7:1
We now have the account of Noah entering the ark, along with his family, animals and birds. The Lord saves Noah because he is “righteous before me in this generation”. So how was Noah righteous? From the previous chapter it seems that Noah did act better than most people of the time, but in building the ark it showed that he trusted God. No one else would have thought building an ark was a sensible thing to do! Noah did it because he trusted God’s word. It is also noteworthy that we need to be righteous in order to be saved. God will not save the unrighteous. So Christ died on the cross in order to make us righteous.
7:2-5
Noah was to take seven pairs of all the clean animals and one pair of the unclean. God’s plan is to preserve life on earth. So we see both judgement on the sinfulness of man, and the preservation of life on earth. It is interesting that a distinction is drawn here between clean and unclean animals. This distinction is not brought in in detail until Moses and the Law, yet Noah seems to be expected to know the difference. It is possible that the clean animals were for food and/or sacrifice. Sacrifice came in with Cain and Abel. “Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him”. Obedience and faith go together. If we believe that God can be trusted then we will obey His commands.
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