This week, I would like for us to jump back into the
story of Noah and the ark. Before we jump back into the story, however, let’s
take a minute to set the context for where we are jumping into. 120 years after
God had commanded Noah to build the ark. After spending approximately 75 years
building the ark in the midst of ridicule from others; God commands Noah, his
family, and the animals to enter into the ark. Once in the ark, God closed the
door of the ark, at which point God proceeded to flood the earth. For 150 days straight, God flooded the earth
with rain above and from water below to cover even the highest mountaintop with
water.
Now I would like for you to place yourself in this story.
Imagine yourself on the ark as part of Noah’s family. What would you be
thinking? What would be running through your mind as you listened to the
screams of those who were drowning as they tried to get on the ark? How would you be feeling? What would you feel
as day after day you heard nothing but the sound of rain and felt the rolling
of the ark on the stormy water?
\How would you respond? Remember, God never said how long
it would take to flood the earth; God only said that He was going to flood the
earth. So how would you respond after a week? A month? Two months? Three months
of steady rain? Four months? How would you respond after five months of stormy
seas and silence from God? Because, it is in this context that we are going to
enter back into this story, beginning in Genesis 8:1. Let’s look at it
together:
But God remembered Noah and all
the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark;
Now when Moses says that God remembered Noah, he is not
saying that God had forgotten about Noah. God was not preoccupied and then said
“Oh Yeah, I almost forgot about Noah”. The word remembered here, in the
language that this letter was originally written in, conveys that sense of
remembering in a way that extends grace and mercy to someone so as to rescue
them from death. The word remember here is one of action, not intellect. After
flooding the earth for 150 days, God acted by extending grace to Noah and all
who were on the ark. We see Moses record for us exactly how God acted in the rest
of verse 1:
and God
caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the
fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain
from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and
at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. In the seventh
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains
of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth
month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
Moses records for us that after 150 days of steady rain,
God acted by stopping the rain and steadily receded the flood waters, which
took a period of 150 days. At the end of 150 days, the ark came to rest upon
the mountains of Ararat. Now while the precise location of the mountains is
unknown, most scholars and historians believe that these mountains are located
in eastern Turkey.
Now a natural question that arises here is “well what
exactly was Noah and his family doing during the time that the water was
receding?” Fortunately for us, Moses provides us some details that help answer
that question beginning in verse 6:
Then it came about at the end
of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he
sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from
the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated
from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of
her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface
of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into
the ark to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out
the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her
beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated
from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove;
but she did not return to him again.
Forty days after the rain had stopped, Moses attempted to
discover how far the waters receded by sending out a Raven. However, the Raven
never returned. So Moses responded by sending out a dove, who found no resting
place for her feet and returned back to Noah and the ark. Now a question that
arises here is “why did the Raven not return? And why send out a dove after the
Raven did not return?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just
want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking.
The reason for the two different birds and their
responses is due to the differences between the two birds. You see, Ravens are
scavengers, so they will eat anything, whether it is alive or dead. Ravens have
no problems eating the corpses of animals or humans for that matter, and I
imagine there may have been a few of those around. So a raven would have had no
trouble finding food. In addition, ravens have no problems with perching on
slimy surfaces. So the raven did not need to go back to the ark.
By contrast, doves are not scavengers. They need specific
food to eat and specific environments to live in that would only be found in
the event that the flood waters had sufficiently subsided. So the dove returned
back to the ark, which told Noah that the waters had not receded enough and it
was not safe. Noah then waited seven more days and sent the dove out again.
This time, however, the dove returned with an olive branch, which signified
that the water had resided enough for it to find a landing place, but not
enough to find food. So Noah waited seven more days and sent the dove out
again. The dove however, never returned, signifying that it had found food and
shelter.
Now another question that
arises here is “why send the birds anyways?” Remember, Noah had not heard from
God since the day that God had closed the door on the ark. That was 300 days
ago. 300 days without a word from God. So Noah here is trying to gather
information to help him understand what was happening and what God was up to as
he waited to hear from God.
Just because the ark is resting
on the top of a mountain does not mean that it is safe to exit the ark. Just
because the ark is resting on the top of a mountain does not mean it is safe to
let the animals out. So Noah is trying to get a grip on what is happening.
Tomorrow, we will see what
happens as Noah attempts to get a grip…
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