OliveGrove
Pressing the Word of God for Deeper Understanding.
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Genesis 6:14-22

God provides a means of salvation in judgment, and faithful obedience responds to His word.

Open in Study
Scripture Text

6:14 Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.

6:15 This is how You shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

6:16 You shall make a roof in the ship, and You shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels.

6:17 I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.

6:18 But I will establish my covenant with You. You shall come into the ship, You, Your sons, Your wife, and Your sons’ wives with You.

6:19 Of every living thing of all flesh, You shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with You. They shall be male and female.

6:20 Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to You, to keep them alive.

6:21 Take with You some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to Yourself; and it will be for food for You, and for them.”

6:22 Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded Him.

Anchor

God provides a means of salvation in judgment, and faithful obedience responds to His word.

Genesis 6:14-22 details God’s command to Noah to construct the ark for the preservation of life, establishes His covenantal intention, and demonstrates Noah’s obedience in carrying out all that God commanded.

Point of Contact

That people would trust God’s provision for salvation and respond with wholehearted obedience to His commands.

Rhythm
  1. 6:1–4 Human multiplication is accompanied by a troubling corruption associated with the sons of God, the daughters of men, and the Nephilim, setting a tone of increasing disorder.
  2. 6:5–7 The Lord sees that human wickedness is great, that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil continually, and He announces judgment on mankind and the created order.
  3. 6:8 In sharp contrast to universal corruption, Noah finds favor in the eyes of the Lord.
  4. 6:9–12 Noah is described as righteous, blameless in His generation, and one who walked with God, while the earth is shown to be corrupt and filled with violence.
  5. 6:13–17 God reveals His decision to bring a flood of judgment upon all flesh and instructs Noah to build an ark.
  6. 6:18–21 God declares His covenant with Noah and gives instructions for preservation of Noah’s household and the animal kinds.
  7. 6:22 Noah responds in comprehensive obedience, doing all that God commanded Him.
Watch Out
  • Do not treat the ark as merely a historical structure without theological meaning.
  • Do not minimize the importance of Noah’s obedience.
  • Do not ignore the covenantal aspect of God’s promise.
  • Do not separate God’s judgment from His provision of salvation.
  • Do not assume salvation can be achieved apart from God’s appointed means.
  • Do not overlook the precision of God’s instructions.
  • Do not detach this passage from the broader flood narrative.
  • Do not interpret Noah’s obedience as partial or optional.
Canonical Thread
Gospel Clarity

God provides a specific and sufficient means of salvation from judgment, and those who trust and obey His word are preserved.