Genesis 7:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a gracious call to Noah and his family to come into a safe place, now that the flood was about to begin (Genesis 7:1).

The invitation itself is very kind, like a loving father telling his children to come inside when night or a storm is near: “Come, you and all your household, into the ark.” Noah did not go into the ark until God told him to. Even though he knew the ark was meant to save him, he still waited for a fresh command, and he received it. It is comforting to follow God’s leading and see him go before us in every step.

God did not tell Noah to “go into” the ark, but to “come into” it. That suggests God would go with him, lead him in, stay with him there, and bring him out safely in time. Wherever we are, it is deeply good to have God’s presence with us, because that is what makes every condition bearable. This is what made Noah’s ark, though it was like a prison, become for him not only a refuge but also a kind of palace.

Noah had worked hard to build the ark, and now he himself was kept alive in it. What we do in obedience to God, and in faith, we will surely enjoy in the end. Not only Noah, but his whole house, his wife and children, were called with him into the ark. It is a great blessing to belong to the family of a godly man. One of Noah’s sons was Ham, who later proved to be a bad man, yet he was saved in the ark. This shows that wicked children often receive benefit because of their godly parents, and also that even the best families on earth have some mixture of good and bad. In Noah’s family there was a Ham, and in Christ’s family there was a Judas. Complete purity does not belong to this life.

This call to Noah also points to the gospel call to sinners. Christ is an ark already prepared, and in him alone we can be safe when death and judgment come. The message is always, “Come.” The Word says, “Come.” Ministers say, “Come.” The Spirit says, “Come, come into the ark.”

The reason for the invitation is a high testimony to Noah’s integrity: “For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.” Those are truly righteous who are righteous before God, not just outwardly righteous before people, who can be easily fooled, but inwardly right in the sight of the God who searches the heart. God notices and is pleased with those who are righteous before him. In a world full of evil people, he could still see one righteous man, Noah. That one grain of wheat could not be lost, even in such a great heap of chaff.

The Lord knows those who are his. The God who sees their integrity will soon speak for them, too, and make it known before angels and people, to their lasting honor. Those who receive mercy to be righteous will also receive witness that they are righteous. God especially delights in those who remain good in bad times and places. Noah was especially honorable because he was righteous in that wicked generation. Those who keep themselves pure when sin is common will be kept safe when trouble comes. Those who do not join others in their sins will not share in their plagues.

We also have needed orders about the animals that were to be kept alive with Noah in the ark (Genesis 7:2-3). The animals could not receive warning or guidance for themselves, as people can. In this way, humans are shown to be wiser than the beasts, because we are able to look ahead. Since the animals were under man’s rule, they were to be under his care. Noah could not preserve every single creature, but he was to keep each kind alive, so that no species, even the least important, would disappear from creation.

In this we see God’s care for human beings, for our comfort and use. We do not read that Noah was worried about this matter, but God cared more for human happiness than Noah did. Even though God saw how sinful the old world was, and knew the new one would not be much better, he still chose to preserve the animals for human benefit. Does God take care for oxen? (1 Corinthians 9:9). Or was this care shown mainly for man’s sake?

Even the unclean animals, which were less useful and less valued, were saved in the ark. God’s tender mercy reaches over all his works, not only over those most important or useful. Yet more of the clean animals were preserved than the unclean. This was partly because the clean animals were more useful to people, and so more of them were kept alive and continue to multiply. It is a mercy from God that there are not herds of lions like there are herds of oxen, or flocks of tigers like there are flocks of sheep.

It was also because the clean animals were used for sacrifice to God, so more of them were preserved in honor of him, three pairs for breeding and one extra for sacrifice (Genesis 8:20). God gives us six for one in earthly things, as seen in the six days of the week, so that in spiritual things we should be wholly for him. Whatever is set apart for God’s honor and used in his service is especially blessed and increased.

Here also is notice of the flood’s near arrival: “Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain” (Genesis 8:4). First, it would still be seven days before it came. After the hundred and twenty years had passed, God gave them seven more days. This showed how slow he is to anger, and that punishment is his strange work. It also gave them more time to repent, but it was wasted. Those seven days were thrown away, just like the rest. They stayed secure and careless until the day the flood came.

Second, it would be only seven days. While Noah spoke of judgment far ahead, people were tempted to delay repentance because the warning seemed far off. Now he is told to say that the danger is right at hand, that they have only one more week to turn back, only one more sabbath to use well, and to see whether that might finally awaken them to care about what belongs to their peace before it is hidden from their eyes. Yet it is common for those who have neglected their souls through years of health, when they have looked at death from a distance, to be just as careless in the seven days of sickness when death draws near. Their hearts are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.