THE FLOOD WATERS RECEDE
In a nutshell; this blog will discuss Genesis 8:1-14 about how the waters receded from the Flood of Noah, how Noah and Enoch are compared to the remnant of Israel, other Bible verses about the evil in the days of Noah compared to today, some remarkable facts about the dates and times of this event, the comparison of the raven to the dove and how Demas and the raven relate. How the raven and Queen Victoria relate (that’s very interesting). The timeline of the Flood, and lastly, how the Flood is a picture of Salvation for us today.
Genesis 8:1-14 (KJV) “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 assuaged. 2 The fountain also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters returned from off the Earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the Ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon 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, were the tops of the mountains seen. 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the Ark which he had made. 7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the Earth. 8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 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. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the Ark; 11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the Earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. 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. 14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the Earth dried.”
GOD NEVER FORGETS. Did you know there is actually no Scripture that says there is a sea of forgetfulness?
Micah 7:19 “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
The “Sea of Forgetfulness” is simply a man-made statement giving the idea of a place where sins are sent away so they can no longer affect people, but it does not mean that Believers no longer sin, or that God has forgotten their sins. God will, however, in His Mercy, remove our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west.” (Psalms 103:12) It is impossible for the east and west to come together, and it is equally impossible to bring the forgiven sinner and their forgiven sins together! Amen? This should give us a Peace that nothing can destroy!
Verse 1: When it states that God remembered Noah, it simply means that now He will give His attention to blessing Noah. God cannot forget. The 40 days of constant catastrophic violent rain has done it’s purpose. All mankind and animals and fowl that are not on the Ark have drowned. Let’s take a side note here…
Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
Let’s compare Enoch to Noah. Let’s think that Enoch is a symbol of the Church. The Church, like Enoch was, will be taken away in the Rapture before human evil reaches its climax and before the Divine Judgment falls on them. Noah is a symbol of the Remnant (a small remaining portion) of Israel. All of Israel perished in the Flood except Noah and his immediate family. The “Remnant of Israel” today is a term used to describe Jewish Believers who have come to know Jesus as their Messiah and are part of His Church. The term for this is “Messianic Jews”. They are a portion within the Jewish nation, they may be small or large at any time, but they will NEVER BE NON-EXISTENT. Right? But wait!!! There IS a time when the Messianic Jews will be non-existent on the Earth; for they too will go up in the Rapture, just as Enoch walked with God and God took him, and just as WE walk withGod…God will take us also to be with Him forever. Hallelujah! But go back now to “before human evil reaches its climax”.
2 Timothy 3:1-7, 13 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those who are good, 4 traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God 5 having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts 7 ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth. 13 But eveil menand seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. “
Verse 13 in KJV states Paul using the word seducers. Some versions state imposters. The problem of seduction in the last days in which we are living now is so bad that the word seducers used here occurs no where else in the New Testament! How does all the evil in Noah’s day relate to us today?
Matthew 24: 37-39 ” But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be 38 for as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the Ark 39 and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. ”
Aren’t we there yet? With the millions of babies murdered in the womb, sex trafficking, LGBTQ+, churches closing down and going up for sale, generations not attending any church services, satanic kids clubs in the schools, the October 7, 2023 slaughter in Israel, the rise of riots against Israeli’s not just overseas but also in the USA. How much more evil will it get before we hear God blow the trumpet and we meet Jesus in the air???
Verse 3: 150 days. Why did it take God 150 days to blow wind to abate (lessen) the flood waters when it only took Him ONE DAY to handle the waters during Creation?
Genesis 1:6-7 ” and God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.”
BOTH of these floods of waters were caused by sin. Let that sink in. The first flood of waters on the 2nd day of Creation were a result of the sin of the rebellion of Lucifer (satan) and his angels (demons). The second flood of waters during Noah’s day were a result of the rebellion of men. The rebellion of men required a far greater extent of attention by the Lord. The reason? Because God gave far greater dominion to Adam (mankind) than he did the angelic creation.
Verse 4: Check out this remarkable fact! The day the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat was the 17th day of Abib (our April). Also on the 17th day of April the Israelites (Shem’s descendants) passed through the Red Sea on dry land! ALSO on the 17th day of April, JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD! (our Easter or Resurrection Sunday). First Noah was saved, then the Jewish race (Noah’s descendants) were saved, then Jesus made a Way for US to be saved!! He is THE ONLY WAY!
Verse 5: This is proof that it took 3 months from the time the Ark rested on Ararat until many mountains could be seen. Just because the Ark rested and the waters abated did NOT mean they could safely leave the Ark yet. They still had to remain inside with the Lord God for a little longer.
Verse 6: Noah finally got to open the window he made and here it tells exactly why that window was made on the Ark. Note: it rained 40 days and nights, and now that sat 40 days before opening a window. A full 365 solar year they and God dwelt together inside the Ark. Now a bird is let out the window to see if any vegetation has grown to sustain them all. Did you know that the first bird sent out was a RAVEN? Most of us only know about the dove, which was sent next.
The raven flew to and fro but never came back to the Ark UNTIL the waters dried up. (so it did eventually come back). So where in the world did it land to rest?
Verse 9: The dove came back because there was no place to land, even though back in verse 5 it states the mountain tops were showing, but the mountains were considered a place of death and the dove sought that which was clean. (a new life). Meaning there were still alot of dead people and animals and fowl floating around the mountains.
Verse 10-11: Seven days later the dove was sent out again and this time returned with an olive leaf in her beak; the symbol of Peace and our Holy Spirit. The raven was content with its carrion (decaying flesh of the dead-just like buzzards, vultures, etc) and its failure to return gave Noah no information that he needed…just like Demas.
2 Timothy 4:10 “For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica…”
Demas turned on Paul and forsook him, loving the world more. His name went down in history for that. How sad, really, because he had such a golden opportunity of a bloessing to help Paul spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Just like the raven, who also to this day and forever will have a bad reputation as a bird associated with death. I wonder if this is why the color black is always the color of the clothing of the “bad guy” and his horse and the color white is the color of the clothing of the “good guy”? Back in Ancient Egypt and Greece, the color black was used as the color of the underworld! In the Ancient Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning. The deceased’s family would wear dark colored togas known as “toga pulla”. In England in 1861, Queen Victoria wore black to the funeral of her husband, Prince Albert (who died from typhoid fever at age 42) and continued to wear black mourning veils for the rest of her life. (she even took her breakfast every morning beside the mausoleum he was buried in so she could be as close to him as she possibly could). Because of her, the western world began copying this same practice of wearing black to funerals. Widows were expected to wear black clothing and veil up to FOUR YEARS after the loss of their husband to show their grief. Black symbolizes the darkness of death. Over the centuries it is associated with death, evil, witches, magic, and the absence of LIFE. And to think it all began with a raven.
Verse 12: The dove is sent for the 3rd time and this time did not return; meaning the dove found a place to dwell.
Verse 13: Noah was now 601 years old. He finally got to remove the covering and see dry ground! Keep in mind, though that this is only the surface ground that is dry. He still isn’t given the go ahead to leave the Ark.
Verse 14: This proves it was another 57-58 more days from the time the flood began until it was sufficiently dry.
BOTTOM LINE: The Flood is a picture of Salvation in Jesus. God planned ONE WAY of salvation from the Flood…through the door of the Ark. God planned ONE WAY of salvation for mankind…through Jesus Christ.
(reference notes from The Expositor’s Study Bible KJV)