Genesis 7: Being ‘left behind’ was a good thing in the days of Noach

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The purpose of the Bible is to show us what God thinks and how He acts.

Genesis 5 told us how Noach was “righteous” in his “generation,” which is translated from the word תּוֹלְדָה toledah (Strong’s H8435) in Hebrew. In Genesis 7, we are told that that God saw Noach as “righteous before Me in this time.” The word time translated from is דּוּר dor (H1755), which also means period or generation.

The events of the Flood have a strong connection with Matthew 24.

“Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:34-36)

We see in the time of the Noach that people were joining up with one another in unrighteous marriages. We see this happening now.

In the days of Noach, it was Noach and his family that were “left behind” and it was the wicked generation who were “taken away” or raptured. The Day of the LORD is not going to be a pleasant day for anyone. It will be brutal time, just as the Flood was a brutal time.

God is asking us to prepare our house and stay away because He is going to come “as a thief” in the night.

This chapter tells us that there were seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean animals brought on the ark. Noach did not know when the flood was going to come until seven days before the Flood. By this time, Noach had already built the ark according to God’s command. Noach had a week to get all the animals into the ark and to save all of his family. God brought the animals to Noach Himself. Noach did not have to search for them. Noach just had to have places ready for them to live through the Flood. Not all the clean animals were sacrificial animals, only certain animals were sacrificial.

The animals did not come to Noach as a herd. The animals did not have any fear. They came to Noach in an orderly fashion, “two by two” and Noach assigned them to their space.

We see in Genesis 6 that he had to store up enough food for all the animals and the people to live on for the time of the Flood (Gen. 6:21). The ark was 30 cubits high, about 45 tall with three stories.

We think of the family of Noah as being blessed and lucky but they also suffered greatly in their hearts. They had a week to say goodbye to all their friends and family. If we walk in righteousness as Noach did, we will not be caught unaware, but those who are not righteous will be taken away and caught off-guard by the Lord’s coming.

Noach warned his compatriots of what was to come but no one listened to him except his own family. Noach was fully committed to his job and God blessed him for it.

Trusting God is what makes you righteous. When Abram was counted as righteous, it was because he trusted God. Trust is more powerful that belief. Trust means to literally stake your life, your family, your job on God.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.” (Gen. 7:11)

What happens in the second month of the Hebrew calendar that is important? It’s the second-chance Passover time. It’s also the time of Firstfruits. There were eight lives spared in the ark.

The word often translated prevail or remain — גָּבַר gabar (H1396) — shows up frequently in relation to the Flood waters. The Flood waters were strong and mighty.

We don’t know if the people in Noach’s day and before ever experience a rainstorm or not. The only sources of water recorded before the Flood were from the ground but that doesn’t mean that the people had never seen rain before.

The Flood came upon the earth over the course of 40 days. The Flood waters expanded all over the earth. This was not a local Flood but a worldwide, all-encompassing flood.

“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.” (Gen. 7:23)

Noach and those who were with him were the ones left behind and that was a good thing. The wicked were the ones who were taken away. It is not a good thing to be taken away. It is much better to be left behind.

Yeshua says:

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” (Matt. 24:42)

Gen. 6:3 says:

“Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’”

Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came upon the earth. Shem was 120 years old when the Flood came. The number 120 is important.

If you believe that there are about 6,000 years of Earth history from Adam to this time, this period breaks down into three eras:

1. Adam to Abraham is about 2,000 years.
2. Abraham to Yeshua is about 2,000 years.
3. Yeshua to the present is about 2,000 years.

There are 40 jubilees — a יוֹבֵל yovel (H3104) is a 50-year period (Lev. 25:8–55) — in 2,000 years. If mankind have been on Earth for about 6,000 years, we have lived through 120 jubilee periods. Moses is the only man recorded who ever lived to be exactly 120 years after the Flood.

When the apostle Yokhanan (John) recorded in Revelation that God Almighty will come again to destroy the earth, he is using the language of אֵל שַׁדַּי El Shaddai (H7706) — God the destroyer, the deluger. As it was in Noah’s day, so it will be in the last days.

Speaker: Richard. Reader: Michelle. Summary: Tammy.