Commentary - Genesis 7:6-12

Bird's-eye view

This passage marks the solemn and momentous beginning of the great deluge. After centuries of preaching and decades of labor, the time for preparation is over and the time for God's judgment has arrived. The text is precise and orderly, reflecting the sovereign control of God over this cataclysmic event. We see Noah's final act of obedience as he and his family enter the ark, followed by the animals God brings to him. There is a week of quiet waiting inside the ark, a final period of grace for the world outside, before the de-creation begins in earnest. The language used is stark and powerful, describing a world coming apart at the seams as the waters from below and the waters from above are unleashed. This is not merely a great flood; it is the judicial dismantling of the created order in response to the intractable sinfulness of mankind. Yet, in the midst of this total judgment, God's grace is manifest in the preservation of a remnant, safe within the ark He commanded.

The narrative is intentionally historical, giving us Noah's exact age and the precise date the flood began. This is not myth or legend; it is a sober account of God's righteous wrath poured out upon a wicked world. The central themes are God's faithfulness to His word, both in judgment and salvation, and Noah's faith, which is demonstrated through his unwavering obedience. The ark stands as the sole refuge, a type of Christ, in whom alone we can be saved from the coming judgment.

Outline

Context In Genesis

Genesis 7 is the direct fulfillment of the warnings and commands given in Genesis 6. In the previous chapter, God declared His grief over the wickedness of man and announced His intention to blot out mankind from the face of the earth (Gen 6:5-7). But in the midst of this declaration of judgment, grace was shown to one man: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen 6:8). God then established a covenant with Noah and gave him the detailed instructions for building the ark, the vessel of salvation (Gen 6:14-21). Genesis 6 concludes with a summary statement of Noah's character: "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him" (Gen 6:22). Our passage here in chapter 7 shows this obedience in its final, climactic act. It is the hinge point between the antediluvian world, characterized by violence and corruption, and the postdiluvian world, which will begin with a new creation mandate given to Noah and his family.

Key Issues

The Deluge of Justice

We must be careful not to read this account with a sentimental or sanitized lens. The flood was an act of terrifying and violent judgment. It was the execution of a divine death sentence upon the entire human race, with the exception of eight souls. The modern mind recoils at this, but that is because the modern mind has lost any real sense of the holiness of God and the heinousness of sin. The world that was destroyed was not a world of misguided but basically good people. Genesis 6 describes a world where "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen 6:5). The earth was filled with violence and was corrupt before God. God's judgment was not an overreaction; it was the just and necessary response of a holy Creator to a creation that had become cancerous with rebellion.

But this is also a story of staggering grace. In the face of universal rebellion, God did not destroy everything. He chose to save a remnant. He made a distinction. He provided a way of escape. The same waters that were an instrument of wrath for the wicked were the instrument of salvation for the righteous, bearing up the ark and lifting it above the destruction. This is a pattern we see throughout Scripture, and it finds its ultimate expression at the cross. The cross was the place of God's most fearsome judgment against sin, and at the same time the place of His most profound act of salvation.

Verse by Verse Commentary

6 Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.

The Bible is a history book, and it gives us historical markers. This is not "once upon a time." This is a datable event in the life of a specific man. Noah's life spanned a vast period of time, and he had walked with God through it all. For over a century, he had been a preacher of righteousness, and for decades he had been building this massive vessel on dry land, an object of certain mockery. Now, at this advanced age, he sees the fulfillment of God's promise and the vindication of his faith. His entire life has been building toward this moment. God's timetable is not our timetable, but it is always precise and perfect.

7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.

Here is the obedience of faith in action. They went in "because of the water." As yet, there was no water. There was no rain. There were no fountains gushing. They went in because they believed the word of God. They acted on the promise of a judgment they could not yet see. Notice also the corporate nature of this salvation. Noah's faith was the instrument through which his entire household was saved. Salvation is never a purely individualistic affair; it has covenantal and familial dimensions. The family unit, God's foundational institution, is preserved through the judgment.

8-9 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, by twos they came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Noah did not have to go on a global safari. The animals "came to Noah." This was a miraculous work of God, who sovereignly drew representatives of the animal kingdom to the ark. The preservation of the animals demonstrates that God's redemptive plan includes the whole of creation, not just humanity. The distinction between clean and unclean animals is noted here, long before the Mosaic law, indicating that these categories have a more ancient, creation-based origin, likely related to the sacrificial system which we know was already in place (Gen 4:4). And once again, the key refrain: Noah did all this "as God had commanded Noah." His righteousness was not abstract; it was expressed in detailed, concrete obedience.

10 Now it happened after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.

Imagine that week. Noah's family and all the animals are sealed inside the ark. Outside, the sun is still shining. The scoffers are still scoffing. It is a week of quiet tension, a final, silent opportunity for the world to repent. For Noah and his family, it was a test of faith. They were shut in with only the promise of God, waiting. This period of seven days echoes the seven days of creation, but here it is a prelude to de-creation. It is a solemn pause before the execution of the sentence.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep split open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

The specificity of the date is striking. This is the historical anchor for the entire event. And then the cataclysm begins. It is a two-pronged assault. First, the "fountains of the great deep split open." This is not just rain. This is a geological upheaval. Subterranean waters, held in check since the creation week (Gen 1:6-10), burst forth with unimaginable violence. The Hebrew word for "great deep" is tehom, the same word used for the formless, watery chaos in Genesis 1:2. God is, in a sense, unmaking the world, returning it to its primordial state. Second, "the floodgates of the sky were opened." The waters above the firmament, also separated at creation, are released. This is a complete structural collapse of the old world. God is washing His creation clean through a terrifying baptism of judgment.

12 Then the rain came upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

The number forty in Scripture consistently represents a period of testing, trial, and judgment. Moses was on Sinai for forty days. Israel wandered for forty years. Elijah journeyed for forty days. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days. This forty-day downpour represents a complete and sufficient period of judgment. It is the time during which the wrath of God is poured out until the old world is utterly submerged and every living thing on the face of the ground is blotted out.

Application

The story of Noah is not a charming children's tale about animals on a big boat. It is a stark and sober warning to all generations. The apostle Peter tells us that just as the old world was destroyed by water, the present heavens and earth are "stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Pet 3:7). The world around us continues on, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, completely oblivious to the coming judgment, just as they were in the days of Noah (Matt 24:37-39).

Our task is the same as Noah's. First, we must make sure that we ourselves are in the ark. The only ark of safety from the coming judgment is the Lord Jesus Christ. To be saved is to be "in Christ." There is no other refuge. Second, like Noah, we are called to be preachers of righteousness to a doomed world. We are to build our lives on the solid rock of God's commands and warn others to flee the wrath to come. Most will scoff, but by our faithful obedience, we condemn the world and become heirs of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Finally, we must trust God's timing. Noah waited for 120 years. He waited for a final seven days in the ark. We too are in a period of waiting. But the day is coming, a day known only to God, when the door of the ark will be shut for the last time and the final judgment will begin. Our duty is to believe God, obey His word, and be found ready.