Summary of passage: God sends a wind to recede the waters and at the end of 150 days the ark came to a rest in the mountains of Ararat. The waters still hadn’t finished receding. In 73 more days the tops of the mountains became visible. 40 more days Noah opened a window and sent a raven to seek dry land. Then he sent a dove still with no luck.
He waited 7 more days and sent the dove out again. The dove returned with an olive leaf. Then Noah knew the water had receded. After waiting one more week he sent the dove out and it did not return.
Finally, when Noah was 601 years old, the earth had dried up. God told Noah to come out and bring every living creature so they can multiply. Noah obeyed and all exited.
Questions:
11) God turned His attention back to Noah. God never forgets as this implies. During the flooded earth God was probably active in other areas and then turned back to mankind when the time was right.
12a) Around one year or perhaps a bit more. We are told Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came (Genesis 7:6) and he’s 601 when the waters dry up. Doing the math, we are close to a year but the Bible skips some specific days (like the raven and the dove flying around).
b) God told them to come out.
13) Personal Question. My answer: Not sure. It’s been a challenging week of little things that I hope I do God’s way. That’s the prayer and desire of my heart at least.
Conclusions: Not sure how question 13 has to do with Noah floating around in the ark. It’s just thrown in there.
I like how it wasn’t the dove that many of us think of as the sign it was okay to leave the ark. It was God telling Noah (going back to yesterday’s lesson of how God helped Noah) it was okay to leave and bring the animals with him several weeks after the dove brought the olive branch back. Again, God is in control; He cares for us and Noah; He will never lead us astray.
Amen, let us keep trusting Him. God bless you sister.
Comment on Question 12a: Came across a commentary that gave almost exact date of how long Noah’s family spent in the ark. Gen 7:11 states that on 17th day of 2nd month flood started. Gen 8:14 states left ark on 27th day of 2nd month which would be one year later. That would make it 370 days. Then you could add 7 more days Gen 7:7-10 when Noah and family entered the ark and were there 7 days before flood started(Gen 7:10) to make a total of 377 days or 1 year 17 days in the ark. BSF likes Bible verses to substantiate your claims so there you have it!
Comment on question 13. If you think about how much detail is given in the timing of what Noah did, you know that must have been directed by God. I mean if you and I were on a boat for a year and finally hit dry ground, we would have bolted out that door the moment the dove came back with the olive branch! And it didn’t say that Noah waited for a day or two, it was very specific in stating that he waited seven more days (a key number throughout these passages) before he sent the dove out again. We know the timing must have been directed by close communication with God. Noah must have been constantly on His knees seeking the Lord’s will, which is why the timing is perfect. Question 13 is just asking us if we are seeking God in our circumstances this week. Are we on our knees, are we opening the Word and seeking direction? Or are we selfishly leaving things up to our not-so-perfect selves with our not-so-perfect timing and not including God in our daily life decisions? I know I’m more apt to seek Him with the big decisions, and less apt to in the smaller ones. But God wants to be part of my all, He wants moment by moment spiritual breathing and a personal relationship. Thankfully He is also a God of mercy, grace an enormous patience!
Thank you. I absolutely agree!