Genesis 8 - Noah on land

Noah on land 

 

Gen 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;

 

God remembered Noah, was Noah doubting? He had been aboard the ark for 6 months and in a completely strange environment. When we are in the midst of a great trial, we hang onto God, even if you think he is not responding.

 

Psa 8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psa 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Psa 8:6  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

 

God had never left Noah; Noah was the best God had, now he was going to do something towards ending the trial by water. God is not leaving us;  for he has called us for His purpose. He knows our beginning and end.

 

Gen 8:2  The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

 

No more artesian wells and the rain was only sprinkling. Jesus also stopped the raging sea and storm.

 

Mark 4:39  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Mark 4:40  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Gen 8:3  And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

 

After five monthsthe waters were reduced.

Gen 8:4  And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

 

The Hebrew word for Ararat, was missing the vowels, rrt, the name may be Urartu, where there were tribes by that name. Whatever, the mountain range is the same. Therre are hundreds of mountains in the range. Note that the verse says the mountains. There is one Volcanic mountain in the range that is near 17,000 ft high with a frozen ice cap 300 feet deep. Most believe the ark is somewhere in the ice of the highest mountain. The mountain is located within modern day Turkey, near Iran.

 

Gen 8:5  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.
Gen 8:6  And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

 

The window, only one window in the ark, that was closed. I have read that there were many, but does the Bible say so?

 

Gen 6:16  A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

 

Just one window, no cross ventilation. I have read stories and seen scale moselsof the ark with windows all the way around the ark, which seems logical for ventilation, but the Bible says one window.

Gen 8:7  And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

There were two pairs of unclean animals and birds, and seven pairs of clean animals and birds. The raven was an unclean bird. The raven went to and fro, looking for dry land. It did not return into the holy ark, perhaps resting on it. The unclean are without, as unrepentant sinners who will not enter into the salvation of Jesus.

Gen 8:8  Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Gen 8:9  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.

 

The dove found no dry land, although the mountains were cited in verse 8:5.

Gen 8:10  And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
Gen 8:11  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.

 

Seven days later and an olive leaf was plucked off, the olive trees had survived the flood. They do not grow on high mountains, so the waters had receded. I assume many seeds were planted and roots again brought forth new life. Perhaps by the hand of God to bring forth food and shelter for the animals and birds.The dove and the olive branch have become symbols of peace. Although the scriptures said it was one leaf, not a branch.

 

 

The dove was mentioned as representing the Holy Spirit, as in the baptism of Jesus.

 

Mat 3:16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

The dove is a gentle peaceful bird, as the spirit is gentle and brings peace to those he is with.

 

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Gen 8:12  And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

 

The dove stayed on dry land.

Gen 8:13  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.

 

Not sure what the covering was, perhaps a skin over part of the roof or the window. The same word was used  for the covering of the tabernacle of Moses.

 

Exo 26:14  And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers' skins.

Gen 8:14  And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

 

This was one year and ten days from the entering of the ark.

 

Gen 7:11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Gen 7:12  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Gen 7:13  In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
Gen 7:14  They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

Gen 8:15  And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Gen 8:16  Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

 

Noah waited on God to tell him to enter and to go forth. We as Christ's followers are to do the same.  He has told us to go forth, in the great commission. Where and how depends on his Spirit speaking to you.

 

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

 

Gen 8:17  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.

 

As in the beginning, this was a new beginning for man and the animals and birds.

 

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

 

What about the dinosaurs?

 

When Adam and Eve rebelled, God pronounced the awful curse of death on all of creation. In doing so, He not only fulfilled His promise that they would begin to die (2:17), but evidently He actually changed the genetic makeup of each "kind" so that all their descendants would forever be different. He changed Eve's body structure (3:16); the plants (v. 18), and the animals, as well (v. 14). Perhaps at this time dinosaurs and other animals acquired or began to acquire body parts designed for aggression or protection. This may be over-speculation, but sin ruins everything, and before long the entire planet was corrupt (6:11,12, 7).

God had told Noah to bring pairs of each kind of land animal on board the Ark, including, evidently, the dinosaurs (7:15). Recognizing that as reptiles, dinosaurs would have continued to grow as long as they lived, implying that the oldest would be the largest, there was plenty of room on board the Ark for the younger ones. Thus the dinosaurs on board the Ark probably would have been young adults, no bigger than a cow perhaps. But the world after the Flood was much different than before, with much less vegetation and a colder, harsher climate, and evidently the dinosaurs gradually died out. Perhaps they were even hunted to extinction, as would be indicated by the many legends of dragons, the descriptions of which closely resemble dinosaurs.(Dr. John Morris, president of the Institute for Creation Research)

Gen 8:18  And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
Gen 8:19  Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

 

They were to go down from the mountains.

Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar untothe LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

 

Wow!  He could not wait until they had reproduced? That was a true sacrifice.

The Jews have a tradition that the place where Noah built his altar was the same in which the altar stood which was built by Adam, and used by Cain and Abel, and the same spot on which Abraham afterwards offered up his son Isaac.

Gen 8:21  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.

 

The sweet savor was the prayers and obedience of Noah. For without a heart for God, the sacrifices meant nothing to God. An example is Israel at the time of Jeremiah.

 

Jer 7:22  For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23  But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jer 7:24  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Jer 7:25  Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Jer 7:26  Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27  Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
Jer 7:28  But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Jer 7:29  Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem,and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Jer 7:30  For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

What a wonderful promise. The order of nature destroyed for a year by the flood, was restored again. God was no longer angry with man. All will continue in seasons until the end.

 

2 Pet 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Pet 3:10  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.
2 Pet 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2 Pet 3:12  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?
2 Pet 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

The sin nature was not removed. God is loving but he is also the giver of wrath and judgement upon the disobedient.