Genesis 8:1-22

March 6, 2013 Noah and his family are inside the ark with all the animals. God has sent rain for 40 days and nights onto the earth killing every other living thing: God Keeps Noah in Mind And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: The verb is in the Imperfect tense which means its incomplete. Its not saying God forgot, but then He remembered; that would be perfect tense. Instead this is an incomplete action so its saying, God kept Noah in mind. Were told that when God destroyed Sodom He remembered Abraham and so rescued Lot (Gen. 19:29). He kept Abraham in mind! In another place He tells the Israelites: And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies (Num. 10:9). Did God forget about His people from time-to-time and thats why the oppressors snuck into the land? Did they startle Him by blowing their trumpets? No. That trumpet was a call for help and those enemies were reminders that they needed God. And the fact that He kept them on His mind was proven when He answered their call. And you can see how this ties into Noah inside the ark and how it helps us too. The ark must have been a hard place to live for so long, but God kept Noah in mind. He hadnt forgotten about Him, and He would see him through the storm and out of the ark. Life here can be difficult, but God remembers us. When the enemies draw near and when the oppressors invade we cry out to Him and He shows us that. God Delivers Everyone as Promised and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; 2The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3And the waters returned from off the earth

continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. This word for assuaged is elsewhere translated as cease (Num. 17:5), appeased (Est. 2:1), and pacified (Est. 7:10). It immediately made me think of Matthew 8:27: What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! All the water pouring out of the ground and falling from above suddenly quit. They evaporate and after 150 days they were back far enough that the ark could rest on some dry ground. Again we see the sovereignty of God in thisHe starts the flood and kills every living being on earth through it; He could have stopped it at any time. But when does He decide to do it? When Hes good and ready! His purpose is to wipe out the wicked and to save the righteous, and thats exactly what He does.
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And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. No one really knows where this is (it looks like its somewhere in eastern Turkey), but the point of telling us isnt so that we can go and find it. The point is that the ark rested on a high place while waters continued to evaporate.
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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. 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: 7And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9But 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. 10And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. He sent out a raven and a dove to see whether the waters were gone. Apparently the raven came back and forth without actually going back into the ark, but the dove went back to Noah. Theres plenty of speculation about what all this means, but it seems to arbitrary to me. I think Ravens eat dead meat and doves eat seeds;

after they find plenty of food and a place to land they dont come back to the ark. Thats the point.
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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. 14And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. The truth is we dont know exactly everything about the ark. Apparently he was able to open enough of a window to allow the birds out, but Noah couldnt see for himself whether the water had evaporated. Once he knows its safe to go out he removes the cover and looks with his own eyes.
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And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons wives with thee. 17Bring 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. 18And 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. God Points Us Again to the Redeemer
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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. Here is another act of faith which foreshadows Christ. It shows us that righteous Noah recognized his guilt even after the flood, and that he hadnt given up hope of a redeemer.
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And the LORD smelled a sweet savour;

Sweet can also be translated as restful, soothing, or tranquillizing. Savour means aroma. Look at Exodus 29:18 and Ephesians 5:2: Thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

This sacrifice points us to Christ. and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for mans sake; He cursed the ground because of Adam, but now He promises never to do that again: for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth; Cursing the ground doesnt remove the problem of sin. Our problem is an inward problem and its something were born with: 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. So God promises to let the earth continue until the end of time, but what comfort is this really? He wont send another flood, but Hes promised to destroy the earth again and next time it will be with fire (II Pt. 3:12)! That sounds worse, doesnt it? But consider the context of the whole event: God saves Noah and destroys the whole world. When Noah comes out of the ark hes still as sinful as ever and still in need of that Redeemer promised back in 3:15. By faith he offers up a sacrifice, and when God smells the aroma He makes this promise. Its the smell of the aroma that prompts God to make the promise. Do you see the atonement in this? Its Gods sacrifice, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world. Even with the whole flood theres still a need for a Redeemer, and He has a coming Day. The earth will remain until every one of Gods sheep have been saved from wrath and then the Day will come as a thief in the night and overtake all the wicked. Let us hope in Him the same as Noah until He returns to take us home! newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com