The occupants of the ark could only listen as the rain came down. This devotional reading looks at what happened when the rain came and what happened when the water started to subside.
Nuggets
- Everything that breathed died.
- I don’t think God forgot about Noah and the other occupants.
- God didn’t immediately dry out the land.
The beginning voyage of the ark had to have been interesting. The occupants of the ark probably had a lot of questions about how this would go down.
But we aren’t really told anything about life on the journey. We are told about the water.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Creating Everything theme, click the button below.
Devotions in the Creation’s Do-Over series
The Floodwaters Rose
“For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. All the living things on earth died — birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. God wiped out every living thing on the earth — people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days” (Gen. 7: 17-24 NLT)
Everything that breathed died.
It seems strange that the animals also had to die because of man’s wickedness. Geikie argued that even the fish died. I don’t think so.
There has been some disagreement as to be the extent of the flood. “God wiped out every living thing on the earth — people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days” (Gen. 7: 23-24 NLT).
What is the definition of all? Was it every square inch of the planet Earth, or just the areas known at that time?
Geikie argued that it was a local flood. He wrote, “There could certainly be no apparent reason for submerging the vast proportion of the world which was then uninhabited, or of raising the waters above the tops of mountains to which no living creature could approach.”
Resource
Yeah, the water would have added a lot of weight. It probably would have affected the plant. It may even have affected the heavenly motions.
Still, there is physical evidence in many places that support a wide-spread flood. Location of fossils and the volume in some cases point to something happening. A wide distribution of sedimentary layers also back this up, especially when coupled with erosion patterns.
I don’t agree that we can discount the occurrence of the flood because oceans impeded animals getting to the ark. Our seven continents once made up one continent, called Pangaea.
There was no ocean to traverse at that time. We don’t know how spread out the population became.
We don’t have to worry about the debate as to whether this was a local or global flood. Location isn’t the focus here.
Results are.
- “And all flesh died that moved on the earth…” (Gen. 7: 21 ESV).
- “Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died” (Gen. 7: 22 ESV).
- “… every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens …” (Gen. 7: 23 ESV).
It didn’t matter their address. They died. The land and air animals couldn’t have survived under water for 150 days.
Because of that, I think Geikie was wrong. Fish didn’t die.
Calendar study. The preflood Hebrew calendar was a lunar calendar. Each of the 12 unnamed months would have had 30 days. That means a year would have been 360 days, not 365.
God judged His creation and sentenced them to death for their transgressions.
Only Noah, his family, and the animals with them survived because they were obedient and entered the ark.
The Flood Subsides
“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. …” (Gen. 8: 1 NLT).
I don’t think God forgot about Noah and the other occupants.
In order to remember someone, you need to forget them first. It is a human cognitive process.
When we forget, it means we can’t recall something. Remembering is a process of retrieving and retaining what we’ve forgotten.
In other words, it is a brain function. God doesn’t have a human brain.
The way God’s Word describes Him is that He is a Spirit. “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4: 24 NLT).
Spirt. No body. No human processes, like forgetting and remembering. God is invisible and omnipresent.
- “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation” (Col. 1: 15 NLT).
- “All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen” (I Tim. 1: 17 NLT).
Yes, Jesus came down and He was 100% human while He was 100% God.
- “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (Jn. 1: 14 NLT).
- “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form” (Phil. 2: 7 NLT).
- “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body” (Col. 2: 9 NLT).
God never was — and never will be — human. “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind …” (Num. 23: 19 NLT).
But to help us “understand” God, we give Him human characteristics.
- “Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call” (Isa. 59: 1 NLT).
- “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war” (II Chron. 16: 9 NLT).
- “The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!” (Duet. 33: 27 NLT).
Still, God is a living Being. “Today you will know that the living God is among you …” (Josh. 3: 10 NLT).
The Waters Subsided
“… and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen” (Gen. 8: 1-5 NLT).
God didn’t immediately dry out the land.
As I am writing this, the news is all about the devastating flooding in Texas on Independence Day. The water came down rapidly, and the Guadalupe River has in one day — in some cases —already returned to its banks.
The flood in Noah’s time was much more substantial. The flood even covered the mountaintops. There was more water to get rid of.
Verse two added a new nugget. “The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained” (Gen. 8: 2 NLT).
The underground waters that are discussed in Genesis 7: 11 are descriptively called the fountains of the deep here in Genesis 8: 2.
I can just see that. We turn on some fountains, and our whole faces are going to get wet when we try to get a drink.
Mountains of Ararat
The ark had floated on the water for 150 days. Vaughan reminded us that Noah wasn’t steering the ark. He wrote, “There was an arm unseen directing it, there was strength unseen supporting it, and love unseen that was wafting it.”
Resource
God guided the ark. He had it land on Mount Ararat.
Think about it. God had a remnant. It was only eight people – six more than the first two He started out with.
But God had who He needed.
Noah’s time in the ark was fixing to be over. The ground was beginning to dry out as the flood water receded.Verse two added a new nugget. “The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained” (Gen. 8: 2 NLT).
The underground waters that are discussed in Genesis 7: 11 are descriptively called the fountains of the deep here in Genesis 8: 2.
I can just see that. We turn on some fountains, and our whole faces are going to get wet when we try to get a drink.
Making the Connections #1
Griffin is way off. He called Noah a prisoner within the ark, especially because he had no communication with God.
Resource
Oh, no. Noah was not a prisoner. Yes, he couldn’t go out of the ark. He had to ride the waves for many days.
But Noah was anything but a prisoner. He was free from the consequences – in his day – of sin.
Ohhh, no. God did not shut the door and leave them there by themselves. Just because there is no documented record of those conversations, He didn’t leave them alone.
God never leaves His children alone.
Making the Connections #2
Since God is a Spirit — therefore, invisible — so we have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4: 24 NLT).
We can’t worship God face to face. We have to worship Him with our hearts and minds.
How do we worship God in truth? We worship God as in revealed in His Word, not through tradition and rituals. “We’ve always done it that way” many not be God’s way.
Making the Connections #3
Vaughan talked about what it may have been like – and what it was like getting off the boat. He wrote, “It is natural to imagine, that this last seven months must have seemed to pass more slowly than all the time while they were lying on the waves. If the troubled time of life brings its trials, so also does its calms.”
Resource
It must have been a long 150 days – and they weren’t out of the boat yet. They probably had a routine. It probably focused on eating, sleeping, and animal care.
But tough times come to an end. God leads us through them to where He wants us to end up.
I doubt that Noah complained about the water voyage. No, it wasn’t his way.
When we walk with God, we learn to be content whatever the situations around us.
How Do We Apply This?
- Take heed to listen to God’s warnings.
- Understand that God will be patient for only so long.
- Make sure you are on the right side of God.
Resource
Father God. You promised us that trials and persecution would come our way. At times, we feel like we are floating on our own arks, being tossed around by the waves of the rising trials. Thank You for never leaving us.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.