Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“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. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.” Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.”
(Genesis 7:1-5)

God was INVITING Noah into the ark, into His salvation. Because of God’s mercy and grace.

God specified how many animals to take in. Pairs for reproduction, and others for sacrificing. God provided for everything. Noah’s need for giving God glory. The Earth’s need for new life, new babies, and the fulfillment of God’s command to spread and replenish the Earth (Genesis 1:28). He also specified which ones were clean and unclean – a concept that was codified in the Law, but clearly existed from God’s point of view long before that.

It was a total move of trust to enter the ark a week before it rained. No evidence that the last hundred years was worth it. No evidence anything at all was about to happen. Yet Noah did EVERYTHING that the Lord commanded him to. Whether it made sense to him or not, whether it was logical or not, without evidence at all, Noah OBEYED. This is evidence that he WAS a man who followed God and sought His righteousness.

The sage Ramban writes: ‘COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. Noah constructed the ark many days before the flood, and when the time of the flood arrived on the tenth day of the second month, He again commanded him that he and all his household come into the ark. This is why He said to him at first: thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. He thereby informed him that on account of his merit alone they will be saved since He did not say, “Ye [in the plural] I have seen righteous before Me.” And He commanded that he take and bring of the clean beasts and clean fowl seven and seven, and then He informed him of the day of the flood, at which time he was to come into the ark.’

The sage Steinsaltz writes: ‘The Lord said to Noah: Come you and your entire household into the ark, for I have seen you to be righteous before Me in this generation. Unlike the animals, who were selected at random to enter the ark, you were chosen from all humans because of your righteousness. From every pure animal you shall take to you seven pairs, each pair composed of a male and his mate. It is commonly explained that this is referring to animals that would later be considered pure, kosher according to halakha. It is possible, however, that the distinction between pure and impure animals is an ancient one, which predates the giving of the Torah. And of the animals that are not pure, two, a male and his mate; literally, a man and his wife. Since the Torah is speaking of specific pairs of animals, who are to be the sole survivors of that species, it refers to the male and female animal with the unusual expression of a man and his wife. Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. Although Noah had not yet seen any actual flooding, he still entered the ark in obedience with God’s command, as he believed His word.’