Walk in the Bible - Genesis 8

 Genesis 8

    In verse 1 we see almost a retelling of Genesis , verse 1, GOD's name reverts back to Elohim, just like it was in Genesis 1, and the word for "wind" is "ruach" which can means wind or spirit, and it's the same word used in Genesis 1 where we read that his SPIRIT hovered over the water.   Where it says the waters subsided, the word used for "subsided" is the Hebrew word "shakak" (pronounced "Shaw-kak") , and it does mean abate. Most of the rabbinic scholars seem to think this means "Abate " in a general sense, however, Chizkuni seems to think that the waters were boiling hot and by "abating" the water, it means that GOD cooled down the water.   He takes this meaning from Esther 7:10 where she abated a king's anger.

     Verse 2 is pretty much a retelling of Genesis 6. There was already light, so GOD didn't need to create the light , but as he's removed the firmament between Heaven and Earth, he needed to replace it. Verse 2 shows him doing just that. It shows him holding back the waters in the deep and the waters above so that the land cold dry out.

     Verse 3 shows the waters abating gradually. I realize GOD could have just spoken and the flood water could have just simply vanished, like he made the waters part for Moses in Exodus 14:21, however, just has he didn't make the flood start immediately (and he could have ) to give everyone time to repent, it's believed that he allowed time for the land to dry to allow Moses and his family to remember what had happened and why.

      Verse 4 is a continuation of verse three showing that the water had lowered enough for the Ark to finally hit dry land and stop moving. Now, does the Bible say the Ark landed on Mount Ararat?  It seems do, doesn't it, however, different translations of the Bible seem to disagree with each other.   For instance , in the Chaldean version of Genesis (yes there is such a version!)the Ark is said to rest in Nizir, which is to the east of Assyria, on a mountain called "Elwend" which mean "Mountain of the world". The Targum of Onkelos and the Syriac both say that Noah landed on the mountains of Carduchia, which separates Armenia from Kurdistan. Jeremiah 51:27 seems to agree with this as he mentions Ararat and Minni , Minni is a country near Armenia. 

     I also want to point out that even though the Ark stopped moving, there wasn't any dry land yet, in fact verse 5 tells us that the just the tops of the mountains were visible 3 months after the Ark came to rest on Ararat. Verse 6 tells us that forty days after that, Noah sent out a raven through the window GOD had told him to put in the Ark at the beginning of the Ark's construction. Now this "raven" was , according to Rabbinical Scholar, Radak, actually a hooded crow, which would have made it a carrion eater, and as such, it would have been unclean. Further, had it found anything to eat (as they're omnivorous), even carrior, that would have meant there was dry land somewhere!

     As the Bible tells us, in verses 6 - 7, the raven flow back and forth, indicating there was no dry land.  In verse 8 we see Noah sending out a dove.  The rabbinic scholars all agree that he wasn't sending out to take a look and come back, was freeing the dove to fly where it wanted to.  If the dove didn't come back, he would know some part of the land was again visible as doves nest in trees.

     In verse 9, Ramban , also known as Spanish Rabbi and Scholar Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi, says that the dove came back because there were only mountain tops and no trees, and as birds really prefer trees, not bare ground to land on, it came back. Having had a few birds myself, I agree with that. They can land on the ground, but their grip is nowhere near as good as it would be on a tree branch. Indeed, their feet are meant to wrap around and grab circular objects like limbs and branches.

     In Verses 10-11 he waited another week. By now, he and his family must have wanted to get out so bad.  I get stir crazy being inside for a half of day, imagine what it was like for them!   In any case, Noah sent the dove off again, and it came back with a leaf, however, the scripture points out that this leaf had been torn off an olive tree. The fact that it had been torn from the tree meant that trees were becoming available and the ground would be too. Noah still didn't leave the ark yet though!

     In verse 12, Noah releases the dove again, and this time it doesn't return, telling him that the water has dried enough for there to be trees around for it, both for food and for nesting. Now , Noah still hasn't left the ark yet, and as Radak points out, the ground, by the time would have been dry, at least on the top, below that thin layer of dry ground there would have been a whole lot of mud.  It would have made any walking or any activity on the ground hard to near-impossible without getting sucked up in the mud, so Noah waited still more time.

     In verse 13, we see Noah take the top of the Ark off so that the ground could be seen. Noah did see that the ground was drying, but not yet completely dry.   Even still, he stayed in the ark, as did his family. The Rabbinic scholar Radak points out that Noah was doing this out of obedience, he knew that GOD would tell them when to come out.  I'm pretty sure they were dying to leave the Ark at this point! 

     In Verse 14 we see that the Earth is now dry and ready for Noah to come out of his Ark. Rabbeinu Bahya tells us that it had been one full since the flood began to when it stopped, so as you can image, Noah and his family were likely going stir crazy to get out of the Ark, but notice he doesn't leave just yet!  Verse 15 shows GOD speaking to Noah, and the Hebrew word for GOD in that passage is "Elohim" which is what it was at the beginning, meaning "Lord" or "Judge". 

     GOD speaks to Noah and told him he could leave the ark, along with the wife , his sons and their wives and all of the animals. Notice the sequence they're leaving it is different than the sequence they entered in.  It's not just that it's written differently, according to Rashi, OrHaChaim, Rabbeinu Bahya and Radak,  sexual intercourse was forbidden in the ark. It kind of matches up with the way they were told to enter in Genesis 6:18.

     In Genesis 6:18, Noah was told to enter "You, Your Sons, Your wife, Your son's wives", in Genesis 8:16 he's told to enter "together with your wife, your sons and your son's wives". According to Rashi, OrHaChain, Rabbeinu Bahya and Radak, this mean that it was okay to start having sex again.  Aside from that, I'll note that Noah didn't take one step outside of the ark until GOD told him he could, despite being able to see the ground and the land, despite being cooped up in the ark for a year.  Can you imagine what it must have been like for him to finally touch try land for the first time in a year!

     In Verse 17 he tells him to bring out the animals as well.  Most of the rabbinic scholars believe that Noah was told to bring them out, even if they didn't want to come out.   I should note at this time, animals didn't have any fear of man, but as you'll see GOD changes that.   Verse 18 show Noah and his son's coming out first, even though GOD told Noah to come out together with his wife. I suspect they were double checking to make sure it was safe for the ladies to come out as well.

     Verse 19 shows all the animals coming out, however, rather than just saying they came out, it says that they came out as families. In other words all the same species came out at the same time.  In Verse 20, Noah's out on dry land, and the first thing he does is offer some of the animals from the ark, though only the clean ones, as a sacrifice to GOD. First , GOD's name is rendered as "Yaweh" in Hebrew, which is GOD's proper name. Secondly, the act of building an altar and offering a sacrifice would have served to consecrate the ground they were on, and more importantly, say "Thank you"to GOD.

    Remember, they've just gotten out of the ark, the only animals on Earth are the ones that came with them on the ark. There aren't too terribly many, 7 pairs of the clean animals and 2 pairs of the unclean (which wouldn't have been offered anyway ). The clean animals could have served as food, they could have made clothing from their fur, got milk and cheese from those animals, later on they could have used some of them to help them till the ground. Rather than do any of that, they offered from the very meager stock they had and gave it back to GOD.

     Verse 21 shows us GOD accepting Noah's burnt offering, and acknowledging that it was good, that it smelled like a "sweet savor" to HIM. Obviously, GOD doesn't have a nose so he couldn't have smelled anything, so what's that phrase really mean?  It didn't mean GOD was pleased with WHAT he was offering, HE was pleased with Noah's heart. Ephesians 5:1-2 backs this up, as did JESUS HIMSELF in Matthew 5:23-24. GOD saw Noah's heart and that he was willing to sacrifice what he did as a "sweet savor". 

     Further, GOD says, in HIS heart, that he will never curse the ground again or destroy the Earth again for any of us. At that point, the responsibility fell on us individually to follow his words. This is backed up by Deuteronomy 24:16 as well. Verse 22 finishes this thought up with GOD saying, essentially, that as long as the Earth is, HE will not destroy it by flood for one person's sin.

     Interestingly enough, some scholars point to this as the moment GOD swept Eden off the Earth, and made his home away from us in the heavens. Not only that, Noah has unwittingly become the second Adam at this point, with his wife, who the Bible doesn't name, as the second Eve. In fact, as we'll see shortly, HE even gives them the same blessing HE gave Adam and Eve.

 --------------------------------

     In summary, Noah saw GOD'S might in person and obeyed him and lived, very much like GOD would instruct the Ancient Israelis to do in the desert in Leviticus 18:1-5. Noah lived boxed up in an Ark for a full year and although he was probably more than ready to move, he didn't move untill GOD told him to. The first think he did when he knew he'd survived the flood and would live was to give thanks, just like all 12 steppers are told to do each day, and he gave it with a greatful heart, and GOD honored him and us for it.

     What ever storm of life you're going through, GOD can carry you through it, just like he did for Noah. Not sure about that?  Drop me a line and I'll be happy to talk to you about it!