God Shut Them In: Genesis 7:11-24
Only God can shut us in and deliver us from His judgment. He is the all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful Holy One. He is the source of all strength and all wisdom. All that we have that is good comes from Him.
The flood story is a tale of two sides of the same coin. That coin is God’s righteousness. On one hand, a remnant is saved. On the other hand, judgment comes and many die.
Noah, his sons, their wives, any kids they may or may not have had, and a pair of every animal enter the ark. The ritually pure animals got more representatives, probably for consumption and sacrifices later, but the Bible doesn’t speak to the details of life upon the ark. Noah listened to God and prepared for this day. Through obedience to the Lord, Noah and his family find salvation.
God seals them in. This doesn’t mean Noah and his sons didn’t do their part. It’s possible the hand of God shut the ark from the outside and kept it secure. It’s more likely, though, that this passage refers to the general condition of God protecting the ark. As the rains came, God’s plan kept the ark from becoming waterlogged. As the waters rose, God kept the ark upright and buoyant. Once the ark lifted from the ground, God kept it from getting hung up in the ridges of the land. As the waters continued to rise, God kept the ark in the proper eddies so it wouldn’t hurt the underside of the hull. As the global ocean rose and massive waves formed under the storm, God kept the ark from capsizing.
God shut them in. He protected them. Noah survived because God made it happen.
The waters prevail. The land-dwelling animals died. The birds of the sky eventually lost places to land, to nest, or to feed. Humanity perishes with them.
Noah was not the only shipwright alive. Other people had boats. They could float upon the rising water, too. The problem, though, was they did not have God’s protection. How many of the other boats filled with water and eventually sunk? How many other boats were too small to handle the waves and capsized? How many other boats weren’t stocked with provisions and the people upon them eventually starved? Knowing humanity, there can be little doubt that as the waters rose human beings tried to think their way out of God’s judgment. Without God’s protection, there was no way out. The rains were too intense. The waves were too big. The period without access to resources was too long. Anyone trying to think their way through to the end didn’t have God’s provision on their side and they perished.
Only He knows what the future holds. Only He knows how to bring us to eternal life with Him. Only He can protect us from the trials of the world. Only God can shut us in and deliver us from His judgment.
