Without a doubt, this is the single most dramatic and impactful event between the Creation of the world and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its aftermath includes the only recorded covenant between God and man in which God presents an unconditional promise, expecting nothing in return.

This event changed the landscape of the world, the diet and behavior patterns of all humans since, and killed the billions upon billions of humans and other living creatures—except a few, all on the Ark.

The Global Flood was the greatest act of God’s judgment until Jesus returns to judge the world in the Final Day. This is why we can learn more about the Day of Judgment from this chapter than almost any other. In fact, the New Testament frequently cites it for that very purpose.

Prior to judgment, God prepares the righteous.

“Then Yahweh said to Noah, ‘Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.’

And Noah did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him.” (Gen 7:1–5)

At this point in time, Noah has already proved his obedience to God for some 120 years (cf. Gen 6:3). He has constructed the ark according to the parameters God gave him and shown his faithfulness to God.

The narrative reports to us eight times that Noah was a righteous, obedient, and upright man. His character was outstanding, but even he could not escape God’s judgment alone.

God wants all people to be saved, but He can only preserve those who are faithful to Him. God isn’t looking for a reason to punish you. No, He’s looking as hard as He can for those who are righteous.

God looked all over the antediluvian world for godly men and women, but He found only one man: Noah. When God looks around our world today, who will He find to be righteous?

“By faith Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb 11:7)

Likewise, God has warned us of His coming judgment so that we may prepare ourselves—not in some manner of our own invention, but in the way He has provided for us.

In judgment, God surprises the disobedient.

“Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, by twos they came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Now it happened after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep split open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. Then the rain came upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.” (Gen 7:6–12)

As a side note, the striking specificity of verse 11 (“the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah’s 600th year”) reminds us that Moses is not regaling us with a mystical morality myth, but recalling a major historical person. This really happened to real people on a real day.

The day of judgment ambushed those whose hearts are hardened and unprepared to meet their Lord. Those who once mocked Noah must now face the agonizing consequences of their wickedness.

Bursting up from the depths and pouring down from the clouds, the waters overwhelm the earth rapidly, wreaking swift and powerful destruction.

In Matthew 24, Jesus warned that His return in judgment will be just as shocking and rapid:

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 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. (Matt 24: 32–34)

These verses reference back to his previous statements predicting the Fall of Jerusalem. He tells the disciples the parable of a fig tree; there will be signs to warn you and the time of the city’s destruction will be predictable.

By contrast, He says, “that day and hour” is unpredictable. Jesus Himself did not claim to know when it would be. As an illustration, He returns to the days of Noah.

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.

Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.” (Matt 24:35–41)

Just as God removed Noah and his family before the Flood, so also will He remove the faithful before the Judgment.

In judgment, God protects the obedient.

“On this very day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind—every fowl, every winged creature. So they came to Noah into the ark, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and Yahweh closed it behind him.” (Gen 7:13–16)

Here we see Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and all their wives quietly obeying God. They pay no attention to what anyone else is doing. All they choose to know is the command of the Lord.

After Noah’s family humbly entered, God closes and seals the door. Their protection going into the Flood is a product of divine grace, not of some superficial merit in Noah’s actions.

We don’t know what technology existed then, but there were certainly rivers, lakes, and seas. I imagine many folks scrambled into fishing boats or onto cargo ships hoping for protection, but no other ship could shield from the deluge that was to come—for no other ship was sealed and secured by God Himself!

“For if God… did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, …then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” (2 Pet 2:5, 9)

I find it very interesting that God has promised to take the faithful up alive during the destruction of the world so that they may avoid consumption in the fire as well.

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:15–17)

In judgment, God eliminates the unfaithful.

“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. And the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth, and the ark went on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.

And all flesh that moved on the earth breathed its last, that is birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, as well as all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life—of all that was on the dry land—died.

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…” (Gen 7:17–23a)

Notice the incredibly “thorough” language this passage uses. In case you missed it, God destroyed all life from the face of the earth. He raised the floodwaters 25 feet over the top of all the mountains! There was no escaping God’s judgment at all.

As the torrential rains ceaselessly poured from the clouds, the water level rose higher and higher. Cities high on a mountain may have been safe for the first week, but eventually the water brimmed up to their homes and swallowed them too.

God knew it was not enough to purge the wicked, but He had to destroy the world itself too. Eventually God promises to never again destroy the world by water. In the Final Day, fire will consume the earth and all the universe.

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!” (2 Pet 3:3–12)

Peter reminds us that just because these things have not yet happened does not mean they are figurative or a fairy tale. God will certainly destroy this world, but (as with Noah) He will do so in order to provide a better world.

In judgment, God preserves the faithful.

“…And only Noah remained, and those that were with him in the ark. And the water prevailed upon the earth 150 days.” (Gen 7:23b–24)

Noah’s faith in God was a far cry from earning his salvation in any way. He simply trusted in God. All those who were in the ark were brought safely through the Flood into the new world.

150 days is about five months. In the end, Noah was inside the ark for 365 days. That’s a long time to be cramped in a dark, wet, wooden box with every animal in the world. But it’s a short time in comparison to a 600-year lifetime.

The water covered the earth 150 days—and then it did not. This is a verse of hope. On the other side of God’s judgment is His promise.

For the last 350 years of Noah’s life after the Flood, he experienced peace. He was privileged to enjoy the world, re-formed and unspotted by the endemic corruption it faced before.

In his first epistle, Peter tells us the ark which God uses to save us is baptism:

“…The patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 3:20–21)

Noah earned nothing by building an ark, but he had faith in the working of God to save him. Baptism is not some magical ritual, but an expression of perfect faith in the power of God to save us.

If we faithfully follow God, He has made us an even better promise.

“But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet 3:13)

Unlike Noah’s “new heavens and new earth,” ours will not be fragile and corruptible, but perfect and imperishable. While he lived alone with his family on the earth, we will dwell together in harmony with God and all the faithful.

Be like Noah. Get into the ark today.