Week 29, Day 3: The new beginning

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 8:1-22

Some thoughts from the reading…

God remembered Noah and caused a wind to pass over the earth and the water to subside.  After a good length of time the ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat (thought to be in modern Turkey).  What I think is interesting is how long of a process it took from the time Noah entered the ark to when it was okay to go back out.  7:11 told us that in Noah’s 600th year on the 17th day of the 2nd month the flooding began.  8:13-14 tells us that the erath wasn’t dry until his 601st year on the 27th day of the 2nd month.  That is a year and 10 days.  Wow, that’s a long time from start to finish.   We are taught as children about the 40 days and 40 nights of rain but just imagine being in this boat that long. 

Notice that Noah waited until God told him to go out of the ark before he left it, 8:15-16.  Noah demonstrated respect for God by waiting for Him to tell Noah it was okay to go out.  He further showed his devotion to God by offering the burnt offerings on the altar as soon as he had gone out.  God had delivered him through the torential waters.  We are not told details about the sacrificial system during this time (when God told them to do this or how they were to do it) but it is clear that sacrificing burnt offerings were a part of worshipping and serving God from the earliest part of history (remember Cain and Abel offered of their flock and first fruits in sacrifice to God). 

It impresses me how much we forget about the Bible and how much we can gain from reminding ourselves of these accounts by rereading them on a regular basis.

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