732. Genesis 7:5. And Noah did everything that Jehovah had commanded him once again means it happened in this way.

See Genesis 6:22, which twice says that "Noah did;" this verse says it only once. And Genesis 6:22 uses the name God where this verse uses Jehovah. The reason is that the passage there dealt with matters of the intellect while this one deals with matters of the will. Matters of intellect regard matters of will as different and separate from themselves, but matters of will view matters of intellect as united to themselves, or as being one with themselves. The ability to understand, you see, rises from the will. This is why the previous chapter uses the word did twice where the present one uses it just once, and why the previous chapter uses the name God where the present one uses Jehovah.

807. Genesis 7:23. And all substance that was on the face of the ground was obliterated, from human to animal to creeping thing to the bird of the heavens, and they were obliterated from the earth. And Noah alone was left, and what was with him in the ark.

All substance was obliterated symbolizes cravings, which are a product of self-love. That was on the face of the ground symbolizes the descendants of the earliest church. From human to animal to creeping thing to the bird of the heavens symbolizes the nature of their evil. The human is the actual nature, the animal is cravings, the creeping thing sensual pleasure, and the bird of the heavens the falsity that grows out of these. And they were obliterated from the earth sums it up by saying that the earliest church passed away. Noah alone was left, and what was with him in the ark, means that those who made up the new church were kept alive, what was with him in the ark being everything that belonged to the new church.