Mountains.2.Ararat

Ararat: The Mountain of New Beginnings

Bible Passage: Genesis 8:1–22

Summary: In Genesis 8, after the great flood, God remembered Noah and the Earth. The waters receded, and Noah and his family were given a fresh start as they landed on Mount Ararat, symbolizing the hope and promise of new beginnings after judgment. This sermon serves as a reminder that, no matter how dire our circumstances may seem or how much we have suffered in the past, God offers us the opportunity for renewal and restoration. It encourages believers to trust in God's promises and to look forward to the new opportunities He provides.

1. Remembered and Restored

Genesis 8:1 “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

The next mountain of significance in the Bible is Mt. Ararat. It was a solid place to land after trials. It was like it rose up from beneath the ark. It was always there. As the waters receded, Noah and his family were given a fresh start as they landed on Mount Ararat. This symbolizes the hope and promise of new beginnings after judgment.

God's remembrance of Noah amid the flood symbolizes divine faithfulness. Even in our lowest moments, God does not forget us. Just as He remembered Noah, God is aware of our trials and has plans for our renewal. It may be a process of mercy to stop the judgement and deal with the consequences of it, but it God always remembers us at our lowest points.

This point emphasizes the assurance of God's unceasing faithfulness, encouraging believers to trust in this divine constancy for their own new beginnings.

2. Receding Waters, The Process to Healing

Genesis 8:2–5 “2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.”

The word for fountains in Hebrew is מַעְיָן maʿyān - it means the source or headwaters. Stopped in Hebrew is סכר sākar - means it ceased the sources were obstructed. Wherever the abundance of water was coming from it was shut off Then began the gradual receding of the floodwaters. It was a slow process taking many months which illustrates the process of healing and restoration.

Just as the waters slowly gave way, revealing the mountain beneath, our trials can fade, revealing God's purposes. This emphasizes the importance of patience and trust in God's timing, assuring us that He is working behind the scenes to bring about transformation in our lives. Imagine being in the ark for months waiting, tending the animals, calming your family….wondering when this would end. I’m sure there was a lot of talking it out with God.

3. Window of Hope

Genesis 8:6–12 “6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. 10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.”

Noah opened a window. The flood began when God opened the “windows of heaven” (Gen 7:11) (see also Isa 24:18). This represented judgement. And it ceased when God stopped the windows of heaven (Gen 8:2)(see also Mal 3:10; 2 Kings 7:2). This represented blessings. Windows of heaven represent the avenue through which God judges and bestows blessings. Now the window of the ark was opened. This speaks of the expectation of blessing with the news of dry ground. The dove flew out and returned

The symbolism of the dove returned with an olive leaf continues today as a sign of life and peace.

It signifies God's promise of reconciliation, restoration, and new beginnings.

In one of Jesus' parables (Lk 15), the lost son returns home after squandering his inheritance. The father, filled with compassion, runs to him and embraces him, offering forgiveness and a celebration. This story shows the essence of reconciliation. Humorous moments could be added, like the older brother's silly complaints during the feast. The father’s grace reminds us all to be ready to extend an olive branch, leading to joy instead of division, and teaches us that unexpected reconnections can spark great celebrations in our lives.

Olympic athletes were crowned with olive branch signifying victory, but one that extends peace. In contests we don’t aim for victory, we aim for peace.

(Judgement, victory, repentance, reconciliation, fellowship, peace.)

4. Step Into Renewal

Genesis 8:13–19 “13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound 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 animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.”

Noah had been in the ark for over one year. God had dried up the land, in one sense He had re-created it. The world was a different place however. It had a different geology, atmosphere, nature. Life on earth would be different. The earlier command to have dominion was however, the same, Genesis 1:28 “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””. The expectation from God doesn’t change in this new dispensation. God is expecting Noah to encourage his family, Shem, Ham, and Japheth to repopulate and govern the new world. An age of “human government’ had begun.

Noah's emergence from the ark, symbolized stepping into God’s renewed world. 1 Peter 3:20 tells us, “who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.” Eight souls, were saved through water. Were they assured eternal life because they entered the ark or were they delivered from the worldwide judgement of the flood? It would seem from Peter that they were delivered from judgement.

5. Worship and Gratitude

Genesis 8:20–22 “20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.””

Noah’s act of building an altar and offering sacrifices to God was a gesture of gratitude and worship for their deliverance and new beginnings. God’s instruction prior to boarding the ark included the additional animals needed for sacrifice (Gen 7:2). This provided the sacrifice in a similar way God provided for Abraham the lamb (Ge 22:8, 13-14).

This is the first mention of altars in the Bible. Here it shows that God’s chosen people were a worshipping people. They learned that God desires sacrifice of the best of that which was His. Our breath, Hebrews 13:15 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Our possessions Proverbs 3:9 “Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;” and the firstfruits of our labors, Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” We cannot out give the Lord.

This dispensation starts with God’s people worshipping Him and receiving a promise of renewed fellowship based on grace and mercy.

Mt Ararat stands for the new chapters we enter in life. How are we to respond to God? Our deliverances should include an altar of worship remembering God’s faithfulness and expressions of our gratitude for His continued fellowship and grace. The rainbow is in His “window of heaven” smiling down on us a message of grace.