The American Wisdom Series


#2236

This documents that God did not destroy the earth "tohu va bohu" at the time of Noah's Flood.

Noah and his family have now been aboard the ark for 150 days. Little did he realize that someday his great, great... grandson would record words very similar to his current thoughts as he cleaned out another stall: Psalm 89:46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever?..

I jest, but even if those thoughts did cross the mind of Noah (perhaps planted by the impatience of family members) this just servant of God always waited patiently and faithfully on the LORD.

Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
The Hebrew word for "wind" is ruach, and so we could once again say, as in Gen 1:2, that the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. Only this time the waters didn't instantly disappear, they slowly subsided or abated (asswaged).
[2] The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
Our Father has complete control over the forces of nature. When He speaks, not only does everyone listen, but everything listens!

The disciples witnessed God's control over the "forces" of nature first hand:

Luke 8:23-24
But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
Ever had a few storms in your life, spiritual or otherwise?  Watch what happens when you call upon Christ for help as did the disciples:
[24] And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
He has ALL POWER in both heaven and earth. It is His Word that produces "calm", which is to say tranquility, that inner peace of mind.  And this isn't religion, it is for REAL!
Gen. 8:3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
Our Father determined (remember He controls nature) that a Five Month period was enough. In Rev. 9 He has determined the same period upon Satan's flood of lies to be enough too.
[4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
This day of rest was a Sabbath Day. Imagine that! In fact ALL the Flood dates are Sabbaths except the one in the next verse. Remember, Noah's name means "rest" and so does the word Sabbath. It is Christ who gives us rest. He is our Sabbath.

The word "Ararat" is twice translated "Armenia", but it also means "high mountain".  Modern day searchers of the Ark keep looking on the mountain in Turkey named Ararat. Perhaps they do err!

[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.
This is about 6 months later.
[6] And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Here we see the number forty again, which means probation, trial, or testing. I'll bet that fresh air smelled good!
[7] And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
According to Lev 11:15 the Raven is an "unclean" bird. Now, you've got to love the terminology used here to describe what it did. It went "to and fro". Isn't that just like that other "unclean fowl" we read about?
Job 1:7
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
The unclean Raven probably found some dead floating carcass to munch on, because we don't read of his coming home to roost.
[8] Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Now Noah sends forth a "clean" bird, a Dove, which represents peace and the Holy Spirit.
[9] But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
You can just picture this beautiful, touching scene in your mind's eye as the dove returns to the ark to rest.  Noah extends his arm out the window and the gentle Dove lights upon his hand, and he pulls her slowly in unto him. He probably gave her a little birdie kiss on the cheek.

Contrast this with the blood sucking Raven out there on some floating body part.

[10] And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
On the next Sabbath day he again sent forth the dove.
[11] And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Look up the Hebrew word for "pluckt off". It  is taraph, which means "recently torn off, i.e. fresh". This is important because it shows that the olive leaf, or branch, was plucked off of a tree and not picked up off the ground or floating waters, for it takes a long time to grow an olive tree to the stature whereby a branch can be plucked from it.

This documents that God did not destroy the earth "tohu va bohu" at the time of Noah's Flood. It further documents that the destruction described in Jeremiah 4 does NOT pertain to this same flood, but rather to that of Gen. 1:2 and the judgment of the "world that then was" (2 Pet. 3).

[12] And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
She was probably carrying her fertile eggs at this time and rested to fulfill her destiny set forth in verse 17, to hatch a new colony.
[13] And it came to pass in the six hundredth 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 dry.
There are at least six major events that happened on the first day of the first month.
1.) The drying up of the waters we just read about. (Gen 8:13)
2.) The Tabernacle was set up by Moses. (Ex. 40:2)
3.) Hezekiah's sanctification of the Temple. (2 Chron. 29:17)
4.) The going up of Ezra. (Ezra 7:9)
5.) The giving up of strange wives. (Ezra 10:17)
6.) The offering up of a bullock in the future Temple. (Ezek. 45:18)

[14] And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

This marks the completion of exactly one solar year from chapter 7:11 of the entry into the ark.

The Solar calendar is the only precise, exact calendar, and it always pertains to God's children.
The lunar calendar is used when giving prophecy pertaining to Satan and the children of darkness.

And so God gives Noah further instructions. It is interesting that we always hear the expression "He has the patience of Job". Hey, what about the patience of Noah?

[15] And God spake unto Noah, saying,
[16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

[17] Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

[18] And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

Insert here verses 6:22 and 7:5, "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him".
[19] Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

[20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

This is the first time in the Bible that an altar is mentioned, and of course that is one of the reasons seven of the clean animals were taken aboard the ark.
[21] And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Our Father has now twice smitten the earth, the first being at the judgment of the first earth age (Gen 1:2).
[22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Will man destroy the earth with his nuclear arsenals, causing a nuclear holocaust, a nuclear "winter"? He will not! This verse documents that not only won't our Father again smite the earth Himself, but He won't permit man to do it either. The seasons shall remain, as it is written.

There is so much we can learn from our Father's Word.

Are the events in Genesis and the Old Testament important to us today?

Are they even relative?

Well, if you want to know what it will be like in these end times,
you need to know what it was like in the beginning.

I leave you with the words of wisdom written to the wise by Paul:

1 Cor. 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

To study the 1st. 11 chapters of Genesis word for word: (live link to) All 11 chapters in one complete study

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.
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