“Genesis 7:17-24”

Thursday, October 31, 2019

“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”

---End of Scripture verses---

I cannot improve on James Burton Coffman’s commentary on verses 17-20 so we will just go with his observations: "‘The waters increased, and bare up the ark... The waters prevailed and increased... The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth...’ This threefold multiplication of the flood waters upon the earth is a most impressive superlative, culminating at last in the inundation of all the high mountains under heaven. Natural man has a rough time with this; it is totally beyond his capacity to believe or accept it, resulting in the response: ‘It has lost contact with history entirely!’ There are simply too many things in this that men cannot explain for some of them to believe it, but, we might add, such men are exactly like Noah's generation who also could not conceive of such a thing. Did it really happen? Of course it did! Every nation under the heaven, in all continents, testifies to the truth of this report by its myths and legends, which are nothing but distorted and perverted tales of the same event, but this account is different. It is accurately and precisely dated; it is embedded in the matrix of a moral theology that assigns plausible and accurate moral reasons for the catastrophe. Both the judgment and the mercy inherent in the event are fully in character with the nature of God, as revealed in both Testaments… A scientific community that has no explanation whatever of how marine fossils are found at elevations above the snowline in the Cordilleras and the Himalayas are not at all convincing in their shouted denials that what is recorded here is a record of what really happened.”

“All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.” (verse 21) What shock and horror these pitiful people (and animals) must have felt when the floodwaters continually rose until they struggled to take their last, helpless, dying breath. Our Lord, Jesus said in Luke 17:27, “They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” It may seem merciless on the part of God to do such an extreme thing, but He gave them ample time over the decades while the ark was being built (1 Peter 3:21), and ample warning from a godly preacher of righteousness to turn from their evil ways (2 Peter 2:5). “‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!” (Ezekiel 33:11). The Lord is “patient…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” But His longsuffering of sinfulness is not eternal. His patience reached the point of termination with that evil generation, and it will reach an end someday “soon” when the Lord Jesus comes in Final Judgment to obliterate the physical universe.

“Of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.” (verse 22) Both Hebrew words for “spirit” or “breath” are used in this verse. “Breath” here is the word “nashama”, and the word for “spirit” is the typical word used 372 times in the Old Testament, “ruwach”. This would obviously comprise all living and breathing creatures that dwelled upon the earth, but the less frequently used word “nashama” (24 times) likely emphasizes human beings who “the LORD God formed…of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (nashama) of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) “The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.” (verse 24) “Prevailed"—were strong, as in Genesis 7:18. The rains lasted forty days; for one hundred and ten more days they still bore up the ark, and then it grounded. But though still mighty, they had by this time “abated” (see Genesis 8:3), inasmuch as, instead of covering the hills to the depth of nearly four fathoms, the ark now had touched dry land.” (Elliot’s Commentary for English Readers)

Please read Genesis 8:1-5 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

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