Genesis 7:1-24
Q.1. Why was Noah spared? Why did God instruct Noah to take seven clean but only two unclean animals into the ark with him? Did Noah know how long and why the rain would fall? – (Gen.7:1-5 c.f. Gen.8:20)
Noah was spared because he was different from the rest of mankind – for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time (Gen.7:1) and – being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith (Heb.11:7). No doubt the people of his day would have condemned Noah and his sons for their foolishness. Noah had already been instructed to – bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female (Gen.6:19). Why did God command Noah to keep seven of all the clean animals? This unfolded later after Noah came out of the ark, when – Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Gen.8:20). Only clean animals and birds were acceptable offerings to God. Consistent with God’s gracious nature, He explained what He was going to do and why – 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).
Q.2. How old was Noah when the flood came? Who joined him in the ark? Where did all the water come from to inundate the earth? How long did the rain and flood last? – (Gen.7:6-12, 24)
God had kept Noah from having children until much later, when he was five hundred years old (Gen.5:32). The flood did not come for another hundred years, when Noah was six hundred years old (Gen.7:6). Noah had the assistance of his sons in building the ark. Those joining him in the ark were – 7 … his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. 8 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah (Gen.7:7-9). As we have already observed, the world was very different before the flood came, and there was a vast canopy of water above the expanse of the sky, that formed a protective barrier against the damaging rays of the sun (Gen.1:6-8). It is recorded that – 10 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 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.7:10-11). Nothing like this had happened before, nor will anything like this happen in the future (c.f. Heb.11:7 & Gen.8:21-22)! The storm was so great that – The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights … AND – the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days (Gen.7:12 & 24). The Flood lasted for five months.
Q.3. What clues do we get from the comments about the mountains, and the range of animals taken in the ark, that the flood was universal? How were the family and animals secured in the ark? In what way was this God’s judgment? – (Gen.7:13-23)
 It is expressly stated that both animals and birds were included in the ark, but that no fish or sea monsters entered (Gen.7:14-16). It would not have been necessary to include any birds if the flood was only local. So great was the flood, that it covered all the mountains – 19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. 20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits (i.e. 7.5 metres) higher, and the mountains were covered (Gen.7:19-20). It is explicitly stated that God did not leave Noah to his own resources, but – 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 Lord protected His own, but – 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). What an awesome and yet caring God we have! It is encouraging that Jesus predicted that He will protect His children when judgment comes on every living thing in the last days (Mt.24:37-39 c.f. 1 Thes.5:9-11).