www.biblestudyworkshop.org 1 THE FLOOD ENDS GENESIS 8:1-22
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 2 Text: Genesis 8:1-22, THE FLOOD ENDS 1. But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded. 2. The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 3. The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days. 4. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 5. The waters kept on receding until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 6. At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7. and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth. 8. Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. 9. The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back into the ark. 10. He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 3 11. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12. He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time. 13. In Noah s six hundred and first year, in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14. And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was dry. 15. Then God spoke to Noah and said, 16. Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons wives with you. 17. Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth! 18. Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons wives. 19. Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups. 20. Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21. And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done. 22. While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease. (NET)
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www.biblestudyworkshop.org 5 Commentary: Genesis 8:1-22 provides the account of how people begin to live on the earth again following the flood. There is a beautiful picture of new beginnings. The flood had destroyed the world that Noah had known. Noah and his family had spent over a year in the Ark. God stopped the rain and He also stopped the waters that were coming from the fountains of the deep. He sent a wind to dry the earth. Genesis 8:1 is the first time the word "wind" is used in our Kings James Bible. In the original the same word is used in Genesis 3:8. There it is translated "cool." In Genesis 6:3 the same word is translated "spirit." In Genesis 6:17, Genesis 7:15 and Genesis 7:22 the same word is translated "breath." On the seventeenth day of the seventh month of the year, the Ark came to rest somewhere in the Ararat Mountains. As the waters receded the mountain tops could be seen, on the first day of the tenth month. The story of Noah and the Ark is not a story of despair; rather it is a story of hope. God did not forget about Noah and the animals with him in the Ark. After Noah could see the tops of the mountains he sent out a raven that just kept flying to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Noah also sent out a dove. It returned to Noah because the water was still deep. Noah held out his hand and helped it back into the Ark. Seven days later, when Noah sent the dove out again, she returned with a green olive leaf in her mouth. Noah knew that the water was finally going down. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. This time she did not return. Noah and his family had been in the Ark one year and seventeen days when God told him and the animals to leave that boat. Noah was grateful to God and he offered some of the clean animals as a sacrifice to Him. God said people still had evil thoughts, but he promised never again to destroy the world and mankind as He had done with the flood. As proof of this promise God said, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 6 and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) The water went away -- Genesis 8:1-5: God did not forget about Noah and the animals that were with him in the Ark. He remembered them and took care of them. There are many things, after the flood, that are similar to the original creation. At first the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water. Now God sends a "wind" (in the original the same word) over the face of the earth. In the original creation God separated the dry land from the waters. After the flood had covered the entire earth, God again gathered the waters into seas and other bodies of water and separated them from dry land. The waters went down from off the earth slowly for one hundred fifty days. The fact of the water going down for 150 days reminds us that it was a world-wide flood and there was a lot of water. It was on the seventeenth day of the seventh month of the year when the Ark came to rest somewhere in the Ararat Mountains. The Bible says that Noah's Ark landed on the mountains of Ararat. This does not refer to any specific mountain or peak, but rather a mountain range within the region of Ararat. Mount Ararat is located in Eastern Turkey on the borders of Iran. At the Highest point Mount Ararat is a snow covered mountain that is 16,945 feet high. When God "Remembered" Noah this does not mean that Noah had been forgotten. It means that God gave special attention to those in the Ark. The earth had been changed and God protected, provided for and preserved those in the Ark and the animals also, both during and after the flood. The waters decreased continually and the mountain tops could be seen on the first day of the tenth month. A raven and a dove were sent out -- Genesis 8:6-12: Forty days after the Ark had come to rest Noah opened the window and sent out a raven. The ravel went forth to and fro or it kept flying around until the water had dried up. The raven is a fairly large, black bird in the crow
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 7 family. It is similar to our crow, but a little larger. In the Song of Solomon the man in the story was described as having hair that was black as a raven. "His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven." (Song of Solomon 5:11) A raven is a scavenger and it appeared to have lived outside the ark, after it was released. Dead animals might have been floating outside the Ark as the water receded, so the raven would eat them as food. Noah also sent a dove out of the Ark. The water was still everywhere and the dove could not find a place to land, so she returned to the Ark. Noah held out his hand and took her back into the Ark. Noah must have place some significance on seven days. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. When she returned this time she had a green leaf from an olive tree in her mouth. Noah knew that the water was finally going down and the earth was drying again. Later, God described Israel as being like an olive tree. "His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." (Hosea 14:6) Noah waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. This time she did not return. Noah and his family left the Ark -- Genesis 8:13-19: Noah and his family stayed in the Ark for over a year. He was six hundred and one years old before he left the Ark. On New Year s Day, of Noah's six hundred and first year, the waters were dried up from off the earth. He removed the covering from the Ark and saw that the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month of Noah's six hundred and first year the earth was completely dry. It was dry enough for man and animals to live there again. God then told Noah that He and the other with him in the Ark, along with the animals should now leave the Ark. All the animals were to be released from the Ark, so that they could breed abundantly in the earth, be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. The animals left the Ark in groups, after their kind, just as they had come in. Noah, his family and all the animals flourished in the new world that they went into after the flood.
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 8 The Lord's promise for the earth -- Genesis 8:20-22: We do not have record of Noah making altars and offering sacrifices before the flood. It is likely that he had done those things before. However, immediately after he came out of the Ark, he built an altar unto the Lord. On this alter he offered one of each kind of the clean animals and birds. The clean animals were the only ones that could be used for a sacrifice. Noah knew, by experience, that there is one true God. He had also seen the power of God. The smell of the burnt offering pleased God. This is the first time is our Bible that we read of the smell of a true sacrifice as being a "sweet savour" unto the Lord. As a result of this sacrifice, God promised, "Never again will I punish the earth for the sinful things its people do." God said that man's heart may still be evil, but He would never again destroy man as He had done. God said, "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." (Genesis 8:21) It was a new world, but people had not changed; they would still do evil. God gave a wonderful promise to Noah. Because he obeyed God, God promised that "while the earth exists", the seasons, and day and night would continue. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) The same God who saved Noah and his family from the flood, can save us from our sins. To be saved you must hear God s word (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized into Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27) Peter wrote, "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 9 conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 3:20-21) By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037 USA
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 10 Questions on Genesis 8:1-22 1. How many days did the water prevail over the earth? How many days did it take for the water to recede? 2. What caused the waters to recede? 3. On the day of the month the ark came to rest on the mountain top. 4. Give the location where the ark came to rest. Where is this mountain range located?
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 11 5. At the end of days Noah opened a window of the ark. 6. The first animal Noah sent out from the ark was. 7. Next, Noah sent forth a. It returned. Noah waited days and sent forth the again. It returned with an. He waited another and the out again. It return. 8. The olive branch symbolizes. 9. The flood began in Noah s year, month, day. It ended in his year, month, day. 10. By the day of the month the earth was dry and they left the ark. How long did Noah and his family live in the ark? A. One year. B. Three hundred eighty days. C. Three hundred forty days. D. One year and seventeen days. 11. Noah built an altar and sacrificed to God, giving him thanks for their safe delivery. What did he sacrifice?
www.biblestudyworkshop.org 12 12. Even though God acknowledged that mankind has an evil mind, he promised that 13. The washing and cleansing of the earth by the flood waters and the salvation of Noah and his family foretold the custom of