In the last devotion, we talked about Noah getting the call to enter the ark. This devotional reading finishes up that conversation by God filling Noah in a little more about His plan.
Nuggets
- The other purpose of building the ark, besides saving the people, was to save the animals.
- God provided Noah and his family with advanced notice of when the rain was going to start.
- I wonder how long it took the wicked to admit that Noah wasn’t a fool.
- God intended to totally annihilate the population – except for those riding in the ark.
- Noah had come this far; he wasn’t going to start being disobedient then.
As I start out writing this, I am not sure how things are going to go. I found, reading ahead, that it seems like verses are repeated, maybe adding little nuggets at a time.
So, I am not going to go in a straight verse order. I am going to group the like verses together.
But that means this will probably get long, so bear with me.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Creating Everything theme, click the button below.
Devotions in the Creation’s Do-Over series
Taking Pairs of Animals
“Take with you seven pairs — male and female — of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood” (Gen. 7: 2-3 NLT)
“With them were all the various kinds of animals — those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not — along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah” (Gen. 7: 8-9 NLT)
“With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal — domestic and wild, large and small — along with birds of every kind. Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah …” (Gen. 7: 14-16 NLT)
The other purpose of building the ark, besides saving the people, was to save the animals.
God didn’t want to just save the people to repopulate the earth. He wanted to save the animals, too.
We’ve already briefly touched on the other occupants in the ark. “Bring a pair of every kind of animal — a male and a female — into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive” (Gen. 6: 19-20 NLT).
We mentioned in passing that verse 19 talks about a pair – singular – where verse 20 talks about pairs – plural.
Usually, I think, in our minds — and definitely in pictures and songs — we think about a two-by-two line patiently waiting to get into the ark. And I think that is significant.
Just as God was planning Noah and his family repopulating the earth through the family unit, He was planning the same thing through the animals. That connection was important to Him. He puts a lot of emphasis on us bring the family of God.
But God also has Noah bring seven pairs of a lot of animals. Seven is also a significant number. It means completion. On the seventh day of creation God rested.
There were two specific reason God wanted more of these animals. The first was they were to provide food for the humans.
We remember God told Noah to pack enough food for the float trip. “And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals” (Gen. 6: 21 NLT).
I keep trying to think what kind of food that might have been. Probably there were some vegetables. God would have made sure they stayed fresh (unlike my refrigerator lately where they have gone to die).
Mrs. Noah probably included some spices. They didn’t want week after week of bland food.
But just as God did later in the wilderness, God provided the meat. “Then Moses added, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us’” (Ex. 16: 8 NLT).
God provided animals for them to eat. Yeah, they’d have had to build a kitchen, so I would think they would also build a butcher room.
The second reason seven pairs were needed was because these were the animals for sacrifice to God.
Did they perform sacrifices on ark? It doesn’t say one way or the other. We know they did prior to entry into the ark, and they would once they got off.
But think about it. Noah didn’t have to go round up the animals. They came to him.
What did all the scoffers think when they came walking up? Maybe some of these they had never seen before. (God only knows how long some of them had to travel to get there.)
Gilfillan reminded us of the parade of animals before Adam to receive a name (Gen. 2: 19-20). This spectacle would rival that.
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That doesn’t take into consideration the birds. There would be seven pairs of every species — all the way from cardinals to turkey vultures — winging its way to do some flyovers before they settled into their room.
And think of the creepy-crawly things. Tarantulas, termites, slugs, bedbugs — yeah probably some that would have asked God to leave them off this trip.
When I was on Facebook tonight, there was an advertisement for a live-action play called Noah. I actually had the sound on for once and heard I believe the stage manager say, “Cue the goats. Cue the pigs. Cue the skunks.”
That would have been God calling the animal actors to the stage on the ark. Only He could get the wild animals there in a timely, safe fashion.
Did the wicked have such hardened hearts even that wouldn’t have convinced them what God said was going to happen? Did their hearts feel God trying to chip at the ice but just didn’t decide to believe?
The Game Plan Revealed
“Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created” (Gen. 7: 4 NLT)
Seven Day Forecast
God provided Noah and his family with advanced notice of when the rain was going to start.
Talk about vindication for Noah! For 120 years, others had been laughing at him for building a boat nowhere close to water.
But everyone — Noah included — was going to find out what rain was. But God gave them a seven-day reprieve before He started the rain.
I like what Fuller had to say about that. He wrote, “He who in well-doing commits himself into the hands of a faithful Creator, needs not fear being overtaken by surprise. What have we to fear, when He whom we serve hath the keys of hell and of death?”
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I know. At times, it feels like God hits us out of the blue with something. But regardless of the amount — or lack — of warning, we should be content in what Go has for us.
God knew the outcome, but He was still offering the wicked mercy.
It probably took longer than the seven days that Noah and family were given to get themselves and the animals situated for the wicked to decide they had chosen wrong. The door wasn’t shut yet, so if any of the wicked would have repented, they may have gotten in.
But part of me doubts that.
What we do know is that God gave Noah time to get things situated within the ark before the rocking started. The eight people had a lot of work to get done to get ready for launch.
Rain for Forty Days and Forty Nights
I wonder how long it took the wicked to admit that Noah wasn’t a fool.
Did they see the error of their ways when Noah and his family entered the ark? No, what was really different about that? Nothing.
Did it finally dawn on them when the rain started to fall? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how hard it rained.
They wouldn’t have been afraid of puddles. They may not have been too concerned about knee deep.
Adults probably would have started getting alarmed when it got waist high. But then small children would have been washed away by then.
Devastation Voiced
God intended to totally annihilate the population – except for those riding in the ark.
God had told Noah before what He was going to do and the extent to which it would go. “So God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!’” (Gen. 6: 13 NLT).
I guess it just hit me this time how much God was to the point this time. “… until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created” (Gen. 7: 4 NLT).
Maybe it had to more with last time was a one-day type notification. This was was an the-time-has-come type notification.
That makes it way more important.
- It came when it was predicted to come (after the death of Methuselah).
- It came the way it was predicted – a whole lot of rain.
- The extent of the result (which we will get to) that was predicted happened (every breathing thing annihilated).
Talk about survivor guilt.
Noah Still Obedient
“So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him. Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. He went on board the boat to escape the flood — he and his wife and his sons and their wives” (Gen. 7: 5-7 NLT)
Noah had come this far; he wasn’t going to start being disobedient then.
If we look back to Genesis 5, the menfolk listed generally lasted around 900 years. That would mean Noah would have lived two-thirds of his life.
Noah didn’t bring up that he was pushing retirement age. He — again like it said in Genesis 6: 22 — did what God commanded him to do.
There had been 120 years of probably back breaking labor. On top of that would have been 120 years of mocking and disdain.
No more. Even if it wasn’t starting to cloud up, no one could have — should have — discounted the animals.
And here was Noah — still in the business of obeying.
Making the Connections
I love what Gray said. He wrote, “The world comes to look, and wonder, and laugh. Science and selfishness have furnished their arguments, and begin to launch them. On a huge platform of timber stands the ark.”
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One thing they didn’t acknowledge until it was too late — if even then — that God can and will do the impossible.
How Do We Apply This?
- Pay attention to God’s warnings and invitations.
- Work out our salvation (Phil. 2: 10) by following the Sanctification Road.
- Know where our refuge is — in the arms of Jesus.
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Father God. You make us so many wonderful promises. We are humbled when those promises comes to fruition. Thank You for preserving the story of Noah so that we can see Your provision for us. Amen.
What do you think?
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