Genesis 7:13-24: a reflection

13In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— 14they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noah. 16Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; then the LORD shut him in. 17The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. 19The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 20The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. 24The waters flooded the earth one hundred fifty days.

The flood is a terrible passage, and it should not be tidied away: the waters rose, and all flesh died, every living thing on the land blotted out, only Noah and those with him left. It is one of Scripture's dark and sweeping scenes, and it does not spare us. But in the middle of it there is a small line easy to miss: they went in, and the LORD shut him in.

Notice that detail. Noah did not seal the door himself; God shut it behind him. The same God whose judgment the flood was, personally closed the ark and kept Noah safe inside. The very waters that destroyed everything else are the waters that lifted the ark up and carried it. Judgment and rescue are running at the same time, and the hand that shut the door was the hand that saved.

There is comfort in that shut door, and also a sober honesty. God provided a refuge, and he closed it with his own hand around those he kept. If you are one who has been brought inside, the safety is not your own doing; it is his, sealed by him. And the darkness of the rest of the scene is a reminder not to presume. Take shelter where God provides it, and trust that the hand that shuts the door around you is the same hand that holds you through the flood.

Lord, you shut the door of the ark with your own hand and kept Noah through the flood. Bring me into the refuge you provide, and hold me safe inside it through every rising water.