G
E N E S I S
CHAP. VII.
In this chapter we have the performance of what
was foretold in the foregoing chapter, both concerning the destruction of the
old world and the salvation of Noah; for we may be sure that no word
of God shall fall to the ground. There we left Noah busy about his ark, and
full of care to get it finished in time, while the rest of his neighbours were
laughing at him for his pains. Now here we see what was the end thereof, the
end of his care and of their carelessness. And this famous period of the old
world gives us some idea of the state of things when the world that now is
shall be destroyed by fire, as that was by water. See 2 Pet. iii. 6, 7. We
have, in this chapter, I. God's gracious call to Noah to come into the ark
(ver. 1), and to bring the creatures that were to be preserved alive along
with him (ver. 2, 3), in consideration of the deluge at hand, ver. 4. II.
Noah's obedience to this heavenly vision, ver. 5. When he was six hundred
years old, he came with his family into the ark (ver. 6, 7), and brought the
creatures along with him (ver. 8, 9), an account of which is repeated (ver.
13-16), to which is added God's tender care to shut him in. III. The coming of
the threatened deluge (ver. 10); the causes of it (ver. 11, 12): the
prevalency of it, ver. 17-20. IV. The dreadful desolations that were made by
it in the death of every living creature upon earth, except those that were in
the ark, ver. 21-23. V. The continuance of it in full sea, before it began to
ebb, one hundred and fifty days, ver. 24.
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Noah
Invited into the
Ark.
B. C. 2349.
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1 And the LORD
said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast
thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that
are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls
also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon
the face of all the earth. 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause
it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living
substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Here is, I. A
gracious invitation of Noah and his family into a place of safety, now that
the flood of waters was coming, v. 1.
1. The call
itself is very kind, like that of a tender father to his children, to come in
doors, when he sees night or a storm coming: Come thou, and all thy house,
that small family that thou hast, into the ark. Observe, (1.) Noah did
not go into the ark till God bade him; though he knew it was designed for his
place of refuge, yet he waited for a renewed command, and had it. It is very
comfortable to follow the calls of
Providence
, and to
see God going before us in every step we take. (2.) God does not bid him go
into the ark, but come into it, implying that God would go with him,
would lead him into it, accompany him in it, and in due time bring him safely
out of it. Note, Wherever we are, it is very desirable to have the presence of
God with us, for this is all in all to the comfort of every condition. It was
this that made Noah's ark, which was a prison, to be to him not only a refuge,
but a palace. (3.) Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and
now he was himself preserved alive in it. Note, What we do in obedience to the
command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort
of, first or last. (4.) Not he only, but his house also, his wife and
children, are called with him into the ark. Note, It is good to belong to the
family of a godly man; it is safe and comfortable to dwell under such a
shadow. One of Noah's sons was Ham, who proved afterwards a bad man, yet he
was saved in the ark, which intimates, [1.] That wicked children often fare
the better for the sake of their godly parents. [2.] That there is a mixture
of bad with good in the best societies on earth, and we are not to think it
strange. In Noah's family there was a Ham, and in Christ's family there was a
Judas. There is no perfect purity on this side heaven. (5.) This call to Noah
was a type of the call which the gospel gives to poor sinners. Christ is an
ark already prepared, in whom alone we can be safe when death and judgment
come. Now the burden of the song is, "Come, come;" the word says,
"Come;" ministers say, "Come;" the Spirit says,
"Come, come into the ark."
2. The reason for
this invitation is a very honourable testimony to Noah's integrity: For
thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Observe, (1.)
Those are righteous indeed that are righteous before God, that have not only
the form of godliness by which they appear righteous before men, who may
easily be imposed upon, but the power of it by which they approve themselves
to God, who searches the heart, and cannot be deceived in men's characters.
(2.) God takes notice of and is pleased with those that are righteous before
him: Thee have I seen. In a world of wicked people God could see one
righteous Noah; that single grain of wheat could not be lost, no, not in so
great a heap of chaff. The Lord knows those that are his. (3.) God,
that is a witness to, will shortly be a witness for, his people's integrity;
he that sees it will proclaim it before angels and men, to their immortal
honour. Those that obtain mercy to be righteous shall obtain witness that they
are righteous. (4.) God is, in a special manner, pleased with those that are
good in bad times and places. Noah was therefore illustriously righteous,
because he was so in that wicked and adulterous generation. (5.) Those that
keep themselves pure in times of common iniquity God will keep safe in times
of common calamity; those that partake not with others in their sins shall not
partake with them in their plagues; those that are better than others are,
even in this life, safer than others, and it is better with them.
II. Here are
necessary orders given concerning the brute-creatures that were to be
preserved alive with Noah in the ark, v. 2, 3. They were not capable of
receiving the warning and directions themselves, as man was, who herein is
taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser than the fowls of
heaven--that he is endued with the power of foresight; therefore man is
charged with the care of them: being under his dominion, they must be under
his protection; and, though he could not secure every individual, yet
he must carefully preserve every species, that no tribe, no, not the least
considerable, might entirely perish out of the creation. Observe in this, 1.
God's care for man, for his comfort and benefit. We do not find that Noah was
solicitous of himself about this matter; but God consults our happiness more
than we do ourselves. Though God saw that the old world was very provoking,
and foresaw that the new one would be little better, yet he would preserve the
brute creatures for man's use. Doth God take care for oxen? 1 Cor. ix.
9. Or was it not rather for man's sake that this care was taken? 2. Even the
unclean beasts, which were least valuable and profitable, were preserved alive
in the ark; for God's tender mercies are over all his works, and not over
those only that are of most eminence and use. 3. Yet more of the clean were
preserved than of the unclean. (1.) Because the clean were most for the
service of man; and therefore, in favour to him, more of them were preserved
and are still propagated. Thanks be to God, there are not herds of lions as
there are of oxen, nor flocks of tigers as there are of sheep. (2.) Because
the clean were for sacrifice to God; and therefore, in honour to him, more of
them were preserved, three couple for breed, and the odd seventh for
sacrifice, ch. viii. 20. God gives us six for one in earthly things, as
in the distribution of the days of the week, that in spiritual things we
should be all for him. What is devoted to God's honour, and used in his
service, is particularly blessed and increased.
III. Here is
notice given of the now imminent approach of the flood: Yet seven days, and
I will cause it to rain, v. 4. 1. "It shall be seven days yet,
before I do it." After the hundred and twenty years had expired, God
grants them a reprieve of seven days longer, both to show how slow he is to
anger and that punishing work is his strange work, and also to give them some
further space for repentance: but all in vain; these seven days were trifled
away, after all the rest; they continued secure and sensual until the day that
the flood came. 2. "It shall be but seven days." While Noah
told them of the judgment at a distance, they were tempted to put off their
repentance, because the vision was for a great while to come; but now he is
ordered to tell them that it is at the door, that they have but one week more
to turn them in, but one sabbath more to improve, to see if that will now, at
last, awaken them to consider the things that belong to their peace, which
otherwise will soon be hidden from their eyes. But it is common for those that
have been careless of their souls during the years of their health, when they
have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the
seven days, of their sickness, when they see it approaching, their hearts
being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
5 And Noah did according unto all that
the LORD commanded him. 6 And Noah was six hundred
years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 7 And Noah
went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the
ark, because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean beasts, and of
beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that
creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah
into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were
upon the earth.
Here is Noah's
ready obedience to the commands that God gave him. Observe, 1. He went into
the ark, upon notice that the flood would come after seven days, though
probably as yet there appeared no visible sign of its approach, no cloud
arising that threatened it, nothing done towards it, but all continued serene
and clear; for, as he prepared the ark by faith in the warning given that the
flood would come, so he went into it by faith in this warning that it would
come quickly, though he did not see that the second causes had yet begun to
work. In every step he took, he walked by faith, and not by sense. During
these seven days, it is likely, he was settling himself and his family in the
ark, and distributing the creatures into their several apartments. This was
the conclusion of that visible sermon which he had long been preaching to his
careless neighbours, and which, one would think, might have awakened them;
but, not obtaining that desired end, it left their blood upon their own heads.
2. He took all his family along with him, his wife, to be his companion and
comfort (though it should seem that, after this, he had no children by her),
his sons, and his sons' wives, that by them not only his family, but the world
of mankind, might be built up. Observe, Though men were to be reduced to so
small a number, and it would be very desirable to have the world speedily
repeopled, yet Noah's sons were each of them to have but one wife, which
strengthens the argument against having many wives; for from the beginning of
this new world it was not so: as, at first, God made, so now he kept alive,
but one woman for one man. See Matt. xix. 4, 8. 3. The brute creatures readily
went in with him. The same hand that at first brought them to Adam to be named
now brought them to Noah to be preserved. The ox now knew his owner, and the
ass his protector's crib, nay, even the wildest creatures flocked to it; but
man had become more brutish than the brutes themselves,
and did not know, did not consider, Isa. i. 3.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month,
the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Here is, I. The
date of this great event; this is carefully recorded, for the greater
certainty of the story.
1. It was in the
600th year of Noah's life, which, by computation, appears to be 1656 years
from the creation. The years of the old world are reckoned, not by the reigns
of the giants, but the lives of the patriarchs; saints are of more account
with God than princes. The righteous shall be had in everlasting
remembrance. Noah was now a very old man, even as men's years went then.
Note, (1.) The longer we live in this world the more we see of the miseries
and calamities of it; it is therefore spoken of as the privilege of those that
die young that their eyes shall not see the evil which is coming, 2
Kings xxii. 20. (2.) Sometimes God exercises his old servants with
extraordinary trials of obedient patience. The oldest of Christ's soldiers
must not promise themselves a discharge from their warfare till death
discharge them. Still they must gird on their harness, and not boast as though
they had put it off. As the year of the deluge is recorded, so,
2. We are told
that it was in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month,
which is reckoned to be about the beginning of November; so that Noah had had
a harvest just before, from which to victual his ark.
II. The second
causes that concurred to this deluge. Observe,
1. In the
self-same day that Noah was fixed in the ark, the inundation began. Note, (1.)
Desolating judgments come not till God has provided for the security of his
own people; see ch. xix. 22, I can do nothing till thou be come
thither: and we find (Rev. vii. 3) that the winds are held till the
servants of God are sealed. (2.) When good men are removed judgments are not
far off; for they are taken away from the evil to come, Isa. lvii. 1.
When they are called into the chambers, hidden in the grave, hidden in heaven,
then God is coming out of his place to punish, Isa. xxvi. 20, 21.
2. See what was
done on that day, that fatal day to the world of the ungodly. (1.) The
fountains of the great deep were broken up. Perhaps there needed no new
creation of waters; what were already made to be, in the common course of
providence, blessings to the earth, were now, by an extraordinary act of
divine power, made the ruin of it. God has laid up the deep in storehouses
(Ps. xxxiii. 7), and now he broke up those stores. As our bodies have in
themselves those humours which, when God pleases, become the seeds and springs
of mortal diseases, so the earth had in it bowels those waters which, at God's
command, sprang up and flooded it. God had, in the creation, set bars and
doors to the waters of the sea, that they might not return to
cover the earth (Ps. civ. 9; Job xxxviii. 9-11); and now he only removed
those ancient land-marks, mounds, and fences, and the waters of the sea
returned to cover the earth, as they had done at first, ch. i. 9. Note,
All the creatures are ready to fight against sinful man, and any of them is
able to be the instrument of his ruin, if God do but take off the restraints
by which they are held in during the day of God's patience. (2.) The
windows of heaven were opened, and the waters which were above the
firmament were poured out upon the world; those treasures which God has reserved
against the time of trouble, the day of battle and war, Job xxxviii. 22,
23. The rain, which ordinarily descends in drops, then came down in streams,
or spouts, as they call them in the Indies, where clouds have been
often known to burst, as they express it there, when the rain descends
in a much more violent torrent than we have ever seen in the greatest shower.
We read (Job xxvi. 8) that God binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not rent under them; but now the bond was loosed, the
cloud was rent, and such rains descended as were never known before nor since,
in such abundance and of such continuance: the thick cloud was not, as
ordinarily it is, wearied with waterings (Job xxxvii. 11), that is, soon spent
and exhausted; but still the clouds returned after the rain, and the divine
power brought in fresh recruits. It rained, without intermission or abatement,
forty days and forty nights (v. 12), and that upon the whole
earth at once, not, as sometimes, upon one city and not upon another.
God made the world in six days, but he was forty days in destroying it; for he
is slow to anger: but, though the destruction came slowly and gradually, yet
it came effectually.
3. Now learn from
this, (1.) That all the creatures are at God's disposal, and that he makes
what use he pleases of them, whether for correction, or for his land, or
for mercy, as Elihu speaks of the rain, Job xxxvii. 12, 13. (2.) That God
often makes that which should be for our welfare to become a trap, Ps.
lxix. 22. That which usually is a comfort and benefit to us becomes, when God
pleases, a scourge and a plague to us. Nothing is more needful nor useful than
water, both the springs of the earth and the showers of heaven; and yet now
nothing was more hurtful, nothing more destructive: every creature is to us
what God makes it. (3.) That it is impossible to escape the righteous
judgments of God when they come against sinners with
commission; for God can arm both heaven and earth against them; see Job xx.
27. God can surround men with the messengers of his wrath, so that, if they
look upwards, it is with horror and amazement, if they look to the earth, behold,
trouble and darkness, Isa. viii. 21, 22. Who then is able to stand before
God, when he is angry? (4.) In this destruction of the old world by water God
gave a specimen of the final destruction of the world that now is by fire. We
find the apostle setting the one of these over against the other, 2 Pet. iii.
6, 7. As there are waters under the earth, so Ætna, Vesuvius, and other
volcanoes, proclaim to the world that there are subterraneous fires too; and
fire often falls from heaven, many desolations are made by lightning; so that,
when the time predetermined comes, between these two fires the earth and all
the works therein shall be burnt up, as the flood was brought upon the old
world out of the fountains of the great deep and through the windows of
heaven.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three
wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14 They, and every
beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his
kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into
the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had
commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
Here is repeated
what was related before of Noah's entrance into the ark, with his family and
creatures that were marked for preservation. Now,
I. It is thus
repeated for the honour of Noah, whose faith and obedience herein shone so
brightly, by which he obtained a good report, and who herein appeared so great
a favourite of Heaven and so great a blessing to this earth.
II. Notice is
here taken of the beasts going in each after his kind, according to the
phrase used in the history of the creation (ch. i. 21-25), to intimate
that just as many kinds as were created at first were saved now, and no more;
and that this preservation was as a new creation: a life remarkably protected
is, as it were, a new life.
III. Though all
enmities and hostilities between the creatures ceased for the present, and
ravenous creatures were not only so mild and manageable as that the wolf
and the lamb lay down together, but so strangely altered as that the lion
did eat straw like an ox (Isa. xi. 6, 7), yet, when this occasion was
over, the restraint was taken off, and they were still of the same kind as
ever; for the ark did not alter their constitution. Hypocrites in the church,
that externally conform to the laws of that ark, may yet be unchanged, and
then it will appear, one time or other, what kind they are after.
IV. It is added
(and the circumstance deserves our notice), The Lord shut him in, v.
16. As Noah continued his obedience to God, so God continued his care of Noah:
and here it appeared to be a very distinguishing care; for the shutting of
this door set up a partition wall between him and all the world besides. God
shut the door, 1. To secure him, and keep him safe in the ark. The door must
be shut very close, lest the waters should break in and sink the ark,
and very fast, lest any without should break it down. Thus God made up
Noah, as he makes up his jewels, Mal. iii. 17. 2. To exclude all
others, and keep them for ever out. Hitherto the door of the ark stood open,
and if any, even during the last seven days, had repented and believed, for
aught I know they might have been welcomed into the ark; but now the door was
shut, and they were cut off from all hopes of admittance: for God shutteth,
and none can open.
V. There is much
of our gospel duty and privilege to be seen in Noah's preservation in the ark.
The apostle makes it a type of our baptism, that is, our Christianity, 1 Pet.
iii. 20, 21. Observe then, 1. It is our great duty, in obedience to the gospel
call, by a lively faith in Christ, to come into that way of salvation which
God has provided for poor sinners. When Noah came into the ark, he quitted his
own house and lands; so must we quit our own righteousness and our worldly
possessions, whenever they come into competition with Christ. Noah must, for a
while, submit to the confinements and inconveniences of the ark, in order to
his preservation for a new world; so those that come into Christ to be saved
by him must deny themselves, both in sufferings and services. 2. Those that
come into the ark themselves should bring as many as they can in with them, by
good instructions, by persuasions, and by a good example. What knowest
thou, O man, but thou mayest thus save thy wife (1 Cor. vii. 16), as Noah
did his? There is room enough in Christ for all comers. 3. Those that by faith
come into Christ, the ark, shall by the power of God be shut in, and kept as
in a strong-hold by the power of God, 1 Pet. i. 5. God put Adam into
paradise, but he did not shut him in, and so he threw himself out; but when he
put Noah into the ark he shut him in, and so when he brings a soul to Christ
he ensures its salvation: it is not in our own keeping, but in the Mediator's
hand. 4. The door of mercy will shortly be shut against those
that now make light of it. Now, knock and it shall be opened; but the
time will come when it shall not, Luke xiii. 25.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the
earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above
the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly
upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 19
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills,
that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen
cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
We are here told,
I. How long the
flood was increasing--forty days, v. 17. The profane world, who
believed not that it would come, probably when it came flattered themselves
with hopes that it would soon abate and never come to extremity; but still it
increased, it prevailed. Note, 1. When God judges he will overcome. If he
begin, he will make an end; his way is perfect, both in judgment and mercy. 2.
The gradual approaches and advances of God's judgments, which are designed to
bring sinners to repentance, are often abused to the hardening of them in
their presumption.
II. To what
degree they increased: they rose so high that not only the low flat countries
were deluged, but to make sure work, and that none might escape, the tops of
the highest mountains were overflowed--fifteen cubits, that is, seven
yards and a half; so that in vain was salvation hoped for from hills or
mountains, Jer. iii. 23. None of God's creatures are so high but his power
can overtop them; and he will make them know that wherein they deal proudly he
is above them. Perhaps the tops of the mountains were washed down by the
strength of the waters, which helped much towards the prevailing of the waters
above them; for it is said (Job xii. 15), He sends out the waters, and
they not only overflow, but overturn, the earth. Thus the refuge of lies was
swept away, and the waters overflowed the hiding-place of those sinners (Isa.
xxviii. 17), and in vain they fly to them for safety, Rev. vi. 16. Now the
mountains departed, and the hills were removed, and nothing stood a man in
stead but the covenant of peace, Isa. liv. 10. There is no place on
earth so high as to set men out of the reach of God's judgments, Jer. xlix.
16; Obad. 3, 4. God's hand will find out all his enemies, Ps. xxi. 8.
Observe how exactly they are fathomed (fifteen cubits), not by Noah's
plummet, but by his knowledge who weighs the waters by measure, Job
xxviii. 25.
III. What became
of Noah's ark when the waters thus increased: It was lifted up above the
earth (v. 17), and went upon the face of the waters, v.
18. When all other buildings were demolished by the waters, and buried under
them, the ark alone subsisted. Observe, 1. The waters which broke down every
thing else bore up the ark. That which to unbelievers is a savour of death
unto death is to the faithful a savour of life unto life. 2. The more the
waters increased the higher the ark was lifted up towards heaven. Thus
sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions; and as troubles abound
consolations much more abound.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon
the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose
nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land,
died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon
the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the
fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only
remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Here is, I. The
general destruction of all flesh by the waters of the flood. Come, and see
the desolations which God makes in the earth (Ps. xlvi. 8), and how he
lays heaps upon heaps. Never did death triumph, from its first entrance unto
this day, as it did then. Come, and see Death upon his pale horse, and hell
following with him, Rev. vi. 7, 8.
1. All the
cattle, fowl, and creeping things, died, except the few that were in the ark.
Observe how this is repeated: All flesh died, v. 21. All in
whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was on the dry land, v.
22. Every living substance, v. 23. And why so? Man only had done
wickedly, and justly is God's hand against him; but these sheep, what have
they done? I answer, (1.) We are sure God did them no wrong. He is the
sovereign Lord of all life, for he is the sole fountain and author of it. He
that made them as he pleased might unmake them when he pleased; and who shall
say unto him, What doest thou? May he not do what he will with his own,
which were created for his pleasure? (2.) God did admirably serve the purposes
of his own glory by their destruction, as well as by their creation. Herein
his holiness and justice were greatly magnified; by this it appears that he
hates sin, and is highly displeased with sinners, when even the inferior
creatures, because they are the servants of man and part of his possession,
and because they have been abused to be the servants of sin, are destroyed
with him. This makes the judgment the more remarkable,
the more dreadful, and, consequently, the more expressive of God's wrath and
vengeance. The destruction of the creatures was their deliverance from the
bondage of corruption, which deliverance the whole creation now groans after,
Rom. viii. 21, 22. It was likewise an instance of God's wisdom. As the
creatures were made for man when he was made, so they were multiplied for him
when he was multiplied; and therefore, now that mankind was reduced to so
small a number, it was fit that the beasts should proportionably be reduced,
otherwise they would have had the dominion, and would have replenished the
earth, and the remnant of mankind that was left would have been overpowered by
them. See how God considered this in another case, Exod. xxiii. 29, Lest
the beast of the field multiply against thee.
2. All the men,
women, and children, that were in the world (except that were in the ark)
died. Every man (v. 21 and v. 23), and perhaps they were
as many as are now upon the face of the earth, if not more. Now, (1.) We may
easily imagine what terror and consternation seized on them when they saw
themselves surrounded. Our Saviour tells us that till the very day that the
flood came they were eating and drinking (Luke xvii. 26, 27); they were
drowned in security and sensuality before they were drowned in those waters,
crying Peace, peace, to themselves, deaf and blind to all divine
warnings. In this posture death surprised them, as 1 Sam. xxx. 16, 17. But O
what an amazement were they in then! Now they see and feel that which they
would not believe and fear, and are convinced of their folly when it is too
late; now they find no place for repentance, though they seek it carefully
with tears. (2.) We may suppose that they tried all ways and means possible
for their preservation, but all in vain. Some climb to the tops of trees or
mountains, and spin out their terrors there awhile. But the flood reaches
them, at last, and they are forced to die with the more deliberation. Some, it
is likely, cling to the ark, and now hope that this may be their safety which
they had so long made their sport. Perhaps some get to the top of the ark, and
hope to shift for themselves there; but either they perish there for want of
food, or, by a speedier despatch, a dash of rain washes them off that deck.
Others, it may be, hoped to prevail with Noah for admission into the ark, and
pleaded old acquaintance, Have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence? Hast
thou not taught in our streets? "Yes," might Noah say,
"that I have, many a time, to little purpose. I called but you
refused; you set at nought all my counsel (Prov. i. 24, 25), and now it is
not in my power to help you: God has shut the door, and I cannot open
it." Thus it will be at the great day. Neither climbing high in an
outward profession, nor claiming relation to good people, will bring men to
heaven, Matt. vii. 22; xxv. 8, 9. Those that are not found in Christ, the ark,
are certainly undone, undone for ever; salvation itself cannot save them. See
Isa. x. 3. (3.) We may suppose that some of those that perished in the deluge
had themselves assisted Noah, or were employed by him, in the building of the
ark, and yet were not so wise as by repentance to secure themselves a place in
it. Thus wicked ministers, though they may have been instrumental to help
others to heaven, will themselves be thrust down to hell.
Let us now pause
awhile and consider this tremendous judgment! Let our hearts meditate terror,
the terror of this destruction. Let us see, and say, It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God; who can stand before him when he is
angry? Let us see and say, It is an evil thing, and a bitter, to depart
from God. The sin of sinners will, without repentance, be their ruin,
first or last; if God be true, it will. Though hand join in hand, yet the
wicked shall not go unpunished. The righteous God knows how to bring a
flood upon the world of the ungodly, 2 Pet. ii. 5. Eliphaz appeals to this
story as a standing warning to a careless world (Job xxii. 15, 16), Hast
thou marked the old way, which wicked men have trodden, who were cut down out
of time, and sent into eternity, whose foundation was overflown with
the flood?
II. The special
preservation of Noah and his family: Noah only remained alive, and those
that were with him in the ark, v. 23. Observe, 1. Noah lives. When
all about him were monuments of justice, thousands falling on his right hand
and ten thousands on his left, he was a monument of mercy. Only with his eyes
might he behold and see the reward of the wicked, Ps. xci. 7, 8. In
the floods of great waters, they did not come nigh him, Ps. xxxii. 6. We
have reason to think that, while the long-suffering of God waited, Noah not
only preached to, but prayed for, that wicked world, and would have turned
away the wrath; but his prayers return into his own bosom, and are answered
only in his own escape, which is plainly referred to, Ezek. xiv. 14, Noah,
Daniel, and Job, shall but deliver their own souls. A mark of honour shall
be set on intercessors. 2. He but lives. Noah remains alive, and this is all;
he is, in effect, buried alive--cooped up in a close place, alarmed with the
terrors of the descending rain, the increasing flood, and the shrieks and
outcries of his perishing neighbours, his heart overwhelmed with melancholy
thoughts of the desolations made. But he comforts himself with this, that he
is in the way of duty and in the way of deliverance. And we are taught (Jer.
xlv. 4, 5) that when desolating judgments are abroad we must not seek great
nor pleasant things to ourselves, but reckon it an unspeakable favour if we
have our lives given us for a prey.
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