Verses 1-9, Noah’s obedience. He is willing to follow the Lord’s instructions.
Verse 1 – “Come into the ark” is a picture of salvation. Cf. Matthew 6:33. After they are in there is the elapse of seven days and then judgment hits. There is an analogy here. People in union with Christ are the Church. The Church will be removed from the world, then we have the seven years of the Tribulation followed by the judgment of the second advent.
Notice that obedience is based upon divine invitation.
Verses 2 & 3, obedience is based on divine instructions. There are specific instructions with regard to the animals.
Verse 4 , obedience is based on the divine warning. And here we have the seven days mentioned.
Verses 5-9, obedience based on faith. Noah believed what God said.
Verses 10-12, the certainty of divine judgment. One of the verses which should get some special attention is verse 11 where we have the mechanics of the flood. In Genesis chapter one we had the words, “Let the firmament [atmosphere] appear.” A tremendous mass of water covered the earth. When the atmosphere appeared it divided the waters above from the waters below. The waters below were stored up. So in verse 11, the “fountains of the deep” refer to the storage of water below; “the windows of heaven opened” refers to the water stored over the earth.
The flood was always ridiculed by scholars until 1872 when George Smith of the British Museum, a famous archaeologist, discovered part of the library of Asher-bani-pal, king of Assyria. In this library there was part of a book which had not been destroyed and was 185 lines of cuneiform containing some very significant information which confirms the validity of the Word of God. For example, we have the Sumerian king list, a list of seven kings, and then it mentions the eighth king. And then it says, “and then the world flood came,” indicating the cutting off of these kings.
Verses, 18, 19, 20, 24 – “the waters prevailed.” The entire world was completely flooded.
Verse 16, notice that “the Lord shut him in.” He was sealed in, and this should be translated, “the Lord sealed him in.” This was the place of safety.
Verse 21 – the destruction of all flesh.