Tag: flood

The Mount of Olives

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When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.
Genesis 8:11 (NIV)

The rabbis wondered about this olive leaf the dove found, because in the already unlikely story of a global flood, it is unlikely that an olive tree should produce leaves so quickly.

They point to Ezekiel and suggest that perhaps the Mount of Olives and Israel (Eden) were never flooded.

Again the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’
Ezekiel 22:23-24 (NIV)

The Birds

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After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
Genesis 8:6-7 (NIV)

I’ve mentioned the three land animals being a symbol of all people: wild animals, livestock, and creeping things.

I don’t think birds are people at all in the story. We already associate doves with the spirit of God, but ravens? Perhaps they represent something else entirely.

And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Job 2:2 (NIV)

Remember to Rest

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But God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
Genesis 8:1 (NASB)

The first line in Genesis 8 starts by telling us that God remembered Noah. Noah’s name means rest.

Over and over in Genesis and Exodus, God remembers his covenant. God remembers his promise.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
Exodus 20:8 (NASB)

And the first time God tells US to remember is when He introduces Sabbath. He’s reminding us to rest.

Prevailing Waters

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Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
Genesis 7:17-19 (NASB)

In Genesis 7, there’s a dramatic build up of power in verses 17, 18, and 19. It reads a little bit like basic repetition in English, but is a very clear increase in the Hebrew.

Vayirbu ha-mayim: and increased- the waters.
Vayigberu ha-mayim vayirbu me’od: and prevailed- the waters, and increased VERY.
Veha-mayim gaveru me’od me’od: and the waters prevailed VERY VERY.

The increase appears quite dramatic in the Hebrew!

First, we have an increase that raises the Ark.
Then we have water PREVAILING and a LARGER increase that lifts the ark so it fully floats on the surface.
Finally, we have water prevailing VERY VERY (me’od, me’od!), so much that the water covers the mountains.

In the oral tradition, this is an intense story, full of drama and flailing hands and theatrics, I’m sure.

It’s fun. It’s also meant to drive the point home. These are unstoppable waters, covering everything until there is nothing left of the earth to see, save for a boat that is protecting all of us.

The Exodus and the Flood

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In Exodus, the avenging angel swept through and killed the first-born sons of the land. This was terrifying, but those covered by the sign of atonement were safe.

The flood waters in Genesis 7 were also terrifying, and it served a similar purpose. Terrifying, but those covered by the Ark (which is a place of atonement) were also safe.

God is on the Boat

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Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

Different translations render Genesis 7:1 as “GO into the ark” or “ENTER the ark” as though these all mean the same thing… but the Hebrew word בֹּֽא־ (“bo”) most often means to “come in.”

God didn’t say “GO into THAT boat over there.” He said “COME into MY boat with Me, right HERE.”

You’re on the Boat

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If you read the Bible and you don’t know God loves you with the greatest love, the words will sound like hell.

You’re going to see yourself cast out of the garden.
Marked for death.
A random name in a list of names.
Left off the boat as the flood rises.

But that’s not the story.

He left the garden with you.
He shielded you from vengeance.
He knows your name.
He carries you in the boat.

It is your story. It is the story of His great love for you.

The Ark is Big Enough

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God destroys the world with a flood. This points to the end of things.

But on the boat, we see:

Both pure and impure animals.
All three of Noah’s sons, including Ham, the “bad one.”
All three kinds of animals, including the creeping ones, which are the “bad ones.”
Animals and birds.
Males and females.

What do you suppose this is saying? Perhaps the Ark represents God planning to redeem everyone. To make all things new.

People often argue that Noah’s boat wasn’t big enough for all the animals of the world, but perhaps we are meant to think that. We’re meant to be shocked at the absurdity of the story, in the same way we should be surprised by the spiritual equivalance: “Perhaps God’s grace is big enough for everyone.”

A Very Specific Date

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In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
Genesis 7:11 (NIV)

I find it interesting that after discussions about “approximate years” and “outrageous ages” of the men listed in the genealogy of Genesis 5 (suggesting that the dates are vague approximations or merely symbols of “very long times”), we are presented with this extremely specific day of the flood.

We are Lifted Up

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For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
Genesis 7:17-18

If you can see it, it’s so clear.

Forty days is a period of testing.
The flood is a refining force.
The Ark is covered in pitch, which is the same word as atonement.

In our lives, there is a period of testing. This testing refines us. It grows us and raises us above the earth and the waters that would swallow us.

But we are preserved in the ark. In atonement. Held by the very hand of God through it.