Genesis 8 - Bible Study

[sharky67]

Genesis 8:1-5


But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. - Genesis 8:1-5

God "closed" the floodgates of the heavens and the springs of the earth, and he caused a drying wind to blow. As a result, God made the vast waters of the Flood gradually recede.

The ark, carrying such precious cargo, came to rest “on the mountains of Ararat.” Today this is the region of eastern Turkey. Here again we see the marvelous plan of God. This area is the convergence of three continents – Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was a strategic spot from which Noah’s descendants could disperse to the world in all directions.
Moses tells us that God "remembered" Noah -- not that God forgot him, but to emphasize that God preserved Noah and the others just exactly as he had promised. In fact, absolutely everything God had both threatened and promised took place just as he said it would. God does not pull punches. When he tells us that he hates sin, we know he is telling the truth. But he also tells us that faith in his Son Jesus also saves us. And that's the truth, too.

Lord, give me the things I need to preserve my life. Most importantly, give me a greater love for Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 8:6-12


After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. - Genesis 8:6-12

There are elements of the Flood story which are picked up by other parts of the Bible as looking ahead to something else. The Flood itself is a mighty warning about the seriousness and suddenness of the end of the world. And that just a few people are saved through the water is said by Peter to symbolize baptism, which actually saves us from our sins.
We can also think of the period of forty days. It rained forty days at the beginning of the Flood, and then Noah waited forty days at the end of the Flood before he left the ark. This reminds us of Jesus, who was tempted during his forty days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, and then waited for forty more days after his resurrection before he ascended into heaven.

The olive leaf with which the dove returned has ever since become a symbol of peace. The period of November and December each year is known in the church calendar as "Advent," a time when we cast our thoughts ahead to the coming of Christ. We recall his first coming, when God himself became human in order to restore peace between God and mankind by saving us from our sins. And we also look ahead to the time when he will come again. That day, the end of the world, will come suddenly. For the unbeliever, it will be a terrible day. For us who believe in Jesus Christ, it will be a day of singing, of joy, and of perfect peace.
This peace is ours, not because of anything we have done, or any ordeal we have undergone, but because God loved the world so much that he gave up his only Son—with the result that whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned by God, but has eternal life with him forever in heaven.

Father in heaven, I treasure the peace that you give me through Jesus. Help me to resist anything that would rob me of this precious peace. Amen.

[sharky67]

Genesis 8:13-17


By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it." - Genesis 8:13-17

The only thing that brings Noah out of the ark is the command from God: "Come out." In addition to that command, God also renewed his command given first to Adam and Eve: "Multiply and increase in number." God would enable the people and animals saved on the ark to once again fill the earth.

The Flood is recorded according to Noah's lifespan. It began when Noah was 600 years old, on the 17th day of the second month. It ended – the earth was completely dry – in his 601st year, on the 27th day of the second month. Noah and his family were in the ark a year and ten days.

All this time in the wooden ark did not make Noah perfect. Nothing Noah did made him perfect. In fact, Noah wasn't saved because he was perfect at all. Noah was saved because of God's grace, because of God's mercy, because of God's love. The same is true of you and me. We are only saved because God has shown mercy to us, not because of anything we say or do.
Are we still sinful? Are we still prone to mistakes? Do we still set up other gods, misuse God's name, fail to worship him, dishonor our parents, hurt, lust, steal, slander, cheat and covet? Certainly we do. We are even born sinful; we were sinful from the time of our conception (Psalm 51:5). But God has rescued us. He has saved us from the rising flood of our own sinfulness with his own death on a cross made of wood.
Therefore, we strive to obey God’s holy commandments, not because we “have to,” but because we want to, in thanks for rescuing us from our sins and preserving our lives.

Prayer:
My dear God, though I am a sinner, you have been merciful and rescued me through Jesus. Forgive me when I fail to live according to your holy will. Strengthen me to act and speak in ways that demonstrate that I am very thankful for your love. Amen.

[sharky67]

Genesis 8:18-22


So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds--everything that moves on the earth--came out of the ark, one kind after another. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease." - Genesis 8:18-22

Sometimes we are impatient readers. Little details are easily overlooked. In fact, Moses' words in the second sentence (verse 19) would probably be considered poor or awkward English today, since he says "all" or "everything" four times. But this repetition is there to show us that not a single animal perished while aboard the ark. Everything that went in, also came out again. God was concerned for his creatures even as he is concerned about each one of us.

Now one purpose for the additional clean animals is made clear: Noah sacrificed one of every clean animal to the Lord as a way of giving thanks to the Lord for preserving their lives. In love God promised to continue preserving the world by maintaining the natural order of the seasons and days until the end of time.
God said, "Every inclination of (mankind's) heart is evil from childhood." Does that mean that humans are not really sinful when they are infants? We must say "no" for several reasons. This sentence parallels something God said before the Flood came, in Genesis 6:5: "Every inclination of the thoughts of (mankind's) heart was only evil all the time." Also, the word for "childhood" in our passage is also used for Moses when he is a baby of a few months in Exodus 2:6, and it is also used for a newborn infant in 2 Samuel 12:16. Psalm 51:5 tells us that we are even sinful from the time we are conceived, before birth. This condition hammers home our overwhelming need to be rescued. Like Noah, we can't do anything to save ourselves. But God has been merciful to you and to me. He has placed faith in our hearts, faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ who offered himself as the sacrifice that paid for every single evil inclination of our hearts.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, keep me safe under your loving protection. Strengthen my faith in Jesus that my heart may be filled with love for you that moves me to live for you. Amen.

[bubbadave3]

I get SO hopping mad when they try and say that it's in Turkey. It is in Armenia! My relatives are direct descendants of those who came off of the ark. In fact, Armenia was the first nation to accept Christianity as it's national religion back in 301 A.D.

[sharky67]

Originally Posted by bubbadave3

I get SO hopping mad when they try and say that it's in Turkey. It is in Armenia! My relatives are direct descendants of those who came off of the ark. In fact, Armenia was the first nation to accept Christianity as it's national religion back in 301 A.D.

Interesting. Do you have any websites that might back up that fact?

[bubbadave3]

No. I just know my Armenian history. The portion of Armenian that Ararat is in was sucked up by the Turks during the Genocide, when they killed 1 1/2 million of us for being Christian. It's also not politically correct to speak of the Genocide, as Turkey is our ally, and they won't acknowledge what they did. Ararat has always been in Armenia, and is still in Armenia. Our churches and monasteries are on the mountain.