January 10, 2023
Big Idea
We can trust God when we don't know how things will turn out.
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done."
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.
13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse 1 8:21 Or dishonor the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
A dove goes forth and returns. It carries a lone olive leaf, representing the biggest turning point in one of the most well-known stories of mankind—the end of the worldwide flood. The waters receded, and the prophetic event was almost over. Astonishingly, Noah spent approximately 370 days on the ark. He battled waves, cared for animals, and led his family, all while putting his trust in God.
Then, the end of this chapter takes a turn. Noah had to be excited to get off the ark. But his first act was to present animals as a sacrifice to God. From the days of Adam and Eve, the people would present animal sacrifices to God to please Him. These sacrifices represented the shedding of blood in payment for a person's sin, with the animal serving as a substitute for the human (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).
God, rich in mercy, acknowledged this faithful and fearful act by Noah and responded. God was pleased by Noah's burnt offerings and promised that He would never again strike down all living beings on the earth "by waters of the flood" (Gen 8:20-21; 9:11, 15). God recognized that humanity will continue to sin, but God has made provision to help people resist the world and follow Him. His abounding love will continue to be there for us to depend on.
The feelings Noah experienced during this event are impossible for us to imagine, but Noah didn't rely on himself or his feelings. Rather, he depended on God before, during, and after the flood. Noah listened to God and obeyed His commands, from when Noah began building the ark to when he left it.
Proverbs 3:5 states, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." If Noah had only trusted himself, the earth would not be here as we know it. We are in a broken world, and God is under no obligation to make sense to us. But if you trust in the Lord and follow Him, you can always depend on Him—as Noah did.
This month's memory verse
We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
1. What situations in your life seem to have no clear answers? How can you rely on God to work through them?
2. Noah didn't blend into the populace when he devoted his life to building the ark. Are you doing anything positive in your daily life as a Christ follower that makes you stand out from the crowd?
3. Do you find yourself trying to be the director of your entire universe and not letting God take care of things?
4. Do you get upset at God when a situation doesn't go your way? How can you be more like Noah in those situations?
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