Genesis 8:1-14

PART TWENTY-TWO:
THE WORLD AFTER THE FLOOD

(Genesis 8:1-22; Genesis 9:1-29)

1. The Subsidence of the Flood (Genesis 8:1-14).

And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; 2 the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days, the waters decreased. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: 7 and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9 but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark: for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11 and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more. 13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the Ark, and looked, and, behold the face of the ground was dried. 14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry

2. The Chronology of the Flood,

(1) Noah entered the Ark on the 17th day of the second month of the 600th year of his life (Genesis 7:11). The earth was found to be dry on the 27th day of the second month of the 601st year of his life (Genesis 8:14). On the basis of a thirty-day month, this means that the duration of the Flood was 371 days. (This total is computed as follows: Of the 600th year of Noah's life, the 14 remaining days of the second month must be added to the 300 days of the next ten months; that is, 314 days in all. [Note that Noah removed the covering of the Ark on the first day of the first month of the next (601st) year of Noah's life (Genesis 8:13), hence it follows that 314 days elapsed between the entrance into the Ark, and the removal of the covering of the Ark.] Now, of the 601st year of Noah's life, to the first month of 30 days must be added the 27 days of the second month, that is, 57 days in all. The two figures, 314 days and 57 days, give us a total of 371 days of Noah's life that were spent in the Ark. These figures serve as a framework for determining the details that we get, on breaking down the various phases of the duration of the Flood.)

(2) These 371 days break down into two general parts: the period of prevailing (Genesis 7:24) and the period of assuaging or abating (Genesis 8:1).

(3) The period of prevailing began with torrential rains extending over a period of 40 days (Genesis 7:12); then followed an additional rise of the waters for 110 days (as a consequence of the awesome terrestrial, oceanic, seismic, and stratospheric forces that were unleashed); that is, 150 days in all (Genesis 7:24).

(4) The period of abating (Genesis 8:1) included a phase of decrease which extended from the 17th day of the seventh month to the 1st day of the tenth month (Genesis 8:4-5), that is, 13 plus 30 plus 30 plus 1, or 74 days in all; an additional forty days until Noah sent forth the raven (Genesis 8:6-7); then seven days (by implication of the phrase, Genesis 8:10, other seven days) until he sent forth the dove the first time (Genesis 8:8), another seven days until he sent forth the dove a second time (Genesis 8:10-11), and still another seven days until he sent forth the dove the third and last time (Genesis 8:12). It will thus be seen that we have now accounted for 150 plus 74 plus 40 plus 21 days, or 285 in all. But the chronology of Noah's life, as given above, in which we find that 314 days elapsed between the entering into the Ark and the removal of the covering of the Ark (Genesis 8:13) indicates a period of 29 days between these two events (314 minus 285 days: cf. again Genesis 7:11 and Genesis 8:13). And it was 57 days after this that the whole earth was found to be dry enough for the disembarkation (Genesis 8:14). (It should be noted that only the face of the ground was found to be dry when the covering of the Ark was removed, Genesis 8:13). Adding all these figures, 40 plus 110 plus 74 plus 40 plus 21 plus 29 plus 57, we have a total of 371 days between the occupancy of the Ark and the withdrawal therefrom. (See E. F. Kevan, NBD, 427).

(5) There certainly is a noticeable lack of any discrepancy in these various figures. For example: (a) After the waters had prevailed upon the earth 150 days, they began to assuage (Genesis 8:1). (b) On the same day the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat (Urartu of Assyrian inscriptions) between the lakes of Van and Urmia. That is, the 17th day of the seventh month, the day on which the Ark came to rest (Genesis 8:4) was exactly 150 days after the Flood began on the 17th day of the second month (Genesis 7:11). (Note well: The circumstances that, from the beginning of rainfall to the grounding of the Ark on seems not to be an insoluble problem, Evidently they returned to the sources whence they came, that is, all that were not congealed in polar icecaps and glacial beds, or buried in newly formed subterranean seas, ButIs there enough water on our planet to cover the entire earth) Eminent authorities tell us: (a) that the proportion of land area to water area on the earth is about three-tenths to seven-tenths (that is, there is more than twice as much water as land); (b) that the average depth of the ocean is twelve times the average height of the land surface (hence, if deeper parts of the ocean and the highest elevations of land were brought to an average level, a world-wide ocean that would cover the entire earth to the depth of one and one-half miles would be produced); (c) that, moreover, if the water now stored in the form of ice at the polar icecaps and glacial beds were released, the volume of the ocean would be raised by one hundred and fifty feet; (d) that if in addition to all these changes, there were others of a cataclysmic nature, such as the rise of sea beds and the sinking of continents, there is no difficulty whatever to find enough water for a flood that would cover the whole earth. And it must be remembered that even though God apparently unleashed natural forces in bringing on the Flood, the fact still remains that the phenomenon as a whole was essentially supernatural in character. We do not propose here to set limits to the power of God nor to enter into a controversy with the Lord Jesus Christ. We see no reason for assuming, however, that the Genesis Flood was in any respect a violation of the natural fact that the water cycle on our planet operates in a closed system.

(9) God remembered Noah and all the creatures with him in the Ark. (Genesis 8:1). Lange (CDHCG, 309): God has always remembered Noahbut now he remembers him in a special sensethat he may accomplish his deliverance. There comes a turn in the flood, and the ground of it lay in the government of God. To the rule of judgment upon the human world, succeeds the rule of compassion for the deliverance of Noah and humanity, as also of the animal-world. It is his compassion, not simply his grace. For God also remembered the beasts. God remembers the survivors in mercy (cf. Genesis 19:29; Genesis 30:22). God remembers man's sins when He punishes them (cf. Psalms 25:7), and the needs of His people when He supplies them (Nehemiah 5:19). One wonders if Noah, throughout all those dark days in the Ark, did not become depressed by a feeling that God must have forgotten him. (Cf. the words of Moses, Numbers 11:11-15; those of Habakkuk the prophet [Genesis 1:2-4]; those of the Psalmist, Genesis 44:24; and especially the cry of Jesus from the Cross, Matthew 27:46). But even when we seem lost to everything else we are not lost to God. In Whittier's words:

I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.

And God also remembered the animals with Noah in the Ark, a touching indication of the tenderness of God toward His creatures. Skinner (ICCG, 165): The inclusion of the animals in the kindly thought of the Almighty is a touch of nature which should not be overlooked. (Cf. Deuteronomy 25:4; Psalms 36:6; Psalms 145:9; Psalms 145:15-16; Jonah 4:11). The passage is anthropomorphic, of course, essentially anthropopathic: it has been said rightly that the most God could do for man was to supply him with an anthropomorphic image of Himself.

(10) The Raven and the Dove. The raven, an unclean bird, a bird of prey capable of sustaining itself by feeding on carrion, was a creature especially fitted for the mission imposed upon it. This bird was evidently so named because of its black color (cf. Proverbs 30:17, Song of Solomon 5:11): note the Latin equivalent corvus. There are numerous references to the dove in Scripture (e.g., Leviticus 5:7; Leviticus 12:6 [its use for sacrificial purposes]; Psalms 68:13 [its beautiful plumage]; Psalms 55:6 [its power of flight]; Isaiah 38:14; Isaiah 59:11 [its plaintive cry]; Matthew 10:16 [its gentleness]). The dove is also an emblem of the purity and gentleness of the Holy Spirit: cf. Matthew 3:16-17, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:32-34, Acts 10:38, Owen (DHS, 46): At the beginning of the old creation, the Spirit of God moved on the waters, cherishing and communicating a prolific, vivifying quality to the whole, as a dove gently moves upon its eggs, communicating vital heat; so at the new creation, He comes as a dove upon Him who was the immediate author of it. Skinner (ICCG, 156): The description of the return and admission of the dove is unsurpassed. for tenderness and beauty of imagination. Note also the account of the freshly plucked olive-leaf (Genesis 8:11). The olive tree did not grow at great altitudes, and is said to have flourished even under water. The olive branch is frequently mentioned in ancient literature as an emblem of peace. Brownville (SHS, 23): As John describes the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, he distinctly says that the Spirit is to remain as an abiding presence in Him [Christ: cf. John 1:29-34]. Referring back to the experience of Noah, we remember that when the window of the ark was opened for the third time and the dove sent forth, it did not return but went to its abiding-place on the cleansed earth. Thus the Holy Spirit did not go back into heaven, but abode in Jesus in all His fullness. This fullness of the Spirit was His not only at all times in the Incarnation, but eternally; we cannot divide the Trinity of the Godhead. But here it is manifest, that we might believe and understand. Marsh (EHS, 9-18): Noah's dove came forth from the ark. God's Dove came from heaven. There are two thoughts suggested by this. As the dove came forth from the ark, the ark being a type of Christ, so the Holy Spirit, because of what Christ is, and has done, comes forth to the earth of man's iniquity; and to tell him of the only ark of salvation wherein he can find safety and peace. The lighting of the Holy Spirit on Christ as the Dove proclaims two things; first, He could come as the Dove on the Lamb of God, for there was a correspondence between the spotlessness of God's Lamb and the gentleness of God's Dove. Second, He came upon Christ as the Dove, to qualify Him for his ministry, and to act through Him in blessing to others. Again: What were the results from the sending forth of the dove from the ark, and the coming of the Spirit upon Christ? There were three sendings forth of the dove from the ark. The first time it found no rest for the sole of its feet, and returned to the ark. Josephus says that -the dove came back to Noah with her wings and feet all muddy.-' May we not take this as illustrative of the fact that in all the missions of the Spirit, from the Fall to the coming of Christ, He always had to bear testimony to man's sin and iniquity?. The second time the dove came back to the ark with an olive-leaf in its mouth, which is significantly said to be -plucked off.-' The word means, to be freshly torn from the tree. The Hebrew word Taraph comes from a root which means to tear in pieces, and is generally used to describe the action of wild beasts in rending their prey to pieces. It is rendered -rent in pieces-' in Genesis 37:33, where Jacob takes it for granted that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast when he sees blood-stained garments of Joseph. The same root is given as -ravening-' in Psalms 22:13, where Christ speaks of the wicked who were surrounding Him like a lot of wild beasts. Rotherham translates this verse, -They have opened wide their mouth, a lion rending and roaring.-' Putting these Scriptures together, do they not suggest to us the thought, that as the olive-leaf was torn off, and the dove bore in its mouth this emblem of peace, so the Holy Spirit bears testimony to the death of Christ, Who was -cut off-' out of the land of the living for our transgressions, and now proclaims that Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross? The third time the dove came forth from the ark it did not return, It had found a resting-place. So with the Holy Spirit. He had gone to and fro from the presence of the Lord, in Old Testament times, finding no resting-place, but when He beheld the One in Whom God delighted, then He rested upon Him. The first three gospels mention that the Spirit descended or lighted upon Christ; but John adds, the Spirit -abode-' upon Him. The Greek word meno means to dwell, and is so rendered again and again, God rested after His creative work; Christ in figure having accomplished His redemptive work, rests in the sanctification of God (Hebrews 4:10); and now the Spirit rests upon Christ, henceforth to find His permanent abode in Him. All His mission emanates from Christ, all His blessings are found in Him, all His instructions are from Him, all His ministry is toward Him, all His unfoldings are about Him, all His aim is to enhance His glory, and all His working in the believer is to reproduce Him,. Why is the Holy Spirit given to believers? For the same reason that the dove came to Noah, and the Spirit came upon Christ. First, to assure us that for us the judgment of sin is past, for the storm has burst upon Christ and has exhausted itself upon Him. Second, to take up His abode in the mystical body of Christ through our union with the Head, and to impart His nature and infuse His grace in every part.. We can only rise to the dove-like character as we have the fullness of the Dove-like Indweller, This author goes on to name the chief characteristics of the dove as purity (Song of S. Genesis 2:14, Genesis 6:8-9; cf. Ephesians 5:22-23, John 3:29; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 22:17, 2 Corinthians 11:2; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 2:5; Galatians 5:22-25); as cleanness, hence suitable for sacrifice; as gentleness of manner (cf. Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:5; Matthew 5:9; Matthew 10:16; Romans 8:9); and as constancy (cf. Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 15:58; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 2:11; Revelation 2:17; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 3:21). (Doves, we are told, are strictly monogamous). The very fact that the dove could be offered in sacrifice is proof that it was a clean bird. Two of the characteristics of a clean bird were that it could fly and that it did not feed upon flesh. All grain-feeding birds that did not feed upon flesh were clean. The difference between a raven and the dove is plainly to be seen in the two which were sent out of the ark. The raven did not come back into the ark; it undoubtedly found carrion outside upon which to feed; but the dove was forced by the necessity of hunger to come back to Noah. The Holy Spirit is very particular about the food upon which He feeds. His one aim and ministry is associated with the Word of God. He finds His satisfaction in making known the message God has given Him to reveal. He is the Inditer of the Word, and He is also the Explainer of it (Marsh, EHS, 18). Biederwolf (HSHS, 178): Think of the many beautiful characteristics of a dove. How lovely was the character of Jesus because of these dove-like traits, sweet-tempered and gentle, yet just like Him may we be. There is gentleness, tenderness, loveliness, innocence, mildness, peace, purity, patienceall this and more for him in whose heart is made a place for the dove-like Spirit to nestle. J. W. McGarvey (FG, 86): The dove suggests purity, gentleness, peace, etc. In fact the nature of the bird makes it a fit emblem of the Spirit, for it comports well with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The nations of the earth emblazon eagles upon their banners and lions upon their shields, but He who shall gather all nations into His kingdom appears as a Lamb, and his Spirit appeared under the symbol of a dove. Verily His kingdom is not of this world. It is a kingdom of peace and love, not of bloodshed and ambition. Noah's dove bore the olive branch, the symbol of peace, and the Holy Spirit manifested Jesus, God's olive branch of peace sent into this world (Psalms 72:7, Luke 2:14, John 14:27, Ephesians 2:11-18).

(11) The Covering of the Ark (Genesis 8:13). Since the word used here, mikseh, is used elsewhere only to designate the third and fourth covering of the ark of the testimony (Exodus 26:14, etc.) and of the holy vessels when the procession was on the march (Numbers 4:8; Numbers 4:12), a covering made of leather and skins, it has been supposed that this was the kind of covering which Noah removed from the Ark, or, rather, it would seem from the door of the Ark. Lange thinks this does not necessarily follow, in view of the fact that the deck of an ark on which the rain-storms spent their force, must surely be of as great stability as the ark itself (CDHCG, 311). The Jerusalem Bible (p. 23) renders this: Noah lifted back the hatch of the ark and looked out. The surface of the ground was dry. The hatch is defined, in nautical terms, as the covering of an opening in the deck: it would seem that in Noah's ark the opening must have been the door. Was this covering designed to point forward to the Covering (Atonement) for man's burden of sin which was provided by our Lord up the Cross (John 1:29)?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

See Genesis 9:28-29.