All the Details: Genesis 7:1-10
It’s often for our benefit that God doesn’t reveal the scope of His plan when He comes to us and asks us to follow Him. Sometimes we can’t handle all the details. Consider Jesus’ ministry on earth. He didn’t invite people to come and watch Him die on the cross. He invited people to get into relationship; saving the crucifixion part for later when they could understand it better.
Seven days prior to the coming rain, God tells Noah to head into the boat. In the modern world, it might seem strange to seal oneself up into a large boat with that many animals for a whole week with nothing to do. This is God’s provision again.
Noah wasn’t working with modern waterproofing. The door needed to be shut, which was no simple process, and then it needed to be sealed. That sealant would need time to penetrate the wood and cure to remain watertight.
The animals would need to be sorted and housed. Knowing animals – barring some sort of divine intervention to make them all docile – they would need to get used to their surroundings prior to the initiation of the most intense thunderstorm ever created.
Noah’ family also needed time to get situated and learn new routines. They would need to learn to manage a robust compact zoo. This would need some practice before the boat started floating around.
They did at least know the plan. Enough rain to flood the earth was coming. Why else would Noah need an ark? God does not leave Noah completely in the dark about His plan.
Yet, God does not reveal the whole plan. God doesn’t tell Noah how long they would be on the ark. God tells Noah about forty days of rain, but he doesn’t tell Noah it would take more than eleven months before they could leave the boat. This is a moment of God’s grace.
Imagine being told you were righteous enough to be saved when everyone else was slated to die. That feels like a reward. Then, imagine being told to be saved, you would have to build an immense boat. That feels more like work than a reward, but it still leads to salvation so it’s okay. Imagine being told it would rain for forty days. That might make sense, because for the oceans and lakes to rise and make a flood, there would need to be a long stretch of rain.
Now imagine being told you were going to sit on that boat for over a year and do nothing but care for the zoo and be unable to leave the confines of the boat. That’s where the anxiety kicks in. That’s where claustrophobia might kick in. God’s merciful in saving Noah; God’s gracious in not revealing all the details to him. It’s often for our benefit that God doesn’t reveal the scope of His plan when He comes to us and asks us to follow Him.
