The Church at the End of the Flood, Genesis 8:4-22

God’s reckoning of time, v. 4

You recall from chapter 7 that in verse 11 we are given a very specific date for the beginning of the flood. How is that date reckoned? It is not based on the year since creation. This would have been easy enough to do. The Bible chronology is remarkably complete and we can reliably learn that the flood happened in the year 1656 Anno Mundi, the year of the world, Noah being born just over 1000 years after Adam was created.

No, instead God reckons the time based on the life of Noah. God is beginning something new in the aftermath of the flood, redeeming the earth by setting apart a godly line and nurturing it. He is focused on his redemptive plan. The Ark, of course, is a figure of Christ, bringing his people safely through the general judgment that he visited on the sin-filled earth. This reckoning of time based on Noah’s life is as much as if God were to say, “The events in this world are incidental to the work of redemption that I am doing. My people in the earth are all the focus of my providence.”

As the Ark comes to rest when the waters abate, he continues to use this system of dating the events associated with the Ark, all very specific and historical and redemptively focused. A year and 10 days after Noah and his family are called into the Ark, they are called out of it.

The trial is not over immediately, vv. 4-12

There may have been a sense of elation when things settled down and the Ark stopped rocking on the water. But note that it took 3 months after the Ark rested before any of the other mountains were seen. Mt Ararat is a tall mountain, almost 17,000 feet, and it stands out by itself on a broad plain, except for a couple of lower mountains next to it. Noah probably wondered what was going on after a few weeks. There were some signs of improvement, but no deliverance, just continuation in the Ark.

One lesson we can learn here is that we don’t always know what is underneath many of the trials that we experience, or how long it’s going to last. We need to be patient and wait on God.

While being patient, it doesn’t mean we just sit still. Noah made some parallel attempts to figure out what was going on. He sent out a raven and a dove. The raven doesn’t seem to have been much use. He got a little information from the raven, but the raven doesn’t seem to have been as personable as the dove. The point is, though, that Noah made some effort to find out what was going on. It probably helped him in his prayers. It told God that Noah was in earnest. We need to send out our prayers like Noah’s dove and raven, asking God to hear us and bring about our full deliverance.

God may answer us as he did Noah: gradually. There were few signs of hope to begin with, both with the raven and the dove. Then a piece a concrete evidence in the olive leaf, and finally a sure sign that the earth was inhabitable.

The water does dry up, vv. 13-14

We learn from vv. 13-14 that the water does dry up eventually. Chapter 8 begins with the statement that “God remembered Noah” inside the Ark. He goes on remembering and preparing the new earth until it is ready to receive Noah and the animals. Until the earth was ready, with plants starting to grow again, I can imagine that it wasn’t a good place for Noah to be. But in time, the face of the ground is dry and God brings him out.

There is a mission, vv. 15-19

That’s not the end. There is a mission to accomplish. In Noah’s case, the earth needs replenishing. You would think that the animals might just all walk out as soon as they could do it. Notice in v. 17, “Bring forth with thee every living thing.” Some of them apparently needed coaxing. Noah’s family also had a purpose in replenishing the earth with people. We are not delivered from floods for the sole purpose of making us more comfortable. When we have opportunity, there is work for us to do, to fulfill God’s purpose, and to bring God glory.

A right relationship between God and Man restored, vv. 20-22

The last few verses of the chapter describe the ultimate outcome of the flood and Noah’s rescue. Noah has not become sinless in the meantime, but he does do something that the wicked world that perished was not doing. He builds an altar to the Lord and institutes public worship. Every single human being in the world was at this worship service!

Of course, it wouldn’t last. God knew that man would rebel in future generations—even in the present generation with the rebellion of Ham. But Noah, under God’s direction, worships God. It’s a preview of what we will be doing in heaven, and it’s the most important thing that we do before we get there. We want to see that God’s name is glorified in the church, and that there is a worshiping people established in the earth.

That’s what we as a group are trying to do. We want to build a church to God’s glory, we want him to be respected and honored, and we want that fellowship with him that is only to be found in worship. We have strong encouragement to seek God for this blessing.