The
Book of Genesis
Lesson
Verse: Rev 21:5
I.
Lesson Introduction
A. Thus far Noah has been on the ark for 150 days. We can only speculate as to some of the things that happened such as: how many animals were sea sick, how rough a ride was it, what is smelled like, and just how very confining and perhaps even confusing life was on the ark.
B. The odour from being shut in with very little ventilation surely permeated everything. There was the constant body functions that never ceased with the eight souls on board and many of the animals. Some of the animals were in hibernation mode.
C. Probably when Noah thought I can not take another day of this we are told that God remembered Noah. Did that mean God had forgotten him? No. It means that God’s “alarm clock” went off saying it was “time” to bring everything back to rest – all because of the covenant He had made with Noah, Gen. 6:18.
II.
Lesson – A New Beginning (Genesis 8)
A. The Water Subsided (Gen 8:1.
1. As the waters begin to drain great canyons were most likely formed. Perhaps the Grand Canyon was formed from the waters draining away.
2. There are some thing to observe by viewing a fast flowing mountain stream and the rocks found there in the stream bed, versus looking at many rugged canyon walls. The rocks in the stream bed, are for the most part, extremely smooth. Remember when David went out to fight Goliath, he picked up five rocks from a stream bed. Why was this? It was because the water flowing over the rocks smoothed them. Whereas rocks left lying on the ground and exposed to other elements tend to have a rough surface.
3. The rocks in the stream bed prevent the water from washing the soil into the ocean and making the canyon deeper. The rugged canyon walls that are not smooth were probably formed very fast from a great upheaval in the surface as the result of an earth quake. The top soil was washed away leaving a great canyon.
4. Where Did The Water Go?
a) Into the ice caps – fresh water
b) Into now deepened oceans.
c) Into the atmosphere
5. The ark rested (8:4).
a) The eighth chapter of Genesis is almost entirely given to the recording of dates surrounding the flood. There are a total of seven dates given here. These dates are important or God would not have recorded them. The first date says on the 17th day of the 7th month, exactly 150 days after the flood began, the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat. God gave the name of the 7th month in 1 Kings 8:2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
6. The importance of the length of the year.
a) It is very important to note that there are exactly 150 days from Zif 17 to Ethanim 17. If 150 days equal exactly five months, then one month would equal exactly 30 days. Thirty days times 12 months will equal exactly 360 days in a year before the flood. Many ancient cultures before the flood recorded the year as being only 360 days long.
b) Today our year is 365 1/4 days long. What this could mean is that during the flood period, the orbit of the earth actually changed, putting us slightly further away from the sun. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that life shortened after the flood. The earth's atmosphere is now colder than before the flood.
7. The waters decreased, Gen. 8:5.
a)
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.
b)
God gives us the name of the 10th month in Esther
2:16 So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth
month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
B. Noah Opened The Window.
1. After a period of 40 more days Noah opened the window.
2. The raven.
a) The raven was sent out to spy out the earth. This bird was one of the unclean types that God told Israel they should not eat, Lev 11:13-20. The raven is a scavenger and would not mind roosting in the slime and decay.
3. The Dove.
a) The dove is a clean animal, acceptable as a sacrifice unto the Lord. When the dove found no rest, she came back to the ark. Here we find the dove as a type of the wise soul that gets out into the world and realizes that there is no resting place. The dove returned back to the ark, a type of Jesus, for her resting place.
b) How is it with us? When we get out of fellowship are we like the raven and spend all our time scavenging around in the death and decay of the world? Do we rest at any old roost, any old watering hole, regardless of how dirty it may be? What we ought to be is wise as the dove. If we were, we would not get so readily out of fellowship and so far into the world. We would long for the ark of safety. We need to remain close to Jesus.
4. Growth.
a) After seven days Noah sent the dove out again. This time she brought a green olive leaf. We know it was green for the Bible said it was plucked from the tree, Gen. 8:11. Noah knew that the waters were abated and that life was returning in the plant world. However, he waited seven days more before he left the ark.
C. A New World.
1. Here is a world disaster, and then only a few survivors walking out on a new world with the opportunity to make all things new again.
2. One can only imagine what thoughts went through Noah’s mind as he looked down on the world.
3. Waited On God’s Command.
a) We may wonder why Noah waited so long before coming off the ark. What we have to remember is, who told him to build the ark? Who told him to get aboard? If the same Being was so concerned for Noah during the building of the ark and telling him when to get on board, then this same God will tell him when to disembark.
b) Go forth, Gen. 8:16.
1) Noah waited until God told him to leave. This is very important. Too many Christians do not wait on the Lord. Instead they survey the situation and it seems all right to them and off they go into the world. When we do this, we usually get into trouble.
2) In situations such as this, we begin to think for ourselves and justify our actions. We deserve to get off the ark. We have been cooped and caged up on that boat with the animals till we smell like the animals and act like animals. We can even do a pretty good duck or moose call. I am ready to go forth whether God has the earth ready for human and animal habitation or not! He ought to be working a little faster!
c) Noah did not have this problem. He waited until God told him to Go forth. If we would learn to wait on the Lord, our lives would not be in such turmoil, Psa 40:1-4.
4. The animals left the ark.
a) Off they go
b) All in different directions
c) Hungry, cramped, they begin to hunt each other, and chase each other to the farthest reaches of the earth
5. Land bridges were still present so that animals could reach places as far away as Australia, and New Zealand, etc.
D. Noah Goes To Church (Gen 8:20).
1. Noah did not even look around for a place to live. The first thing he did was set about to erecting an altar and worshipping God for deliverance. This is only fitting and proper, for it is about now that Noah realizes that God kept His word. The flood is past and he and his family are alive.
2. His altar unto God. The old world had their altars to the gods they served. The Bible is quick to point out that Noah built an altar unto to the LORD. On this altar he offered zillions of clean animals. Probably couldn’t stop thanking God!
E. God’s Promises (Gen 8:21,22).
1. God was pleased with the sacrifice of animals in the place of sinners
a) Remember, Noah and his family weren’t perfect in their living
b) They still were sinners
c) It was only GRACE that brought them this far
2. There are exactly seven covenants made by God and referred to in the scriptures.
a) The first one was the Adamic covenant wherein man could enjoy the Garden of Eden forever as long as he refrained from eating the forbidden fruit. Man did not keep his end of the covenant.
b) The second covenant is Noahic
1) God promised to never again destroy the earth again with a flood, and that the seasons would not change. For nearly 5,000 years, God has kept His word.
2) God has promised that He WILL destroy the world once again – but not with water – with FIRE!
c) The third covenant is the Abrahamic which concerned Israel’s occupancy of Palestine. Once again, God kept His end of the bargain.
d) The fourth was the Mosaic which concerned Israel’s continued enjoyment of God’s favors as long as they kept His commandment, Ex. 24:7, 8. Here to, God kept His word regarding the blessings. They did not cease due to a lack of Him looking out for Israel.
e) The fifth was the Levitic which concerned the priesthood, promising that it should remain in the tribe of Levi unto the Millennium, Num. 25:12, 13.
f) The sixth covenant was the Davidic which concerns the Kingdom and particularly the throne, 2 Sam. 23:5, 2 Chro. 13:5. When the time appointed comes, the King will sat upon the throne.
g) The seventh is the Messianic or the New Covenant which concerns the Millennium, Isa. 42:6. He will reign for 1,000 years.
3. God makes a new covenant with Noah on a new altar, in a new world and gave a rainbow as a token of His Word. He is the God of His word. He became the living word, and His written words bring new life to anyone that will take Him at His Word.