The Flood Ends (Genesis 8)

Is there evidence for our descent from Noah’s three sons and their wives? Mitochondrial DNA (female) seems to show three main branches, inline with what we would expect from the three wives of Noah’s sons. Recent studies of the number of mutations in Y-chromosome DNA sequence (male) indicate only about 4,500 years of mutation accumulation. Do we just dismiss it, accept it or want more information?

How many days did it take for the flood waters to disappear entirely? Was tectonic activity also possibly involved?

God kept Noah in mind, along with all the wildlife and livestock that were with him in the ark. God’s Spirit moved throughout the earth, causing the flood waters to subside. The water sources from the ocean depths were blocked and the floodgates of the heavens were closed. Then the flood waters steadily receded, diminishing completely by the end of the 150 days. (Genesis 8:1-3 ISV)

What happened to the ark? Could such an ark still be visible on the mountains of Ararat? Despite several expeditions to the region of Ararat, the ark has not yet been conclusively found. The lumber may have been repurposed after the flood and the wood would have long decayed. Are we satisfied with that? You decide!

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 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. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: (Genesis 8:4-6 KJV)

What did Noah do to see if it was yet dry enough? Were various birds involved?

and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove, to see if the water was low on the surface of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, in its beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again. (Genesis 8:7-12 NASB)

When did they finally leave? Were they to release the animals?

By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” (Genesis 8:13-17 NIV)

What did they do in exiting the ark? Did Noah offer a sacrifice?

So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:18-20 NKJV)

What did God say? Will such a worldwide flood ever occur again?

And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” (Genesis 8:20-21 NLT)

Is there evidence for our descent from Noah’s three sons and their wives? Female DNA research seems to show three main branches of humanity. Male DNA research seems to support about 4,500 years of human history since Noah. Do we just dismiss such information? You decide!