Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 7:1-24

Humans have a tendency to go along with the crowd. We want to be part of the majority. When most people have a certain moral standard, then it is assumed they are correct. Within Christianity, it is assumed that when the majority of Christians have a certain stand on a moral issue, then they must be right.

The life of Noah proves the fallacy of that philosophy. Noah and his family were the only people who survived the worldwide flood. They did not survive because they adopted the beliefs of the crowd. Instead, they survived because Noah was a contrarian. He was different than everyone else on earth.

The sixth chapter of Genesis tells us God told Noah to build an ark. God gave him the dimensions and told him what materials to use. As was Noah’s custom, he did exactly what God told him to do.

Gen. 7:1 ¶ Then Yahweh said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.

The pronoun “you” appears twice. In English we use the same spelling of the word “you” to indicate both singular and plural. However, the Biblical Hebrew 2nd person pronoun has different forms for singular and plural. In this verse, both occurrences of the word “you” are singular and refer to Noah.

Notice the word “alone”. Noah was the only person on earth at that time whom God saw to be righteous.

Look at the word “household”. Because Noah was righteous, he was able to save his entire household, even though the text does not say his children were righteous.

Humans naturally want to go along with the crowd. We want to be part of a group. It is hard for a human to take a stand that is contrary to popular opinion. People have a tendency to believe that the majority is correct.

The life of Noah proves the fallacy of that philosophy. Noah was in the minority. He was the only person on earth with his moral standard. However, he was right and everyone else was wrong.

Furthermore, Noah did not have a seminary degree. He was not a pastor of a mega-church. Instead, he was just a normal guy who decided to go against the culture and walk with Yahweh while everyone else on earth was being sinful. Because of his willingness to go against the crowd, he saved himself and his family.

The lesson for us is that the majority is not always correct. Sometimes, we need to stand alone in order to do the right thing. We also need to be aware that sometimes the majority of Christians may be wrong about what the Bible does and does not say.

Gen. 7:2 You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and his female;

Take note of the phrase “by sevens”. Most people believe Noah took two of every animal onto the ark, a male and a female. That is correct regarding unclean animals. However, Noah took seven pairs of all the clean animals.

Gen. 7:3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth.

Once again we see the word “seven”. Noah took seven pairs of the birds, not just one pair.

Gen. 7:4 For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”

Gen. 7:5 And Noah did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him.

Noah was obedient. He did exactly what Yahweh commanded him to do.

Gen. 7:6 ¶ Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.

Gen. 7:7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.

Gen. 7:8 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground,

Gen. 7:9 by twos they came to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Gen. 7:10 Now it happened after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.

Gen. 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep split open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

Gen. 7:12 Then the rain came upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

The word “forty” tells us it rained for forty days.

Gen. 7:13 ¶ On this very day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,

Gen. 7:14 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind—every fowl, every winged creature.

Gen. 7:15 So they came to Noah into the ark, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

Gen. 7:16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and Yahweh closed it behind him.

Gen. 7:17 ¶ Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water multiplied and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

Gen. 7:18 And the water prevailed and multiplied greatly upon the earth, and the ark went on the surface of the water.

Gen. 7:19 And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.

Take notice of the phrase “all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered”. Some people claim this was not a worldwide flood. However, if all the mountains under the heavens were covered, then this was indeed a flood that covered the entire world.

Gen. 7:20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.

Gen. 7:21 And all flesh that moved on the earth breathed its last, that is birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, as well as all mankind.

Gen. 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life—of all that was on the dry land—died.

Look at the word “all”. This flood did not merely kill some people and animals. It killed all people and animals that live on land. This reinforces the fact that this was a worldwide flood, not just some super flood that only covered a large portion of the earth.

Gen. 7:23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah remained, and those that were with him in the ark.

Gen. 7:24 And the water prevailed upon the earth 150 days.

We saw in verse 12 that it rained for forty days, but there was so much water, the earth was covered for 150 days.

Humans naturally want to go along with the crowd. It is hard for a human to take a stand that is contrary to popular opinion. We have a tendency to believe that the majority is correct.

Noah was in the minority. He was the only person on earth with his moral standard. However, he was right and everyone else was wrong. Because of his willingness to go against the crowd, he saved himself and his family.

The lesson for us is that the majority is not always correct. Sometimes, we need to stand alone in order to do the right thing. We also need to be aware that sometimes the majority of Christians may be wrong about what the Bible does and does not say.

What are some examples of the majority being wrong?

List some topics on which the majority of Christians are wrong about what the Bible does and does not say?

What beliefs have you adopted which are wrong, but you hold to them because the majority still holds to those beliefs?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”