Genesis 8:15-2215And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17Bring 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. 18And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: 19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. 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. 21And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; 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. 22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:15‑22)
God did not forget Noah in the ark. The rain ceased, and after 150 days the flood waters began to go down. The ark at last rested on the top of Mount Ararat.
Noah opened a window and first sent out a raven. The raven did not come back. There was plenty of flesh for it to eat. Then he sent out a dove, but the dove could find nowhere to rest, and she returned in the evening to the ark. A week later he sent the dove out again, and she came back with an olive leaf. He sent her out again a week later, and this time she did not return. So Noah knew that the flood waters had gone down.
Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked out and saw the ground that it was dry. Then God said to Noah, “Go forth of the ark,” and Noah went forth with all the creatures that were in the ark.
Noah built an altar and sacrificed some of all the clean beasts to God.
God blessed Noah and his sons, and God set a rainbow in the cloud as a promise that He would not again destroy all living things by a flood.
The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus. God is one day going to judge the world for its sin, but, like Noah and his family in the ark, all who come to Jesus and take Him as their Saviour, find in Him a refuge and will be safe from judgment in that day.
ML-01/02/1977