Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #21 of Genesis, chapter 6 and we are going to read Genesis 6:16:

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

I will stop reading there. We are continuing to read God’s commandments concerning the building of the ark. These are His directions to Noah and this is exactly how he was to build the ship that would provide deliverance from the flood that God would bring upon the earth 120 years later. Noah was to build the ark according to God’s specifications.

We have already seen that in giving the information to Noah concerning the instructions for building the ark that would provide deliverance, God hid much truth in the words that were used. We saw this with the word “gopher” wood, as the word “gopher” is related to “brimstone.” We saw that the word translated as “rooms” was related to “nests.” There were two Hebrew words that were used for the word “pitch” and they identified with the “atonement” and “ransom.” We also saw that the word “within” was the word translated as “house.”

We have also seen through the dimensions given for the ark that these numbers identified with spiritual truths. Everything about the ark had a deeper, spiritual meaning (a Gospel meaning) as God was giving this historical parable. As Noah would get to work to build the ark according to God’s instructions, Noah was actively illustrating God’s salvation program or His Gospel program.

So, too, as the Lord continues to give further instructions, He says in our verse in Genesis 6:16:

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above…

Again, we have seen that fairly typical English words have hidden meanings because of the Hebrew words from which they were translated. Sometimes the translators were not certain why God was giving a particular word, like the word “pitch,” which is actually the word for “atonement.” But when God is talking about a vessel, why would you say, “Make an atonement within”? It just did not make sense to the translators because they were trying to fit it into the historical context.

This is where some of the “literal” translations also fail in some areas, like the Jay Green Interlinear. Jay Green did not go with the literal word, but he also tried to provide some meaning just like the translators tried to do. And, yet, God knew exactly what He wanted to say because of all the underlying spiritual meanings He wanted to convey.

It is the same situation in Genesis, chapter 6, verse 16 where it is translated as “window.” It is Strong’s #6672 and there is no way it should have been translated as “window,” if you were going to do a literal interpretation of the original Hebrew. As a matter of fact, this may be one of the strangest translations, even compared to some of the recent translations we just look at, because the Hebrew word is only translated as “window” in our verse, but it is found 24 times in the Old Testament; the 23 other times it is translated differently. This same Hebrew word is found a couple of times in Genesis, chapter 43. It says in Genesis 43:16:

And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

Then it says in Genesis 43:25:

And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

The word “noon” is a translation of the same word translated as “window” in our verse.

This word is also found in Deuteronomy 28:29:

And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness…

Also, it says in 1Kings 18:26:

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon…

It is also repeated in 1Kings 18:27:

And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them…

It says in 1Kings 18:29:

And it came to pass, when midday was past…

Here, the word “midday” is our word and that is what describes “noon.” It is the middle of the day; the day starts at 6 a.m. and six hours later it is “noon” or “midday,” and six hours after that is the end of the day. That is the Biblical day. It is 12 hours long, according to Christ: “Are there not twelve hours in a day?”

It says in Psalm 37:6:

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

It also says in Psalm 91:6:

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Let us look at one more verse, in Amos 8:9:

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord JEHOVAH, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

So we see this word used in the context of judgment, like in Deuteronomy 28, verse 29 and in Psalm 36, verse 6, where it refers to “judgment as the noonday.” Or, we see in Psalm 91, verse 6 that destruction “wasteth at noonday,” so there is a relationship between the word translated as “noon” with “judgment.” That is in keeping with other words we have seen identified with the ark: the word “gopher” was relates to the word for “brimstone;” the word “pitch” relates to “atonement” and to “ransom,” both of which had to do with the payment for sin, which is judgment.

As God is speaking of a “window” on the ark, we should note that there was actually a window on the ark. It says in Genesis 8:6-7:

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

Here, the word for “window” is a word that God used over 30 times in the Old Testament as either “window” or “windows.” It is used in connection with the ark that God directed Noah to build, so the question is: Why did not God use this word (Strong’s #2374) which is the common word for “window” when He commanded Noah in our verse in Genesis 6, verse 16? There can only be one reason and that is that God wanted to use the word that should be translated as “noonday” in order to connect what He is saying in regard to the building of the ark to “judgment” and what happens when the wrath of God is poured out. We will get into this in detail, Lord willing, when we move into Genesis, chapter 7 and we read of the seven-day warning that God gave to Noah. Yet, we are fully aware that 2Peter, chapter 3 ties “one day” with a “thousand years,” so the warning of seven days was actually a warning of seven thousand years. God was telling mankind that they had seven thousand years to gain entry into the Lord Jesus Christ, as typified by the ark, and then the door would shut and God’s salvation program would come to a close on May 21, 2011, after 23 years or 8,400 days to the very day. May 21, 2011 had the underlying date of the seventeenth day of the Hebrew second month and that was the selfsame day that God shut the door to the ark, after that seven-day warning. So the Lord has indicated that it is the beginning of Judgment Day and the beginning of the pouring out of His wrath. It was also the end of the Great Tribulation and the Bible tells us that “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,” and so forth.

Through using the word translated as “noonday,” the Lord has elaborated further in other verses about the darkening of the sun at noonday. He is further directing our focus on the wrath of God and judgment and what will happen once that judgment comes – there will be no more light of the Gospel. So, in our verse, it literally would read, “A noonday shalt thou make to the ark.” We know that it must also refer to the literal window and it could be that since “noon” is in the middle, then maybe the window of the ark was in the middle of the ark, but we do not know that information. We’re not going to try to discuss this now, but when God speaks of the window in chapter 8 where the raven and dove went forth, we need to remember that the window is tied to the “noonday,” which is tied to judgment. It certainly will have other elements that need to be taken into consideration when we get to that point.

But, again, it says in our verse in Genesis 6:16:

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above…

The Hebrew word “finish” is Strong’s #3615 and it is the word that is used concerning Solomon’s temple. The house was finished, as we read in 1Kings 6:38 when the construction of the temple was finished.

It is also translated as “ended,” as we see in Jeremiah 8, verse 20, where it says, “The summer has ended.” So, we could understand our verse to read, “And in a cubit shalt thou end it above.”

It is also the same word translated as “accomplished” in Daniel 11, verse 6 regarding when the “indignation is accomplished,” pointing to the wrath of God.

With the house finished, we can see the completion of God’s salvation program, as the house was a picture of the living temple that is made up of “living stones” of God’s elect. Once God saved the last of the elect, the house of God was finished, which points to the conclusion of God’s salvation program when the last name recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life had been saved. Then God, as it were, “finished” the ark – He completed it. At that point, He was able to shut the door and to begin to pour out His wrath and that is what happened on May 21, 2011. The Lord had moved in His people to be watchmen and when they saw the sword of the wrath of God coming (on the pages of the Bible), they blew the trumpet, which identifies with the Word of God. They declared what the Bible said and they blew the trumpet and warned the world with the worldwide proclamation that was unprecedented in the history of the world. That is a fact. Never before in human history spanning over 13,000 years had the nations ever heard this judgment warning that was declared with such authority and with a certain sound. The Bible says that if you give an uncertain sound, who would prepare to the battle? That is how God willed it as He opened up this information to His people to declare in absolute terms: May 21, 2011, Judgment Day! This was the message that was broadcast to the uttermost parts of the earth. The nations heard. And the nations of the elect heard and were baptized in the Holy Spirit and all the nations of the elect became saved as God completed His salvation program for this earth.

The ark’s construction is very similar in its idea to the construction of the house of God. It points to Christ. It points to His body. The ark was finished and now it became a vessel to deliver and a vessel of refuge to the children of God and it reminds us of Scriptures like Isaiah 26:20:

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

God’s people enter in and all the elect are in Christ and then God shut the door and ends it – He finished His salvation program. He finished His house. He finished the “ark” and it is simultaneous with the wrath of God being poured out and judgment beginning on the inhabitants of the earth. And this relates to what God says in our verse: “A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above.” It will be ended.

Then it goes on to say in Genesis 6:16:

… and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

Of course, the door of the ark is very important. It is the door that would permit entry and, once shut, that door would keep everyone else out of the ark that desired to enter in when it was too late. God controls the door. It is significant that neither Noah nor his wife nor his sons nor their wives shut the door. The Bible is very specific that the Lord shut him in. God took the action. He is the one that closed the door and that is what the Bible tells – the Lord Jesus Christ has the keys and what he opens no man can shut and what He shuts no man can open.

The door is extremely important, like every other word that we have searched out. We must check the Bible and find Biblical definitions. God provides a very clear definition of what the door of the ark represents and it really fills us in concerning His salvation program regarding when the door is open and when the door is shut.

It is also significant that the door was “set in the side thereof,” and, Lord willing, we will take a look at that in our next study. If you have time, check out the words, “lower, second and third,” especially the word “lower.” The ark was set in three stories or three levels. God does not say, “first, second, and third,” but He says, “lower, second, and third.” That is because when the flood would come and lift up the ark, what would happen to the first story of the ship? It would sink below the water line and it becomes the lower portion and that portion is in the water. The other portions of the ship are above the water, but there is a lower portion that is submerged and the entire time the water covered the earth this portion was beneath the water. And the water represents the wrath of God. It is very possible that Noah and his family lived in the lower level of the vessel.

You know, the Bible does indicate that when we are bidden to a feast (like being called to Christ and the kingdom of heaven), we are to take the “lowest room.” It says in Luke 14:8-11:

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

When the elect are bidden, they go to the “lowest room,” so it is very possible that Noah and his family had their room(s) in the lowest level.

I was on a ship when I was in the Navy and below deck is where the bunks were located and many of the crew slept in levels of the ship that were beneath the waterline. It is fairly common for a vessel to have its company beneath the waterline. That can prove very interesting when we are looking at what God is doing during these days after the Tribulation with His elect that are still living on the earth in the Day of Judgment. On May 21, 2011 it came and it is as though we gained entry into the ark at that point. We entered into that safe chamber and the door was shut behind us. It is as though we are floating upon the water. We are floating in the ship that is upon the waters as the wrath of God is destroying everything around us, but we are safe and secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, yet, a portion of the ship is beneath the water; it is the lower portion. Through this word, God does relate our experience today with what happened to the Noah and his family in the ark.