Genesis 8 - What God Did

For about six months, Noah remained in the ark while the waters covered the earth, destroying every living thing. God's threatenings and God's judgements had been poured out on the earth, and only those closed in to the ark were saved. God was as good as his word, and in the midst of death and destruction there was salvation. So it is with the Gospel - in a world of sin, unbelief, corruption and death, God has provided us with a way of escape and a door of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 8 continues the story from the point at which the flood water began to recede. It emphasises three things that God did at that point. The story is written in what we call anthropomorphisms - human characteristics that are applied to God and that are used to describe God. God, we know, has no body, and therefore no human characteristics. But in the Bible he speaks of himself to us in a way that will make the Bible meaningful to us.

First of all, we are told that God remembered Noah (verse 1).

Not that God had forgotten him, of course! The very fact that Noah and his family were safe in the ark was proof of that. God was remembering Noah all the time, and the blessing of salvation was evidence of God's remarkable and singular care.

But when the flood was over, God, we are told, thought of Noah again, and remembered him. As God had sent the rain and the flood water, so he sent a wind to dry up the earth. As he had made the ark to sail, so he made the ark to rest. Eventually, Noah could open a window in the ark and look out.

What a blessed God we serve and worship! He can send the rain, but he can also sent the wind. He can allow storms to come, but he can change them in an instant. More than once Noah must have been accused of being unreasonable; yet faith is never unreasonable or irrational. It may rise above reason, but it never goes against reason. Whatever doubts Noah may have had all the time he was in the ark, he has faith in God, and God is true to his word.

Perhaps today we may feel that we are in the midst of storms in life, floods that threaten to break over us and to swallow us up. Yet he is able to change storms into a calm at his command and will, so that the waves which raged before are quiet and still (Psalm 107). Keep trusting - keep looking - keep believing. The weather may be boisterous, but the hand of God is all-powerful, and he is able to do for us above our asking or our thinking.

Secondly, we are told that God spoke to Noah (verse 15).

The word of God had come to him in the very beginning, commanding him to build, and calling him to enter the ark. Now God came to Noah, intimating to him that the flood was past, and that it was time to open the door and to step out into the new world.

We need God's word at every point in our lives. God's people live by the promises of the Bible. They love the Bible more than silver, more than gold. God has staked his reputation on the authority, finality and truthfulness of his own word, and it is the means by which his people are fed and made holy.

And when we reach junctions in our lives - transition points, like the point to which Noah was brought here, we need to hear God's word speaking to us, telling us to step out in faith. New opportunities extended before him; new horizons fell within his vision; new possibilities opened themselves to him. It was a time to go forward; but not without looking upward. The only sure way to made progress in life is by listening to the voice of God, obeying his commands, and seeking to do his will. If that is our lot, it will be well with us.

Thirdly, we are told that God smelled the sacrifice of Noah (verse 21).

Noah built an altar, and worshipped God. What a great way to begin the new life! Offering a sacrifice of worship and praise to the Lord. It was the fragrance of that worship that rose to Heaven, right in to the nostrils of God. When he sensed the aroma, he promised that the earth would never again be destroyed by such a calamity.

In our day of ecological madness, when environmentalists are warning of this and that, we would do well to remember what God said when he smelt the aroma of sacrifice. He has promised to preserve the earth. He will make the world the theatre of his glory, displayed in the conversion of sinners. Let us do what we can to harness the earth's resources wisely and well, but let us never forget the God who has accepted Christ's finished work as a sweet-smelling savour, and who loves our sacrifices of worship and praise to ascend to him. That God has promised to keep, to preserve, never to destroy again.

Those who know their God shall indeed be strong and do exploits (Daniel 11:32).