Sermon Central
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The Departure From The Ark. Series
Contributed by John Lowe on Jul 14, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Noah was a man of faith whose name is recorded in Hebrews 11 with those other heroes of faith. He had the faith to walk with God when the people of the world were ignoring and disobeying God.
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November 19, 2013
Commentary on the Book of Genesis
By: Tom Lowe
Lesson I.D.8: The Departure from the Ark. Gen. 8:15-22.
Genesis 8.15-22
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.
Commentary
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.
Noah was a man of faith whose name is recorded in Hebrews 11 with those other heroes of faith. He had the faith to walk with God when the people of the world were ignoring and disobeying God. He had the faith to work for God and to witness for God when opposition to truth was the popular thing. When the Flood was over He exercised faith to wait on God before leaving the ark.
After being confined to the ark for over a year (378 days), he and his family must have yearned to get back on dry land, but they waited for God’s directions. The ground was dry, so the world was fit for habitation. Circumstances on earth looked suitable for disembarking, but that was no guarantee that God wanted them to exit immediately and begin their new life. Obedient faith is our response to God’s Word, because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10.17). Note, though Noah had discovered that the ground was dry on the first day of the first month, God would not allow him to go out of the ark until the twenty-seventh day of the second month. Do you know why? God is more concerned about our benefits than He is about our desires. He knows what is good for us, better than we do.
God rewarded Noah’s faith, and the faith of his family, by caring for them while they were in the ark (for over a year) and then preparing the earth for then so they could leave the ark. Noah was like a “second Adam” as he made this new beginning for the human race. God had brought the earth out of the waters during creation week, preparing it for Adam and Eve; and now he had brought the earth through the Flood and made it ready for Noah and his family. The Lord even gave Noah and his family the same mandate that he had given at the beginning: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Ge. 8.17; 1.22, 28).
Noah prepared the ark “for the saving of his household” (Heb. 11.4), and God was faithful to save his household. There is no indication in Scripture that Noah in his witnessing invited others to join him and his family in the ark, but he certainly must have encouraged them to trust God and prepare their own ark. Of course, no one took his message seriously; and the world of that day perished (2 Pe. 3.6[1]).
God is going to make a covenant with Noah. We will see this new beginning as we get into the next chapter. This covenant is a very important one. When God made it with Noah, He also made it with the human family that is on the earth today.