Why God Shut the Door

It is probable that anyone who has read the historical account of the flood in the book of Genesis is probably familiar with what Moses wrote by inspiration concerning the closing of the ark. Genesis 7:16 – “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.” I’ve often wondered, as you most likely have, why God chose to close the door rather than have Noah and his family do it. He told Noah to do everything else, and every command Noah was given he obeyed (Gen. 6:22). So why not just tell Noah to close the door?

1. God shut the door to keep everything out, out.  If God closes a door it’s closed. Nobody is going to open it without His approval. It may have been that God was sealing the door and making it impossible for anything, even one drop of water, to enter the vessel that was carrying the future world. It seems fairly apparent from the first reading of the text that in shutting the door God was making it impossible for anything or anyone else to enter the ark once the door was closed. In the shutting of that door, God had chosen to put to death every living thing outside. It became a door of judgment when God closed it.

2. Got shut the door to keep everything in, in. Just as it became impossible to penetrate the entrance to the ark once God had closed the door, it should be noted that it became just as impossible to exit. God was keeping all of the animals inside in order to preserve each species. It was God’s intention that the animals and man would survive. The only way to guarantee that life for each species would continue was to secure the only path in or out of the ark. In the shutting of that door, God had chosen future life for every living thing inside. It became a door of preservation when God closed it.

3. God shut the door to display His sovereignty. The flood was God’s idea. The ark was God’s idea. Every detail involved in construction was God’s idea. As far as those eligible to enter, God mailed out the invitations. It was God who decided when the rain was going to start and it was God who made it cease. The wind that dried up the land was ordered up by God. In this whole process, the creation’s part was simply to obey. Those living inside the ark could only wait. In the shutting of that door, God was expressing His complete control of the universe. It became a door of exultation when God closed it.

There are lessons to be learned from something as simple as the closing of the ark’s door:

Sometimes God closes doors in our lives because He is choosing to shut certain things out. We are not the best at closing doors that need to be closed for the sake of our best interest. Leaving the door cracked to those who will have a negative influence on our journey will hinder us from ever safely resting on the mountain of God.

Sometimes God closes doors in our lives because He is choosing to keep us in. We tend to get restless at times when things are stable and we want to see what’s going on outside. Humans are foolish enough to flee safe areas in order to experience something that is simply different than being at home with God. This is the working of Satan. He wants to clip the hedges God has provided to encircle His children.

Sometimes God closes doors simply to prove that He is the only one with the keys. I imagine that Noah and his family and every other creature inside that ark got pretty tired at looking at the walls of that boat. They were stuck inside for more than a year! But what could they do? Nothing! They had to wait on God. Isn’t it interesting that the longer we are in God’s ark the more we realize we just need to silently sit and wait for God? His intentions are to preserve our lives and deliver us to the other side of the judgment scene. Our job is simply to make the ark the way God commands it, enter it when God demands it, and settle in it until God lands it.

Then one day, in God’s time, the door will open. And the remnant will enter the glorious new abode He has prepared for the saved. And they will worship His holy name.

“Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark…” – Genesis 8:1

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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum