiving those animals, including birds and insects, as they came to the ship in the week before the rain fell. Noah’s prompt obedience was key to his survival: according to verse 13, the preparations were completed just as the waters arrived. Had Noah waited, there would not have been enough time to prepare.

It’s not surprising to us that the New Testament writer of Hebrews describes Noah this way: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). Noah acted in faith. His righteous obedience was evidence of that faith.

Verse 6. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.

In Genesis 5:32, we were told that Noah was 500 years old when he fathered his three sons. Then in chapter 6, God told Noah to build the ark. Now we learn that Noah was 600 when the flood came. That suggests that Noah might have had as long as a hundred years to build the ark and prepare for the flood, though some scholars suggest that God’s revelation to Noah came much closer to the flood itself. In any case, God certainly knew how much time it would take Noah to complete his work, and that this work would be completed just in time (Genesis 7:13).

While the idea of a 500-year-old man building a box the size of an apartment building seems outlandish, the context of the story is crucial. In this era, during the time from the Garden of Eden to the Flood, people had been living to be nearly 1,000 years old. A man of 600 would be in his active years, the equivalent of middle-age. Human lifespans will begin to decrease dramatically after the flood (Genesis 6:3), but for now, Noah is not an “old man” in this context. And, with so much time to work, and at least his sons to help, there’s no reason to think he could not have completed the task he was assigned.

Verse 7. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons ‘ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

Only eight people will survive the flood, which will otherwise wipe out all of humanity. Noah and his wife and their three sons and their wives would shortly become the only people left on the entire planet. This is a common point held between those who interpret these verses as a local flood, and those who see a global flood. Whether these waters covered the entire surface of the globe, or only the regions inhabited by man, the purpose and effect is the same.

In the prior chapter, God saw that the human race was spiraling out of control. Everything was poisoned by evil (Genesis 6:5), and everything man did was abusive and vile (Genesis 6:11–12). The only exception, it seems, was Noah (Genesis 6:9). Rather than allow mankind to fall into complete ruin, God chooses to judge evil. And, in doing so, to spare those who honor Him. In this way, the human race can survive, but his drastic turn towards evil can be stopped.

Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth were each around 100 years old at this time, still relatively young men by the lifespans of their era.

Verse 8. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,

Verses 8 and 9 describe pairs of animals, insects, and birds entering the ark. Previous verses revealed that additional clean animals were included, for a total of seven pairs (Genesis 7:2). Some of these would be sacrificed after the flood as an offering to God. God’s intent in the flood is to destroy the entire human race (Genesis 6:17), in judgment of their outrageous sin (Genesis 6:11–12). Preserving the animals is God’s way of maintaining those creatures after the flood (Genesis 7:3).

Earlier verses indicated these animals were sent to the ark by God (Genesis 6:20). Noah was not scrambling around trying to catch unwilling creatures. At the same time, from the moment God tells Noah to board the ark, to the point these preparations are complete, a full week has passed. And not a moment too soon, since the flood occurs on the very same day they finally enter the ark (Genesis 7:13).

Verse 9. two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

Verses 8 and 9 explain that what God has commanded to Noah, Noah does (Genesis 6:22; Genesis 7:5). This is a distinguishing aspect of Noah’s character: his willingness to obey God (Genesis 6:9, 22). And, what God has told Noah will happen has happened. Genesis 6:20 indicated that God would send pairs of animals to Noah, in order to keep their species alive after the flood. After a week of last-minute preparation (Genesis 7:13), pairs of animals, both clean and unclean, along with the birds and insects (“creeping things”), entered the ark with Noah and his family. God’s plan was under way. Life would be preserved in the midst of the destruction to come.

Humanity, on the other hand, was doomed, other than Noah and his wife, and his sons and their wives (Genesis 7:7). The following verse is the fulfillment of God’s dire prediction: a massive flood of water to purge earth of mankind’s horrific sin (Genesis 6:5; 11–12).

Verse 10. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

Finally, the flood begins. It comes at exactly the time God said it would in verse 4. God’s destruction of life on the earth, and the salvation of life from that destruction, has begun.

Here, as in prior verses, the flood is said to come on “the earth,” using the Hebrew term ‘erets. This term is often used in a local or regional sense. The Bible uses a different Hebrew word, tebel, when specifically referring to the entire planet. This, along with a few other aspects of the language used, leads some Bible scholars to interpret this as a local flood. In other words, an event covering the regions inhabited by mankind, but not necessarily the entire planet. Since the intent is the destruction of sinful man (Genesis 6:5), this ultimately makes little difference as far as the story of the flood itself is concerned. God judges mankind with the flood, and only Noah and his family survive (Genesis 6:18).

It’s interesting to notice that God continues to operate within the seven-day cycle He established when He created the earth. Noah will adhere to a seven-day cycle when sending out the birds to look for dry land in chapter 8. Israel, too, will conform to God’s seven-day cycle when the nation is established later in the book of Genesis.

Verse 11. In the six hundredth year of Noah ‘s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.

This verse points to a very specific day in the life of Noah for the beginning of the flood. Scholars have suggested many possible reasons this date might be significant. The most obvious one may be that including a specific date for the beginning of the flood gives the report authenticity. In short, the flood is not a myth. It began on an actual day in the history of the world. On that day, the Creator began to destroy much of what He had made and nearly all of the wickedness sinful humanity had made on the earth.

In addition to a specific starting date, chapter 8 will give exact dates for the landing of the ark, for the receding of the waters, for the drying of the earth, and for the exodus from the ark. Clearly, the text means for us to understand exactly how long each phase of the flood lasted, from beginning to end. This cataclysmic judgment of God was a historical event in the life of the world.

We are told that on that day all the fountains or springs of the great deep burst forth. The picture is of geyser spewing its contents into the sky, implying that a great underground ocean had existed and had been under some amount of pressure since the beginning of creation. In addition, the “windows of heaven” were opened. Great torrents of rain poured from the sky.

The language is poetic, but it also parallels God’s work on the second day of creation. Genesis 1:7 tells us that God created an “expanse” of atmosphere between the waters below and the waters above. Some scholars speculate that the waters above created a kind of canopy around the earth. They suggest that in this moment that canopy was broken and the waters above the earth poured down to create the flood. Others dispute this, but either interpretation is compatible with the text.

In any case, the earth was about to revert to its original state of being covered by water.

Context Summary
Genesis 7:11–24 describes the greatest disaster in world history: the flood. For forty days and nights, rain falls from above, and underground water rushes from below. As a result, floodwaters fully cover the surface of the land for another 110 days. The ark, built as God has instructed Noah, is able to float and survive the deluge. Every land-dwelling, air-breathing human and creature dies, except for those aboard the ark.

Verse 12. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

The previous verse describes the two directions the floodwaters came from. On the one hand, water gushed (“burst forth”) from below the surface of the earth. On the other, a torrential rain poured down out of the sky. Now we’re told for the first time that it rained for 40 days and nights.

The coming chapters will explain that 40 days of that kind of rain, combined with the water uncorked and bursting from below, will be adequate to cover the entire earth. Once again, the earth will be covered with water as it was before the second day of creation (Genesis 1:9–10). As with prior verses, scholars note that the term ‘erets is used here, translated as “earth,” which is often used in a symbolic or local sense. The Hebrew term tebel, specifically meaning the entire planet, is not used in the flood accounts. This is part of the debate over whether the flood was planetary, or only in the region occupied by men.

Regardless of that question, there is no question that this torrent of water accomplished its purpose: the elimination of the entire human race, except for Noah and his family.

Verse 13. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah ‘s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,

The Bible credits Noah with obedience to God (Genesis 6:22; Genesis 7:5). That obedience is a key part of the story here, as the flood begins. At the very beginning of this chapter, Noah is given the command by God to board the ark. Common sense says it would take time to finish loading the ark with all the animals and last-minute supplies. According to verse 4, God had given Noah seven days’ notice. This verse shows how Noah’s obedience was, once again, critical to success. On the very day they finished boarding the ark, the flood waters arrived. Any delay would have been catastrophic.

On the day the flood started, apparently, the small company of humans and huge contingent of animals, birds, and insects entered the ark. Whether this meant every animal, or, more likely, the last of the animals which had been boarding, the text does not specifically say.

The human men are named here again: Noah and his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Each man had a wife, who is not named. Together, these eight people would restart the human race in the new beginning God would establish after the flood.

Verse 14. they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature.

The previous verse described in more detail the eight human beings who boarded the ark on the day the rains came. This verse gives a bit more detail about the non-human occupants of the boat.

It important to remember that Genesis claims a supernatural work of God in gathering and delivering these animals to the ark. God wanted to save a representative of every kind of beast, every kind of livestock, every kind of “creeping thing” (which would include insects), every kind of bird, and every kind of winged creature. As some have noted, such a collection of predators and prey, of large animals and small, could never have occupied such a space together if God had not orchestrated it for the purpose of preserving animal life on the planet.

The repetition of this information is also part of the story. A theme of Genesis is God’s ability to make good on His promises. Earlier parts of this story describe what God is predicting, later ones describe those events happening exactly as God said they would. Rather than simply saying, “animals went on the ark,” Scripture emphasizes the details. This highlights the idea that God’s will, and His knowledge, are specific.

Verse 15. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.

Animals, birds, and creeping things of every kind were saved from the flood by entering into the ark with Noah. They arrived as pairs, male and female, entering the ark together. Noah was not an animal whisperer. Prior verses indicated that God would send the animals to Noah, rather than Noah being expected to capture them (Genesis 6:20). This chapter describes nothing less than a supernatural work of God, carefully and powerfully orchestrated, to save every kind of air-breathing life on the planet from the judgment of God’s wrath.

Most of this information is not new, but the Bible often repeats details in order to make a point. God’s will, and His knowledge, are specific. When He says something will occur, it occurs exactly as He predicted. Here, rather than simply noting that animals went onto the ark, Genesis re-describes the same basic instructions God gave earlier. The purpose is to emphasize God’s omniscience and omnipotence, and the truth of His words.

Verse 16. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

Under normal circumstances, there is simply no way for a man to capture, alive, representative samples of all animal life. This would have been especially difficult if that same man was also tasked with building an enormous ark to house those animals. According to the Bible, God never commanded Noah to track down these animals. Instead, God sent them to Noah (Genesis 6:20). This was God’s power executing God’s plan.

Still, Noah is commended for saying “yes” to all God commanded (Genesis 6:22, Genesis 7:5). He did what God said, when God said, and how God said. God still executes His plans through obedient servants without expecting them to have the power in themselves to do the impossible.

This verse also makes a very specific, very important point about how the ark was sealed in preparation for the flood. The closing of the ark is specifically credited to God Himself. This symbolism will become crucial in our understanding of God and salvation. This is important for two reasons.

First, this act emphasizes that it is God who is saving life from judgment. And, it serves as a reminder of God’s promise to preserve those He has saved. Both to Noah, and to us, this is a symbol of God’s ability to keep those He has saved.

Second, and of critical importance, is the fact that the door was not shut by Noah. When every life meant to be saved had boarded the ark, God shut Noah and all who were with him inside. Their security wasn’t earned by something Noah had done. Noah was not the one who decided when the door would be shut, or when the opportunity for salvation would be lost to those outside. All of these are exclusively God’s prerogative.

Verse 17. The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

In the previous verse, God shut Noah and his family and the animals into the ark. Then the torrential rains began. Verse 11 described it as the windows of heaven being opened. Just as God said (Genesis 7:4), that intense downpour lasted for 40 days on the earth. The floodwaters increased, and the huge ark floated, rising high above its initial resting place on the earth. Noah had followed God’s instructions well; the great craft proved to be seaworthy.

As with other verses in this chapter, Genesis uses the term ‘erets for “earth,” rather than other terms such as tebel. The Hebrew word ‘erets is often used in a regional or symbolic sense, while tebel is a specific reference to the entire planet. This is part of the ongoing debate over whether or not the flood is a planetary event, or something confined to the regions populated by men. In any case, the waters accomplish their intended task: wiping out sinful mankind, and sparing only Noah and his family.

Verse 18. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.

We were told in the previous verse that the floodwaters increased or multiplied. Now we’re told that the waters “prevailed.” This is from the Hebrew root word gabar. This is a military term, used for winning victory in battle. It can also mean “overwhelmed, overtook, or conquered.” Anyone who has seen a flood or tsunami in action knows how much power there is in moving water. Beneath the ark, the flood waters overwhelmed everything on land, while rising higher and higher.

The rise of these waters, in some ways, is a reversal of God’s initial creation. In the beginning, God drew dry land out of the water (Genesis 1:9–10). Here, in judgment, He is sending that land back under the waters. This is, in literal action, God “resetting” this aspect of His creation.

Although the waters destroy everything on land, they do not prevail, over the ark. We were told in the previous verse that the boat floated high above its original place on the ground. Now we’re told that it floats on the surface of the water. The ark and its inhabitants were on the move. It’s worth noting that the ark is actually not a “boat.” There are no oars, sails, rudders, or other controls mentioned. It has one purpose: to float above the destruction, and let God take care of the rest.

Verse 19. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

As in the prior verse, Genesis uses the Hebrew root word gabar, translated as “prevailed or triumphed” to describe the victory of the floodwaters of God’s judgment. This catastrophic effect is shown in how high the water rises over the surface of the ground. The water is said to cover all of the highest hā’rim. This term, hā’rim is also often translated as “hills,” or even “high hills.”

This is important in the discussion of whether or not this was a planetary flood, or a “local” flood only affecting the regions inhabited by men. The tallest peaks in the Middle East region are not nearly as high as those in other places on earth. The highest point in the middle east is Mount Damāvand, in Iran, more than 18,000 feet (5,600 m) above sea level. Israel’s highest point is in the Golan Heights, and rises almost 7,300 feet (2,200 m) above sea level. By comparison, Mount Everest is more than 29,000 feet (8,000 m) high, and some parts of Argentina are more than 22,000 feet (nearly 7,000 m) tall. In other words, according to proponents of a local flood, the amount of water needed to annihilate the early territory of men would have been far, far less than that needed to cover the peaks of the planet’s highest mountains.

At the same time, others have speculated that the eruption of the waters from the deep, in combination with the enormous forces of the floodwaters on the earth, resulted in the creation of the mountains as we know them today. That would include these various points already mentioned.

In any case, the Bible is explicitly claiming that the waters from this flood covered every meaningful point of land, leaving no possibility of escape or rescue for those who were not on the ark.

Verse 20. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.

The previous verse told us that the floodwaters covered all the highest points of the land. In other words, the flood left no bit of dry land anywhere that a person could run to in order to survive the waters. Proponents of a local flood note that the highest points in the Middle East are significantly shorter than those in other places on earth. They also point out that the term used for earth here, ‘erets, does not imply the entire globe in the same way as the Hebrew word tebel. The ability to flood the regions inhabited by men to an extreme depth would not have required the same level of covering in uninhabited places.

This verse also gives more specific details about the depth of the waters. According to Genesis, the closest any peak of land under the flood came to the surface of the water was 15 cubits, which is approximately 22 feet or 7 meters. This depth may be important for two reasons. For one, such a depth would have given the traveling ark the ability to float without obstruction above every land mass. Second, such a depth would assure that no human being or animal would have been able to survive the flood, even if they succeeded in climbing to the top of the highest available peak.

God’s judgment on all the land-dwelling, air-breathing life would be absolute. Nothing would be left alive that was not inside the ark. In particular, the entire race of men, other than Noah, was destroyed.

Verse 21. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.

Up to this point in the story of the flood, the focus has stayed with the ark, and with the eventual survivors. Now it moves to clearly indicate what happened to everything left outside of the ark. In short, everything died. The verse lists some of those groups: birds, livestock, beasts, wild animals, and swarming creatures, along with every single human being. While some debate whether or not this was a local or global event, this verse makes the outcome of this event explicitly clear: not a single person survived this disaster, other than those aboard the ark.

The experience of those first moments while the waters rose must have been truly terrible. Those aboard the ark were finding out, in the critical moment, whether or not this vessel would support them. As promised, of course, it did (Genesis 7:17). An additional source of nerves would have been the ark’s lack of control. This structure was not a “ship,” and had no oars, sails, or rudders. It was simply a waterproof box. But, since it was designed by God (Genesis 6:14–16), and sealed by God (Genesis 7:16), it served its purpose well.

The end result of this deluge was final and absolute. Everything died, except for the remnant on the ark adrift on a single, vast ocean.

Verse 22. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.

These last few verses of Genesis 7 seem to repeat the same idea over and over. This is not an accident. Repetition in ancient literature was often used to emphasize the truth or importance of a statement. In this case, God had promised to “blot out” all mankind, and every land- and air-dwelling creature, as judgment on mankind’s sin (Genesis 6:13).

Some debate whether this judgment by God required a planet-wide event, or a flood confined to the regions inhabited by men. For the purposes of the story, such a question is actually beside the point. As this verse makes clear, everything not protected from the flood by the ark died. Every land-dwelling, air-breathing thing confronted by the flood was killed, including every single human being other than Noah and his immediate family.

Interestingly, no mention is made of fish or other sea-dwelling creatures, who apparently survived the flood. Or, who at least were able to survive in sufficient numbers that there was no need for Noah to preserve them on the ark. God’s judgment was limited to the land, as it was a response to humanity’s pervasive evil (Genesis 6:5).

Verse 23. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

These last few verses of chapter 7 seem repetitive, and they are. This is a very deliberate technique, used often in ancient literature. Stating certain facts over and over was a way of emphasizing their truth and importance. In this case, Genesis is making it clear that no human or animal life survived the flood, other than those aboard the ark.

This verse also uses repetition to remind us that this wasn’t “just” a natural catastrophe. God blotted out (or wiped out) all the human and animal life. He caused the flood. As Creator and Judge and God, He acted out of His authority to execute justice. In a sense, God is un-making some of what He has made, by taking dry land back beneath the water (Genesis 1:9–10). God would not allow the violence of mankind to go on as it had. He ended it.

From this distance, and from a merely human perspective, this scale of death is inconceivable to most of us. It is uncomfortable. It challenges our very idea of who our God is. It is essential that we understand both His righteousness and His mercy. God has not changed in His nature. He will not abide sin, and He will in mercy save some from destruction.

The rest of the Bible is the story of how sinful, mortal man could ever possibly be at peace and even loved by such a righteous, powerful, just, and holy God.

Verse 24. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

This verse brings us back to the Hebrew root word gabar, translated as “prevailed” in the ESV and other versions. It is a word used to refer to a military victory. The floodwaters “triumphed, overwhelmed, overcame or conquered” the surface of the land for 150 days, remaining victorious over everything beneath. Those who have witnessed a large river, a broken dam, or a tsunami have seen the immense power of moving water. Water only a few feet deep has the strength to tear down buildings and drown virtually any land animal. According to the Bible, the flood waters around the ark were never less than 18 cubits (22 feet or 7 meters) above the highest point of land. That’s an invincible quantity of water, and nothing in its path survived (Genesis 7:23).

These 150 days include the first 40 days of torrential rain, followed at some point by the end of water gushing up from below. After this, the waters beginning to recede. But, for another 110 days, the flood waters utterly destroy everything in their path. As we’ll see in the next chapter, the ark will finally come to rest on solid ground after those 150 days.

End of Chapter 7.

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