THE FLOOD SUBSIDES

Incredible Devastation and the Remembrance of God

Genesis 1:9 “And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.”

Genesis 7:11 “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”

Genesis 7:23 “He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.”

Isaiah 49:15–16 ““Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

Hebrews 6:17–18 “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

The Receding of the Waters

The Lord closed the fountains of the deep, closed the windows of heaven, and sent a wind upon the earth to cause the waters to recede. Noah ended up being on the ark for about 370 days. It rained for 40 days and nights. After 150 days, the waters began to recede. So it was after 5 months of being on the ark that the waters finally began to recede. And it was about another 7 months before they were able to get out of the ark.

Discuss the raven and the dove.

Genesis 6:18 “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”

Habakkuk 2:3 “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

Genesis 1:22 “And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.””

Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

The Faith of Noah and the Promise of God

Genesis 7:2 “Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,”

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

See 2 Peter 3:1-13...

Noah could have complete confidence in the fact that the Lord would keep his covenant with him. Everything that the Lord had told him, He had done. Now we can bank on the promises of God, just like Noah. For we know that the Lord always keeps His promises. Here are 3 promises we can bank on that is related to this text.

There is a judgment coming, in which the heavens and earth will be burned up with fire. And all unbelievers will be cast into the fires of hell for all of eternity.

There is only one way of escape from the coming judgment. We must seek refuge in Christ. Just like Noah entered the ark for safety, so we must find our safety in Christ by coming to Him in repentance and faith. And His promise is that anyone that comes to Him, He will never cast out.

Until that day of judgment comes, the Lord has promised to provide for our needs and the needs of the world by giving us seasons and seedtime and harvest.

May the Lord help us to have rock solid confidence in His promises. For He is faithful.