Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.
Genesis 7:4 (NIV)
If 40 means a period of testing in Hebrew numerology, and we’ve been introduced to the concept of “pure” in verse 2 by way of the word “clean,” we are given a statement in verse 4 that is going to tell us what God is doing, just like God was telling Noah what He was doing.
The face of the “earth” would normally be the face of “eretz,” in Hebrew. But here, it is not “eretz.” It is “adama.” It is the ground from which Adam (thus, all of humanity) is made. It points to us.
And then “living creature” has been “nefesh chayah” every time until this verse. Living creatures.
But here, it is “yekum,” which is very, very odd. The KJV translates this most closely to the literal meaning: “living substance.”
I. living substance, that which stands or exists, existence, substance
H3351: יְקוּם (yᵊqûm)
There are only two other places it is used in the Scriptures. The next time we see it is in verse 23, where it is clear that God did what He said. He has wiped out “yekum.”
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Genesis 7:23 (KJV)
But the more interesting instance is Deuteronomy 11:6, where it means a person’s possessions. Their stuff. The things in them that, perhaps… needed to be removed.
And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
Deuteronomy 11:6 (KJV)
And so Genesis 7:4 may point to this understanding: God is providing a period of testing (40 days) that is meant to remove the impurities (yekum) from us (adama).
This is purification. This is gold purified by fire. This is God making us into people who reflect Him.