What is the meaning of Genesis 7:20? The waters rose - Genesis 7:17–18 tells us, “For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth”. The repeated statement that the waters “rose” stresses unstoppable, divinely driven judgment, echoing Job 12:15 where the Lord “releases” waters that “overwhelm the earth.” - This is not regional or symbolic; the rising waters display God’s power over the entire creation, anticipating Peter’s reminder that “the world of that time perished, having been deluged with water” (2 Peter 3:6). - For Noah’s family, the rising waters underscore God’s faithfulness—He warned, provided an ark (Genesis 6:14–16), and now proves His word true (Hebrews 11:7). Covered the mountaintops - Genesis 7:19 emphasizes, “all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered”. By pairing “all” with “under all the heavens,” the text rules out a local flood and affirms a global scope. - Psalm 104:6–9 poetically recalls the same scene: “You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.” God’s sovereignty extends to the highest peaks; nothing escapes His judgment. - Jesus later uses this very flood to warn of coming judgment (Matthew 24:37–39). If the mountains were covered once, final judgment will be just as comprehensive. To a depth of fifteen cubits - A cubit is roughly 18 inches, so fifteen cubits equal about 22 feet (6.7 m). That depth matters for at least two reasons: • It assures enough clearance for the ark—whose draft would have been less than fifteen cubits (compare the ark’s 30-cubit height in Genesis 6:15)—to float safely above every summit. • It supplies a measurable, historical detail, reinforcing that this account is literal, eyewitness history, not myth. - The ark’s eventual landing “on the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4) confirms that the vessel indeed passed above even the highest ridges before the waters receded. summary Genesis 7:20 records that floodwaters climbed high enough to submerge every mountain by about twenty-two feet, proving a worldwide judgment exactly as God had warned. The verse underlines the Lord’s total control over creation, the reliability of His word, and the safety He provides to those who trust Him—as Noah did in the ark, so we do in Christ today. |
    |