Genesis 7

Genesis 7:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 7 God saves Noah from the flood, 7:1-24 v1 Then the *Lord said to Noah, ‘Go into the *ark and take all your family with you. I have seen that you alone are good among those that are living now. v2 Take 7 pairs of all *clean animals with you. So there will be seven males and their mates. Take one male and one female from each kind of *unclean animal. v3 Take seven pairs (male and female) of every bird that flies in the air. So then you will keep each kind of bird alive on the earth. v4 After 7 days, I will send rain upon the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will completely take away from the earth every *creature that is alive. I will take away from the earth’s surface all those that I have made.’

v5 And Noah did everything that the *Lord had ordered him to do.

v6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. That was when the waters came upon the earth. v7 Noah went into the *ark. He took with him his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives. They entered the *ark in order to escape the waters of the flood. v8 Also, there were pairs of *clean animals and there were pairs of *unclean animals. There were pairs of birds. And there were pairs of everything that crawls on the ground. v9 They all went into the *ark with Noah. They went in order as pairs, male and female. It was exactly as God had given the command to Noah. v10 After 7 days, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

v11 It was the 600th year in Noah’s life. It was the 2nd month in that year. And it was the 17th day in that month. Then all the water rushed up from the seas, which were great and deep. And rain poured down from the skies. v12 It rained for 40 days and 40 nights.

v13 On that same day, Noah entered the *ark. He took with him his three sons, called Shem, Ham and Japheth. He took also his wife and his sons’ three wives. v14 There was every kind of wild animal and there was every kind of *cattle. There was every kind of thing that crawls on the earth. And there was every sort of bird. They all entered the *ark too. v15 They went into the *ark with Noah. There were pairs of all *creatures that have life in them. v16 All those were male and female *creatures from all the kinds that were living. And they went into the *ark, as God had given the command to Noah. And then the *Lord shut Noah in.

v17 The flood continued for 40 days on the earth. The waters got higher. They rose high above the earth and the *ark floated upon them. v18 The waters rose and they increased greatly on the earth. But the *ark floated on top of the waters. v19 A very huge amount of water came upon the earth. So then all the high mountains under the whole sky were under the water. v20 A very huge amount of water came over the mountains. So then the mountains were under 15 *cubits of water. v21 All *creatures that were living before died.

All that had moved upon the earth died. That included birds, *cattle and wild animals. It included all *creatures that moved in large groups on the earth. And it included every person. v22 Everything on dry land died. They had all had breath in their nostrils (holes in the nose). That is, breath that had made them live.

But they died. v23 God completely took away from the earth every *creature that was alive. That means everything that was on the surface of the ground. It included people and animals. It included *creatures that crawl. And it included birds. God took them away completely from the earth.

Only a few people remained. Noah remained. And those with him in the *ark remained.

v24 And the waters flooded the earth for 150 days.

God saved Noah and his family because Noah was *righteous. But the flood killed all the wicked people. This reminds us that God will be the judge of everyone. But God is not like a human judge. We cannot impress God by our efforts. And it does not matter whether we are rich or poor. But he will save us if, like Noah, we please him. We shall please him if we are *righteous. We do not become *righteous by our own efforts. We can only become *righteous because of what Jesus did for us. Jesus died to save us from the punishment for our *sins. So we must confess our *sins to God. And we must invite him into our lives.

God also rescued animals of all types. He arranged that they would come to Noah. The flood did not begin until they were all safely in the *ark.

This chapter does not mention the reaction of the people before they died in the flood. 2 Peter 2:5 shows that Noah warned them. But Jesus said that they were just carrying on their usual behaviour (Matthew 24:37-39). One day, they were eating and drinking. And they were merry. But then the flood came and God punished them. Jesus added that people will act in the same way before his return. They will continue their evil lives. But then Jesus will return. When he returns, he will be their judge. Jesus’ return gives hope to everyone who trusts him. But it will be a terrible event for everyone who opposes him. Notes on the verses Verse 1 The writer often reminds us that God gave commands to Noah. Also, the writer tells us that Noah obeyed God. Noah was good. (In other words, he was *righteous.) That does not mean that he was perfect. It means that he believed God. And it means that Noah obeyed God.

Verse 2 ‘Clean animals’. God gave strict rules about which animals people could *sacrifice. And he was strict about which animals they could eat. Those animals were called ‘clean animals’. But there were other animals that people must not *sacrifice. And they should not eat these animals. These animals were called ‘*unclean animals’.

Verse 4 ‘40 days and 40 nights’. That sometimes means just a long time. Here, however, it may mean the exact time. The writer gives many other exact details.

Verse 9 ‘Male and female’. Noah kept the animals as pairs. Everything was in order.

Verse 11 Water came from both the seas and the sky. In *Hebrew, the writer says that the windows in the sky opened. It was something more than normal rain.

Verse 16 The *Lord shut Noah in. The *Lord sometimes punishes, but he can also save people.

Verse 20 The waters of the flood were so very deep that they covered everything on the earth. Nothing stayed above the water except the *ark. And only those who were inside the *ark stayed alive after the flood.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

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