Genesis 8:1
Verse
Context
Sermons
Bill Randles
Chuck Smith
Steve Mays
Todd Atkinson
Thomas Bradbury
Erlo Stegen
A.W. PinkSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And God made a wind to pass over the earth - Such a wind as produced a strong and sudden evaporation. The effects of these winds, which are frequent in the east, are truly astonishing. A friend of mine, who had been bathing in the Tigris, not far from the ancient city of Ctesiphon, and within five days' journey of Bagdad, having on a pair of Turkish drawers, one of these hot winds, called by the natives samiel, passing rapidly across the river just as he had got out of the water, so effectually dried him in a moment, that not one particle of moisture was left either on his body or in his bathing dress! With such an electrified wind as this, how soon could God dry the whole of the earth's surface! An operation something similar to the conversion of water into its two constituent airs, oxygen and hydrogen, by means of the galvanic fluid, as these airs themselves may be reconverted into water by means of the electric spark. See the note Gen 7:11. And probably this was the agent that restored to the atmosphere the quantity of water which it had contributed to this vast inundation. The other portion of waters, which had proceeded from the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, would of course subside more slowly, as openings were made for them to run off from the higher lands, and form seas. By the first cause, the hot wind, the waters were assuaged, and the atmosphere having its due proportion of vapours restored, the quantity below must be greatly lessened. By the second, the earth was gradually dried, the waters, as they found passage, lessening by degrees till the seas and gulfs were formed, and the earth completely drained. This appears to be what is intended in the third and fifth verses by the waters decreasing continually, or, according to the margin, they were in going and decreasing, Gen 8:5.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
With the words, "then God remembered Noah and all the animals...in the ark," the narrative turns to the description of the gradual decrease of the water until the ground was perfectly dry. The fall of the water is described in the same pictorial style as its rapid rise. God's "remembering" was a manifestation of Himself, an effective restraint of the force of the raging element. He caused a wind to blow over the earth, so that the waters sank, and shut up the fountains of the deep, and the sluices of heaven, so that the rain from heaven was restrained. "Then the waters turned (ישׁבוּ i.e., flowed off) from the earth, flowing continuously (the inf. absol. ושׁוב הלוך expresses continuation), and decreased at the end of 150 days." The decrease first became perceptible when the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the 17th day of the seventh month; i.e.,, reckoning 30 days to a month, exactly 150 days after the flood commenced. From that time forth it continued without intermission, so that on the first day of the tenth month, probably 73 days after the resting of the ark, the tops of the mountains were seen, viz., the tops of the Armenian highlands, by which the ark was surrounded. Ararat was the name of a province (Kg2 19:37), which is mentioned along with Minni (Armenia) as a kingdom in Jer 51:27, probably the central province of the country of Armenia, which Moses v. Chorene calls Arairad, Araratia. The mountains of Ararat are, no doubt, the group of mountains which rise from the plain of the Araxes in two lofty peaks, the greater and lesser Ararat, the former 16,254 feet above the level of the sea, the latter about 12,000. This landing-place of the ark is extremely interesting in connection with the development of the human race as renewed after the flood. Armenia, the source of the rivers of paradise, has been called "a cool, airy, well-watered mountain-island in the midst of the old continent;" but Mount Ararat especially is situated almost in the middle, not only of the great desert route of Africa and Asia, but also of the range of inland waters from Gibraltar to the Baikal Sea-in the centre, too, of the longest line that can be drawn through the settlements of the Caucasian race and the Indo-Germanic tribes; and, as the central point of the longest land-line of the ancient world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Behring Straits, it was the most suitable spot in the world, for the tribes and nations that sprang from the sons of Noah to descend from its heights and spread into every land (vid., K. v. Raumer, Palst. pp. 456ff.).
John Gill Bible Commentary
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark,.... Not that God had forgotten Noah, for he does not, and cannot forget his creatures, properly speaking; but this is said after the manner of men, and as it might have seemed to Noah, who having heard nothing of him for five months, and having been perhaps longer in the ark than he expected, might begin to think that he was forgotten of God; but God remembered him, and his covenant with him, and the promise that he had made to him, that he and his family, and all the living creatures in the ark, should be preserved alive during the flood, Gen 6:17 and God may be said particularly to remember him, and them, when he began to take measures for removing the waters from the earth, as he did by sending a wind, next mentioned: and thus God's helping his people when in difficulties and in distress, and delivering out of them, is called his remembrance of them; and he not only remembered Noah and his family, who are included in him, but every living creature also, which is expressed; for as the creatures suffered in the flood for the sins of men, so those in the ark were remembered and preserved for the sake of Noah and his family, and the world of men that should spring from them: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; not a stormy blustering one, that would have endangered the ark, but a gentle, hot, drying one; which stopped the increase of the waters, and made them less, and both drove away the rain, as the north wind does, as this perhaps was (r), and caused the waters to move wards their proper channels and receptacles: this was the work of God, who has the command of the winds and waters, brings the former out of his storehouses, and restrains the latter at his pleasure; and this wind had this effect to assuage the waters, not from its own nature, but was attended with the mighty power of God to make it effectual, in an extraordinary manner: and it was, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it, "a wind of mercies", or a merciful wind; or a wind of comforts, as Jarchi; for so it was to Noah and his family, and to all the creatures, since it served to dry up the waters of the flood, and caused them to subside. (r) ------------for clouds were fled, Driv'n by a keen north wind, that, blowing dry, Wrinkled the face of Deluge, as decay'd. Milton, B. 11. l. 841, &c.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Here is, I. An act of God's grace: God remembered Noah and every living thing. This is an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures (Luk 12:6), much less any of his people, are forgotten of God, Isa 49:15, Isa 49:16. but, 1. The whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered no more; so that God's remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. It is a strange expression, Eze 5:13, When I have accomplished my fury in them, I will be comforted. The demands of divine justice had been answered by the ruin of those sinners; he had eased him of his adversaries (Isa 1:24), and now his spirit was quieted (Zac 6:8), and he remembered Noah and every living thing. he remembered mercy in wrath (Hab 3:2), remembered the days of old (Isa 63:11), remembered the holy seed, and then remembered Noah. 2. Noah himself, though one that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark, and perhaps began to think himself so; for we do not find that God had told him how long he should be confined and when he should be released. Very good men have sometimes been ready to conclude themselves forgotten of God, especially when their afflictions have been unusually grievous and long. Perhaps Noah, though a great believer, yet when he found the flood continuing so long after it might reasonably be presumed to have done its work, was tempted to fear lest he that shut him in would keep him in, and began to expostulate. How long wilt thou forget me? But at length God returned in mercy to him, and this is expressed by remembering him. Note, Those that remember God shall certainly be remembered by him, how desolate and disconsolate soever their condition may be. He will appoint them a set time and remember them, Job 14:13. 3. With Noah, God remembered every living thing; for, though his delight is especially in the sons of men, yet he rejoices in all his works, and hates nothing that he has made. He takes special care, not only of his people's persons, but of their possessions - of them and all that belongs to them. He considered the cattle of Nineveh, Jon 4:11. II. An act of God's power over wind and water, both of which are at his beck, though neither of them is under man's control. Observe, 1. He commanded the wind, and said to that, Go, and it went, in order to the carrying off of the flood: God made a wind to pass over the earth. See here, (1.) What was God's remembrance of Noah: it was his relieving him. Note, Those whom God remembers he remembers effectually, for good; he remembers us to save us, that we may remember him to serve him. (2.) What a sovereign dominion God has over the winds. He has them in his fist (Pro 30:4) and brings them out of his treasuries, Psa 135:7. He sends them when, and whither, and for what purposes, he pleases. Even stormy winds fulfil his word, Psa 148:8. It should seem, while the waters increased, there was no wind; for that would have added to the toss of the ark; but now God sent a wind, when it would not be so troublesome. Probably, it was a north wind, for that drives away rain. However, it was a drying wind, such a wind as God sent to divide the Red Sea before Israel, Exo 14:21. 2. He remanded the waters, and said to them, Come, and they came. (1.) He took away the cause. He sealed up the springs of those waters, the fountains of the great deep, and the windows of heaven. Note, [1.] As God has a key to open, so he has a key to shut up again, and to stay the progress of judgments by stopping the causes of them: and the same hand that brings the desolation must bring the deliverance; to that hand therefore our eye must ever be. He that wounds is alone able to heal. See Job 12:14, Job 12:15. [2.] When afflictions have done the work for which they are sent, whether killing work or curing work, they shall be removed. God's word shall not return void, Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11. (2.) Then the effect ceased; not all at once, but by degrees: The waters abated (Gen 8:1), returned from off the earth continually, Heb. they were going and returning (v. 3), which denotes a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more. Note, As the earth was not drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. In the creation, it was but one day's work to clear the earth from the waters that covered it, and to make it dry land; nay, it was but half a day's work, Gen 1:9, Gen 1:10. But, the work of creation being finished, this work of providence was effected by the concurring influence of second causes, yet thus enforced by the almighty power of God. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually, that the day of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things despaired of, Zac 4:10. See Pro 4:18.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
8:1 God remembered: This structural and theological center of the flood story does not mean that God had at any point forgotten Noah. This is covenant language reflecting God’s faithfulness to his promise to ensure the safety of his covenant partner (cp. 6:18; 9:15-16; Exod 2:24; Lev 26:42, 45). • wind: The same word is translated “Spirit” in Gen 1:2. This and other parallels (see Gen 9:1-2) suggest that the restoration of the earth after the flood was effectively a new creation.
Genesis 8:1
The Ark Rests on Ararat
1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.2The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
The New Creation and the New Fall
By Bill Randles2.3K43:02New CreationGEN 1:28GEN 8:1GEN 8:8GEN 8:20GEN 9:8ACT 9:1ROM 13:1In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of two different kinds of people in the new world. He emphasizes that while some can thrive in corruption and feed off it, others, like the dove, cannot rest until they find something clean and holy. The preacher also addresses inappropriate questions about God's presence during tragic events, suggesting that the real question should be why there aren't more tragedies given the sinful nature of the world. The sermon concludes with a discussion of the rainbow as a symbol of God's covenant with humanity and the victory of divine love over sin and God's wrath.
(Through the Bible) Genesis 8-9
By Chuck Smith1.4K1:02:10ExpositionalGEN 1:14GEN 8:1EXO 20:8PSA 19:1PRO 3:5MAT 24:362CO 12:4In this sermon, the speaker discusses the limitations of human language in describing the glory and beauty of God. He emphasizes that while we use anthropomorphic terms to describe God, they are inadequate in capturing His true nature. The sermon then focuses on the story of Noah and how God remembered him, highlighting that God never actually forgot Noah. The speaker also mentions the geographical changes that occurred after the flood, such as the settling of the seas and the upward thrust of mountains, and references a book by Immanuel Velikovsky that documents these changes. Additionally, he suggests that the change in the earth's orbit around the sun may have occurred around the time of Joshua, leading to the adjustment of calendars.
First Things First
By Steve Mays56430:08Christian LifeGEN 8:1GEN 8:20JOB 19:25MAT 6:33In this sermon, the preacher discusses various biblical stories where individuals faced challenging situations but experienced God's intervention. He mentions the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were unharmed in the fiery furnace because the fourth person with them was the Son of God. Another example is Paul and Silas, who were imprisoned but were freed when they praised God and an earthquake occurred. The preacher also mentions Noah, who was instructed by God to build an ark and preach righteousness for 120 years before the flood came. The sermon emphasizes the importance of remembering God and putting Him first in our lives, as He is the source of blessings and victory.
The Eucharistic Feast
By Todd Atkinson36529:49EucharistGEN 8:1EXO 12:14PSA 77:11MAT 26:26LUK 22:19ACT 20:71CO 11:23In this sermon, the preacher discusses the division between the haves and the have nots in the Corinthian church. He emphasizes that this division goes against the principles of Christian community. The preacher highlights that Paul, the spiritual father of the church, addresses this issue by reminding them of the centrality of the cross and the true meaning of the Lord's supper. He quotes the words of Jesus from the last supper, emphasizing their importance and how they can rectify the situation. The preacher also mentions that Lent is his favorite time of the church year, as it allows him to reflect on the cross and its significance in his life.
Covenant Remembrance
By Thomas Bradbury0GEN 8:1EXO 2:24EXO 20:24PSA 71:20PSA 106:4JER 31:4ZEC 4:1MAL 3:1MAT 18:20LUK 9:32JHN 4:23JHN 4:34PHP 3:12HEB 3:1REV 1:5Thomas Bradbury preaches on the significance of being awakened by the Angel of the Lord, emphasizing the need for spiritual motives in worship and the desire for God's presence. The sermon delves into the meaning of the name Zechariah, highlighting God's remembrance of His people throughout history. It explores the presence of Christ in the book of Zechariah, revealing His defense, delight, and grace towards His people. The sermon also reflects on various Old Testament appearances of the Covenant Angel, symbolizing Christ's role in redemption and guidance.
Remember
By Erlo Stegen0RemembranceHonoring ParentsGEN 8:1EXO 20:121SA 1:20PSA 103:14PRO 1:8ISA 49:15MAT 15:4LUK 23:42EPH 6:1COL 3:20Erlo Stegen emphasizes the importance of remembrance in his sermon 'Remember,' illustrating how God does not forget His promises, as seen in the story of Noah. He contrasts this with human forgetfulness, using the example of General Henry Havelock, who nearly lost his son due to neglect. Stegen urges listeners to honor their parents and remember their commitments to God, highlighting that forgetting can lead to regret and curses. He encourages kindness towards the elderly and stresses that honoring parents is crucial for a blessed life. Ultimately, he calls for a conscious remembrance of our Heavenly Father.
The Divine Rememberer
By A.W. Pink0God's FaithfulnessDivine RemembranceGEN 8:1GEN 9:16GEN 19:29EXO 2:24PSA 40:2PSA 136:23ISA 41:10JER 30:7EPH 1:4TIT 1:2A.W. Pink emphasizes God's unwavering memory and faithfulness towards humanity, contrasting it with our tendency to forget Him. He reflects on the biblical instances where God remembered His people in their low estate, particularly the Israelites in Egypt, and how this theme extends to all believers today. Pink reassures that even in our darkest moments, God remains the faithful Rememberer, providing grace and support throughout our lives. He encourages believers to recognize God's covenant promises and His continual presence, especially during trials and tribulations. Ultimately, Pink calls for gratitude towards God for His enduring mercy and faithfulness, which will be fully realized in eternity.
Genesis 8:1-22
By John Calvin0GEN 8:1GEN 8:21PSA 104:4PSA 116:12ISA 54:92PE 3:6John Calvin preaches on the story of Noah and the great flood, emphasizing God's faithfulness in remembering Noah and all living creatures in the ark, showcasing His power over the elements by making the wind pass over the earth to calm the waters. Calvin highlights Noah's patience and obedience, waiting for God's command to leave the ark, and the significance of the sacrifices offered to God as acts of gratitude and worship. He delves into the depth of human depravity, as God acknowledges the innate evil in man's heart, yet shows mercy by promising to never again destroy the earth with a flood, ensuring the continuity of seasons and the order of nature.
Our Daily Homily - Genesis
By F.B. Meyer0ObedienceFaithGEN 1:5GEN 2:15GEN 3:9GEN 4:9GEN 5:24GEN 6:9GEN 7:9GEN 8:1GEN 9:13GEN 12:1F.B. Meyer emphasizes the profound lessons found in Genesis, illustrating how God's ways often differ from human expectations. He highlights the importance of faith, obedience, and the transformative power of God's presence in our lives, drawing parallels between biblical figures and our own spiritual journeys. Meyer encourages believers to recognize God's faithfulness, even in times of darkness and trial, and to seek a deeper relationship with Him through prayer and obedience. He reminds us that, like Abraham and Jacob, we are called to walk with God and trust in His promises, regardless of our circumstances.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
And God made a wind to pass over the earth - Such a wind as produced a strong and sudden evaporation. The effects of these winds, which are frequent in the east, are truly astonishing. A friend of mine, who had been bathing in the Tigris, not far from the ancient city of Ctesiphon, and within five days' journey of Bagdad, having on a pair of Turkish drawers, one of these hot winds, called by the natives samiel, passing rapidly across the river just as he had got out of the water, so effectually dried him in a moment, that not one particle of moisture was left either on his body or in his bathing dress! With such an electrified wind as this, how soon could God dry the whole of the earth's surface! An operation something similar to the conversion of water into its two constituent airs, oxygen and hydrogen, by means of the galvanic fluid, as these airs themselves may be reconverted into water by means of the electric spark. See the note Gen 7:11. And probably this was the agent that restored to the atmosphere the quantity of water which it had contributed to this vast inundation. The other portion of waters, which had proceeded from the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, would of course subside more slowly, as openings were made for them to run off from the higher lands, and form seas. By the first cause, the hot wind, the waters were assuaged, and the atmosphere having its due proportion of vapours restored, the quantity below must be greatly lessened. By the second, the earth was gradually dried, the waters, as they found passage, lessening by degrees till the seas and gulfs were formed, and the earth completely drained. This appears to be what is intended in the third and fifth verses by the waters decreasing continually, or, according to the margin, they were in going and decreasing, Gen 8:5.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
With the words, "then God remembered Noah and all the animals...in the ark," the narrative turns to the description of the gradual decrease of the water until the ground was perfectly dry. The fall of the water is described in the same pictorial style as its rapid rise. God's "remembering" was a manifestation of Himself, an effective restraint of the force of the raging element. He caused a wind to blow over the earth, so that the waters sank, and shut up the fountains of the deep, and the sluices of heaven, so that the rain from heaven was restrained. "Then the waters turned (ישׁבוּ i.e., flowed off) from the earth, flowing continuously (the inf. absol. ושׁוב הלוך expresses continuation), and decreased at the end of 150 days." The decrease first became perceptible when the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the 17th day of the seventh month; i.e.,, reckoning 30 days to a month, exactly 150 days after the flood commenced. From that time forth it continued without intermission, so that on the first day of the tenth month, probably 73 days after the resting of the ark, the tops of the mountains were seen, viz., the tops of the Armenian highlands, by which the ark was surrounded. Ararat was the name of a province (Kg2 19:37), which is mentioned along with Minni (Armenia) as a kingdom in Jer 51:27, probably the central province of the country of Armenia, which Moses v. Chorene calls Arairad, Araratia. The mountains of Ararat are, no doubt, the group of mountains which rise from the plain of the Araxes in two lofty peaks, the greater and lesser Ararat, the former 16,254 feet above the level of the sea, the latter about 12,000. This landing-place of the ark is extremely interesting in connection with the development of the human race as renewed after the flood. Armenia, the source of the rivers of paradise, has been called "a cool, airy, well-watered mountain-island in the midst of the old continent;" but Mount Ararat especially is situated almost in the middle, not only of the great desert route of Africa and Asia, but also of the range of inland waters from Gibraltar to the Baikal Sea-in the centre, too, of the longest line that can be drawn through the settlements of the Caucasian race and the Indo-Germanic tribes; and, as the central point of the longest land-line of the ancient world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Behring Straits, it was the most suitable spot in the world, for the tribes and nations that sprang from the sons of Noah to descend from its heights and spread into every land (vid., K. v. Raumer, Palst. pp. 456ff.).
John Gill Bible Commentary
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark,.... Not that God had forgotten Noah, for he does not, and cannot forget his creatures, properly speaking; but this is said after the manner of men, and as it might have seemed to Noah, who having heard nothing of him for five months, and having been perhaps longer in the ark than he expected, might begin to think that he was forgotten of God; but God remembered him, and his covenant with him, and the promise that he had made to him, that he and his family, and all the living creatures in the ark, should be preserved alive during the flood, Gen 6:17 and God may be said particularly to remember him, and them, when he began to take measures for removing the waters from the earth, as he did by sending a wind, next mentioned: and thus God's helping his people when in difficulties and in distress, and delivering out of them, is called his remembrance of them; and he not only remembered Noah and his family, who are included in him, but every living creature also, which is expressed; for as the creatures suffered in the flood for the sins of men, so those in the ark were remembered and preserved for the sake of Noah and his family, and the world of men that should spring from them: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; not a stormy blustering one, that would have endangered the ark, but a gentle, hot, drying one; which stopped the increase of the waters, and made them less, and both drove away the rain, as the north wind does, as this perhaps was (r), and caused the waters to move wards their proper channels and receptacles: this was the work of God, who has the command of the winds and waters, brings the former out of his storehouses, and restrains the latter at his pleasure; and this wind had this effect to assuage the waters, not from its own nature, but was attended with the mighty power of God to make it effectual, in an extraordinary manner: and it was, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it, "a wind of mercies", or a merciful wind; or a wind of comforts, as Jarchi; for so it was to Noah and his family, and to all the creatures, since it served to dry up the waters of the flood, and caused them to subside. (r) ------------for clouds were fled, Driv'n by a keen north wind, that, blowing dry, Wrinkled the face of Deluge, as decay'd. Milton, B. 11. l. 841, &c.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Here is, I. An act of God's grace: God remembered Noah and every living thing. This is an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures (Luk 12:6), much less any of his people, are forgotten of God, Isa 49:15, Isa 49:16. but, 1. The whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered no more; so that God's remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. It is a strange expression, Eze 5:13, When I have accomplished my fury in them, I will be comforted. The demands of divine justice had been answered by the ruin of those sinners; he had eased him of his adversaries (Isa 1:24), and now his spirit was quieted (Zac 6:8), and he remembered Noah and every living thing. he remembered mercy in wrath (Hab 3:2), remembered the days of old (Isa 63:11), remembered the holy seed, and then remembered Noah. 2. Noah himself, though one that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark, and perhaps began to think himself so; for we do not find that God had told him how long he should be confined and when he should be released. Very good men have sometimes been ready to conclude themselves forgotten of God, especially when their afflictions have been unusually grievous and long. Perhaps Noah, though a great believer, yet when he found the flood continuing so long after it might reasonably be presumed to have done its work, was tempted to fear lest he that shut him in would keep him in, and began to expostulate. How long wilt thou forget me? But at length God returned in mercy to him, and this is expressed by remembering him. Note, Those that remember God shall certainly be remembered by him, how desolate and disconsolate soever their condition may be. He will appoint them a set time and remember them, Job 14:13. 3. With Noah, God remembered every living thing; for, though his delight is especially in the sons of men, yet he rejoices in all his works, and hates nothing that he has made. He takes special care, not only of his people's persons, but of their possessions - of them and all that belongs to them. He considered the cattle of Nineveh, Jon 4:11. II. An act of God's power over wind and water, both of which are at his beck, though neither of them is under man's control. Observe, 1. He commanded the wind, and said to that, Go, and it went, in order to the carrying off of the flood: God made a wind to pass over the earth. See here, (1.) What was God's remembrance of Noah: it was his relieving him. Note, Those whom God remembers he remembers effectually, for good; he remembers us to save us, that we may remember him to serve him. (2.) What a sovereign dominion God has over the winds. He has them in his fist (Pro 30:4) and brings them out of his treasuries, Psa 135:7. He sends them when, and whither, and for what purposes, he pleases. Even stormy winds fulfil his word, Psa 148:8. It should seem, while the waters increased, there was no wind; for that would have added to the toss of the ark; but now God sent a wind, when it would not be so troublesome. Probably, it was a north wind, for that drives away rain. However, it was a drying wind, such a wind as God sent to divide the Red Sea before Israel, Exo 14:21. 2. He remanded the waters, and said to them, Come, and they came. (1.) He took away the cause. He sealed up the springs of those waters, the fountains of the great deep, and the windows of heaven. Note, [1.] As God has a key to open, so he has a key to shut up again, and to stay the progress of judgments by stopping the causes of them: and the same hand that brings the desolation must bring the deliverance; to that hand therefore our eye must ever be. He that wounds is alone able to heal. See Job 12:14, Job 12:15. [2.] When afflictions have done the work for which they are sent, whether killing work or curing work, they shall be removed. God's word shall not return void, Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11. (2.) Then the effect ceased; not all at once, but by degrees: The waters abated (Gen 8:1), returned from off the earth continually, Heb. they were going and returning (v. 3), which denotes a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more. Note, As the earth was not drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. In the creation, it was but one day's work to clear the earth from the waters that covered it, and to make it dry land; nay, it was but half a day's work, Gen 1:9, Gen 1:10. But, the work of creation being finished, this work of providence was effected by the concurring influence of second causes, yet thus enforced by the almighty power of God. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually, that the day of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things despaired of, Zac 4:10. See Pro 4:18.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
8:1 God remembered: This structural and theological center of the flood story does not mean that God had at any point forgotten Noah. This is covenant language reflecting God’s faithfulness to his promise to ensure the safety of his covenant partner (cp. 6:18; 9:15-16; Exod 2:24; Lev 26:42, 45). • wind: The same word is translated “Spirit” in Gen 1:2. This and other parallels (see Gen 9:1-2) suggest that the restoration of the earth after the flood was effectively a new creation.