genesis 7 and 8

The Hebrew paragraph divisions for these chapters are:

Gen 6:13-8:14 {s} Righteous preserved through the judgment of the wicked
Gen 8:15-9:7 {s} Blessing on the righteous, be fruitful and multiply

The paragraph containing the account of the Flood forms an elegant chiastic structure. Chiastic structures are another teaching tool embedded within Scripture. A chiastic structure is a narrative with a central point that is THE key point of the passage. The Spirit points to that point by having the narrative around it zero in on it like an arrow. No matter how many elements or ideas there are in the passage leading up to the central point, they will repeat in some way following the central point but in reverse order.

1a) Gen 6:13-16, Instructions for the preservation of the righteous;

1b) Gen 6:17, Warning of the coming judgment;

1c) Gen 6:18-22, Instructions on who and what will enter the ark;

1d) Gen 7:1-3, The command to enter the ark;

1e) Gen 7:4, After seven more days the flood will come;

1f) Gen 7:5, Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him;

central axis) Gen 7:6-9a, Noah was 600 years old when the flood came; Noah and his family entered the ark with the animals by twos;

2f) Gen 7:9b, As God had commanded Noah;

2e) Gen 7:10-12, After seven days the flood came;

2d) Gen 7:13-15, On that same day, they entered the ark;

2c) Gen 7:16, Who and what entered as the Lord commanded;

2b) Gen 7:17-24, Judgment of the wicked;

2a) Gen 8:1-14 {s} The preservation of the righteous.

Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Gen 7:1

Genesis is not preaching a gospel of salvation by righteous works, since the first thing we learn about Noah, is that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8). Grace came first. But out of that grace, Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him, and was righteous before God in his generation.

Scripture teaches a consistent and unchanging gospel of salvation from Genesis to Revelation:

“Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” Gen 7:23

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Joh 14:6

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Act 4:12

In fact, every nature and science museum in the world is declaring witness with a loud voice to that same gospel: that God judges sin, but in Messiah is salvation; He is the resurrection and the life. For they are filled with the fossils of all manner of animal and plant life, which were laid down with great amounts of sediment by water, and they have been found on every continent, including mountain tops. These fossils declare that what was once living came to their death catastrophically by a worldwide flood which covered the tops of the mountains (Gen 7:20); but that humans exist to view them in science museums testifies that one family, at least, was preserved alive through judgment.

Jesus Christ is the ark, and He is the open door (Joh 10:9). If we enter through Him while there is time, we will be saved, but if we enter not, we will likewise perish. For judgment for sin will come, and even though God delay, He will not tarry forever. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! ♥

For further reading:

Answers about Noah’s Ark
Gen 6:9-7:24, Teaching tool of comparison/ contrast
Gen 8:15-9:17, Chiastic structures
Studies in Genesis index