Genesis 7:11–16 (ESV)
Noah and the Flood (Part 5)
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were
opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s
wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth,
according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And
those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
Notice that we get the month and day when the
rain began: Second month, 17th Day… When Noah was 600 years old. We are still in the beginning of the Bible, Genesis, Chapter 7, and we are seeing a 12-month calendar year. The year is already laid out, in fact it began
with a 7 day week in the creation. We also see that it rained for forty days and nights. So that means that Noah was on the ark for forty days and nights. True. But, he (they) were on the ark for a much longer time. Eight people
entered the ark along with all the animals, birds, and creeping things (2 unclean and 7 pairs of clean). And then… something neat happens. “The Lord shut him (them) in.” So who closed the big door on the ark? God
did!
I pray: O Lord. You told Noah to build an ark and how to build it. You brought the animals to the ark. You even closed the
door. You caused the rain to fall. Help me to listen, trust, and to act on your Word. Amen.