Verse 1. “But God remembered Noah and
all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused
a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.”
When cancer or divorce or other serious problems come into our
lives, it’s tempting to think that God has forgotten us. After one hundred or so
days on the ark, if not Noah, then probably some in his family had significant doubts
and at least a few concerns about the future. They were all human, just like you and me. “But God remembered Noah.”
He cares about the creatures of this world and He cares about you enough to
remember your needs in a personal and good way – forever. You are loved by
Him and so are your loved ones. He is watching
out for you and your interests.
The “wind” that passed over
the earth was the attempt by Moses, who wrote these words in the final,
manuscript form of the Book of Genesis, to describe a strong current of air that
promoted evaporation of the waters that covered the earth. Accompanying those currents
of air, was
the final collapse of what had been the massive aquifers in the earth’s crust,
causing run off into what today are the great ocean basins and lake beds of this world. With
evaporation and run-off, the waters were quickly subsiding, an event that began
to occur "at the end of one hundred and fifty days"
(Verse 3).
Verse 2. “Also the fountains of the deep
and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was
restrained;”
The “floodgates of the sky were
closed.” When you look upward today with a telescope to the edges of outer space at the
top of the atmosphere, no great belt of water will be found. And yet, such a
belt was presented as existing in Genesis 1:6-8, where a significant amount of water was
lifted up from this planet to be placed over the “firmament”
(atmosphere) of this planet. At the point of this verse, it had FALLEN onto the
planet over a period of forty days (Genesis 7:12, 17). It fell as rain in
much of the world, but it plummeted down as icy, super-cold slush at the poles.
At the same time, the “fountains of
the deep,” consisting of extensive caverns of water formed within the
earth’s crust, which precisely were termed “fountains of
the great deep,” in Genesis 7:11, began to burst forth onto the earth, but
at the moment of this verse in Genesis Chapter 8, the great deluge
of rainfall had stopped. The water was no longer rising, for "the fountains of the deep and
the floodgates of the sky were closed" because God made it so.
Verse 3. “and the water receded steadily
from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water
decreased.”
At the end of the “one hundred and
fifty days” decreed by God, His judgment upon the earth for humanity’s
rebellion against Him was now complete. Great areas of the earth were still
covered by water, but “the water receded steadily”
and the topography of this planet was rapidly taking the form we see around us
or read about in an atlas today. Prior to the Great Flood, a tropical environment existed just about
everywhere, due to the greenhouse effect of massive amounts of water above the
atmosphere. Now the water over the earth was gone and this place was much colder as a
result.
Unprecedented glaciers advanced over many parts of the earth. Survivors
huddled in caves around fires and struggled for the warmth needed to survive. The great
ocean basins and lake beds had been formed and they now contained the waters of the Flood, but much of the water
in today's oceans was trapped in ice, and to a considerable degree because the
planet was in an ice age, more of the
continental shelf was exposed than it has ever been since that time.
Verse 4. “In the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.”
Some have said that the forty days of rain seen in
Genesis 7:12 & 17, were consecutive to the “150 days”
that the waters were said to have covered the earth in places like Genesis 7:24,
but others
disagree. It should be noted though, that the high waters began on “the second month, the seventeenth day” (Genesis 7:11), and in this verse
we see that the waters continued to recede “in the seventh
month, on the seventeenth day of the month." The math is presented to us,
and simple subtraction reveals that about half a year had passed since the devastation began.
As it said in Verse 3, “the water
(now) receded steadily.” The time involved in the
Genesis Flood to this point was roughly 150 days total, reckoning 30-days to a
month. The “mountains of Ararat” are likely located
in the present day country of Turkey, though there have been other theories
about where Noah’s Ararat may have been. It’s important to see, by the way, that
the word for “mountains” in this verse is in the plural.
There were any number of possible locations where the place the "ark rested"
might have been. The precise location is not given to us.
Verse 5. “The water decreased steadily
until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the
tops of the mountains became visible.”
The timeline of these verses has been obscure to many,
some even thinking that two different flood accounts are shown here;
so Verse 5 gives us an opportunity to measure it from the beginning. The
beginning of the Flood was
seen in Genesis 7:11, where God revealed through Moses, the human author, that
it came precisely “in the second month, the 17th day of the
month.” At that time, “all the fountains of the
great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” In
other words, massive earthquakes rocked the land, as the great aquifers within the
earth’s crust were broken up, and at the same time it rained like it never had before
or has since that time.
Assuming that the "second month" was somewhat equivalent
to what we call “February” by our reckoning of times and seasons, this verse
takes us forward to the “tenth month,” which is likely somewhat similar to our
month called “October.” We have moved somewhat forward in time since the words of Verse
4. Whatever they called "months" in those verses, the math is similar to what it
is now. About ten months had passed and the waters were decreasing until at last
the “tops of mountains” could be seen as islands on
the horizon. The earth had been completely covered with water for nine or ten
months. Local flooding has occurred at various places on the earth since the
events recorded in this Chapter, but this Flood was simply MORE than anything
else in history, to an incredible extent.
Father, help us to understand and accept the account
of these verses, giving us a picture of the beginning of the world as we know it
today, and showing Your Hand in all that we have, all that we are. Give us
a deep and abiding trust in the Word of God, that even though the hands of
people wrote it, these words are from the Lord. Thank You, Father, for
giving us Your Word. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 8:6-11
Verse 6. “Then it came about at the end
of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;”
“Forty (more) days” have passed since the words of Verse 5, and it is
now at least a full TEN months since all the destruction began in Genesis 7:11.
Whatever civilization may have existed before the Flood started, it
was now LEVELED by the waters and currents that existed as a great, forceful,
shifting weight on the
land. Almost everything that was in existence before was obliterated. Cities,
buildings and any bridges were gone. Whole
species, thousands, perhaps millions of types of animals might still exist
through representatives that survived in the ark, but all else was gone at the
moment.
“Noah (now)
opened the window of the ark,” which God had
commanded the man to include in the design and building of the ark, as reflected
in Genesis 6:16. Noah did all he could to follow the blueprint given him by God.
Not only did he love the Lord, but the lives of his family depended on what he
did. He was not perfect as we are not perfect, but he certainly was highly
motivated to do his best. Especially, he was a faithful man. Note that the window opened and closed, utilizing a
technology not that different from the windows we have today.
Verse 7-8. “and he sent out a raven, and
it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent
out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;”
Noah released first a raven, a black bird that may have
actually been a crow. It was an interesting choice because, unlike the dove
that would subsequently be sent, there were only two of these black scavengers
on the ark. It must have come back, for if it didn’t return, that particular
species would have been no more. It “flew here and there.”
As a carrion-eater, it may have found plenty to eat at that time. Note that the
raven is defined as an “abomination,” an “unclean” creature in the Law, as expressed in places like
Leviticus 11:15.
The dove on the other hand, sent out as Noah’s second
choice, was not listed as “unclean,” and there
would have been seven of them on Noah’s ark. Actually, this was God’s ark, for
He ordered it to be built and He was the One who designed it. If there were
cages and other containers for animals in this huge craft, and there probably
were, they were built as directed and ordained by God. The dove left the hand of
Noah and launched out into the unknown.
Verse 9. “but the dove found no resting
place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the
water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took
her, and brought her into the ark to himself.”
At first glance, this verse seems to be in conflict with
Genesis 8:4, which clearly says, “the ark rested…”
If the ark had landed, why would “the dove (find)
no resting place” as seen in this verse? What we
have to take into account is the enormous size and weight of this great vessel
called the “ark.” It was literally a monstrous ship
and was of a size not achieved again until the AD 1900’s. The bottom of the ark
was indeed locked against solid matter, but those high on the ark were still only
able to see endless water in every direction. The dove returned to Noah’s hand
and he gently placed the female dove into her roosting place once more.
Verse 10. “So he waited yet another
seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.”
From the wording of this verse, it would seem that this
is the same dove that was sent out before, as represented by the statements of
Verses 8 and 9. The words used to describe it include “she”
and “her,” indicating that this was a female dove.
After all the time Noah and the others had been in the ark with at least
thousands of species of creatures of all types and kinds, he would have gained
great knowledge about them, as he and his wife, sons and daughters-in-law
carefully tended them. They each would have had their favorites among the
animals and this particular dove was very likely a pet, a special animal friend
who comforted Noah.
Verse 11. “The dove came to him toward
evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew
that the water was abated from the earth.”
Time was passing in these verses, more than we can see
by taking merely a quick glance through them. Verse 10 referred to “another
seven days” and Verse 12 speaks of “yet another
seven days,” and so on. Additional weeks had passed. Enough time had
gone by at the time of this verse
so that not only was dry land now to be found at various places outside the ark,
but a significant growth of plant life had already begun occurring. God was,
outside the sight and understanding of Noah, busily readying the world for the
return of humanity and the animal kingdom to the surface of this earth.
And note that God, the Master Gardener who created all things, is eminently qualified to restore the
vegetation of this planet to a habitable level in a rapid manner.
Noah was not only a faithful man, but he was also
intelligent, and he was able to understand the world around him. The olive leaf
was a clear indication that life on earth would soon be possible once more. He
knew, and no doubt reassured his loved ones that “the
water was (becoming) abated from the earth.”
They undoubtedly would have felt great relief at those words because the year
they were confined on
that ark must have seemed like an "eternity," as we might say; a very long time.
Father, just as You watched over Noah and his family,
You are watching over us right now. Thank You for Your loving care.
Help us to trust in Your love and enable us to see and understand life, through the
power and grace of God. We love You, Lord, and we praise Your Holy Name.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 8:12-17
Verse 12. “Then he waited yet another
seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.”
Noah was a cautious, thoughtful man, as indicated by the
statement that “he waited yet another seven days”
before he did anything more. The man had two options at this point. He could
have acted the part of an optimist, deciding that the dove had found a
safe new haven; or he could have been pessimistic and regarded her disappearance
from a darker perspective – that something terrible had happened to her. But
more than anything else, Noah was a man who was faithful to God. He looked to the Lord and
acted as the Lord led him. Optimism and pessimism, by the way, are not
sufficient for us, any more than they were for him. We are to look to God and trust in Him, which is precisely what this
man had learned was and is the most important response in life.
Verse 13. “Now it came about in the six
hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water
was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and
looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up."
All of this, what is called the "Great Flood," began “in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month,
the seventeenth day of the month” (Genesis 7:11). At the moment of this
verse, it was “the six hundred and first year” of Noah’s life, “in the first month, on the first of the month,” and “the water was (essentially) dried
up from the earth.” There was still plenty of water, for the massive
oceans of today were now in existence in "modern" form, and great lakes abounded everywhere.
Underneath the waters of the Flood, massive currents of
unimaginable tons of water had plowed through the muck on the bottom and cut
great canyons that exist to this day. Unprecedented rivers flowed from the high
places, pouring ultimately into the newly formed oceans, which was followed by
the process of evaporation; then rain added to the rivers which flowed to the oceans once more.
But “the surface of the ground was dried up.”
Muddy? yes, probably so. Was the landscape remarkably different than it
was before? Oh, yes. But the Great Flood of water on the earth was gone,
which Noah saw as he “removed the covering of the ark, and looked” at this
strange new
world.
Verse 14. “In the second month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.”
More time has passed, and now it was the second month, on the twenty-seventh
day of the month, which was just over a year since the destructive events of the
Flood began. All these events within these verses had to be measured in relation to Noah’s life, since every
other measuring stick of time that existed before the Flood was now destroyed. Only
Noah was left, along with his wife, his sons and their wives. He was now one
year older and the world he had known was utterly gone. “The
earth was (now) dry.” They were
undoubtedly glad
the Flood was over, but now they looked out at a very different present and future from
anything they had known before. The world of their youth was gone, and
something new and uncertain was in its place.
Verse 15. “Then God spoke to Noah,
saying,”
“Then God spoke to Noah…”
How did He speak? We do not precisely know, but we do know this: God does speak
to His people. He “spoke to Noah” and He is
speaking to you right now, directing your life. Especially He is reaching out to
you with comfort during times of loss, fear and sorrow. As we give our lives to the
Lord, we gradually become attuned to the words of God in their various forms. Our
spiritual deafness
gradually subsides
like the waters of a flood, and slowly, inexorably, we begin to "hear."
God speaks through the circumstances of our lives, He
speaks to us in the Word of God which we call the “Bible,” He calls out to us in
dreams, and the Holy Spirit of God communicates directly to our hearts, showing us
the way we should go. Often times what we call our “conscience,” is actually the
“voice” of God, offering us and those around us, protection from the temptation
to sin that
fills this world. He is speaking to you right this minute. Will you
listen?
Verse 16. “Go out of the ark, you and
your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.”
This point in time would have been very difficult for
the survivors who had spent the past year on this massive vessel, called the “ark.” The heavy rains had pounded the top of the ark for
forty long days (Genesis 7:12). Earthquakes under the Flood had caused great currents
to rock even this great ship, and the survivors undoubtedly could not even
remotely imagine what the earth would now be like. The ark was solid and
familiar. It was also on a high point of land which was already becoming
very cold.
They were being told, “Go out of
the ark,” the familiar ark that had been their place of security for the
past year. If the whole earth fell apart, which for them it had, then at least
the ark was a safe place. Yes they wanted to go, but something in them also would have wanted to stay. Now
they were being told to “Go out…” into an
uncertain, unpredictable world. Rains would still come, rivers roared, and they
were being told to leave that which was familiar and enter a new, less certain place. But
God was with them, just as He is with you right now.
Verse 17. “Bring out with you every
living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and
be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
The animals in the ark had undoubtedly been placed into
separate quarters within that great vessel. Many of them were likely in sturdy
cages, for God’s engineering plan for this great vessel was probably much more complex than
the words we saw in Genesis Six. The event was lived by Noah, but these final
words were written by Moses, centuries later. Moses was a man who wrote in the power of
the Holy Spirit, but he had not personally been there, and the detail of an eye
witness in some cases
was lacking. The Word of God is perfect, but we are not, though God is pleased
with what we faithfully do in sharing His Word the best we know how.
Many of the animals had likely been deeply within the
sound sleep of hibernation for most, perhaps all of the voyage. Even those
animals that do not hibernate today, may well have slept for long months because
God is sovereign over all who live, and it was important that the animals (and mankind)
would survive during the long voyage. Noah was now to “bring
(them) out,” which likely meant he began to open
the cage doors, carefully selecting which doors were opened first, as led by
God. Care was given, for it is obvious God intended as many of these creatures
as possible to survive, "breed abundantly"
and “be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
Father, thank You that we are safe in You. Help
us to know that You keep us safe, even when we are led into new and seemingly
uncertain situations. Show us the way we should live, Lord, and give us
the courage to always trust in You. Thank You. Fill us with Your
Holy Spirit and let us walk in Your will. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 8:18-22
Verse 18. “So Noah went out, and his
sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.”
“Noah…
and his sons and his wife and his son’s wives” now
"went out" of the ark that had been their secure home for the past year. The world
they had known was utterly gone, including all the buildings, cities, people,
and especially, for the survivors, their extended family was no more. Aunts,
uncles, cousins and grandparents were gone from this earth. The vegetation that had
filled the land was utterly wiped out, except that God had carefully planned for this moment
and new plant life was now quickly taking hold on the earth.
It was much colder now than it ever was before.
Prior to the Great Flood, a somewhat tropical environment had been the norm around the earth, but at this point,
what we call an ice age was starting to take over much of the planet. God would
sustain these eight people, however. Noah knew that He would, and to varying degrees, so did the family
members who had lived on the ark with him. What did the world now look like as they
“went out” from the ark? How did they feel
about what they saw?
Verse 19. “Every beast, every creeping
thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their
families from the ark.”
“Every beast, every creeping
thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth” as we know it
today, now left the great vessel called “the ark,”
and entered an uncertain new world. The God-driven force within the animal
kingdom called the “migration-instinct” had led them to the ark in the first
place, and now God led them out. From this verse and its context, it has been
observed that the exodus of the surviving animal kingdom from the ark was
peaceful. The fact that it was is a subtle, but very real miracle, given
to all of future history by the Lord. They did not attack one another at that
moment for Almighty
God was in control of this massive exodus of animals, which was by “families,” most of them by twos and some of them by sevens.
Verse 20. “Then Noah built an altar to
the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered
burnt offerings on the altar.”
Once more Noah displays an understanding which suggests
he had been familiar with religions and sacrificial religious activities previously in his
life. Religion, including the “burnt offerings”
which were animal sacrifices, played a part in the social structure of the
pre-Flood world. "Offerings" (sacrifices) to God were
there from the beginning.
An early example was Cain and Abel, as seen in Genesis 4:3-4. Also, we can see that
Noah had a personal understanding of “clean” (sacrificial) animals, which had come to the ark by sevens, as
opposed to “unclean” creatures (not to be eaten or
sacrificed), which came to the
ark by twos.
The so-called “clean”
animals were known to be acceptable in the sight of God for sacrifice, and the fact that
there were seven of such creatures allowed each of those species to survive, even though some of
them were sacrificed for the sins of mankind, represented at the moment by Noah
and the few persons who were his immediate family. God accepted these
offerings, but what made Noah’s sacrifices acceptable was the fact that he had
"faith" in the Lord (Hebrews 11:7). He knew, in the
face of all that had happened, that even though at least millions had died in
the past year because of the hand of God, that our Maker is good and has good
intentions for those who are merely willing to TRUST in Him.
Verse 21. “The Lord smelled the soothing
aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on
account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will
never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”
In 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, we can learn that “we are to God the fragrance of Christ…” It continues that
this “fragrance” can be perceived by other people:
“To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the
other the aroma of life to life…” The faith in God that is in us is like
a “substance” that is “evidence”
that God approves us and calls us His own (Hebrews 11:1). The Lord is
pleased by the faith that is in you.
Noah performed the outward act of sacrificing innocent
animals as an expression that mankind is hopelessly sinful and we cannot
save ourselves. The Messiah had not yet come and would not be among humanity for
thousands of years, and yet, here is Noah, recognizing by his actions that 1)
men and women cannot save themselves, and 2) something, Someone is needed to
rescue us from sin. Noah acted in faith, knowing that God is full of grace and
He would provide the way.
And sure enough, we are shown in the words of these
verses, that God looks through our simple, well-meant religious activities, and
sees the faith that underlies what we do. He sees that we are like dust, unable
to save ourselves, and He saves us because we look to Him, trusting that He can
and will do what we cannot. His saving of us, even though we are not
worthy, is called the "grace" (unmerited favor) of God.
Verse 22. “While the earth remains,
seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and
night shall not cease.”
Because of the trust in the Lord seen in Noah; because
of the promise that others in his line would also have such faith in the love,
the grace and the mercy of God, the pledge is now made that the waters of the Flood would not
again sweep over the earth and destroy mankind. God has made this promise, even
though He well knew that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil…”
(Genesis 6:5 & 8:21). Humanity has a problem called "sin."
As we can see by carefully examining the lives of all
men and women who are shown in Scripture to be faithful to God, none of them
were somehow “perfect” by any means. We do see God's justice in Scripture, but we also
find His grace. “For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We are given faith, hope, love, the promise of
everlasting life and the amazing grace of God, simply by trusting in His
character, that
He is good and that He truly loves you and me.
Thank You, Father, that You are just and that You
demand justice from us as people. But if it was only about justice, we
would all be lost. You are also full of grace toward us, full of mercy and
abundant in love. We praise Your Holy Name. We especially thank You,
right now, that You have sent Your Son to die for our sins. The
judgment that fell upon Him allows Your mercy to be received. We ask
for forgiveness in His Name and we trust in Him now. Thank You.
Again, we
praise Your Holy Name. In Jesus Name. Amen.
