Day Three: Genesis 7-10

We were introduced to The Flood in the previous chapter, with God warning Noah of the event which would soon come. Additionally, God told Noah how to prepare for such an event. He gave instructions for how the ark was to be constructed, and for the preservation of every species of living thing on the earth. And the chapter concluded by telling us that "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him."

In Chapter 7, God tells Noah that it is time to get into the ark. All of the necessary preparations have been made, and Noah and his family must now put their faith in the ark that they have built. It is notable that Noah's family (his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law) inherit the blessings of grace that God has bestowed upon Noah. Nothing has been said about whether Noah's family is righteous, or whether they walked with God (perhaps they did; perhaps they didn't). But that is of no consequence. Noah received favor in God's eyes, and that favor trickled down to Noah's family. We shouldn't underestimate the potential influence of one or two godly men or women.

Having followed all of God's instructions and having prepared accordingly, Noah and his family enter the ark along with the animals. Once inside, we are told that, "the Lord shut him in." There is something significant about knowing that God was personally involved with closing up the ark and making sure that it was shut tight and sealed, so that it would be safe through the flood. Without this final act of sealing, all of Noah's personal effort would have been meaningless. Regardless of how well Noah had constructed the ark, it would have failed to keep them safe if not properly sealed. And God took this matter into His own hands. So Noah did his part, which was to follow God's instructions carefully, and God did His, which was to add a seal of protection. The result was that when The Flood came, Noah and his family were safe. "The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters" (Genesis 7:18). Success!

Quiz time: How long did The Flood last? You might have guessed 40 days. Chapter 8 tells us that this is how long the rain fell from the sky, and the fountains of water gushed forth out of the earth. But 40 days was only the beginning. If we pay attention to the details given, we can see that from the day The Flood began until the day that Noah and his family left the ark, it was a full year and ten days—370 days in total! Can you imagine being cooped up in that ark for so long? I wonder if Noah and his family had counted on such a lengthy investment of their time. Then again, they had enough food to survive the entire time, so apparently they had prepared well enough to endure it. Here's the thing: they might not have known exactly what to expect, but God did. He knew the magnitude of the storm that they were going to go through, and He knew how long they would have to endure, so He gave them all the instructions that they would need to get them through. And because Noah and his family followed the instructions they were given, they were prepared to whether the storm, and the long period of simply waiting for the earth to dry out.

In Chapter 9, we read about the establishment of a new covenant between God and man. It is clear that, even though the world was new again, it was a far different place than the one God created in the beginning. There was a need for some new instructions and even a new way of thinking about the world. God expressly permitted the eating of meat, in addition to the vegetarian diet given in Eden. This, of course, meant that killing animals for food would be acceptable. However, human life was still to be regarded as sacred. Murder was now explicitly condemned and assigned the sentence of capital punishment (perhaps this would discourage much of the violence that existed prior to The Flood). And a rainbow was given as a symbol of peace so that when clouds appeared in the sky, threatening rain, men could be reminded that God had promised not to repeat that destructive event. God took great care to re-establish peace in the world, built on mutual respect and trust, not only between Himself and mankind, but between mankind and one another.

Chapter 10 brings us to another genealogy of sorts. We encounter a lot of names, as the descendants of Noah's sons are named with very little else in the way of details. There are however, two names that stand out and are something of a foreshadowing of what will come in the next chapter. Nimrod is one of the descendants of Ham (one of Noah's sons), and he is said to have been a mighty hunter before the Lord. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I think of him like a great gladiator, or a warrior. If it were present times, he might have been a star athlete. Nimrod became famous due to his physical strength and skill. He also was the founder of several significant cities, including Babel, which will become significant quite soon, and this will reveal more about the sort of influence that Nimrod had in the world after the flood.

The second name that stands out, even if only a little, is Peleg. You've heard of Peleg, right? Maybe not. Well, Peleg was a descendent of Shem (again, one of Noah's sons). Shem's descendants will become the focus of the rest of scripture very shortly. But before they do, we hear about this man who is given the name Peleg, "for in his days the earth was divided." That's it. No other details. Only that his name was somehow a reminder of a significant event that took place around the time of his birth. Sort of like in recent years, when people started naming their babies Corona (allegedly!). What is the significant event—the dividing of the earth—that occurred in Peleg's time? If I'm not mistaken, I believe that will be more fully developed in the next chapter. So let's keep reading.

Was there anything in these chapters that stood out to you, or spoke to you in a significant way? I'd be happy to hear about it!