Genesis 15
Last week when we left the story of Noah and the flood he and his family were adrift in the ark and at the mercy of the waves. The entire earth was covered with water and the sky was falling with torrential rain. But eventually the rain would stop and rest would come to all.
Ah rest. What a wonderful thing. I mean, isn’t rest a nice thing?
- Sleeping in your own bed after a long trip away from home.
- Sitting in your favorite chair after a long day at the office.
- Falling asleep on the couch after a big Sunday lunch.
[Shoveling gravel story.]
In this week’s passage we see the theme of rest as the water recedes from the earth and life can once again flourish on the face of the land.
I. The ark rested
[Read Genesis 8:1-5.]
The ark rested, 8:4, nooakh - settle down, rest
The ark found its resting place in one of the mountains in the mountain range of Ararat. Not necessarily in Mount Ararat itself, but in that range of mountains that’s in the region of where Turkey, Iran and Russia converge around the area of the Caspian and Black Seas. (This is of course why it’s so hard to do thorough archeological searches for the ark since it’s situated in countries that are hostile towards outsiders.) But none the less, maybe one day God will reveal it to the world.
Anyway, the ark found it’s resting place in the mountains of Ararat. It was able to do that because the Lord was causing the waters upon the earth to recede. There were a couple ways in which He accomplished this.
1. Evaporation
[Read Genesis 8:1a.]
2. Fountains and floodgates stopped
[Read Genesis 8:2.]
The Almighty Lord knew when the earth had had enough and He began the drying out process. This gave way for a place for the ark of His plans, the ark of His grace, to rest. But Noah, his family and the animals weren’t out of the ‘wood’ yet. Get it, out of the ‘wood’…as opposed to out of the ‘woods’…the ark made out of wood… Anyway, the boat stopped moving and Noah wanted to figure out what was going on outside. So he sent out some birds and eventually one of them found some rest. So let’s look at how:
II. The dove rested
After the ark stopped floating around at the mercy of the flood Noah waited 40 days until he decided to open up the window and have a look around. Maybe he was being symbolic waiting 40 days because of the 40 days of rain. Or maybe he just got tired of waiting and wanted to see what was up. Here’s the timetable for ark occupancy so far.
- Noah enters the ark a week before the flood comes
- Flood lasts for 150 days, (including the 40 days of rain)
- 74 days later tops of mountains visible, (going by dates given in the text)
- 40 days later Noah sends out the raven, (271 days in the ark!)
[Read Genesis 8:6-7.]
Now there’s a distinct difference between ravens and doves. Ravens are more of a dirty
bird that isn’t very selective when it comes to finding food and a resting place. That would account for how the raven seemed to come and go as it pleased once it was released.
When Noah realized that the raven wasn’t a reliable way to see if the land was ready for their inhabitance he sent out a dove. A dove was more selective about what it ate and where it placed it’s feet. And we can see this in the progression of it’s three releases from Noah.
1. Dove came back
[Read Genesis 8:8-9.]
No resting place, 8:9, manowach – ‘suitable’ resting place
2. Dove came back with an olive leaf
[Read Genesis 8:10-11.]
Things are looking good! Life had started to rejuvenate upon the lands. So Noah sends the dove out a third time.
3. Dove doesn’t come back, (finds rest for her feet)
[Read Genesis 8:12.]
The dove had found rest. What an encouraging thing that must have been for Noah. He’s been in that ark for months and months wondering when it’ll all end. But when the dove found rest he knew that it wouldn’t be too long before he found rest as well.
III. Noah rested
[Read Genesis 8:13-14.]
After a year in the ark Noah could see the light at the end of the tunnel. All he was waiting for was a green light from the Lord to leave the ark. And wait he did.
You know sometimes we get impatient and jump the gun on the Lord. We have our ideas on what we should be doing, we can see relief on it’s way, we see answers coming, the light’s at the end of the tunnel, all we have to do is wait a little longer on the Lord and everything will be fine. But all too often we don’t want to wait.
[BBV budget premature increase debacle story.]
But Noah was good at waiting. His faith moved him to trust God while building the ark, and his faith sustained him while inside the ark for a year now. So his faith kept him inside the ark while he waited on the Lord to give him rest. And God did just that!
[Read Genesis 8:15-19.]
When I read this it bring up images of excitement and wonder. I mean, they’d been cooped up in this floating motel for a year not knowing when it would end. Finally the door is open, God Himself tells them to exit the ark, and God also gives them basically the same instructions He gave Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
I can see Noah and his family and even the animals rushing outside to their new world. Excitement was in the air. Wonder was filling their hearts. Anticipation filling their thoughts.
But in the midst of this celebration Noah stopped everything and worshipped the Lord. His rest had come and God deserved all the glory!
[Read Genesis 8:20.]
He realized that the Lord had allowed them to survive by His grace alone. Looking around at the earth’s landscape that had been ravaged by the flood would be a reminder to them that God means business. Our Holy God will accomplish His will with or without us. Noah realized that he was fortunate enough to survive God’s wrath because of God’s grace.
Yes Noah was a righteous man, but even the most righteous men are still sinners. Noah, by faith, worshipped God for bringing him and his family through the flood. And it’s obvious that this worship was very pleasing to the Lord as we see the Lord Himself rested from the flood.
IV. God rested
[Read Genesis 8:21-22.]
Now where it says “the Lord smelled the soothing aroma” we call this type of phraseology an ‘anthropomorphism’. Which is when a biblical writer uses human characteristics to illustrate something about the Lord. The writer isn’t trying to say that Noah’s offering smelled like good bar-b-q to the Lord and He was pleased. He’s trying to express God’s pleasure and satisfaction with Noah’s continued faithfulness. Noah’s worship pleased the Lord. And this event gave the Lord reason to rest.
Soothing aroma or sweet savour, 8:21, neekho’akh – restful, pleasant, delightful
Much like the Lord rested on the seventh day after completing His creation He again can rest or delight in the fact that this phase of the earth is over. He’s completed His reconstruction of the earth and life. And what gave Him incredible delight and rest was the fact that as soon as His wrath was completed faithful Noah worshipped Him.
When God’s people truly worship Him in humility, with integrity, with passion, and with all dependence on Him it gives Him delightful rest. Rest in the fact that at that moment His creation is living as it should be living. Would we worship like Noah every time we get together and sing His praises. He is so deserving. And isn’t it even more humbling to know that our simple act of true devotion to Him can bring Him pleasure? Would we worship like Noah and bring a soothing aroma into the presence of the Lord.
Yes, this chapter is all about rest.
- The ark rested from its floating.
- The dove rested from its searching.
- Noah rested from his waiting.
- The Lord rested from His wrath.
And all of this rest came directly from God Himself. He is the God of rest for us as well.
In the Philippines the driver of a carabao wagon was on his way to the market when he passed by an old man struggling to carry a heavy load upon his shoulders. He stopped his wagon and offered to give the old man a ride. Graciously the old man accepted and entered the wagon. After a few minutes the driver turned around to talk with the man and see how he was doing but noticed that the man, though seated in the wagon, was still struggling to hold up the heavy load resting on his shoulders. Rest was there for him, but he didn’t take advantage of it.
We serve the God of rest. Don’t carry your burdens alone. Trust the Lord with them and watch Him bring you rest. Sometimes we feel like we’re at the mercy of the floodwaters just like Noah. But just like Noah, we will get the rest we need in God’s timetable. Let’s simply rest in Him and worship Him with all that we have.
