Big Buts of the Bible

Take a look at Genesis 7.

There isn’t much in Genesis 7 that feels hopeful. The flood comes. The waters rise. The earth disappears beneath them.

And tucked safely inside the ark are Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives—and a representative gathering of the animal kingdom.

Seven pairs of every kind of clean animal. One pair of every kind of unclean animal.

With that many animals aboard, you do have to wonder whether the nautical term poop deck found its genesis aboard Noah’s ark.

Sorry. Had to.

But look beyond the obvious details of the story for a moment, because there is hope hidden in God’s instructions.

But Only

We’ll have to borrow our but from another translation this week. The NIV doesn’t give us one here, but the Good News Translation renders God’s instructions:

“Take with you seven pairs of each kind of ritually clean animal, but only one pair of each kind of unclean animal.”

There it is. And initially, it seems like little more than an inventory instruction. Seven of these. But only one pair of those. Got it.

Except God knows something Noah doesn’t yet fully understand.

There is going to be an after.

Noah is standing on one side of the flood. God is already making provision for the other.

Think about the timing. God gives these instructions before the rain begins. Before the waters rise. Before the world Noah knows disappears. Before Noah spends months floating on an endless expanse of water wondering when—or whether—life will ever feel normal again.

God is already preparing for what comes next.

And we discover one reason for those additional clean animals after Noah finally leaves the ark.

Genesis 8 tells us that one of Noah’s first acts on dry ground is to build an altar to the Lord and offer sacrifices from among the clean animals and birds.

God had provided for that worship before the flood ever began.

Noah didn’t know exactly what he would need on the other side. God did. There’s hope hidden in plain sight.

God sees beyond the storm.

When we’re caught in the middle of something overwhelming, our vision tends to shrink.

How do I get through today? How do I survive this? When will this end? What will be left when it’s over?

Those aren’t faithless questions. Sometimes they’re simply the questions people ask from inside an ark when all they can see out the window is water.

Genesis 7 reminds us that God’s vision extends farther than ours. While Noah was preparing for the storm, God was preparing for the morning after.

He was preserving life. He was making provision. He was already thinking about worship on dry ground. He was already preparing a future Noah couldn’t yet see.

That’s something worth carrying with you today.

Whatever storm you’re riding through, you may not be able to see what comes next. You may have no idea what life looks like when the waters finally recede.

But God does.

Sometimes His provision for tomorrow is already sitting quietly inside the ark with us today. We just don’t recognize it yet. That’s hope hidden in plain sight.