INTRODUCTION:
Last week, we observed how within only twelve generations, from Adam to Noah, humanity had shifted from being “very good” (Genesis 1:31, ESV) to exceedingly wicked in the eyes of God. Each generation walked further away from God than the previous generation. Each generationand increased in selfishness, violence, and sinfulness. We read that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5, ESV). God saw this and was deeply grieved by the state of humanity. As a result, God decided to bring judgment upon the earth.
Noah alone was righteous and blameless in his generation, and he alone found favor in the eyes of God. The Lord called Noah to build an Ark to preserve himself, his family, and a selection of animals from the impending flood. He believed in God and worked tirelessly day after day for several decades until he completed the task. We observed how Noah’s unwavering faith serves as an example for those striving to lead a faithful life in difficult times. Additionally, we recognized that Christ is our ultimate and superior refuge, securing our salvation and rescuing us from the consequences of our sins.
To save time, we won’t cover the second half of Genesis seven this morning. It mentions that Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came. At God’s command, Noah’s family boarded the Ark, and God shut the door behind them. God caused rain to fall upon the earth for forty days and nights, causing the water to rise and lift the Ark above the earth and remain adrift for a hundred and fifty days. Our reading for this morning begins with Noah and his family adrift on a seemingly endless sea.
Scripture Reading:
Genesis 8:1-22, ESV: 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. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 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.
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the Ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 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. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the Ark. 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. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
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. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the Ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 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.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the Ark.
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. 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. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
God Remembers Noah
The beginning of Genesis eight announces a significant turning point in the story with the words, “But God remembered Noah” (Genesis 8:1, ESV). God’s remembrance of Noah is more than just a simple acknowledgment; it reveals an essential aspect of His character – His omniscience and perfect knowledge. As Almighty God and Creator of the universe, He possesses flawless intelligence and memory. God never forgets what He intends to remember. Wouldn’t it be nice if the same could be said about us. We may forget important things from time to time, but God never forgets us. In fact, the only instance I could find in scripture where God is said to forget anything is when God willingly chooses to forget the sins of those who have received the forgiveness made available by Christ:
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” – Isaiah 43:25, ESV.
“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” – Hebrews 8:12, ESV.
If you ever feel as though God has forgotten you, know for those who are in Christ, the only thing God has forgotten is the sins that separated us from his love.
What then is meant when the Bible says, “God remembered Noah” (Genesis 8:1, ESV)? In the Bible, whenever God remembers someone, He takes action on their behalf. We see this when God saves Lot from Sodom (Genesis 19:29), when he grants Rachel children in her barrenness (Genesis 30:22), and when he frees the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 2:24). In every instance, God’s saving action was preceeded by the phrase “God remembered.” So when we read that God remembered Noah, this does not mean that God ever forgot about Noah, but instead it serves as a reminder that God had not overlooked His promise to Noah, even after all this time.
We then read, “God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided” Genesis 8:1, ESV). This was no ordinary wind, just as the flood was no ordinary flood. This divine wind caused to waters to recede and subside. The words used in the original Hebrew are the same terms used to describe what happened when the Red Sea returned to its original state after God divided the sea so Moses and the Israelites could cross to safety (Exodus 14:26-28), and when God parted the Jordan river so that Joshua Israelites could cross to enter into the promised land (Joshua 4:18). God’s action of judgment and salvation was complete. Therefore, the waters miraculously returned to their normal location. The flood was not a natural occurrence, and neither was the receding of the flood waters. Both occurrences were historical events that took place because God willed them to occur.
Our passage continues:
“At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 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.” – Genesis 3:3b-5, ESV.
Five months after the flood began, God guided the Ark to a resting place in the Ararat mountains. However, Noah and his family had to wait for two more months on the Ark before they could look out and see the tops of the mountains breaking through the surface of the water. I can only imagine how their excitement grew as they saw signs of land for the first time in months.
As Christians, we may often feel neglected or overlooked in the great storms of life. We may look around us and wonder why this dark season is lasting so long or why God had not stepped in sooner to deliver us from this trial. It can be difficult to hold to this truth when the storms are raging, but it’s incredibly reassuring to know that God is always looking out for us and keeping track of every living thing. He cares for us and we are never out of his sight or out of his mind.
Waiting on God
I would like to take a brief break from discussing Noah to explore an idea that is consistently present in scripture but often overlooked in our discussions and studies. I want to address the concept of “waiting on God.” In today’s culture, where everything is fast-paced and immediate, waiting is often viewed as a burden, a waste of time, or a sign of laziness or inactivity. However, the scriptures contain many examples of people who learned the vital lesson of waiting on God. While the idea may seem foreign to us, God’s word tells us that there is beauty and power in waiting on God.
One of the most well-known passages about waiting on God can be found in the book of Isaiah.
“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:30-31, ESV.
Genuinely faith in God is not just a matter of sitting back and waiting for things to happen. In the biblical sense, waiting on God is actively seeking after God with an unwavering dependence on His guidance and provision. It is remembering and trusting in God’s promises to renew us when we do not have the strength to carry on.
Sometimes, we find ourselves in a situation where we can do nothing but pray and wait for God’s intervention, but it is in those moments that we often witness God’s extraordinary presence and power, just as Noah did. I think one of the reasons modern Christians do not see more miracles in their life is that we work so hard to never put ourselves in a position where the outcome depends on God showing up. We want to keep things at a level where we can control the outcome, but when you read your Bible, you see that miracles occur when individuals step out in prayerful faith into situations where the desired outcome will not happen if God does not intervene.
In Psalm 27, David describes how “evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh” (Psalm 27:2, ESV) and “false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence” (Psalm 27:12, ESV). Despite these challenges, David chooses to put his trust in the Lord. He devotes himself to worship and prayer, trusting in God to overcome his enemies, which are too powerful and numerous for him to defeat alone. The Psalm concludes with these wordds,
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” – Psalm 27:14, ESV.
Waiting on God means patiently trusting in God’s timing and wisdom. Waiting on God is an act of surrender and trust, and it positions us to receive his perfect will and good blessings. Waiting on God is also not just about the future.The apostle Paul reminds us that waiting on God can be a time of spiritual growth that God uses to mold us into the image of Christ. In Romans 5:3-5 Paul writes:
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5, ESV.
During difficult times, our faith can either be shattered or strengthened. The key factor is whether we hold onto God’s promises and rely on His strength. Waiting can be a refining process that develops our perseverance, shapes our character, and strengthens our hope. By patiently enduring, we become more like Christ and find a steadfast hope that anchors our faith.
As we read in the book of Lamentations,
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” – Lamentations 3:25-26, ESV.
The End of the Flood
Returning to Noah, we see that after forty long days, Noah opens the window of the Ark to send out a bird to search for dry land. He sends out a raven as the first bird, but it did not return to the Ark for some unknown reason. There is speculation among some commentators that the raven did not return after the flood because ravens are scavenger birds that can eat a wide range of things, including carcasses and other forms of garbage. Therefore, it is possible that the raven found enough food to sustain itself in the aftermath of the flood and did not feel the need to return to Noah. Because ravens eat trash and pick at dead bodies, Jewish law considers them unclean animals.
In a sermon, one early Christian teacher named Bede complained that too many Christians are like the raven. They are saved by grace from God’s judgment but would rather spend their days picking at the world’s trash than serve the one who saved them (Bede, Homily 1.12).
After waiting seven days, we read in Genesis 8:8 that Noah sends out a second bird. This time he sends out a dove, a clean bird according to Jewish law. We read that the dove does not find land suitable for it to live on, so it returns to the Ark. Seven more days, Noah waits before sending out the dove a second time. This time, however, the dove returns in the evening with an olive leaf in its beak. God’s Word tells us this olive leaf was “freshly picked,” suggesting that new life was miraculously growing once more. This would provide sustenance for humans and animals alike. It also indicates that the floodwaters had continued receding from the earth.
Noah’s family now had proof that God saved them and that peace was restored between God and man. Noah’s faith and obedience spared them from the righteous condemnation that struck the sinful generation of Noah’s day. After waiting seven more days, Noah sent out the dove one last time. When the dove did not return, Noah knew beyond all doubt that there was land and vegetation enough to support life outside the Ark. After such a devastating time of destruction, God had now begun the work of restoration.
Noah waited for twenty-nine days before removing the Ark’s covering and fifty-seven more days until the earth was completely dry. It’s difficult to even imagine what those on the Ark must have gone through. Waiting for such a long time and then having to wait even longer must have been incredibly difficult. They were stuck inside that Ark for almost a year, unable to even go up on deck. But finally, they could see the water levels dropping, and more and more land was being exposed each day. They must have felt such a mix of excitement, fear, and anticipation. From the ocean’s depths, a new world has emerged in a stunning rebirth of the old. The dawn of a new era has finally arrived, though it was a slow and tedious journey to get here.
Sometimes waiting on God can feel like being cooped up on the Ark. We believe in the truth of God’s promises and occasionally witness their fulfillment firsthand. However, we often become restless and eager for the new world to arrive, even though God calls us to be patient. It can be challenging when you’ve been praying for someone for a long time, and it seems your efforts have not been fruitful. It’s understandable to feel like you need divine intervention. Still, it can be discouraging when it seems God is not responding as quickly as you hoped. Do not lose heart. Just because some things take time, that does not mean that progress is not being made. God may be doing something you cannot see, and his calling for you is to stay faithful and trust in his timing.
It is natural to feel impatient and want to fast forward to the happy ending. However, it is important to remember that our purpose is to be an unwavering source of light in the present moment. Even during difficult times, we have the chance to shine brighter and fulfill our role here and now. These moments of darkness and waiting will eventually pass, but until they do we should stay faithful to our calling and continue waiting on God.
Despite enduring a prolonged period of waiting, fear, and uncertainty, Noah remained steadfast in his unwavering trust in God. May we be blessed with the same level of faith and patience as shown by Noah. Note how Noah did not become impatient and run ahead of God. He did not rush the will of God.
“Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 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.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.” – Genesis 8:15-19, ESV.
The fact that the creatures went out by families “that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 8:17, ESV) is an echo of the command that God gave to his creatures all the way back in Genesis 1, demonstrating that this post-flood era would be a fresh start for the world. The family of Noah was tasked with building a new life on earth. Exciting new possibilities lie ahead for them as they embark on this new journey. Through His unwavering faithfulness, God fulfilled His Word and promise. He justly judged the wrongdoing and chaos that plagued humanity, yet in His boundless mercy, He protected and rescued those who believed and followed Him.
This is a valuable lesson for us to learn. By placing our trust in God and waiting patiently for His deliverance, we can rest assured that He will come through for us. Our salvation is well within reach, and we can have complete confidence in God’s faithfulness to bring it to completion. He will rescue us from this sinful world and the impending judgment, and our redemption is guaranteed.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:6, ESV.
The Covenant
The first action Noah took as he left the Ark carries great significance.
“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.” – Genesis 8:20, ESV.
When Noah left the Ark, he could have easily been preoccupied with other tasks and neglected to worship God. If I were in a survival situation, my instinct as an Eagle Scout would be to assess the situation, prioritize basic needs like shelter and clean water, gather resources, start a fire, and think about food sources. However, Noah had different priorities. His first concern was to prioritize worship. He was determined to learn from the past and avoid repeating the mistakes of former generations. Whereas the wicked generation who perished in the flood worshipped their own sinful desires, Noah erected an altar so that this new generations following would see and remember that God alone is worthy of our worship.
The last verse in our passage ends with a promise:
“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. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” – Genesis 8:21-22, ESV
God always keeps His promises, even when we fail in upholding our end of the bargain. Even in the midst of the growing immorality of today’s world, God’s promises remain true.
Conclusion:
Just as the ark brought salvation to Noah and his family, Jesus Christ offers salvation to each one of us. Just as the earth was washed clean, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross washes away our sins, offering us a chance at a renewed life, a fresh start. God’s grace is extended to every individual, calling us to step into the ark of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Today, the altar is open to all who feel the stirring in their hearts, who recognize the need for a spiritual cleansing, and who desire a fresh beginning with God. If you have been burdened by sin, if you have strayed from the path of righteousness, if you are longing for a deeper relationship with the Lord, this is your moment to respond. Come forward and lay your burdens at the feet of Jesus. Let go of the weight that holds you back and embrace the loving embrace of our Savior. Just as Noah stepped out onto dry ground after the floodwaters subsided, you too can step out into a new life with Christ. Let His love and forgiveness flood your heart, and allow His grace to transform you from the inside out.
Closing Prayer:
Father God, we are grateful for your unwavering faithfulness. You have promised never to abandon or forsake those who are one in Christ, so please help us to hold onto your promises and presence during long and difficult days of waiting. We do not want to be idle while waiting, but rather actively pursue all that you have called us to do while trusting in you for the outcome. If there are any among us who have not yet found salvation in Christ, we humbly ask that you call them forward during our time of decision so that we can embark on this journey of faith together. Bless this time of the decision, Lord. We pray for all these things in your son’s holy and precious name. Amen.
