Genesis Chapter 8 and 9 – John Karmelich

1. Welcome to Noah Part 2- “Starting Over”.

a) These chapters of Genesis focus on Noah’s new life after the flood ended.

b) The important lessons for us are not so much how it happened but why God wants us to know this stuff. Why were these specific details about the flood-story recorded and how do they apply to our life today?

2. Let’s start with a comment by Peter on Noah and the flood.

a) In the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.
It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ… (1^st Peter 3:20b-21 NIV)

b) What is Peter saying? Mainly that the story of Noah is literal itself, but it is also symbolic of our baptism (identification) with Jesus and our new life in Christ.

c) You can study the story of Noah from a literal standpoint and discover all sorts of wonderful things about the ancient world. Further, the earth of full of geological evidence for a worldwide flood.

d) Peter doesn’t spend a lot of time arguing for the literalness of the story. Peter states the literalness of the flood story as if it was a “given”. Peter focuses on the importance of the flood as it relates to you and me.

e) If Peter says Noah’s flood represents our new life in Christ, well then, that’s good enough for me. J

f) Remember the big-purpose of these studies is not to ancient history lessons but to teach you how the bible is relevant to your life today and how to apply these stories to your life.

3. Let’s also look at something Paul said: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2^nd Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

a) Think about passage in relationship to Noah. Every person Noah knew, other than his wife and kids, are now dead.

b) Noah’s life, in the pre-flood world is now gone. That includes his home, the places he grew up, etc. Noah is truly a “new person” starting a new life.

c) One has to read these chapters of Noah from that perspective. I suspect Noah had much fear of what was happening and turned his trust more to God.

d) To become a Christian is to say, “God, I no longer trust in anything or any person for my salvation. Everything I am, everything I own now belongs to you. You, God, are now in charge of my life. I am starting anew.”

i) That is what we do when we become “born-again”.

ii) That is what happened to Noah through this flood.

iii) Peter compares the flood to a baptism. To baptize is not just to dip in water, but it is a symbolic commitment by the person being baptized to say, “I am no longer identifying with my old life, I am now part of God’s family. My old life is now dead in the water. Coming out of the water, I am a new creation. That is Paul’s emphasis here in 2^nd Corinthians 5:17. That is Peter ‘s emphasis in 1^st Peter 3:20. The concept of “starting over”.

e) Speaking of starting over, we last left our hero Noah floating around in the water waiting for God to land this thing. J

4. Chapter 8., Verse 1: 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.

a) The last verse of Chapter 7 said “The waters flooded the earth for a 150 days.”

i) The opening verse of Chapter 8 said, “But God remembered Noah…”

ii) These verses are designed to be read as a couple.

b) God did not slap his forehead and say, “Oh no, I forgot about Noah…sorry bud, I was busy, I’ll get right too yah!”. J

c) The idea of “remember” is one of continual remembrance. It is that while the earth was being flooded, God still remembered his plans for Noah’s life.

d) Remember that Noah was on a barge, not a sailing ship. There was no sail, no motor, and no rudder to control the ship. Noah was fully dependant upon God to land the thing.

i) These opening words of “God remembered Noah” should give you comfort when you are going through “rough sailing” trips of your life. You don’t know the outcome and you don’t know where God is going to land your ark. One has to take comfort that God continually remembers you and cares for you. The name Noah means “comfort” or “rest”. God never stopped focusing on Noah, just like he never stops focusing on you.

ii) God never promised Noah he would avoid the storms of life, just that God would provide for Noah through those storms.

e) The next part of this verse mentions that God also cared for the animals.

i) In Verse 1, there was no mention of Noah’s wife and children. In a sense “Noah” represents his family members. God called Noah to be the leader of his family. The family’s trust in Noah’s relationship with God is a great model for a godly father and mother for raising their children.

ii) As for the animals, God does care for them. None of the animals died, or ate each other during this voyage. God was interested in preserving them as well.

f) The last part of the verse mentions a wind over the earth as the waters receded.

i) This should remind you of the second verse of the bible: Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2 NIV)

ii) The word for “wind” and “spirit” are the same word. It is the Spirit that comes and gives life over the word.

iii) Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63 NIV).

5. Verse 2: Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. ³ The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down,

a) I stated in the last lesson that Noah kept a calendar.

i) First we had the 40 days of rain (Genesis 7:4)

ii) Then we had 150 days where the water was over the whole earth (Genesis 7:24).

b) I wondered how Noah knew the water was receding? Maybe he just felt it.

i) I suspect he was taking fathoms. This is where you take a long rope and mark it up like a tape measure and see how far you are from the ground.

6. Verse 4: And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

a) Here is one of the my favorite verses in Genesis. (This means I have a lot stuff to say. J)

b) Why would the God of the Universe want you to know that the ark came to a rest on the 17^th day of the 7^th month? (Are we supposed to have a holiday to remember this day? J)

c) For those who know the Jewish calendar, “New Year’s” is in the fall.

i) It is called “Rosh Hashanah” (around September or October).

ii) It gets a little more confusing, because at the time of the Exodus, God commands Moses to make the first month in spring “the beginning of months” (Exodus 12:2).

iii) In a technical sense, there is two “new year’s” in the Jewish calendar.

iv) The fall-new year is similar to our “January 1^st”. It begins the new year.

v) The halfway point (in the spring) is used to calculate the spring holidays.

a) The “spring new year” is only used to calculate when to celebrate Passover and the religious holidays. That is why it falls on different days every year on our calendar. Christians celebrate “Easter” around the time of the Jewish Passover, so Easter varies every year on our calendar.

b) Confused? J Just remember there is only one Jewish New Year, and that is in the fall. The spring-date is just used for “other calculation purposes”.

vi) The Jewish calendar has 12 months like ours. If the first month is in the fall, the seventh month is in the spring. That is the month when Passover occurs.

vii) Passover is always celebrates on the 14^th day of the 7^th month (Exodus 12:6), based on the fall New Year’s date.

viii) Gee John, that’s wonderful. What does any of this have to do with Noah?

ix) Jesus rose from the dead on the 3^rd day after Passover.

a) If Passover is the 14^th day of the 7^th month.

b) Jesus rose from the dead on the 17^th day of the 7^th month.

c) Noah’s new life on earth began on the 17^th day of the 7^th month.

d) Just as our new life on earth began when we accept the death and resurrection of Jesus as payments of our sins.

d) Does that mean all the other dates given by Noah have some sort of symbolic meaning?

i) Possibly, but the commentators are pretty “blank” on those topics.

ii) We may discover some meaning behind the other dates one day, but not today.

7. Verse 5: 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.

a) On the 17^th day of the 7^th month, the ark “became stuck” on Mt. Ararat, which is in modern Turkey. This mountaintop is about 17,000 feet above sea level.

b) Noah and the gang sat in the boat and watched the water recede for several more months.

8. Verse 6: After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ⁷ and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. ⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.

a) In Verse 6 we have another 40 days. This is a separate 40-day period from when the rains first started in Chapter 7.

b) Why Noah waited another 40 days is unknown. Maybe Noah figured he needed to wait and see if any vegetation was growing before he could do some tests.

c) In Verses 7-12, we are going to read of the “bird experiments”.

i) First, Noah is going to send out a raven and see what’s out there, and next he is going to send out doves.

ii) Ravens are scavengers. They can eat old carcasses. Without getting too gross, there may have been old carcasses floating around that the ravens could eat.

iii) Doves are much pickier and eat only vegetation. This is why Noah probably sent out a raven first and then tries the dove tests.

d) Many people take this a step further as a lesson for us.

i) Ravens are “unclean” animals and doves are “clean” animals.

ii) Remember that Noah was ordered to take two of every “unclean” animal on board and seven of every “clean” animal.

iii) We don’t learn what animals are clean and unclean until we get to the book of Leviticus. Noah was have somehow “knew” what was clean.

a) The commandment for Noah to eat meat doesn’t come until Chapter 9.
I believe in the pre-flood world everyone was a vegetarian.

b) The “clean” animals were for sacrifice. It was a visual reminder that God requires the shedding of innocent blood for the payment of sins.

iv) Some see the raven as a symbol of those who wish to “jump ahead” of God’s redemptive plan. The “unclean” raven was willing to go out, and live on carcasses or whatever else it could scrounge up. The dove, a word-picture of peace and the Holy Spirit in different parts of the bible still “worked” with Noah.

a) There may be “hints” in these two birds of those people who acknowledge God, but then “go on their merry way” when the floods-of-life go away and the dove still give thanks to God and focus upon him even when things are getting better.

v) If you think I’m reading too much into this, that’s ok too. J

9. Verse 11: 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. ¹² He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

a) Olive leafs can grow in amazing places. Seeds of most plants can be dead and survive all sorts of conditions and then bring new life again.

b) One can have a field day doing sermons on this one. J Noah waited for “new life” to begin on earth prior to starting out on his new life.

c) In the New Testament, the dove is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, as a “dove-like” creature or symbol landed on Jesus as he came out of the water at John’s baptism. That dove symbol is mentioned in all four Gospel accounts (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:32 & John 1:32).

d) Here is the dove “leading the way” for Noah as when He begins his new life on earth.

10. Verse 13: 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. ¹⁴ By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

a) The interesting speculation has to do with Noah’s birthday.

i) Noah turned “601” in Verse 13. In fact, Verse 13 says it was the first day of the first month of first anniversary of Noah’s 600th birthday.

a) The emphasis is on a new beginning for Noah.

b) The flood started when Noah was just over 600.

c) After that many years, is it really necessary to remember your birthday? J

ii) I think “all the one’s” are just word-pictures associated with Noah’s new life.

b) In Verse 14, it says that Noah waited another month and 27 days until the earth was completely dry.

i) One thing that puzzled me about Verse 14 is “why the extra time?”

ii) Personally, after being on a boat for a year, I’d be stir crazy and anxious to get going and check out the scenery!

iii) Yet we read of Noah waiting this extra month and 27 days on the earth.

iv) What I suspect, but cannot prove is that Noah was waiting on God’s timing.

v) I say that because in Verse 15, God commands Noah to get out of the ark.

vi) Let’s face it; Noah has just been through this traumatic flood. Everyone he knew other than his wife & children were dead. Now he is starting a new life. I can understand Noah’s hesitancy to get moving out of the comfort of the ark.

11. Verse 15: Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶ "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁷ 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."

a) In the introduction of this lesson, Peter compares the flood-story to our baptism.

i) Baptism is a two part word-picture:

a) The first is to go under the water to show your old life is “dead in the water”. You are no longer associating with your old life prior to your relationship with Jesus. Just as Noah is “dead” to everyone he knew prior to the flood, so in a sense are you dead to your old life.

b) The second part is to come out of the water. This is a word-picture of being born again. It is the association with your new life.

ii) God is telling Noah here, “OK, Noah, it is time to start your new life. It is time to come out of the water. You are now born again. To be born again does not mean to sit in the ark all day. Let’s roll!”

b) I may be reading too much into this, but I give Noah credit for waiting on God’s timing before leaving the ark. Noah could have started exploring a month earlier, but Noah understood he was responsible for his wife and the animals. He is waiting on God’s timing before taking the next step.

i) Be careful about the idea of “waiting on God’s timing”. For example, if the alarm clock is going off in the morning, is it necessary to pray: “Lord, shall I wake up now?” Lord, do you want me to go brush my teeth today?” J

ii) I find there are times in my life where opportunities are put in front of me where I believe God is leading me forward. God works in the background in our lives and when we look back at our lives we can see how God guided us. My point is you don’t have to wait for the audible voice of God to “get moving”. Most often, God just wants us to use our brain and God-given knowledge and live our lives based on solid biblical instruction.

c) Back to the text itself: Noah is told by God in a sense, “get moving”.

i) God says in effect, “OK, Noah, it’s over. Get your wife and the kids and all the animals out of there. Its time for everyone to start repopulating.

a) To me, one of the great miracles is the fact that no animals or bugs died in the captivity. Noah didn’t accidentally step on a cockroach no matter how badly I wanted him to do so! J

ii) There are times in our lives when God is telling us in effect, “get moving”.

a) God gave Noah a plan. The plan involved the flood and the next step involved repopulation. Noah waited on God’s timing, and now it is time for Noah to move on to “part 2” of God’s plan.

12. Verse 18: So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. ¹⁹ 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.

a) One of the patterns you see in the bible is a repetition of the following set of actions:

i) God gives a command.

ii) People obeying the command.

b) For example, we read here of God telling Noah to get off the ark, and here in Verse 18 we read of Noah obeying God’s commandment.

c) I believe the purpose of the repetition is because God delights in us actually obeying what he asks us to do. It brings God such joy when he obeys, the bible “mentions it twice”.

d) Let me give you another example:

i) When you get to the book of Exodus, there are chapters dedicated to all the construction details of building a tabernacle to God.

ii) Then the book of Exodus practically repeats all the same chapters over again as the Israelites actually built the thing.

iii) When you read Exodus, you think, “Why waste all the ink?” Couldn’t God just say “and the Israelites built the tabernacle as God instructed” and save a lot of space? The point, like here in Genesis, is that I believe God enjoys when those who follow Him are obedient to God’s commands. Thus God “spends the ink” showing how His followers obeyed his commands.

13. Verse 20: 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.

a) Verse 20 is my favorite verse in the chapter. Get ready for more lengthy commentary! J

b) Noah just spent about a year on this ark.

c) Noah acted on faith that all of God told him to do. He built the ark, watched every animal go in and come out and God preserved Noah through the flood.

d) When Noah was told to go in the ark, Noah brought “seven of the clean animals and two of the unclean” (Genesis 7:2). This means that besides two of every animal, Noah brought along additional “clean” animals for sacrifice.

e) Noah takes makes an altar and sacrifices all the remaining “clean” animals.

i) Noah, who is now starting his new life, begins by offering “all he has” to God.

f) Let’s take this word-picture and apply it to our Christian life:

i) Jesus paid the price for our sins. All we have to do on our part is believe that and live our life on the fact that when we get to heaven and God asks us, “Are you guilty?” We say, “Yes, but Jesus paid the price so I can spend eternity in heaven”.

ii) What is the next thing to do with that knowledge of our salvation?

a) The answer is we give thanks to God.

iii) The first thing Noah did, was not to explore, not to look at his wife and say “lets get repopulating!” J The first thing Noah did was say “thank you” to God. Noah took all the remainder of the clean animals and offered them to God.

iv) Noah said in effect, “OK God, Here is what is left of the sacrificial animals.” I’m offering them to you. You are in charge of my life and I’m obeying your orders. I’m going to move forward. I’m going to begin my new life by showing my gratitude to you for saving my life.”

g) Notice God’s response to Noah’s action in the next verse.

14. Verse 21: 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. ²² "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

a) From Verses 21-22, through the first half of Chapter 9 is called by scholars “The Noah covenant” (among other titles).

b) This “covenant” is an unconditional promise made by God. The promise is God will never again destroy the earth by a flood, despite the evilness of mankind.

i) If God makes a promise to us, we can count on God not breaking that promise.

ii) God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). If God were capable of lying, then we can’t trust anything God says. Therefore, if we are trusting God’s word as truth, then we must trust in this promise to Noah, as well as all the promises to us in the bible, especially those made by and about Jesus himself.

c) These verses are another proof that the flood is a worldwide flood.

i) Throughout history, there have been local floods that have killed many people.

ii) Some people argue that Noah’s flood was only a local flood.

a) First of all, if that were true, why didn’t Noah and the animals simply “seek higher ground”?

b) Second, if it was only a local flood, then God’s promises in these verses are not true. God is promising in Verses 21 and 22 that He would never destroy the world again with a flood. If the flood was only a “local thing”, then God has failed to keep his promise.

d) These verses bring up another question: Will life go on “as is” forever?

i) These verses are implying that God will never destroy the earth again. God is saying that despite the evil that is in man, there will always be “seasons”.

a) “Seasons” implies times for planting and harvesting as well as summer, spring, fall and winter.

ii) Peter, in the New Testament, gives the answer: But they (non-believers) deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed (Noah’s flood). By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2^nd Peter 3:5-7 NIV)

iii) What is Peter saying? Peter is saying “You need to read the fine print in God’s statement to Noah”. J God is saying he will never destroy the earth with water again. Peter is saying the world will be destroyed and judged one day, but it will be by fire, and not by water. (See Chapter 9, Verse 8 for the reference to “no more destruction by water/flood.)<