It may seem like God's justice is prevailing, but this story showcases His mercy.
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:
Genesis 7 Summary
v1-4 - God orders Noah into the ark, along with pairs of every kind of creature. All that remain outside of the ark, God "will blot out from the face of the ground (v4)."
v5-16 - Noah obeyed God.
This chapter may seem repetitive, but reading it in the outlined format will help you see that even though this text is historical narrative, it has a poetic rhythm to it.
v17-24 - This section can be summarized by the phrase that's repeated four times in it: The water prevailed.
Dig Deeper
This passage is often properly referred to as The Flood, but we can also think of it as The Uncreation.
In the creation:
God separated and restrained the water from the sky and land.
In the uncreation:
God allowed the water to prevail and rise up over everything.
In the creation:
God created every creature according to its kind.
In the uncreation:
All flesh died that moved upon the earth, poetically listed according to its kind.
In the creation:
God put the breath of life into every creature, and put His own breath into man.
In the uncreation:
All that had breath died.
Yet even as God's justice and wrath prevailed, so does His mercy. God's breath remained in Noah and his family, and life continued for all "who were with him in the ark."
Think about the two main points that this tragic story teaches:
God hates sin so much that He was willing to destroy that which He had created;
The ark points us to Christ.
Not even these prevailing flood waters could cleanse the earth of sin, and ultimately God's justice will demand His breath back from all who persist in their sin.
But all those who are in Christ will be saved, just like those in the ark were saved. The water will not prevail, rather all things will submit to Christ.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father who is both merciful and just;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will depend on Christ in the way that Noah depended on the ark;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
