Genesis 7:5 - Meaning and Application

Here is Noah’s prompt obedience to God’s commands. He went into the ark when he was told that the flood would come after seven days, even though there was probably no visible sign of danger yet. There was no dark cloud, no storm building, and nothing in nature seemed to point to judgment. Still, Noah had already built the ark by faith in God’s warning, and now he entered it by faith in that same warning, trusting that the flood would come soon even though the outward causes had not yet begun to work.

In every step, Noah walked by faith and not by sight. During those seven days, he was likely settling his family into the ark and placing the animals in their proper spaces. That was the final public warning his neighbors would see, after years of his witness to them. One would think it should have awakened them, but since it did not, their ruin was their own responsibility.

Noah also took his whole family with him: his wife, who would be his companion and comfort, though it seems he had no more children by her after this, his sons, and his sons’ wives. Through them, not only his household, but the human race itself would continue. Even though mankind was being reduced to a very small number, and it would have been wise to replenish the earth quickly, each of Noah’s sons had only one wife. This supports the case against having many wives, because from the start of this renewed world, it was still one woman for one man. See (Matthew 19:4), (Matthew 19:8).

Even the animals went into the ark readily with Noah. The same hand that once brought them to Adam to be named now brought them to Noah to be preserved. The ox knew its owner, and the donkey knew the manger of its protector. Even the wildest creatures came in. But human beings had grown more foolish than the animals, and they did not know or consider what was before them (Isaiah 1:3).