[And He Walks With Me] Genesis 7
1 The CSB does well to render you alone are righteous. The subject – you alone – is a second-person masculine singular pronoun. God, then, was saying that Noah was the one and only righteous person left on the earth, much as Lot was the only righteous person left in Sodom (see Gen 18). The story of the Noahic flood, then, is not a story of God’s wrath but mercy. God spared the whole earth until there was only one righteous person left, and he spared that one righteous person’s entire household even though the other members of the household were not necessarily righteous.
2 It is interesting that God made provisions for both clean and unclean animals. The details of ceremonially clean and unclean animals had not yet been outlined, but the concept was apparently already present. Since eating meat was not a thing before the flood (9:3), this had nothing to do with diet. Therefore, it must have been related to which animals were considered acceptable for sacrifice.[8] It is especially interesting, then, that God made provision even for the unclean animals. These creatures were not worthy of sacrifice, but still, God graciously ensured that they would continue. If he has such grace for animals, then we must expect he will extend similar grace to unclean people. These people may not be worthy to enter his presence, but still, God through Christ graciously ensures that they have the opportunity.
4 Seven days from now reiterates the importance of the rhythm of creation.
This is the first of many times forty days and forty nights appears in Scripture as “a critical period in redemptive history.”[9] Other examples include the forty days spent embalming Jacob in Genesis 50:3, the forty days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai in God’s presence (Exodus 24:18), the forty days the spies spent scouting the Promised Land in Numbers 13:25, the forty days God gave Ninevah to repent (Jonah 3:4), and the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness (Mark 1:13).
Many modern scholars consider the flood a myth, citing a lack of archaeological evidence. However, the fact that nearly every culture around the globe includes a similar story in their mythology suggests that all of these different stories may have a common root in a single event that affected everyone. Of course, that does not mean the flood had to be a global event. If people were still settled in a single general area, and all but one family was destroyed in the deluge, then everyone who came after and spread throughout the world would have a similar story in their collective memory.
5 Again, we see that Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him. This recurring theme continues to highlight Noah’s consistency and faithfulness.
If the neighbors thought Noah was crazy for building the ark, they must have really thought he was crazy when he started taking animals and supplies aboard seven days before the first rain clouds appeared. Even today, forecasts are notoriously unreliable a full week in advance.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came. This is significant because, when we first met Noah in 5:32, he was 500 years old. See note on 5:32. This would indicate that, from the time Noah was first warned of the flood until the time the first raindrops fell was 100 years. Sometimes, God expects us to be faithful and obedient for a very long time before we see the reasoning behind it all or the fruit of it all. Persevere nonetheless!
7-9 This would seem to be the third time that we see the same thing, but the repetition has a purpose. In 6:19-20, God told Noah what he was supposed to prepare for. In 7:2-3, God commanded him to execute what he had prepared for. Here, we see that Noah did what God commanded. This should be considered elaboration and affirmation of the declaration of vs 5, that Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him. A similar pattern, in which people are told what to do and then do it, is going to emerge throughout the Old Testament.
11-12 The temporal cause of the flood is here revealed, but it is important to recognize the limitations of this story. Genesis is not a scientific text because science was in its absolute infancy. Rather, these verses should be seen as phenomenal. See note on 1:1-2:3 for details.
Despite the phenomenal nature of these verses, we do find some hints of what happened to cause the flood. The vast watery depths burst open suggests a sudden eruption of ground water. The floodgates of the sky were opened hints that there was a torrential downpour. Some scholars have suggested the pre-diluvian earth was shrouded in (or passed through) a cloud of ice particles which fell to the surface, resulting in a dramatic increase in the amount of water on the planet. Then again, anyone who has seen flash flooding resulting from a torrential downpour will recognize that it seems water is coming down from the sky as well as up from the ground.
16 Then the Lord shut him in is a poignant reminder that, although Noah did all the work to build the ark, gather the necessary provisions, and board the animals, there was still only so much he could do. God had to seal the door and protect the occupants of the ark. Similarly, there is only so much we can do. Like Noah, we must do our part, but we must also trust God to do his.
17-24 The details of the flood vary from culture to culture. Here, we read that the rain lasted forty days and nights, but in other Mesopotamian sources, the flood lasted only seven days. It is also interesting that the biblical account acknowledged that the rain was only the beginning of the flood. We learn here that it was 150 days before the water receded, and if we add the details of chapter 8, we find that Noah and his family were in the ark for just over a year. This is remarkable because it demonstrates that God’s will is often not accomplished in a single instant, and there are often periods where God’s people must simply wait for him to do his thing. Therefore, we must practice patience and eager waiting as a part of our faith.