-
†. Gen 7:1 . .Yhvh then said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and your
whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
Noah is sometimes criticized for not utilizing more of the ark's cargo space
To take humans aboard instead of animals. But it wasn't for Noah to say.
Passage aboard the ark was by invitation only; and to qualify for an
invitation, the passengers had to be righteous. Well; only Noah was
righteous, so he alone was invited to come aboard with his family.
The antediluvians weren't left on their own to figure out what is righteous
and what is not righteous. According to 2Pet 2:5, Noah was a preacher of
righteousness. So then, the people who died in the Flood had no one to
blame for missing the boat but themselves. Had they listened to Noah's
preaching and changed their ways; the Flood wouldn't have been necessary
to begin with.
†. Gen 7:2-3 . . Of every clean animal you shall take seven pairs,
males and their mates, and of every animal that is not clean, two, a
male and its mate; of the birds of the sky also, seven pairs, male and
female, to keep seed alive upon all the earth.
Official specifications for identifying clean, and unclean animals, are located
at Lev 11:1-46, and Deut 14:3-20. Those specs were written many, many
centuries after Noah; so precisely which animals he regarded as clean in his
day, and which not clean is impossible to tell. But I think we can safely
assume that "clean" animals were those designated for ceremonial purposes
rather than for diet since God had not yet instructed man to begin eating
meat.
The specific species that Noah took aboard were limited to the ones that God
said in 6:20 "shall come to you". Any, and all, species that failed to come to
Noah, went extinct in the Flood. He didn't go out and hunt them down, nor
take them by force against their will. No; they had to show up on their own,
or be left behind; and I have a sneaking suspicion that many were.
†. Gen 7:4 . . For in seven days' time I will make it rain upon the
earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth
all existence that I created.
The expression "all existence" is from yequwm (yek-oom') which means:
standing (extant) i.e. a living thing. Yequwm appears in only three verses of
the entire Old Testament. Two of them are here in chapter 7, and the other
one is in Deut 11:6.
God's prediction didn't include vegetation; because when the Flood ended, at
least one olive tree was still standing. So "all existence" only meant
creatures; in particular those that live on land and need air to survive; like
birds, bugs, and beasts; whether subterranean or on the surface. (Gen 7:21
23)
The seven-day deadline hung over the world's head like a sword of
Damocles; and the Flood was now imminent. But a final warning was issued
probably just in case somebody might change their mind about going along
with Noah. Compare this moment of silence to the one at Rev 8:1 just prior
to sounding the seven trumpets.
†. Gen 7:5 . . And Noah did just as the Lord commanded him.
Not many people can say, with all honesty and a good conscience, that they
do "just as" the Lord commands. It is a very unusual person who is careful
to comply with God's will to the letter.
†. Gen 7:6a . . Noah was six hundred years old
Years of life in Noah's day were expressed in what's known as prophetic
years; which consist of twelve equal months of thirty days each. So in
astronomical time; Noah was but 591.8 years old.
He died at 950. So the Flood came at roughly 63 percent of the way through
his life. According to the US Department of Health, an average American
born in 2013 can expect to live to about age 78. Using that as a point of
reference, Noah would have been roughly the equivalent of 49 years old
when the Flood started.
†. Gen 7:6b . . when the Flood came, waters upon the earth.
The word for Flood is from mabbuwl (mab-bool') which means: a deluge.
There's another word for "flood" in the Old Testament, but the Hebrew is
different. Mabbuwl stands out as uniquely indicative of this one particular
event.
Mabbuwl is used twelve times in Genesis regarding Noah's worldwide
cataclysm. The only other place in the entire Old Testament where that word
is used again is Ps 29:10; and even there it relates to Noah.
†. Gen 7:7-9 . . Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives,
went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood. Of the clean
animals, of the animals that are not clean, of the birds, and of
everything that creeps on the ground, two of each, male and female,
came to Noah into the ark, as God had commanded Noah.
Again it's mentioned that the animals came to Noah rather than he and his
sons going on safari to get them.
It was right about there that I would have become very nervous had I lived
next door to the Noahs. Up till then, he probably seemed like an ordinary
crack pot-- a nice enough guy, but kind of kooky. I mean: who builds a
great big barge on dry land? But when all those birds and animals showed
up out at his place, and started boarding Noah's Folly all by themselves, in
neither chaos nor confusion, and without Noah and his boys having to herd
them in-- that was definitely cause for alarm.
It's true that wildlife at that time was not yet afraid of humans; and it was
probably a very common sight to see them mingling with people all over the
place-- maybe even assisting Noah to construct the ark --but not on such a
scale as this. People had to wonder why all those bugs, and beasties, and
birdies were migrating out there to Noah's spread. What's that all about? Did
they maybe think to themselves that old fool might know something after
all?
Well; maybe they did; but according to Jesus they didn't really take Noah
seriously but went about the business of their daily lives as usual. (Matt
24:38-39)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 7:1 . .Yhvh then said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and your
whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
Noah is sometimes criticized for not utilizing more of the ark's cargo space
To take humans aboard instead of animals. But it wasn't for Noah to say.
Passage aboard the ark was by invitation only; and to qualify for an
invitation, the passengers had to be righteous. Well; only Noah was
righteous, so he alone was invited to come aboard with his family.
The antediluvians weren't left on their own to figure out what is righteous
and what is not righteous. According to 2Pet 2:5, Noah was a preacher of
righteousness. So then, the people who died in the Flood had no one to
blame for missing the boat but themselves. Had they listened to Noah's
preaching and changed their ways; the Flood wouldn't have been necessary
to begin with.
†. Gen 7:2-3 . . Of every clean animal you shall take seven pairs,
males and their mates, and of every animal that is not clean, two, a
male and its mate; of the birds of the sky also, seven pairs, male and
female, to keep seed alive upon all the earth.
Official specifications for identifying clean, and unclean animals, are located
at Lev 11:1-46, and Deut 14:3-20. Those specs were written many, many
centuries after Noah; so precisely which animals he regarded as clean in his
day, and which not clean is impossible to tell. But I think we can safely
assume that "clean" animals were those designated for ceremonial purposes
rather than for diet since God had not yet instructed man to begin eating
meat.
The specific species that Noah took aboard were limited to the ones that God
said in 6:20 "shall come to you". Any, and all, species that failed to come to
Noah, went extinct in the Flood. He didn't go out and hunt them down, nor
take them by force against their will. No; they had to show up on their own,
or be left behind; and I have a sneaking suspicion that many were.
†. Gen 7:4 . . For in seven days' time I will make it rain upon the
earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth
all existence that I created.
The expression "all existence" is from yequwm (yek-oom') which means:
standing (extant) i.e. a living thing. Yequwm appears in only three verses of
the entire Old Testament. Two of them are here in chapter 7, and the other
one is in Deut 11:6.
God's prediction didn't include vegetation; because when the Flood ended, at
least one olive tree was still standing. So "all existence" only meant
creatures; in particular those that live on land and need air to survive; like
birds, bugs, and beasts; whether subterranean or on the surface. (Gen 7:21
23)
The seven-day deadline hung over the world's head like a sword of
Damocles; and the Flood was now imminent. But a final warning was issued
probably just in case somebody might change their mind about going along
with Noah. Compare this moment of silence to the one at Rev 8:1 just prior
to sounding the seven trumpets.
†. Gen 7:5 . . And Noah did just as the Lord commanded him.
Not many people can say, with all honesty and a good conscience, that they
do "just as" the Lord commands. It is a very unusual person who is careful
to comply with God's will to the letter.
†. Gen 7:6a . . Noah was six hundred years old
Years of life in Noah's day were expressed in what's known as prophetic
years; which consist of twelve equal months of thirty days each. So in
astronomical time; Noah was but 591.8 years old.
He died at 950. So the Flood came at roughly 63 percent of the way through
his life. According to the US Department of Health, an average American
born in 2013 can expect to live to about age 78. Using that as a point of
reference, Noah would have been roughly the equivalent of 49 years old
when the Flood started.
†. Gen 7:6b . . when the Flood came, waters upon the earth.
The word for Flood is from mabbuwl (mab-bool') which means: a deluge.
There's another word for "flood" in the Old Testament, but the Hebrew is
different. Mabbuwl stands out as uniquely indicative of this one particular
event.
Mabbuwl is used twelve times in Genesis regarding Noah's worldwide
cataclysm. The only other place in the entire Old Testament where that word
is used again is Ps 29:10; and even there it relates to Noah.
†. Gen 7:7-9 . . Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives,
went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood. Of the clean
animals, of the animals that are not clean, of the birds, and of
everything that creeps on the ground, two of each, male and female,
came to Noah into the ark, as God had commanded Noah.
Again it's mentioned that the animals came to Noah rather than he and his
sons going on safari to get them.
It was right about there that I would have become very nervous had I lived
next door to the Noahs. Up till then, he probably seemed like an ordinary
crack pot-- a nice enough guy, but kind of kooky. I mean: who builds a
great big barge on dry land? But when all those birds and animals showed
up out at his place, and started boarding Noah's Folly all by themselves, in
neither chaos nor confusion, and without Noah and his boys having to herd
them in-- that was definitely cause for alarm.
It's true that wildlife at that time was not yet afraid of humans; and it was
probably a very common sight to see them mingling with people all over the
place-- maybe even assisting Noah to construct the ark --but not on such a
scale as this. People had to wonder why all those bugs, and beasties, and
birdies were migrating out there to Noah's spread. What's that all about? Did
they maybe think to themselves that old fool might know something after
all?
Well; maybe they did; but according to Jesus they didn't really take Noah
seriously but went about the business of their daily lives as usual. (Matt
24:38-39)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=