And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
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This is a very interesting Chapter, in that it enables us to look back and read the destruction of the old world, by water; as the scriptures teach us to look forward to the sure destruction of the world that now is, by fire, in the great day of the Lord Jesus. We here behold Noah and his household entering into the ark, on the seventeenth day of the second month, in the year of the world, 1656, before Christ's manifestation in the flesh, 2348 years, and in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. The fountains of the great deep are broken up from beneath; the rains descend from above; and forty days without intermission, the deluge continues to increase, until the highest mountains are covered, and the waters prevail, to the depth of nine yards, above the surface of the earth. All flesh is destroyed excepting Noah, and those who are with him in the ark; and the flood continues upon the earth for the space of one hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
This invitation to Noah, if we consider the ark (as scripture authorizes us to do, See 1 Peter 3:20-21) as a type of Jesus, will be best explained by those parallel passages, Isaiah 26:20; then Matthew 11:28 and then Revelation 22:17. The first of them, is the call of God the Father: Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, etc. And what are those chambers, but the covenant of redemption, in Christ Jesus? The second is the invitation of Christ himself; Come unto me, and I will give you rest, etc. see also Isaiah 28:12; Jeremiah 6:16. And the third is the call of God the Holy Ghost; And the Spirit and the Bride say come, etc. proving the gracious part which that Eternal Spirit bears, in the work of redemption. Reader! is it not refreshing to the soul, to discover testimonies in every part of scripture, carrying with them such decided evidences to the truth as it is in Jesus? In this verse, also, God saith to Noah, Thee have I found righteous, etc. For the clear apprehension of this, consult Romans 4:3, and then compare it with Hebrews 11:7. No doubt but that the righteousness of Abraham and Noah was the same; believing in God, which was counted for righteousness.