Genesis
7
1 And the LORD
said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into
the ark; for
thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
And the Lord, Jehovah, since Elohim now appears as the covenant God,
though this change in the Divine
name is commonly regarded by modern
critics as betraying the hand of
a Jehovist supplementer of
the fundamental
document of the Elohist (Bleek, Vaihinger, Davidson, Kalisch, Colense,
Alford); but "that
the variations in the name of God furnish no
criterion by which to detect
different documents is evident enough
from the fact that in v. 5
Noah does as Jehovah commands him, while in
v. 16 Elohim
alternates with Jehovah" (Keil). Said unto Noah. At the end
of the 120 years, when the
building of the ark had been completed,
and only seven days before
the Flood - doubtless by an audible voice
still speaking to him from
between the cherubim, which we can suppose
had not yet vanished from the
earth. Come thou and all thy house
into the ark. I.e. prepare for entering; the actual entry
taking place
seven days later. So God ever
hides his people before the
storm bursts (compare Isaiah 26:20). For
thee have I seen righteous
(see ch. 6:9) before
me. Literally, before my face; not merely notifying
the Divine observance of Noah
s piety, but announcing the fact of
his justification in God's
sight. "To be righteous before God," the
usual Scriptural phrase for
justification (compare Psalm 143:2).
In this generation. (ibid.) Indicating not alone the
sphere of Noah's
godly life, but its exceptional
character; "involving an opposing
sentence of condemnation against
his contemporaries" (Lange).
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt
take to thee by sevens, the male and
female: and of
beasts that are not clean by two, the male and
his
female. Of every clean beast. That the distinction
between clean and
unclean animals was at this time
understood is easier to believe than that the
writer would perpetrate the
glaring anachronism of introducing in prediluvian
times what only took
its rise several centuries later (Kalisch). That this
distinction was founded on nature,
"every tribe of mankind being able
to distinguish between the
sheep and the hyena, the dove and the vulture"
('Speaker's Commentary'),
or "on an immediate conscious feeling of
the human spirit, not yet clouded by any ungodly and unnatural culture,
which leads it to see in many
beasts pictures of sin and corruption" (Keil),
has been supposed; but with
greater probability it was of Divine institution,
with reference to
the necessities of sacrifice (Ainsworth, Bush, Wordsworth;
compare ch8:20). To this was
appended in the Levitical system a distinction
between clean and unclean in
respect of man's food (Leviticus
11:3).
Shalt thou take - inconsistent with ch. 6:20,
which says the animals were
to come to Noah (Colenso); but (ibid
v. 19), which says that
Noah
was to bring them, i.e. make them go (at least nearly equivalent to take),
clearly recognizes Noah's agency
(Quarry) - to thee by sevens.
Literally, seven, seven;
either seven pairs (Vulgate,
Septuagint, Aben Ezra,
Clericus, Michaells,
De Wette, Knobel, Kalisch, Murphy, Alford, Wordsworth,
' Speaker's Commentary'), or seven individuals
(Chrysostom, Augustine,
Theodoret, Calvin, Pererius, Wiliet, Delitzsch, Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange,
Bush); both parties
quoting the next clause in support of their particular
interpretation. Davidson, Colenso, and Kalisch challenge
both
interpretations as "irreconcilable
with the preceding narrative" (ibid.);
but the obvious answer is,
that while in the first communication, which
was given 120 years before,
when minute instructions were not
required, it is simply stated that
the animals should be preserved by
pairs; in the second, when the
ark was finished and the animals were
about to be collected, it is
added that, in the case of the few clean beasts
used for sacrifice, an
exception should be made to the general rule, and
not one pair, but either
three pairs with one over, or seven pairs,
should be preserved. The male and his female. This seems to be most
in favor of the first
interpretation, that pairs, and not individuals, are
meant. And
of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Ish veishto. Compare ch. 2:25 ), where the phrase
denotes the ethical
personality of human beings, to which
there is here an approximation,
as the preserved animals
were designed to be the parents of subsequent
races. The usual phrase for
male and female, which is employed in
ch. 1:28 (a so-called Elohistic) and v. 3 following (a so-called Jehovistic
section), refers to the physical
distinction of sex in human beings.
3 Of fowls also
of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep
seed alive upon
the face of all the earth. Of fowls also of the air by
sevens, the male and the female. I.e. of clean fowls, "which he
leaves to be understood out of
the foregoing verse" (Peele).
The Samaritan, Syriac, and Septuagint (not so Vulgate, Onkelos,
Arabic) insert the word
"clean unnecessarily, and also add, "καὶ ἀπὸ
πάντων τῶν
πετεινῶν τῶνν μὴ
καθαρῶν δύο δύο
ἄρσεν καὶ
θῆλυ" -
kai apo panton ton petetnon tonn mae
katharown duo duo apoen
kai thaelu - and of all unclean flying creatures
pairs, male and female,
manifestly to make the verse
resemble the preceding. To keep seed alive
upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the
earth forty
days and forty
nights; and every living substance that I have made
will I destroy
from off the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did according
unto all that
the LORD commanded him. For
yet seven days.
Literally, for today's
yet seven - after seven days; thus giving Noah time to
complete his preparations, and the
world one more opportunity to repent,
which Peele
thinks many may have done, though their bodies were drowned
for their former impenitency. And I
will cause it to rain - literally, I causing it,
the participle indicating the
certainty of the future action (compare ch.
6:17;
Proverbs 25:22; compare Ewald's 'Hebrews Synt.,' § 306)
- upon the
earth forty days and forty nights. The importance assigned
in subsequent
Scripture to the number
forty, probably from the circumstance here
recorded, is too obvious to be
overlooked.
·
·
The scouts remained forty days in
·
Moses was forty days in the mount (Exodus 24:18).
·
Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights in the wilderness
of
·
A respite of forty days was given to the Ninevites
(Jonah 3:4).
·
Christ fasted forty days before the temptation (Matthew 4:2), and
·
sojourned forty, days on earth after his resurrection (Acts 1:3).
It thus appears
to have been regarded as symbolical of a period of trial,
ending in victory to the good and in ruin to the evil. And every living
substance - yekum; literally, standing thing, omne quod subsistit, i.e.
"whatever
is capable by a principle of life of maintaining an erect posture"
(Bush); ἀνάστημα - anastaema - stature - (Septuagint;
compare Deuteronomy 11:6; Job 22:20) - that
I have made will I destroy -
literally, blot out (compare ch. 6:7) - from off the face of the earth.
And Noah did according to all that the Lord (Jehovah, the God of
salvation, who now interposed for
the patriarch's safety; in ibid. v.
22,
where God is exhibited in His
relations to all flesh, it is Elohim) had
commanded him.
6 And Noah
was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was
upon the
earth. And Noah was six hundred years old. Literally, a sum of
six hundred
years, i.e. in his 600th year (compare v. 11). The number six
"is
generally a Scriptural symbol of suffering. Christ suffered on the sixth
day. In the Apocalypse the
sixth seal, the sixth trumpet, the sixth
vial introduce critical
periods of affliction" (Wordsworth). When the
flood of waters was upon the earth.
God the
Savior Inviting Faith (vs. 1-6)
“Come thou and all thy house into the
ark,” Covenant mercy is a type
of the Christian
Church, with its special privilege and defense, surrounded
with the saving strength of God.
I. DIVINE PREPARATION. Providence. The ark.
1. Human
agency under inspired direction. The word of God. The
institutions of religion. The fellowship of saints.
2. A
preparation made in the face of and in spite of an opposing world.
The history of the Church from the beginning.
3.
The preparation as safety and peace to those
who trust in it,
notwithstanding
the outpoured judgment.
II.
DIVINE
FAITHFULNESS. “Come thou for thee have I seen
righteous.” It is not the merit of man that is the ground of confidence, but
the
Lord’s
grace. I have seen thee righteous because I have looked upon thee
as
an obedient servant, and have counted thy faith for righteousness.
Faithfulness
in God is an object of man’s trust as connected with His
spoken
word and the preparation of His mercy.
III.
DIVINE
SUFFICIENCY. The
weak creatures in the ark were surrounded
by
the destroying waters. A refuge was opened in God. His blessing was on the
household. His redemption
succored the individual soul, the life and its
treasures,
family peace and prosperity. The ark is a type of the prepared
salvation,
carrying the believer through the flood of earthly cares and
troubles,
through the’ deep waters of death, to the new world of the
purified
heaven and earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his
sons’ wives with him,
into
the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
And Noah went in. I.e. began
to
go in a full week before the waters came (see v. 10). "A proof of
faith and
a
warning to the world." And his sons, and his wife, and his sons'
wives with him.
In
all eight persons (1
Peter 3:20); whence it is obvious that "each had but one
wife,
and that polygamy, as it began among the Cainites, was most probably
confined
to them" (Poole). Into the ark, because of the waters of the
flood.
Literally, from the face of the waters,
being moved with fear and impelled
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean,
and of fowls, and
of
every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and
two
unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had
commanded
Noah. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean,
and
of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, there
went
in two and two into the ark,
the male and the female. In
obedience
to
a Divine impulse. Nothing short of Divine power could have effected
such
a timely and orderly entrance of the creatures into the huge vessel
(compare
their mode of exit, ch.
8:18). The seeming inconsistency of this
verse
with v. 2, which says that the clean animals entered the ark by sevens,
will
be at once removed by connecting vs. 7 and 8 instead of 8 and 9, and
commencing
a new sentence with v. 9. It favors this, that "of" is
awanting
before
"everything that creepeth," and that the Septuagint begin v. 8
with
"and"
(compare Quarry, p. 373). As God had commanded Noah.
at
the seventh of the days) that the waters of the flood were upon the
earth.
I.
THE INVITATION OF
JEHOVAH. “Come thou and all thy house into
the
ark.” This invitation was:
1.
Timely.
It was given on the finishing of the ark, and therefore not too
soon;
also seven days before the Flood, and therefore not too late. God’s
interventions
in is people’s behalf are always opportune: witness:
(a) the exodus from Egypt, the deliverance at the Red Sea,
(b) the destruction of Sennacherib’s army;
(c) Christ’s walking on the sea, sleeping in the boat,
rising
2.
Special.
It was addressed in particular to Noah “Come thou.” “The Lord
knoweth
them that are His.” (II Timothy 2:19); “The Good Shepherd
calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” (So is the
invitation of the gospel of the same personal and individual
description (Matthew 13:9; Revelation 3:6). Men are not summoned,
to believe in masses, but as
individuals.
3. Comprehensive. “And
all thy house.”
Whether Shem, Ham, and Japheth
were
at this time believers is not known. The noticeable circumstance is
that
the invitation was not addressed immediately to them, but mediately
through
their father. If Noah stood alone in his piety, their summons to
enter
the ark reminds us of the advantage of belonging to a pious family,
and
being even only externally connected with the Church (compare Luke
4. Gracious. Given to Noah certainly,
in one sense, because of his piety,
(
v. 1). But since his godliness was the fruit of faith, and his faith
nothing
more than a resting on the Divine covenant or promise, it was thus
purely
of grace So is God’s invitation in the gospel all of grace
(Galatians
1:6; Ephesians 3:8).
5. Urgent. Only seven days, and the Flood would begin. There was clearly
not
much time to lose. Only a seventh of the time given to the men of
Nineveh
(Jonah 3:4). But not even seven days are promised in
the
gospel
call
(Matthew 24:36; Romans 13:12; Philippians 4:5; James 5:9).
II.
THE OBEDIENCE OF NOAH. “And Noah did according unto all that
the
Lord commanded him.” This obedience was:
1. Immediate. It does not appear that Noah trifled with the
Divine
summons,
or in any way interposed delay; and neither should
sinful men
with
the invitation of the gospel (II Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7).
2. Believing. It had its inspiration in a simple credence of the
Divine word
that
safety could be secured only within the ark; and not until the soul is
prepared to accord a hearty trust to the statement that Christ is the heaven
provided
ark of salvation for a lost world does it yield to the gospel call,
and
enter into the safe shelter of His Church by believing on His name
3. Personal. Noah himself entered in. Had he not done so, not only would
his
own salvation have been missed, but his efforts to induce others to seek
the
shelter of the ark would have been fruitless. So
the first duty of a herald
of
the gospel or minister of salvation is to make his own calling and
election
sure,
after which his labors in behalf of others are more likely to be
efficacious
(1 Corinthians 9:27; 1 Timothy 4:16).
4. Influential. The entire household of the patriarch followed his
example.
It
is doubtful if at this time any of them were possessors of his faith. Yet all
of
them complied with the heavenly invitation, probably impelled thereto
by
the example and exhortation of their parent. When the head of a
household
becomes a Christian he in effect brings salvation to the house.
He
brings all its inmates into at least a nominal connection with the Church,
encircles
them with an atmosphere of religion emanating from his own
character
and conduct, and frequently through Divine grace is honored to
be
the instrument of their salvation (Luke 19:9; Acts 11:14; 16:31).
5. Minute. Noah’s entry into the ark in all particulars corresponded with
the
Divine invitation. The animals went in two and two, as God
commanded.
Men are not expected or allowed to deviate from the plain
prescriptions
of the word of God concerning the way of faith and salvation
1. The unwearied diligence of God in saving men.
2. The personal nature of God’s dealings with men.
3. The extreme attentiveness with which He
watches over them, who are His.
4. The indispensable
necessity of obedience in order to salvation.
10
And it came to pass after seven days, that the
waters of the flood
that
the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
And it came to pass
after
seven days (literally, at the seventh of the days) that the waters of the
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the
second month, the
seventeenth
day of the month, the same day were all the fountains
of
the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were
opened. 12 And the
rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
In
the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month. Not:
(1) of Noah's 600th
year. (Knobel); but either
(2) of the theocratic year, which began with Nisan or Abib (Exodus
12:2;
13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy
16:1; Nehemiah
2:1), either in March
or
April (Rabbi Joshua, Ambrose, Luther, Calvin, Mercerus, Havernick,
Kalisch,
Alford, Wordsworth); or
(3) of the civil year, which commenced with the autumnal equinox in the
month
Tisri, "called of old the first month, but now the seventh"
(Chaldee
Paraphrase; 23:15; 34:22),
corresponding to September or
October
(Josephus, Rabbi Jonathan; Kimchi, Rosenmüller, Keil, Murphy,
Bush,
Ainsworth, 'Speaker s Commentary ). In support of the former maybe
alleged
the usual Biblical mode of reckoning the sacred year by numbers,
and
in defense of the latter that the ecclesiastical year did not begin till the
time
of the Exodus. In the seventeenth day of the month. "The careful
statement
of the chronology, which marks with such exactness day and
month
in the course of this occurence, puts all suspicion of the history to
shame"
(Havernick). The same day were all the fountains of the great
deep - i.e. the waters of the ocean (Job
38:16,30; 41:31; Psalm
106:9)
and
of subterranean reservoirs (Job
28:4,10; Psalm
33:7; Deuteronomy
8:7)
- broken
up. "By a mctynomy (the substitution of the name of an attribute
or
adjunct for that of the thing meant) because the earth and other
obstructions
were broken up, and so a passage opened
for the fountains"
(Peele).
"The niphal or passive form of בָּקַע denotes
violent changes in
the
depths of the sea, or in the action of the earth - at all events in
the
atmosphere" (Lange). And the windows of heaven were opened.
Arubboth, from arabh, to twine - network or lattices; hence a window,
as
being closed with lattice-work instead of glass (Ecclesiastes
12:3); here the
flood-gates
of heaven, which are opened when it rains (compare ch. 8:2;
II Kings 7:19; Isaiah 24:18; Malachi 3:10). And the rain was - literally,
and
there was (happened,
came) violent rain; גֶּשֶׁס, different from מָטָר,
which
denotes any rain, and is applied to other things which God pours
down
from heaven (Exodus
9:18; 16:4)
- upon the earth forty days and
forty
nights (compare v.
4). Though the language is metaphorical and
optical,
it clearly
points to a change in the land level by which the ocean
waters
overflowed the depressed continent, accompanied
with heavy and
continuous
rain, as
the cause of the Deluge (contrast with this the works
of
the third and fourth creative days); yet "the exact statement of the
natural
causes that concurred in the Deluge is a circumstance which
certainly
in no wise removes the miraculous nature of the whole fact -
who
has unveiled the mysteries of nature? - but which certainly shows
how
exact was the attention paid to the external phenomena of the Deluge"
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham,
and Japheth,
the
sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with
them,
into the ark; 14
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the
cattle
after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth
after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
In
the selfsame day -
literally, in the bone,
or strength, or essence (ch. 2:23)
of
that day - in that very day (compare ch.17:23,
26); "about noonday, i.e.
in
the public view of the world" (Peele) a phrase intended to convey the idea
of
the utmost precision of time" (Bush) - entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham,
and
Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the wives of his three
sons
with them, into the ark. Not
inconsistent with vs. 4-5, which do not
necessarily
imply that the actual entry was made seven days before the
Flood;
but merely that Noah
then began to carry out the Divine instructions.
The
threefold recital of the entry - first in connection with the invitation or
command
(v. 5), and again in the actual process during the seven days (v. 7),
and
finally on the day when the Flood began (v. 15), - besides lending
emphasis
to the narrative, heightens its dramatic effect. They, and every
beast
after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping
thing
that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after
his
kind, every bird of every sort (literally, wing). The creatures here
specified
correspond with the enumeration - viz., chay-yah,
behemah,
remes - in
ch.1:25, q.v. The last clause, kol-canaph, Kalisch,
following
Clericus, translates, though, according to Rosenmüller,
without
satisfactory reasons, "every winged creature," and so makes
"three
classes of winged beings - the eatable species (עופ),
the birds which
people
the air and enliven it by the sounds of their melodies (עִפור),
and
the
endless swarms of insects (כָּנָפ),
the greatest part of which possess
neither
the utility of the former nor the beauty of the latter. Gesenius,
however,
translates it "birds
of all kinds," and Knobel regards it as
synonymous
with "every bird."
The Septuagint give the sense of the
two
clauses: καὶ πᾶν ὄρνεον
πετεινὸν κατὰ
γένος αὐτοῦ - kai pan orneon
peteinon
kata genos autou - and every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two
of all flesh,
wherein
is the breath of life. And they went in unto Noah into the ark
(compare
ch. 6:20, which affirmed they should come), two and two of all flesh,
wherein
is the breath of life. Compare
the three expressions for an animated
creature
- חַיָּה (ch. 1:30),
יְקוּס: (here, v. 4),
אֲשֶׂראּבּו
רוּחַ חיִּיס.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all
flesh, as God
had
commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
And they that went in,
went
in male and female of all flesh, as God (Etohim) had commanded him.
This
evidently closed an Elohistic passage, according to Colenso, as the
ensuing
clause as manifestly belongs to the Jehovistic interpolator; but the
close
connection subsisting between the two clauses forbids any such
dislocation
of the narrative as that suggested. "On the supposition of an
independent
Jehovistic narrative, Bishop Colenso feels it necessary to
interpolate
before the next statement the words, 'And Noah and all his
house
went into the ark'" (Quarry, p. 379). And
the Lord (Jehovah) shut
him
in. Literally, shut behind, him, i.e. closed
up the door of the ark after him
(ἐκλεισε τὴν
κιβωτὸν ἔξωθεν
αὐτοῦ - ekleise taen kiboton exothen auton -
shut
him in the ark - Septuagint); doubtless
miraculously, to preserve him
·
the
violence of the waters and
The
contrast between the two names of the Deity is here most vividly presented.
It
is Elohim who commands him about the beasts; it is Jehovah, the covenant God,
who
insures his safety by closing the ark behind him.
“And
Noah went in,” “And the Lord shut him in” (vs. 7, 10, 16).
I. THE
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE POSITION OF THE BELIEVER
AND
THAT OF THE UNBELIEVER. The difference between a true freedom
and
a false. “Shut in” by the Lord to obedience, but also to peace and
safety. The
world’s
judgment shut out. The restraints and privations of a religious life are
only
temporary. The ark will be opened hereafter.
II. THE
METHOD OF GRACE ILLUSTRATED. He that opens the ark
for
salvation shuts in His people for the completion of His work. We cannot
shut
ourselves in. Our temptation is to break forth into the world and be
involved
in its ruin. The misery of fear. Are we
safe? Perseverance is not
dependent
upon our self-made resolutions or
provisions. By various means
we
are shut in to the spiritual life. Providentially:
We
should look for the Divine seal.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the
waters
increased,
and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly
upon the
earth;
and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth;
and all the
high
hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
And
the flood was forty days upon the earth. Referring to the forty days' and
nights'
rain of ve. 4 (τεσσαράκοντα
ἡμέρας καὶ
τεσσαράκοντα
νύκτας -
tessarakonia
haemeras kai tessarakonia nuktas - forty days
and forty nights,
Septuagint),
during which the augmentation of the waters is described in a
of
increase, marked by the floating of the ark. And bare up the ark, and it was
lift
up above the earth. Literally, it was high from upon
the earth, i.e. it rose
above
it. And
the waters prevailed. Literally, were strong; from גָּבַר,
to be strong;
whence
the Gibborim of ch. 6:4. And were increased greatly on the earth.
Literally,
became great, greatly.
And
the ark went - i.e. floated along; καὶ
ἐπεφέρετο - kai epephreto - was
being
bringed
upon - Septuagint. (Psalm 104:26) - upon the face of the waters.
And
the waters prevailed exceedingly. Literally, and the waters became strong,
And
all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. A clear
assertion
of the universality of the Flood
(Keil, Kalisch, Alford, Bush,
Wordsworth);
but the language does not necessarily imply more than that all
the
high hills beneath the spectator s heaven were submerged (compare
ch.41:57;
Exodus 9:25; 10:15; Deuteronomy 2:25; 1 Kings 10:24; Acts 2:5; ,
for
instances in which the universal terms all and every must be taken with a
limited
signification); while it is almost certain that, had the narrator even
designed
to record only the fact that all the heights within the visible horizon
had
disappeared beneath the rising waters, he would have done so by saying
that
"all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered." While,
then,
it
is admitted that the words may depict a complete submergence of the globe,
it
is maintained by many competent scholars that the necessities of exegesis
only
demand a partial inundation (Peele, Murphy, Taylor Lewis,
'Speaker's
Commentary,' Inglis).
Was
the Flood Universal? (v. 19)
I. THE
BIBLICAL ACCOUNT. Unquestionably
the language of the
historian
appears to describe a complete submergence of the globe beneath
a
flood of waters, and is capable of being so understood, so far as exegesis
can
determine. Unquestionably also that this was the writer’s meaning
would
never have been challenged had it not been for certain difficulties of
a
scientific nature, as well as of other kinds, which were gradually seen to
attach
to such hypothesis. But these
difficulties having arisen in men’s
minds
led to a closer and more careful investigation of the Scripture
1. That the language of the historian did not
necessarily imply that the
catastrophe
described was of universal extent (see Exposition).
2. That, if it had been only partial and local in its
operation, in all
probability
the same, or at least closely similar, terms would have been
selected
to depict its appearance, as observed by a spectator.
3. That the purpose for which, according to the
inspired record, the Deluge
was
sent could have been completely effected without the submergence of
the
entire globe — that purpose being the destruction of the human race,
which,
it is believed, had not at that time overspread the earth, but was
confined
to a limited region contiguous to the valley of the Euphrates, That
this
last conjecture is not of recent origin, but was early entertained by
theologians,
is proved by the facts that Aben Ezra “confuteth the opinion
of
some who in his days held the Deluge not to have been universal”
(Willet);
that Bishop Patrick notes (ch.7:19) that “there were
those
anciently, and they have their successors now, who imagined the
Flood
was not universal, but only there where men then dwelt;” that Matthew
Poole
writes, “Peradventure this Flood might not be universal over the whole
earth,
but only over all the habitable world, where either men or beasts lived,
which
was as much as either the meritorious cause of the Flood, men’s sins,
or
the end of it, the destruction of all men and beasts, required” (Synopsis,
ibid.); and that Bishop Stillingfleet in his ‘Origines
Sacrae’
remarks,
“I cannot see any necessity, from the Scriptures, to assert that the
Flood
did spread itself over all the surface of the earth. That all mankind
(those
in the ark excepted) were destroyed by it is most certain, according
to
the Scriptures; but from thence follows no necessity at all of asserting
the
universality of it as to the globe of the earth, unless it be sufficiently
proved
that the earth was peopled before the Flood, which I despair of
ever
seeing proved” (vide ‘Quarry on
Genesis,’ p. 184). This opinion, it is
almost
needless to observe, has been adopted by the majority of modem
4. That subsequent Scriptural references to this
primeval catastrophe are at
least
not decidedly at variance with the notion of a limited Deluge.
ch. 9:15 places emphasis on the fact that the
waters will no more
become
a flood to destroy all flesh, i.e.
all mankind (Isaiah 54:9,
pointing
back to (here, ch. 9:15, says that as God swore in the days of
Noah
that the earth would be no more inundated as to carry off the entire
population,
so did He swear then that He would not rebuke Israel. The
language
does not, as Wordsworth thinks, imply the universality of the
Deluge.
II Peter 2:5; 3:6 refers to the destruction of the ἀρχαίου κόσμου -
archaiou
kosmou - ancient world, i.e. the world of
men, the κόσμῳ ἀσεβῶν
-
kosmo
asebon - world of ungodly; impious; irreverent;
presumptuous;bold;
arrogant
- specially mentioned in the former of these passages. So far then
as
Scripture is concerned we are not shut up to the necessity of regarding
1. Astronomical. It is urged that, as there is no sufficient
evidence of any
general
subsidence of the earth’s crust, the theory proposed by some
harmonists,
that the land and water virtually exchanged places (this was
supposed
to be borne out by the existence of shells and corals at the top of
high
mountains), having now been completely abandoned (that the outlines
of
the great continental seas have been substantially the same from the
beginning
— see Genesis 1:9, Exposition), the entire surface of the globe
could
be covered only by a large earth’s mass. Kalisch supposes eight times
increase
of water being added to the aggregate of water contained in all the
seas
and oceans of the earth; that this must have produced such a shock to
the
solar system as to have caused a very considerable aberration in the
earth’s
orbit, of which: however, no trace can be detected; and that,
consequently,
it is unphilosophical to imagine that such a disturbance of the
entire
stellar world as would necessarily follow on that event would be
resorted
to in order to destroy a race of sinful beings in one of the smallest
(a)
But — Biblical
science, which recognizes an incarnation of the
Word
of God in order to save man, will always hesitate to pronounce
anything
too great for the Almighty to permit or do in connection
(b). It is gratuitous to infer that because a
general subsidence of the earth’s
crust
cannot now be traced, there was none. Absence of evidence that a
thing
was is not equivalent to presence of proof that a thing was not.
Witness
the third day’s vegetation and antediluvian civilization.
(c)
If even the earth’s surface were covered with water, it is doubtful if it
would
be much more in effect than the breaking out of a profuse sweat
upon
the human body, or the filling up with water of the indentures on the
rough
skin of an orange, in which case it is more than probable that the
apprehended
disturbance of the solar system would prove in great part
2. Geological. At one time believed to afford incontestable
evidence of a
universal
deluge in the drift formations, the diluvium of the earlier
geologists
(of late, with better reason, ascribed to the influence of a glacial,
period
which prevailed over the greater part of Central and Northern
Europe
m prehistoric times), geological science is now held to teach
exactly
the opposite. The extinct volcanoes of Langue-dec and Auvergne
are
believed to have been in operation long anterior to the time of man’s
appearance
on the earth, the remains of extinct animals being found among
their
sconce; and yet the lava cones are in many instances as perfect as
when
first thrown up, while the dross lies loose upon their sides, which it is
scarcely,
supposable would be the case had they been subjected to any
cataclysmal
immersion such as is presupposed in the Deluge. But here the
mistake
is that of imagining the Noahic Flood to have been of any such
violent
torrential character. On the contrary, the Scripture narrative
represents
the waters as having risen and subsided slowly, and the whole
phenomenon
to have been of such a kind as, while destroying human life,
to
effect comparatively little change upon the face of nature; and, besides,
careful
scientific observers have declared that the volcanic scoriae in
question
is not so loose as is sometimes alleged (Smith’s ‘Bib. Dict.,’ art.
3.
Zoological.
This refers to the difficulty of accommodating all the
animals
that were then alive. So long of course as Raleigh’s computation of
eighty-nine
distinct species of animals was accepted as correct, the task
imposed
upon apologists was not of a very formidable character. But of
mammalia
alone there are now known to exist 1658 different species, thus
making
about 4000 and upwards of individuals (the clean beasts being
taken
in sevens or seven pairs) that required to be stalled in the ark; and
when
to these are added the pairs of the 6000 birds, 650 reptiles, and
550,000
insects that are now recognized by zoologists, the difficulty is seen
to
be immensely increased. An obvious remark, however, in connection
with
this is that there is a tendency among modern zoologists unnecessarily
to
multiply the number of species. But in truth a prior difficulty relates to
the
collection of these multitudinous creatures from their respective
habitats.
If the entire surface of the globe was submerged, then must the
fauna
belonging to the different continents have been conveyed across the
seas
and lands towards the ark, and reconducted thence again to their
appropriate
settlements in some way not described and impossible to
imagine;
whereas if the inundated region extended (through the subsidence
of
the earth’s crust) to the Mediterranean on the west, and the Indian
Ocean
on the south and east, it is apparent that neither would this difficulty
have
proved insuperable, nor would the collection of the animals have been
rendered
unnecessary, the devastated country being so wide that only by
preservation
of the species could it have been speedily replenished.
III. THE CONCLUSION, therefore, seems to be that, while Scripture does
not
imperatively forbid the idea of a partial Deluge, science appears to
require
it, and, without ascribing to all the scientific objections that are
urged
against the universality of the Flood that importance which their
authors
assign to them, it may be safely affirmed that there is considerable
reason
for believing that the mabbul (a technical term for a part of the world
structure, namely, the heavenly ocean. This heavenly sea, which is above the
firmament) which swept away the antediluvian men was confined to the region
20
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains
were
covered. Fifteen cubits upward - half
the height of the ark - did
the
waters
prevail. Literally, become strong; above the highest
mountains -
obviously,
and not above the ground simply; as, on the latter alternative,
it
could scarcely have been added, and the mountains were covered.
21
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of
cattle,
and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the
earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life,
of
all that was in the dry land, died. These two verses describe the effect
of
the Deluge in its destruction of all animal and human life. And
all flesh
died
that moved upon the earth. A
general expression for the animal creation,
of
which the particulars are then specified. Both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
beast,
and of every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth. Literally, in fowl,
and
in cattle, etc.. (compare v. 14). And every man. i.e. all the human race
(with
the exception of the inmates of the ark), which is further characterized
as
all
in whose nostrils was the breath of life. Literally, the breath of the spirit
of
lives, i.e. all mankind. A clear pointing
backwards to ch. 2:7, which leads
Davidson
to ascribe vs. 22-23 to the Jehovist, although Eichhorn, Tuch, Bleek,
Vaihinger,
and others leave them in the fundamental document, but which is
rather
to be regarded as a proof of the internal unity of the book. Of
all that
was
in the dry land, - a further
specification of the creatures that perished
in
the Flood, - died. It is obvious the construction of vs. 21-22 may be
differently
understood. Each verse may be taken as a separate sentence,
as
in the Authorized Version, or the second sentence may commence with
the
words, "And every man," as in the present exposition. Thus
far the
calamity
is simply viewed in its objective result, In the words which follow,
which
wear the aspect of an unnecessary repetition, it is regarded in its
relation
to the Divine threatening.
23
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face
of
the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the
fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth:
and
Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
And
every living substance was destroyed - literally, wiped
out (compare
ch.
6:7; 7:4) - which was upon the face of
the ground, both man, and -
literally, from, man unto - cattle,
and the creeping things, and the fowl
of the heaven; and they were destroyed - wiped, out by
washing
(compare
ch. 6:7) - from the earth: and Noah only remained alive,
and
they that were with him in the ark. The straits to which the
advocates
of the documentary hypothesis are sometimes reduced
are
remarkably exemplified by the fortunes of these vs. (21-23)
in
the attempt to assign them to their respective authors. Astruc
conjectures
that v. 21 was taken from what he calls monumentum B,
v.
22 from "monument" A, and v. 23 from monument C. Eichhorn
ascribes
vs. 21-22 to an Elohistic author, and v. 23 to a Jehovistic.
Ilgen
assigns vs. 21-22 to the first, and v. 23 to the second Elohist.
Bleek,
all three to the Elohist; and Davidson v. 21 to the Elohist,
vs.
22, 23 to the Jehovist. Amid such uncertainty it will be reasonable
to
cling to the belief that Moses wrote all the three verses, at least
till
the higher criticism knows its own mind.
24
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Additional
to the forty days of rain (Murphy), making 190 since the
commencement
of the Flood; or more probably inclusive of the
forty
days (Knobel, Lange, Bush, Wordsworth, 'Speaker's Comment.' Inglis),
which,
reckoning thirty days to the month, would bring the landing of
the
ark to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, as stated in ch.8:4.
I. A STRIKING TESTIMONY TO THE
DIVINE FAITHFULNESS.
1. In respect of threatenings
against the wicked. Whether the faith of Noah
ever betrayed symptoms of
wavering during the long interval of waiting for
the coming of the Flood it is
impossible to say; it can scarcely be doubted
that the men who for six score
years had seen the sun rise and set with
unwearied regularity, that had
watched the steady and continuous
movement of nature’s laws and
forces throughout the passing century,
oftentimes exclaimed, Where is the promise of His coming, for
all things
continue as they were from the
beginning?” (II Peter 3:4) And yet
God
kept His word, and fulfilled
His threatening. “The flood came, and took
them all away” (Matthew
24:39). Compare the Divine threatenings:
Ø
against Babylon (Jeremiah 51:33),
Ø
against Tyre (Isaiah 23:12),
Ø
against Jerusalem (II Kings
21:13; Jeremiah 26:18),
Ø
against the Jews (Deuteronomy
28:49).
Let impenitent sinners thereby
be reminded that
there is one more word of doom
which he will yet cause to come to pass
(Psalm 9:17; II Thessalonians
1:8; II Peter 3:10).
2. In respect of promises to the
saints. At the same time that He foretold to
Noah the destruction of his
licentious and violent contemporaries, He
distinctly promised that He
would establish His covenant with Noah, and
preserve both him and his amid
the general overthrow. And that too He
implemented in due time and to
the letter. Let the saints then learn to trust
the precious promises of God
(II Peter 1:4) which have been given to
enable them to escape the corruption that is in the world
through lust
τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς - taes en kosmo en epithumia phthoras -
that is in the world by lust - i.e. the destruction that is already
operating in the world and coming out of, as it is carried
in, the world’s
My
apologies for the blue tint above - I don’t know how I got it that
way and I don’t know how to remove it. CY 2024
II.
A SIGNAL
DISPLAY OF THE DIVINE POWER.
1.
In controlling His creatures.
(a) In collecting the animals, which He did, doubtless,
by making use of
their instincts which led them to apprehend the coming
danger. See Job
chapters 39-41, for God’s power over the animal creation.
(b)
In using the powers of
nature — breaking up the flood-gates of the
deep, and opening the windows of heaven. The phenomenon was
distinctly
miraculous; God made the world, causing it to stand together
out of
the water and through the water, the supernatural character
of the Deluge
should not occasion difficulty. Nor should the power of God
be overlooked
in the ordinary phenomena of nature. “Nature is but another
name for an
effect whose cause is God.” In the miracle God reveals what
He is always
silently and imperceptibly doing in the natural event.
Nothing happens in
the realm of providence without the concurrence of Almighty
power
(Amos
3:6; Matthew 10:29). Let God’s power
exhibited over
nature’s forces remind us of His ability to bring the
present terrestrial
economy
to an end as he has promised (II Peter 3:10-11).
(3)
In destroying the
lives of men. In every case life is a gift of God, and
can only be recalled by Him (Deuteronomy 32:39; II Samuel 2:6).
Yet,
unless when God interposes to destroy on a large scale, — e.g. by
famine, pestilence, war, accident, — His absolute and
unchallengeable
control over men’s lives (Psalm 31:15) is apt to be
forgotten. And with
what infinite ease he can depopulate the fairest and most
crowded
regions he has often shown; witness, in addition to the
Flood, the
(α) the cities of the plain (ch. 19:24-25),
(β) the first-born in Egypt (Exodus 12:29),
(γ) the army of Pharaoh (ibid.
ch. 14:27),
(δ the host of Sennacherib (II Kings 19:35).
2.
In punishing His enemies.
That appalling visitation is fitted to remind us
that God is able to execute vengeance:
(α) On the greatest sinners. Having cast down
the sinning angels, and
drowned the world of the ungodly, and burnt up the filthy Sodomites, it is
scarcely likely that any criminal will be beyond His power
to apprehend
and chastise (II Peter 2:9; Jude 1:15).
(b) In the severest forms. Having all the
resources of nature at His
command, — the gleaming thunderbolt, the sweeping flood, the
sleeping
volcano, the tempestuous hurricane, all the several and
combined
potencies of fire, air, earth, and water, — He can never
lack a weapon
wherewith to inflict upon His adversaries “the
tribulation and wrath,
anguish,” He
has decreed for their portion (Romans 2:8-9; II Thessalonians
1:8-9;
Revelation 20:15; 21:8).
(c)
It the most unexpected
times. Few things connected with the Noachic
Deluge
are more impressive and paralyzing to the mind than the
suddenness of the surprisal with
which it sprang upon the wicked
generation that for 120 years had been disbelieving its
reality and
ridiculing the warnings of the patriarch. “SO ALSO SHALL THE
(4)
With the most
inevitable certainty. Tempted by their long lives to
imagine that the penalty of death was canceled or had become
inoperative,
or at least would not really be put in force against them, these men of the
first age were recalled from their delusive reasonings.
The Deluge was
God’s
proclamation that the penalty was still in force against sinners,
God’s
explanation of what that penalty meant, God’s certification that
3.
In protecting his
people. The ark floating on the waters was a visible
sermon to all time coming of God’s ability to save them who
believe and
obey him. And, like the shelter
enjoyed by Noah, the salvation which God
(a)
gracious — flowing from the Divine mercy;
(b)
free — with no condition attached except that men shall, like Noah,
(c)
adequate — containing all that is required for their spiritual
necessities, as the ark held abundant provision for the
voyage;
(d)
secure — “ the Lord shut
him inn.”
So
says Christ, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish”
III.
A
SOLEMN ATTESTATION OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS.
1.
That the Divine
character was
holy. A deity who is Himself
subject to
imperfection is inconceivable. But sinful men are prone to
forget that God
is of purer eyes than to look upon iniquity. (Habakkuk 1:13) In this last
age of the world God has discovered that to men by sending
forth an image
or likeness of Himself in the person of His Son, who was
holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners (compare
John 14:9). In the first age
He
announced the
same great truth by the water-flood.
2.
That the Divine law
was holy. That, besides being Himself personally
pure, He requires sinless obedience at the hands of His
creatures, the
Almighty
has in every separate era or epoch of human history taken pains
(a) in Edenic times by the forbidden tree;
(b) in antediluvian by
the Deluge (Great Flood);
(c) in Mosaic by
Mount Sinai; and
(d) in Christian by
the cross of Calvary.
3.
That the Divine government was
holy. That from the first the world has
been governed in the interests of holiness is unmistakably a
doctrine of
scripture. If any in Noah’s time believed either that God was
indifferent
to righteousness,
or that it was possible for “the throne of iniquity to have
fellowship with Him” they must have been terribly
undeceived when the
crack of doom was heard above their heads. So
will it be when the
righteous Judge reveals Himself a second time in flaming
fire to render unto
every man according to his deeds. (II Thessalonians 2:8)
1.
“It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).
2.
“There
is nothing too hard for the Lord” (ch. 18:14).
3.
“It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
The parable of the ten virgins speaks of a final separation.
“The door was shut.” (Matthew 25:10) ‘There our thoughts are
turned to those without; here, to those within. The time was come
when the choice must
be made. “Come thou and all thy
house into the ark.” There is a broad and narrow way.
(ibid. ch. 7:13-14) The confinement of the ark or the freedom
of home; and, in
view of the flood, the frail vessel or the
mountains. We can rust in Christ or trust in self (compare
Romans 10:3). Noah chose the way of faith. God shut him in
(compare Isaiah 26:3). He knew he was safe. The world saw
no good in it. The pause of seven days (v. 10) illustrates the
present state. Believers
rejoicing in their safety; the world
I. CHRIST OFFERS SAFETY TO ALL. The ark was prepared that all
might be saved. The
condemnation was because they did not care (John
3:19). There was room and welcome for all who would come (compare
Luke 14:22). Noah
did not preach impossible things. When
destroyed Rahab was saved. When
refuge in Christ (Romans 3:22).
II. CHRIST IS A REFUGE FROM THE CONVICTION OF SIN. How
many are living
without serious concern. Not rejecting the gospel; they
hear it, and approve,
and think that all is well. Like
the law.” (Romans 7:9) God’s commandments were not understood;
His holiness was not known. Let such a one be led to see how God’s law
reaches to the springs of life and feeling, and to feel the working of the
“law of sin” in his members; then what a
flood. “Who will show us any
good?” (Psalm 4:6) Good deeds cannot give peace. Worldly good is
as wormwood. Conscience repeats, He has been knocking, and I have
not opened (Proverbs 1:26). Yet, hark! His voice again: “Come unto me.”
(Matthew
11:28) It is not too late. Even now, if
thou wilt, the Lord
III. THE SAFETY OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE, whom God shuts in.
Who shall lay anything to their charge? Who shall condemn? Who shall
separate? (Romans 8:33-35).
The flood is without. Noah is weak and
helpless as the world. His safety is
God’s refuge. The Christian is
surrounded by evil
influences, messengers of Satan. Temptations to
worldliness or to spiritual
pride; cares and anxieties hindering prayer;
suggestions of unbelief, and
hard thoughts of God; the fainting of nature
because so little progress made. But IN CHRIST THERE IS SAFETY!
Coming to Him daily as we are; with weak faith, with many perplexities,
with the marks of many
falls. His word is, “I will never leave
thee nor
forsake thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews
13:5) In the
trials of life “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
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