Genesis Chapter 7
God Destroys the World with a Flood
A. The final preparations of Noah for the flood
(Genesis 7:1)
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”
God’s invitation to Noah reveals both grace and intimacy. The Lord said, “Come into the ark,” implying that His presence was already there. The command was not for Noah to go somewhere apart from God, but to come into a place where God Himself dwelt. The ark was not only a vessel of preservation but also a sanctuary of divine fellowship. This reflects the same heart of God seen throughout Scripture, where His people are invited into His presence for safety and communion.
Charles Spurgeon observed that the Lord did not say, “Go into the ark,” but “Come,” signifying that God was within the ark, ready to receive Noah and his household. This subtle distinction shows that divine deliverance is always accompanied by the presence of God. Just as the ark provided refuge from judgment, so Christ offers refuge to all who will “come” to Him. As the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
The Lord’s declaration, “because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation,” underscores Noah’s faith and obedience. Noah’s righteousness was not sinless perfection but demonstrated faith in action. As Genesis 6:9 records, “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” His obedience in building the ark and preparing for the flood revealed genuine trust in God’s word. Hebrews 11:7 explains, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
Noah’s righteousness stood in contrast to the corruption of his generation. When the rest of humanity pursued violence, wickedness, and self-destruction, Noah stood as a solitary light of faithfulness. His life illustrates that righteousness before God is always proven by obedience, not by mere belief. Noah believed God’s warning and acted upon it, which is the essence of saving faith.
(Genesis 7:2–9)
“You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
God gave Noah detailed instructions concerning the animals. The clean animals, used later for sacrifice and food, were taken in sevens, while the unclean were taken in pairs. This early distinction between clean and unclean animals predated the Law of Moses and showed God’s foreknowledge of future worship practices. The purpose of this arrangement was preservation—“to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.”
God revealed to Noah that judgment would begin in seven days and last for forty days and forty nights. The number forty often symbolizes a period of testing or judgment in Scripture, as seen later with Israel’s forty years in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33–34) and Jesus’ forty days of fasting (Matthew 4:2). This divine countdown showed both mercy and certainty: mercy, because mankind had one final week to repent; certainty, because judgment would indeed come at the appointed time.
Noah’s obedience was immediate and total: “And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.” There was no debate, hesitation, or modification. True obedience is prompt, complete, and done by faith. Noah acted even though rain had never yet fallen upon the earth (Genesis 2:5–6). His faith was therefore not based on sight or human experience but upon the Word of God alone.
The passage also records Noah’s age—six hundred years—when the floodwaters came upon the earth. His longevity reflects the pre-Flood environment, where lifespans were extended due to different atmospheric and genetic conditions. More importantly, it highlights that Noah’s faithfulness spanned centuries of consistent obedience.
The text further emphasizes that “two by two they went into the ark to Noah.” This shows divine sovereignty at work in creation. God Himself guided the animals to the ark through instinct or supernatural prompting. As Genesis 6:20 declared earlier, “Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.” Noah did not have to capture or corral them; God drew them by His own power.
Charles Spurgeon remarked, “This largest and most complete menagerie that was ever gathered together was not collected by human skill; divine power alone could have accomplished such a task as that.” God controls His creation effortlessly, and even the animal kingdom obeys His command. This is in contrast to humanity, which often resists His will. As Isaiah 1:3 declares, “The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” Creation obeys instinctively, yet man, who bears God’s image, often rebels.
Noah’s household entered the ark by faith, not knowing what awaited them, but trusting God’s promise of deliverance. The ark became the dividing line between life and death, salvation and judgment. It prefigures Christ, who invites all to come to Him for refuge from the coming wrath of God.
God Destroys the World with a Flood
B. God brings the waters upon the earth
(Genesis 7:10–12)
And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
The text opens with a striking phrase: “after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.” Noah, his family, and the animals were already sealed inside the ark, waiting for the event that God had foretold. This seven-day period tested Noah’s faith and patience. For over a century, he had labored in obedience, building the ark and warning the world of coming judgment. Yet after all that time, God required him to wait one final week in silence. This pause before the flood was not only a test of obedience but also a final act of divine mercy. Even at the last moment, God allowed a full seven days for mankind to repent before the rain began.
It is significant that Noah and his family had never seen rain before this event. Genesis 2:5–6 explains, “For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” Therefore, Noah’s faith rested entirely on God’s Word, not on any prior human experience. Hebrews 11:7 reminds us, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household.” Faith, by definition, believes before seeing, and Noah’s waiting week magnified that faith.
The phrase “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up” describes massive geological upheaval. This was not merely rainfall but a global catastrophe. The subterranean waters of the earth erupted violently, likely accompanied by massive tectonic shifts and volcanic activity. Psalm 104:6–8 alludes to this when it says, “You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them.” The breaking up of the fountains of the deep suggests the bursting of underground reservoirs, causing the earth’s surface to crack, shift, and convulse.
Meanwhile, “the windows of heaven were opened.” This refers to the collapse of the vapor canopy that Genesis 1:7 described: “Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.” From creation until the flood, this canopy may have created a greenhouse-like environment, moderating temperatures and extending human life. When God opened the windows of heaven, those upper waters descended to the earth in torrential rain, uniting with the fountains of the deep below to submerge the entire planet.
The rainfall lasted “forty days and forty nights.” In Scripture, the number forty often signifies testing, judgment, and preparation for new beginnings. Moses spent forty days and nights on Mount Sinai in the presence of God (Exodus 24:18; Deuteronomy 9:25). The spies of Israel explored Canaan for forty days (Numbers 13:25). Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years as a consequence of unbelief (Numbers 14:33; 32:13). Elijah journeyed forty days to Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19:8). The Lord Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness as He was tempted by Satan (Mark 1:13). Each of these examples points to a time of divine testing that ultimately leads to renewal. The flood’s forty days of rain thus represent both judgment and the cleansing of the earth in preparation for a new world.
(Genesis 7:13–16)
On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.
The expression “on the very same day” emphasizes the divine precision of God’s timing. The flood did not come prematurely nor was it delayed. Everything unfolded according to God’s perfect plan. Noah and his family—eight souls in total—entered the ark along with representatives of every land animal and bird. This act of entering symbolized faith and obedience, as well as separation from the doomed world. As 2 Peter 2:5 states, “[God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.”
The statement “went in as God had commanded him” underscores that Noah fulfilled every instruction exactly as the Lord had said. His obedience was meticulous, showing that genuine faith expresses itself through complete submission to God’s revealed Word. Every creature entered according to divine order, “two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.” This phrase connects back to Genesis 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The breath of life belongs to God, and here He determines who will be preserved through judgment.
The solemn words “and the LORD shut him in” convey deep theological truth. God Himself sealed the ark. Noah did not close the door on the world; God did. This signifies divine sovereignty over salvation and judgment. Just as Noah’s family was safe only because the Lord sealed them inside, believers today are secure because God Himself seals them by His Spirit. Ephesians 1:13 declares, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
This also illustrates the finality of God’s judgment. The door of the ark remained open until the last possible moment, showing God’s patience. But once it closed, there were no second chances. The opportunity for repentance had passed. Jesus echoed this same truth in Revelation 3:7, speaking of Himself: “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, ‘He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.’” When God opens a door, no one can close it; when He closes it, no one can open it again.
Charles Spurgeon captured the gravity of this moment, saying, “When the one hundred and twenty years were over, and God’s Spirit would no longer strive with men, there stood the great ark with its vast door wide open, and still Noah continued to preach and to declare that all who would pass within that open portal into the ark of safety should be preserved from the coming destruction. Outside that door death would reign universally, but all would be peace within.” The ark thus became both the symbol of salvation for those within and condemnation for those without.
Just as the ark had one door, salvation today is found only through one way—Jesus Christ. As He declared in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Those who refuse God’s invitation will one day find the door shut, but all who enter now through faith in Christ will be eternally secure.
B. Noah in the Ark During the Flood
(Genesis 7:17–23)
Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
The narrative now moves from the preparation to the fulfillment of God’s warning: judgment had come. The floodwaters began to rise, lifting the ark and covering the face of the earth. Scripture emphasizes the extent of the deluge with repetition: “the waters increased,” “the waters prevailed,” and “the waters prevailed exceedingly.” The language leaves no doubt that this was a global event. The ark was lifted and “moved about on the surface of the waters,” not anchored or confined to a local region, but floating freely over a world entirely submerged.
The text records that “all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered” and that “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.” A cubit being roughly eighteen inches, this means that the water stood more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. Such a description cannot fit a local flood; it describes a cataclysmic, planet-wide event. The completeness of destruction affirms this further: “all flesh died that moved on the earth… both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air.” Every land creature that breathed air perished.
The universal language of this passage eliminates the possibility of a regional flood. If the flood had been confined to a single area, the command to build an ark would have been unnecessary. Noah and his family could have simply migrated. Moreover, God’s covenant promise later in Genesis 9:11 would be rendered meaningless if the flood were only local, for the Lord said, “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Yet local floods have occurred countless times since Noah’s day. Therefore, the only interpretation consistent with God’s Word is that this was a global deluge.
Psalm 104:5–9 reflects on this event, declaring, “You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth.” The psalmist recognized the flood as a literal covering of the entire planet.
Even outside of Scripture, the memory of a global flood is preserved in ancient traditions around the world. Nearly every major culture retains some record of such a catastrophe. The Babylonians, through the Epic of Gilgamesh, preserve an account strikingly similar to Genesis, though corrupted by pagan mythology. Among more than two hundred flood legends worldwide, the similarities are unmistakable. Eighty-eight percent describe a chosen or favored family. Seventy percent involve survival by means of a large boat or vessel. Ninety-five percent name a flood as the cause of destruction. Sixty-six percent identify human wickedness as the reason for divine judgment. Sixty-seven percent describe the saving of animals. Fifty-seven percent mention that the survivors came to rest upon a mountain. Many also include details such as sending out birds, a rainbow, and specifically, eight survivors.
These consistent traditions testify to a shared origin—the historical event recorded in Genesis. Since all humanity descends from Noah’s sons, it is natural that this story would be preserved in varying forms among the nations. Spurgeon remarked wisely, “If Moses had meant to describe a partial deluge upon only a small part of the earth, he used very misleading language; but if he meant to teach that the deluge was universal, he used the very words which we might have expected him to use.”
The magnitude of this judgment is staggering. It demonstrates both the holiness and the faithfulness of God. Those who mocked Noah’s warnings for over a century discovered too late that God’s Word never fails. The flood vindicated His justice and proved that He fulfills every promise.
The passage also specifies that “all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life… died.” This clarifies that marine life did not perish in the flood. The judgment was upon air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures. During the 1925 Scopes Trial, Clarence Darrow attempted to ridicule William Jennings Bryan by asking how fish could drown in the flood. Had Bryan known this verse more clearly, he could have replied that Scripture itself makes the distinction. God’s Word is exact—it records that only creatures with “the breath of life” in their nostrils perished, that is, all life on land.
(Genesis 7:24)
And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
The floodwaters reached their peak and remained without receding for one hundred and fifty days—five full months. During this time, the entire world was submerged under the judgment of God, and only those within the ark remained alive. It is likely that during this extended period, God caused many of the animals to enter a state of hibernation. This divine provision would have minimized the need for food, space, and human care. God, who instilled hibernation instincts in countless species, could easily impart a unique, temporary adaptation for this extraordinary circumstance.
Even as the world outside perished, those within the ark were completely secure. The ark, built according to God’s design, proved sufficient. The same God who sealed the door preserved those inside. This serves as a powerful picture of salvation in Christ: those who are “in Him” are safe from judgment. Romans 8:1 affirms, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Charles Spurgeon drew a profound parallel: “Noah underwent burial to all the old things that he might come out into a new world, and even so we die in Christ that we may live with Him.” The ark represented death to the old world of sin and corruption but life in the new creation that would emerge after the floodwaters receded.
Other Flood Traditions
Flood accounts are found in nearly every culture across the globe, supporting the biblical claim of a worldwide deluge rather than a local one. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Hindus, and Chinese, along with far-removed peoples like the Polynesians, Mexicans, Peruvians, American Indians, Greenlanders, Druids, and others, all retained memories of a catastrophic flood. The global spread of these traditions affirms that the story of Noah’s Flood was not an isolated event within Mesopotamia but a universally remembered judgment upon mankind.
Universal or Local Flood?
Scripture leaves no room for a local flood interpretation. Genesis 7:4 says, “For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” Likewise, Genesis 7:23 declares, “So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” This indicates that mankind and animal life had already spread well beyond the Mesopotamian plain by Noah’s time.
Furthermore, Genesis 7:19 records, “And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.” The text explicitly states that “all the high mountains under the entire heaven were covered” to a depth of fifteen cubits, or about twenty-three feet. A local flood could never reach such global proportions.
Additionally, Genesis 8:4 says, “Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.” The range of Ararat reaches heights exceeding 16,000 feet. The ark coming to rest on these mountains, not near them, demands a global event.
Finally, God’s covenant promise after the flood confirms its universality. Genesis 9:11 declares, “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Likewise, Genesis 9:15 says, “And I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” Since local floods have repeatedly occurred throughout history, God’s promise could only refer to a universal flood that would never again destroy all life on earth.
Evidence from Nature: Fossils and Geological Mysteries
The geological and fossil record provides remarkable evidence supporting a global catastrophe. Fossils, by their very nature, speak of sudden burial under pressure, not slow decay. If an animal dies under ordinary conditions, it decomposes. Fossilization requires rapid burial and compression—precisely what one would expect during a cataclysmic flood.
• Dinosaurs appear to have died suddenly and been buried in mud layers that hardened quickly. Their remains often display violent death poses, indicating suffocation or drowning.
• Woolly mammoths discovered in Alaska and Siberia were found quick-frozen with tropical vegetation in their mouths, suggesting a sudden and massive environmental upheaval.
• Admiral Richard Byrd discovered petrified forests within 100 miles of the South Pole, evidence of a once-lush environment that was rapidly destroyed.
• Marine fossils have been found at high elevations, including mountain ranges far above sea level, while land animals have been discovered fossilized deep below sea level. These findings are consistent with massive global flooding and tectonic shifts.
• Coal and oil deposits, even in polar regions like Antarctica, reveal vast vegetation rapidly buried and compressed under intense pressure.
Fossils are silent witnesses of death and disaster. They could not have formed in a stable, uniform world but in one overwhelmed by catastrophe. Evolutionary dating of fossils depends on circular reasoning, but the biblical flood provides a straightforward explanation: a single, global, rapid burial event during Noah’s day.
The Canopy Theory
One explanation often discussed among conservative creation scientists is the Canopy Theory. According to this view, a vast water vapor canopy once surrounded the earth, forming a protective atmospheric shield that filtered harmful cosmic radiation. This would explain the extended lifespans before the flood and the uniform, temperate climate indicated by fossil evidence of tropical plants in polar regions.
When God judged the earth, Genesis 7:11 records, “On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” The canopy collapsed, releasing torrential rain that, combined with subterranean waters, overwhelmed the earth. Scientists like Henry Morris and John C. Whitcomb (The Genesis Record, 1961) observed that the flood was not merely a heavy rainfall but a geological upheaval on a global scale. The catastrophic results included continental drift, tectonic fracture, and the formation of new mountain ranges.
The Hydroplate Theory
An alternative explanation, the Hydroplate Theory proposed by Dr. Walt Brown, offers another model of the flood’s mechanics. This theory suggests that the continents were once interconnected and rested upon vast subterranean chambers filled with pressurized water. When this underground water erupted, it fractured the crust, causing massive horizontal buckling and releasing enough force to launch water high into the atmosphere. The result was the simultaneous rainfall and geological transformation described in Scripture. This theory explains mid-ocean ridges, deep-sea trenches, and the jigsaw fit of continental landmasses, along with fossil graveyards and sedimentary layering on a massive scale.
Geological Mysteries Explained by the Flood
The Flood offers the only cohesive explanation for many otherwise perplexing geological phenomena:
• The formation of the Grand Canyon, likely carved rapidly by retreating floodwaters.
• The creation of mid-oceanic ridges and submarine canyons.
• The existence of magnetic variations across the ocean floor, consistent with rapid geological change.
• The presence of metamorphic rock layers, formed by immense heat and pressure from tectonic upheaval.
• The jigsaw fit of continents, suggesting catastrophic continental movement rather than slow drift.
These global geological signatures align with a single, violent, worldwide flood rather than slow, uniform processes.
The Duration and Nature of the Flood
The flood itself unfolded as a divinely ordered sequence:
• It rained for forty days as the “windows of heaven” poured out their contents.
• The fountains of the deep broke open, flooding the planet from below.
• The waters prevailed for 150 days after the rainfall ceased.
• Noah and his family remained in the ark for 377 days total—approximately five months floating and another seven and a half months resting upon the mountains before the earth was dry.
Spiritual Perspectives
The story of the flood carries profound theological symbolism. There was only one ark, just as there is only one way of salvation—through Christ. There was only one door, just as Jesus said in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” All who entered the ark were saved; all outside perished. There were no births and no deaths within the ark, symbolizing eternal preservation for those who are in Christ.
Moreover, there were three groups of people in relation to the flood:
Those who perished in the flood—the unbelieving world.
Those who were preserved through the flood—Noah and his family, representing Israel and the believing remnant.
Those who were removed prior to the flood—Enoch, who “walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). This pre-flood removal is often seen as a typological foreshadowing of the Church’s rapture before the coming Tribulation, consistent with a pretribulational view of eschatology.
