Bible Study: Genesis 8
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning
Let’s share any Prayer Requests and Praises Reports.
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Let’s pray
Text: Genesis 8:1-5
Text: Genesis 8:1-5
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,
4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
The account of post-flood history contains echoes of the pre-flood period, reflecting both the ongoing sinfulness of human nature and the continuation of the unique family line that will eventually lead to Jesus Christ.
While the going down of the flood waters is portrayed as an act of re-creation, human nature continues unchanged.
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Now, after the flood has accomplished its purpose, God begins to restore creation.
In contrast to God’s act of creation in six days, the waters recede and the earth is restored over a period of five months.
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The process all starts when, as Scripture records, “God remembered Noah.”
This marks the turning point in the flood story.
When the Bible says that God “remembers” someone or His covenant with someone, it indicates that he is about to take action for that person’s welfare.
The Hebrew verb used here, “zakhar,” is often translated “remember,” but in reference to God, it conveys “thought about” or “turned attention to.”
So, after God’s purpose for the flood is accomplished...
He turns His attention back to Noah and the ark.
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The Hebrew expression indicates action based on a previous commitment, not merely mental recall.
So, God’s covenant with Noah brought provision and protection in the midst of severe judgment.
The remnant was preserved and God initiated steps toward reestablishing the created order on earth.
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Notice that the Word of God says that “the waters subsided.”
So, God used the “wind” to dry the ground...
The Hebrew word here for “wind,” which is “ruakh,”is the same one for “Spirit” in Genesis 1:2, which says:
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
So, there is an intentional recalling of the original creation account and introducing God’s first re-creative act, renewing the earth out of the waters.
Additionally, this lead to:
evaporation which returned water to the atmosphere...
The placing of birds in the heavens...
The establishment of dry ground...
The emergence of animals and humans upon the earth to multiply and fill it...
And the divine blessing.
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In verse 2 we see that God puts into reverse the process started in Genesis 7:11-12, which says:
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.
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
So, the waters both rose and abated during the period of 150 days.
Mountains of Ararat indicates a mountain range of which Mount Ararat is the highest, where the elevation exceeded 17,000 feet.
So, it should be noted that the text does not name the specific mountain on which the ark came to rest.
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Additionally, Mount Ararat is in the area of ancient Urartu, which is now part of northeastern Turkey and Armenia in our modern day.
In fact, the whole country of Urartu would have extended into modern Iran, Iraq, and Russia...
That would cover an area of over 100,000 square miles.
Text: Genesis 8:6-12
Text: Genesis 8:6-12
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made
7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.
9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.
10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.
12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
The slow, gradual process by which the waters receded and the land dried out is captured by the detailed account of Noah’s releasing a raven and then a dove.
In fact, just like it is recorded in Genesis 1:9, the dry land emerges from the waters.
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.
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Additionally, the “forty days” mentioned in verse 6 parallel the 40 days of rain from Genesis 7:12, which says:
12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
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Now, Noah wants to check for signs of land...
So, he first sends out a raven...
Regarding ravens, it should be noted that they survive on a broad range of food types.
If any food was available outside the ark, the raven could survive.
Please, also note the phrase, “it went to and fro” in verse 7 means that Noah allows the raven to fly in and out many times, not that the raven keeps flying until land appears.
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In contrast, a dove or “yonah” in Hebrew, is much more selective in its food choices than the raven.
The dove’s choice of food would indicate that new life had begun to grow...
Thus Noah and his family could also survive outside the ark.
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Some facts about doves include that they are mentioned in the Old Testament 32 times.
Furthermore, doves were classified as clean animals, acceptable for sacrifice as it says in Leviticus 1:14:
14 “If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons.
Generally, the dove or pigeon was an acceptable replacement for a lamb or other larger animal when the one offering the sacrifice was poor.
We now this from passages like Leviticus 5:7, which says:
7 “But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
Metaphorically, the dove appears in lament imagery, but it is also a symbol of the beloved in Song of Songs.
Generally, the dove is associated with beauty, gracefulness, and innocence.
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In verse 9, when it says that Noah stretched out his hand and took the dove, it was likely due to the fact that Noah wanted to check the bird’s feet for evidence of clay.
You see, that would indicate land if any clay could be found on the feet of the dove.
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Then in verse 11, a freshly-picked olive tree leaf is brought to Noah by the dove.
As you can imagine, this is very exciting for Noah and his family.
The olive tree leaf must have come from a plant that had regrown to maturity after some time.
So, Noah now knew that land had finally reappeared.
Text: Genesis 8:13-19
Text: Genesis 8:13-19
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
15 Then God said to Noah,
16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
The emerging of a new world prefigures the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
Please consider Revelation 21:1–4, which says:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Additionally, take a look with me at 2 Peter 3:5–7, which says:
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
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Now, in verse 13, when “the six hundred and first year” is mentioned, the Hebrew text here does not directly state that this figure is in reference to Noah’s life.
However, that can be inferred from passages like Genesis 7:6, which says:
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
And from Genesis 7:11, which says:
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.
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Now, the comment that the waters had dried up by the first day of the first month emphasizes the beginning of a new creation.
So, Noah can now see land.
In fact, Noah and his family had been in the ark for 378 days.
However, it would be another nearly two more months until God gives Noah the command to disembark.
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Now in verse 14 when the Word of God mentions that the earth had dried out, the Hebrew verb used here is “yavesh” which is related to the noun “yabbashah” which is often translated “dry land” and used in Genesis 1:9–10, which says:
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.
10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
So, the words provide a verbal and thematic link between the two narratives, indicating that the restoration of the world after the flood should be understood as an act of divine re-creation.
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Next, from verses 15 all the way through verse 22, this passage describes the process of disembarking from the ark, which concludes with Noah offering a sacrifice to Yahweh.
Yahweh accepts the sacrifice and promises never to destroy all life by a flood again.
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Now, since the flood is a type of Christian baptism as 1 Peter 3:20-21 says:
20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The coming of Noah and his family out of the ark may be thought of as their emerging out of the waters of death into a new life as Romans 6:3–6 says:
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
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So, Noah and his family prefigure the new humanity who prevail over evil.
Additionally, as we can see in verse 16, even though Noah knows that the ground has dried, he waits on the ark until he receives God’s explicit command to leave.
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Then in verse 17, God commands Noah and his family bring out every living thing on the ark so that they can “be fruitful and multiply.”
So, in the process of replenishing the created order that He had judged with destruction, God repeated the words of the blessing which He had put upon non-human creatures as Genesis 1:22 says:
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
The command will be directed to Noah and his sons in Genesis 9:1, which says:
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
That passages brings to mind Genesis 1:28 from the creation account and that says:
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.”
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Noah faced a new world where longevity of life began to decline immediately.
The earth was subject to storms and severe weather, blazing heat, freezing cold, seismic action, and natural disasters.
Text: Genesis 8:20-22
Text: Genesis 8:20-22
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
From Genesis 8:20 all the way through to Genesis 9:17 we find the Noahic covenant being established.
The Lord graciously promises with a solemn covenant oath never again to destroy the earth by flood.
As with other biblical covenants, the covenant promise is accompanied by covenant mandates or stipulations and the giving of a covenant sign which we will cover in chapter 9.
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Now, Noah’s first recorded act on emerging from the ark is to build an altar to the Lord.
On it he presents whole-burnt offerings, using some of the clean animals and birds.
While this is undoubtedly intended to express gratitude for divine deliverance.
In other words, this was done as an act of worship in response to God’s covenant faithfulness in sparing him and his family.
Additionally, it is also an act of atonement.
This is a normal aspect of burnt offerings and is supported by the mention of the pleasing aroma.
The Hebrew term for “pleasing,” which is “nikhoakh,” conveys the idea of rest and tranquility.
It is also related to the name “Noah” which is “noakh” in Hebrew and is probably used here in order to remind the reader of Lamech’s remarks in Genesis 5:29, which says:
29 and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
It also has the sense of “soothing.”
The burnt offering soothes God’s anger at human sin, although human nature has not been changed by the flood.
It is all God’s mercy.
Notice how verse 21 mentions how the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.
This statement actually echoes very closely what it said in Genesis 6:5, which says:
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
However, in spite of the human propensity to sin, atonement through sacrifice is possible, securing a peaceful relationship between the Lord and humanity.
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Then in verse 21 we see that God says “I will never again curse the ground.”
The clear force of the Hebrew text is that God will not send another flood.
He is not revoking the curse pronounced in Genesis 3:17, which says:
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
For curse pronounced in Genesis 3 continues to be in place.
God is just promising not to destroy the earth again by a worldwide flood.
Truly, the only hope from the curse of the fall is by the saving work of Jesus on the cross.
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So, regardless of how sinful mankind would become in the future, God promised not to engage in global catastrophe by flood again.
God knows that even the flood will not reverse the corruption of the human will and mind.
Human depravity may again produce the wickedness described in Genesis 6:5, which says:
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
However, God promises to never respond with this kind of destruction.
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Now, this choice to never curse the earth again is a deliberate allusion to Genesis 6:6–7, where God muses to Himself about the need to destroy humankind.
That passage says:
6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Now, 2 Peter 3:3–10 shows us how God will destroy the earth in the future with fire.
That passage says:
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
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So, God will preserve the earth until the final judgment...
The earthly order will not end prematurely.
However, the final apocalypse will produce a new heaven and new earth.
God promises to keep His wrath from humanity until then.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Please join me one more time in prayer.
