Genesis 7:1-5

Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. Every living thing that I have made, I will destroy from the surface of the ground.”

Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.

We were told earlier that Noah was one of the men in those days who “walked with God.” We also we read that Noah was righteous before God. Not much is explained at this point in the Bible about what righteousness is, but in the New Testament we learn quite a bit more after Jesus revealed it to the apostles. God gives righteousness to those who believe in Him and Noah is recognized as a person of his time that had faith in God when almost everyone else didn’t. Here’s what it says about Noah in Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:7 :

By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

So, from the rest of the Bible we know that Noah’s righteousness came from the fact that he believed God and took action based on that belief. Notice how faith and action are connected. That is a consistent theme in the Bible. We can’t just say we believe something. What we believe will be demonstrated in our actions. Noah demonstrated his faith in God by doing exactly what God told him to do.

Bible Interpretation: God says “seven days” here as well as “forty days and forty nights.” Isn’t it interesting that no one doubts the meaning of the word “day” here like they do in the first chapter? Could Noah been on the boat for 40,000 days? We make the appropriate assumption that God is talking about 40 days here. We should be consistent and apply the same rules when reading chapter one.