THE DOVE AND THE WATER
[Genesis:8:1-22 [1] And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; [2] The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; [3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. [4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. [5] And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. [6] And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: [7] And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. [8] Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; [9] But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. [10] And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; [11] And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. [12] And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. [13] And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. [14] And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. [15] And God spake unto Noah, saying, [16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. [17] Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. [18] And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: [19] Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. [20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21] And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. [22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. ].
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4).
The Great Flood Stopped
God remembered Noah and his family in the ship and stopped the waters from coming upon the earth. He told the wind to blow over the earth and dry it. Gradually the waters began to flow into rivers, lakes, and oceans, and the land began to be dry again. When the waters settled, the ship was on the top of the mountains of Ararat.
Noah Sent Out a Raven
Noah opened the window of the ark and sent a raven out, but the raven kept going back and forth as long as there was water over the earth.
Noah Sent Out a Dove
A dove was sent out. If the ground had been dry it would likely have stayed away, but it came back to the ark. After seven days Noah sent it out again and this time it came back with an olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah waited seven more days and sent it out, but this time it did not come back. Noah knew then that the earth was dry.
More Than a Year in the Ship
Noah and his family and the animals had been in the ship a long time. But he did not go into the ark until God told him to go, and he did not leave the ark until God told him to do so. Then one day God said that he should bring his family and the animals out of the ark and live again on the earth.
All the wicked people had been drowned. It must have looked very different to Noah, for the great waters that had washed back and forth had no doubt filled up the low places, and built up high places. It is not easy to find places mentioned in the Bible before the flood because the water must have changed everything very much.
See shells, skeletons of animals, and many curious things are found on the tops of mountains and in the rocks and were no doubt washed there when the waters covered them.
Noah Worships God
About the very first thing Noah did when he came back upon the dry land was to prepare a place where he could worship God. Noah was surely thankful to God for keeping him safe during that long time when the waters covered the earth and every living thing was drowned. He must have loved God more than ever before.
God was pleased with Noah, too, and set a beautiful rainbow in the sky to tell the whole world that He would never again destroy it with a great flood. God always keeps His promise.
1. How did the rain finally stop? [Genesis:8:2-3 [2] The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
[3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
].
2. What kind of bird did Noah send out first? [Genesis:8:7And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
].
3. What did the dove do the first time it was sent out? [Genesis:8:9But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
].
4. Who told Noah to leave the ark? [Genesis:8:15-16 [15] And God spake unto Noah, saying,
[16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
].
5. What was the first thing Noah did when he came out of the ark? [Genesis:8:20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
].
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