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17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 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. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 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. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. ~ Genesis 7:17-24
Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 7. It was the design of the Flood to show us how serious God is toward our sin. The purpose of the flood was to save Noah and his family, and to destroy those who were not willing enough to believe in the goodness of God. So when we hear the Lord offer us grace and salvation and an escape from His judgment, we must be quick to understand and respond to that which He offers us.
In addition, to being a man of faith in the God of the Bible, Noah was a patient man. He preached to those who in the end didn't believe right up until one week before the raindrops started the flood. He gave the unsaved a witness of God through his words and he did it by his actions. And even today he still preaches by those same actions to anyone who is willing enough to listen. He was patient in waiting on the Lord’s timing and his patience must have included immense sadness.
In v.17-21 of today's passage we read, "17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 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."
The rains came for 40 days and the waters prevailed for 150. Here, we have the word "prevailed" used repeatedly. The word "water" appears repeatedly, as well. The Flood prevailed. This is the flow of the text. And, during all of the time, Noah and his seven family members waited in the quiet solitude within the ark. When the waters came, Noah and his family had to be patient. Whether or not they heard the people outside the boat they knew what was happening and they patiently endured the loss of all of the people they knew. Noah probably thought about the many people who had come into his life as the flood waters rose. This wasn’t a localized flood as skeptics try to claim. This was a global flood and every high hill and every higher mountain was covered and even submerged. Fifteen cubits is almost 25 feet.
In v.22-24 of today's passage we read, "22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 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. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days."
And so, everything and everyone died. And, only a perverse and disconnected heart would find fault with the Creator concerning how He handled this situation. The reality is all things have an end and mixed with joy is sadness and loss. This is the fallen world we live in and even though sin has wrecked this world with death and destruction God is still sovereign and good.
Waiting on the Lord isn’t a concept unique to Noah. Rather, we all struggle at waiting. For many, the deepest pain of waiting lies in the sense that God, who once seemed so near, now feels so far away. But the answer is that if we give God enough time, all things in their end with make sense. When we give Him time, God will enable us to see our waiting from His viewpoint. He will give us His vision, if we are patient. Those days when we find ourselves living in hindsight we understand the why behind the wait. In the meantime, God is doing something eternal within us. When we are careful to be defined by Him, God will define us further with the eternal. The Bible is full of people who waited on the Lord. They discovered God’s delays are not His denials. God always does something in us before He does something for us and though us. The only thing worse than waiting is wishing we had.
In Isaiah 40:31 we read, "But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
There is so much significance to the illustration of an eagle, but one thing about an eagle is that while most birds flee storms, the eagle seems to long for it because it enables him to soar higher than he can in normal conditions. The eagle is the only bird that can lock its wings and wait for the right wind. He waits for the updraft, then soars. At different times of our lives, we are all going to face fierce storms. As we wait on the Lord and trust in Him, He will not only take us through the storm, but He will actually lift us above the storm. In and through our patience in Him, God, in the middle of our storms is allowed to rise us above those storms. So, as we wait on Him He will help us use the adversities and strong winds to benefit us! And, in the end, we will learn that all tides raises all boats to the benefit of all and to the glory of God.
