And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.
Gen 7:23
Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark
The almost solitary preservation of a good man from imminent and long-continued peril
I.
THEN MORAL GOODNESS IS SOMETIMES A SAFEGUARD FROM THE IMMINENT PERILS OF LIFE.
II. THEN MORAL GOODNESS IS SIGNALLY HONOURED AND REWARDED BY GOD.
III. THEN MORAL GOODNESS MAY SOMETIMES BRING A MAN INTO THE MOST UNUSUAL AND EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. It may make a man lonely in his occupation and life mission, even though he be surrounded by a crowded world; it may make him unique in his character, and it may render him solitary in his preservation and safety. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
God destroys that He may save
A mariner in a storm would very fain save his goods, but to save his ship he heaves them overboard, a tender-hearted mother corrects her child, whereas the stripes are deeper in her heart than in its flesh. As it was said of a judge who, being about to pass sentence of death upon an offender, said, I do that good which I would not. Thus God, more loving than the careful mariner, more tender than the indulgent mother, and more merciful than the pitiful judge, is willingly unwilling that any sinner should die. He punisheth no man as he is a man, but as he is a sinful man; He loves him, yet turns him over to justice. It is Gods work to punish, but it is withal His strange work, His strange and foreign act, not His good will and pleasure. (J. Spencer.)
Noahs sojourn in the ark
Now, first of all, it was a great mercy to escape the wickedness of a wicked world, to be delivered from the blasphemies, the daring excess of iniquity which abounded openly on every side, to be rescued from sights and sounds that only jarred upon a soul that thirsted for the living God; when the door was closed, and the little Church and family of God were separated from the sinners; when the rain descended and the world began to drown; when Noah and his children felt themselves alone with God, there must have been an inexpressible sensation of release. However awful the scene without, they were able to live without disturbance, and to be at rest. And yet while in this, their awful and most merciful severance from the world, we see some, though lesser, trials. As that calm and holy house moved on from day to day, from month to month, was there not with all its peace, with all its opportunity of undisturbed intercourse with God, the loss of much that had rejoiced the soul? As day rose on day, must not the sense of confinement and restraint have come at times over the faithful Noah and his sons? Must there not have risen some longings for the green meadows and the evening walk, the beauty of the fields and the cheerful sights of Gods excellent works, that give great pleasure to godly men? To be shut in that lonely house, and to see the spring and the summer come round, the changing seasons without any change to them, all watery and blank without, must have been a trial; and yet the very fact of such a cutting off from the world and worldly things, of such loss and privation of pleasures, innocent and allowed, likens this sojourn in the ark to a long and holy fast–a lengthened Lent filling up the circle of a year. But still, we may be sure that Noah looked upon it as a space of retirement, which was to be carefully husbanded and spent for the profit of his soul. The very loss of innocent delights, the very separation from the world, must have led Noah to search for some proper duties and proper work, there providentially assigned, and there to be fulfilled. We cannot but believe that the months were crowded with constant meditations on the things of God, constant liftings up of soul, and constant exercises of faith. No idle space was it to the man of God, and, though inactive as regards the labours of the world, it was a season of spiritual husbandry and of inward toil. And thus when Noah walked forth on that sort of Easter time of the visible material world, he was doubtless all the more prepared for future trials, with a still firmer trust in God, a still sublimer faith, a deeper knowledge of the things of God, and with a larger measure of spiritual strength. And now to turn from the stay of Noah in the ark to ourselves, it is true that, while such a kind of retirement from the world can never be given to us, and that such a length of retirement may never be given, yet God does carry us away, at times, from active life, and shuts upon us the door of our house, as it were the door of the ark. Often in the midst of our life, our hand is forced from the plough, our feet from the crowded ways of the world; and even of the guileless pleasures which good men may find in the works of God, we are for a time deprived.
Surely, in our wiser and more thoughtful hours, we may thank God for these forced seasons of retirement, forced upon us that we may escape the pollutions of the world, study our Saviours will and word, give ourselves to fervent and more frequent prayer, commune with our heart and in our chamber, and be still–examine the tenor of our past lives, repent deeply, and at length, of those things which we have done amiss and contrary to the motions of the Spirit of grace, break off evil habits that have been formed, or are beginning to be formed, and by dwelling on all the love and all the truths of Jesus our Lord, be moved to consecrate ourselves afresh to Him, and to make our sickness the beginning of a more holy life. (Bp. Armstrong.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
This is so often repeated, that it may be more deeply ingrafted into the dull minds and hard hearts of men, to teach men that they ought again and again to consider this dreadful instance of Gods justice against sin and incorrigible sinners.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground,…. Not everything, particularly trees; for after the flood was abated there was an olive tree, a leaf of which was brought to Noah by the dove, Ge 8:11 but all animals,
both men and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth; this is repeated, partly for explanation of the preceding clause, and partly for confirmation of this general destruction, which might seem almost incredible; there never was such a destruction of creatures before, or since, nor never will be till the general conflagration; and is a proof of the sovereignty of God, his almighty power, the purity and holiness of his nature, and the strictness and severity of his justice, and shows what a fearful thing it is to fail into his hands:
and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark; besides those, of the millions of mankind that were upon the earth, not one was left, the flood came and destroyed them all,
Lu 17:27 the fable some Jewish writers relate of Og being found alive, and which they gather from De 3:11 by sitting upon a piece of wood of one of the ladders of the ark, to whom Noah reached out food every day, and so he remained alive q, deserves no regard; though perhaps from hence arose the Grecian fable of the flood of Ogyges, which seems to be the same with this of Noah.
q Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. fol. 23. 1, 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) Every living substance.Every thing that stood erect (See Note on Gen. 7:4.)
Upon the face of the ground.The admh, the portion subdued to his use by the adam, man.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.
Ver. 23. And every living substance was destroyed. ] That all ensuing ages, considering this standing monument of God’s wrath against sin (whence once it is become, as physicians say of some diseases, corruptio totius substantiae ), might hear, and fear, and do no more so.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
living substance = standing thing
destroyed. Hebrew wiped out.
Noah. See 1Pe 3:20. 2Pe 2:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
every living substance: The most incontestable evidence has been afforded of the universality of this fact. t he moose deer, a native of America, has been found buried in Ireland; elephants, native of Asia and Africa, in the midst of England; crocodiles, natives of the Nile, in the heart of Germany; and shell fish, never known in any but the American seas, with the entire skeletons of whales, in the most inland counties of England. Gen 7:21, Gen 7:22, Job 22:15-17, Isa 24:1-8, Mat 24:37-39, Luk 17:26, Luk 17:27, 1Pe 3:20, 2Pe 2:5
and Noah: Exo 14:28-30, Job 5:19, Psa 91:1, Psa 91:9, Psa 91:10, Pro 11:4, Eze 14:14-20, Mal 3:17, Mal 3:18, Mat 25:46, Heb 11:7, 1Pe 3:20, 2Pe 2:5, 2Pe 2:9, 2Pe 3:6
Reciprocal: Gen 5:29 – he called Gen 6:13 – with Gen 7:4 – destroy 2Sa 4:11 – from Job 12:15 – he sendeth Psa 91:7 – General Luk 3:36 – Noe Phi 3:9 – be
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:23 And every living substance was destroyed {h} which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only {i} remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.
(h) That is, by God.
(i) Learn what it is to obey God only, and to forsake the multitude, 1Pe 3:20.