Genesis 8:1-14 - Deliverance!

Genesis 8:1-14

1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. 10 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. 11 Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.

13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.

The earth was finally dried out from the deluge that covered the entire world even over the mountaintops.  Deliverance was granted to Noah and his family for their faithfulness.  God had considered Noah and all the rescued animals of His creation on the ark spoken into existence and spoke grace and mercy to deliver them from the judgment of destruction.  He did this incredible feat by blowing a long hard wind over the waterlogged ground until the waters subsided with some into the oceans and the rest evaporated into the clouds to remain for,the most part with limited rain in the future to keep from covering the surface of the world again.  It took one hundred and fifty days for this to happen and the ark to rest on the mountaintop of Ararat in what is now modern Turkey.  After three more months the mountains were exposed; forty days later, Noah sent out a raven and then a dove to scout for land.  The dove returned because there was no dry land to set down on, but a week later it went out and returned with an olive leave of peace.  Noah therefore waited yet another week and sent the dove one last time because this time it found a resting place and did not come back.  Noah and his family had also found their resting place in God’s grace to be delivered safely from judgment by water which had eliminated all others corrupted by original and ongoing sin that had brought swift and overreaching consequences on all the world.  The ark was symbolic of deliverance through the church’s baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21) in preparation for the divine judgment by fire (2 Peter 3:6-7) as Noah proclaimed a new birth to the world (Clement of Rome).  This was about 371 to 376 days from the time the rain started (Genesis 7:11) to the time Noah left the ark (Genesis 8:14) according to the best estimates taking into account the varying calendars used.  This then was just over one year that the flood had covered the earth, burying everything and everyone under massive sedimentary layers of mud from the mountains and valleys as the rains fell and receded.  The earth was finally dry again as Noah saw when he opened the hatch of the Ark of deliverance.  He must have actually cried out, “deliverance!” in my opinion over that moment of joy in relief and release.  Just consider how much more reason we will have to rejoice after the final judgment by fire on the world!  We will realize in that resurrection to life (John 5:29) with new incorruptible and sinless bodies (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Peter 1:3-5) the deliverance from sin’s presence and penalty forevermore.  We will have ridden out the judgment because God delivers us in Christ from what we all deserve because He chose to see us righteous in His Son and write our names in His Book of Life!  Rejoice and anticipate the final deliverance (Revelation 21:4) from all sorrow, tears, and pain!  As we read in Revelation 21:5, the Almighty will then proclaim to us, “Behold, I make all things new.”  This is our hope of salvation while we are in Christ as the ark of our deliverance who keeps us safe in union with Him until that day.  We will then cry, “Deliverance!” with unbounded joy.