Noah. and the flood. Genesis 8

1  And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that [was] with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2  The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3  And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
And God remembered Noah – It’s not that Noah slipped from His mind because He got busy with other things, “Oh man! The earth is covered with water and Noah is floating in the ark!” This is rather a precious thing. It means the time has come for God to rescue Noah.

What did God do when he remembered Noah? He closed the fountain and stopped the rain (2), He caused a wind to pass over the earth (1), and the water receded (3).

150 days. That is a rather specific number. This is how long the water covered the earth.

The KJV will keep you on your toes! asswaged in v 1 and abated in v 3?? Ha!
1 God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided
3 after the end of the one hundred and fifty days the waters were diminished

4  And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

In 7:11 we learned that the rains began 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the 2nd month. On the 17th day of the 7th month the ark rested on the (still under water) mountain. That’s five months.

5  And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
Three months later the tops of the mountains were visible.

6  And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7  And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8  Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9  But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

Noah waited another 40 days and then opened the window. After nine months he opens the window. What patience!

This looks to me like he sent out two birds, a raven and a dove. This window must not have provided much of a view, so he sent out the birds to test the waters. The raven doesn’t appear to have come back, while the dove did. Still too wet.

10  And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11  And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

he stayed yet other seven days – I like this. Wonder how many games of solitaire he played? 

again he sent forth the dove – another test. The dove returned once again, but this time with an olive leaf in her mouth! The water had subsided. What does Noah do? Does he open the door and rush out?

12  And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
Nope. He waits yet another seven days and sends the dove out again. This time the dove does not return!

13  And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], the first [day] of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
Happy New Year! The waters were dried from the earth. Is that what they call a dry county? Anyway, Noah removes the covering. Now he can see the sky, horizon to horizon. And he can see the ground. Dry! This has to be exciting!

14  And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
And yet Noah remains on board the ark for another two months. The earth is even drier. What is he waiting for?

15  And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16  Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
17  Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
This is what he was waiting for, And God spoke to Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark. The Tanakh has it, Come out of the ark.

Noah walked with God. He didn’t build the ark until God told him to; he didn’t enter the ark until God said, ‘Come into the ark’; and he didn’t leave until God said, “Come out.”

If you had pressed Noah, “The earth is dry, buddy. You can see that. Go on out.” I believe Noah’s response would have been, “God told me to come into the ark and I ain’t leavin’ ‘til he tells me to come out.” I will admit, my problem is I tend to move ahead of God. When I am crossing the street at a light, I don’t wait for the green. If I know it is coming and there is no traffic, I start walking. That may be fine when walking across the street, but it is not fine when walking with God. I need to be more like Noah and wait for God’s green light.

Come into the ark. As if God was saying, Come join Me in the ark.
Come out of the ark. I’m out here now.

18  And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
19  Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, [and] whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
They all left the ark. What a glorious day that was! How exciting! They were in that ark for at least thirteen months! Now, fresh air, blue skies, green grass. This was a good day.

20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
What is the first thing Noah does? He worships the LORD.

What is worship? It is acknowledging God: “You alone are God. You have blessed me. Everything I have, everything I need comes from you. I thank You and I trust You.”

21  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

v 22 is nothing short of amazing! There are voices out there saying the world will end in 12 years because of climate change. I’ve talked to school kids who now think it’s basically hopeless – the world will end in 12 years. Yet God says different.

What does He say? “While the earth remains.” Doesn’t that allow for the earth being destroyed by people? Being made uninhabitable because of what we have done? No. Read the rest of the Book. The earth will continue until Jesus returns. The Apostle Peter tells us (2 Peter 3:10-13)

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,  
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Even then there will be a new heaven and a new earth!

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

What does chapter 8 tell us about Noah? He was patient and a man of faith. Or as has already been explained, Noah walked with God.

Next: Noah. And the flood. Genesis 9