Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Genesis Chapter 8 mean?

After the global devastation caused by the flood as described in chapter 7, Genesis 8 opens with quietness, waiting for the floodwaters to recede. This passage begins with a comforting idea: God remembered Noah (Genesis 8:1). God also remembered the animals. He would fulfill His promise to keep them safe and begin creation over again, in a sense, on a world made new by the flood.

God turns off the water, both from below and from above. He sends a great wind to begin to evaporate the water and dry out the earth. After 150 days, the ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4). Modern maps may know the area as eastern Turkey and its surroundings, but no specific location is given.

The floodwaters continued to recede. The tops of the mountains became visible. Noah sent out birds as a test to see if any dry land was nearby (Genesis 8:6–7). If the birds returned, the assumption would be that they found no place to land and/or make a home. After trying a raven, Noah turned to doves. First, one returns empty handed. Next, one returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf. The third dove doesn’t return, at all. Noah removed the covering of the ark and confirmed that the land was, indeed, dry (Genesis 8:14).

Still, Noah waited to hear from God that it was time to leave the ark. Nearly two months later, God gave Noah the command to leave, along with his family and every living thing aboard. After a full year on the ark of their salvation, the remnants of life disembarked to begin again (Genesis 8:16–17).

Noah’s first action after leaving the ark is to build an altar to God. This is the first recorded altar in Scripture. Noah used it to offer sacrifices to God from the clean animals. Apparently, this was the purpose God had in mind for Noah to take extra pairs of the clean animals (Genesis 7:2). Using a common metaphor, this passage says that God “smells” the aroma of the offering, and He is pleased. He makes a commitment to never again curse the earth through a flood (Genesis 8:21). He also commits to never wipe out all the living creatures on the planet again, though He recognizes that humanity will continue to carry evil intentions in their heart.

Though human nature has not changed, God shows a measure of common grace and mercy on all life on the planet. God commits to continuing the cycles of life according to His original design. Day will follow night, one season will follow another, as long as the earth remains (Genesis 8:22).

Chapter Context
Genesis 6 and 7 explain the events leading up to the flood, and the actual catastrophe itself. After the devastation and destruction are over, God begins to dry out the earth in Genesis 8. The waters recede, Noah and the animals finally leave after a year aboard, and Noah offers animal sacrifices in worship to God. God commits to never again strike down all life on earth at once. As long as the earth remains, living things will enjoy the cycles of day, night, and seasons. The following chapters describe the re-population of earth by mankind, leading up to another instance of God’s intervention, at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

After the global destruction of chapter 7, Genesis 8 begins with a comforting statement: God “remembered” Noah. This does not imply that God “forgot” Noah for a while. Rather, the idea is that Noah was always in God’s sight, and in His mind. In addition, God was thinking of the animals that were with Noah on the ark. The same God who wiped out all of humanity and every kind of animal in judgment against the violence on the earth now turns and treats those He has saved with compassion and care.

God starts the process of removing the floodwaters from the earth. While the heaviest rains occurred in the first 40 days (Genesis 7:12), the next verse leaves open the possibility that lighter, less destructive rain has been falling since then (Genesis 8:2). In the upcoming verses, all the water will finally stop. God also causes a great wind to spring up and begin to evaporate the waters.

Context Summary
Genesis 8:1–19 describes the process of God drying out the earth following the flood. Noah and his family and the animals wait for the waters to recede. Noah uses birds as a test to see if any land is nearby. When the time is finally right, a full year after they entered, God commands Noah, his family, and all the animals to leave the ark. Their mission from God is to swarm over the earth, multiply, and begin again.

Verse 2. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,

In the previous verse, God started the process of drying out the earth, causing a great wind to blow over the planet. Here, we’re told that He also turns the incoming deluge of water off, closing the gushing “fountains of the deep” and shutting the “windows of the heavens.” The destructive rainfall of the flood lasted for 40 days (Genesis 7:12), but it’s possible that a lighter rain has continued until this point in time. Those rains are “restrained,” not necessarily “prevented,” meaning a normal cycle of rain might have begun at this point.

With no new water entering the system and a strong wind blowing, the water level begins to decrease. From the moment Noah was told to enter the ark (Genesis 7:7–9), until the ark will finally touch solid ground again (Genesis 8:4), 150 days will have passed. The land won’t be ready for Noah and the animals to leave at that point, but this was probably a very welcome feeling after several months bobbing on the sea.

Verse 3. and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,

The previous two verses described God’s process for reversing the flood. First, He caused a great wind to blow across the planet. Next, He stopped the water from gushing up from below and from falling from the sky. The water level began to steadily drop. At its highest point, the flood covered the highest peaks of land by 15 cubits (22 feet or 7 meters). This is more than high enough to drown any land-dwelling creature, and enough depth to keep the bottom of the ark from dragging on the ground.

Now, 150 days after Noah was first told to board the ark (Genesis 7:7–9), the waters are said to have abated. They still have a long way to go, but the flood waters have dropped enough for the ark to find a landing place, as the next verse will reveal. In fact, the process of draining the flood waters is said to be continuous over this 150-day period, and beyond.

Verse 4. and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Once again, Genesis gives us a specific date in the history of the world upon which a major event occurred. The first one was given in Genesis 7:11 on the day the rains came. That was in the 600th year of Noah’s life on the seventeenth day of the second month. Now the ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. That makes five Old Testament months, or 150 days.

Why does this matter? The writer means to show us that the flood was a genuine historical event marked by actual dates on the calendar. The writer of this passage does not intend this event to be seen as a myth, a spiritual metaphor, or a parable. The intent is to present actual, physical history. These dates also would become a way of measuring time after the flood in the era following Noah’s life.

In addition, the writer means for us to see that the ark of Noah came to rest in a real geographical place in the world: the mountains of a region called Ararat. Genesis’s first readers probably new that area as being north of Assyria, later known as Armenia. This is likely the same region we know as being in eastern Turkey, southern Russia, and northwestern Iran.

Though many have speculated and even searched for the ark, the text does not give a specific location for its resting place. There is no reason to think it would have survived until now. Any wood on board would have been extremely valuable for building and for fuel, and unlikely to survive several thousand years.

Verse 5. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

The previous verse told us that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat on a specific date: the seventeenth day of the seventh month of Noah’s 600th year. The waters continued to steadily drain from the earth, but it still took until the first day of the tenth month for the tops of the mountains to become visible. That’s about another two and a half months, or ten weeks.

This is the third specific date given in the story of the flood. The date that land finally began to appear above the waters was significant enough to include in the official timeline. One important reason for including these specific dates and locations in the story of the flood is to let readers know that this was an historical event. The writer is clearly of the opinion that these events happened to real people in the real world. It wasn’t meant to be understood as a myth that happened in times before memory, or as a mere parable in some fantasy world. God intended for the story of the flood to be believed and taken seriously.

Verse 6. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made

The previous verse revealed that the steadily draining water had dropped low enough that the tops of the mountains had become visible. This landmark was achieved on the first day of the tenth month. Noah allowed another 40 days to pass before opening a window in the ark, maybe in the roof, to send out a raven (Genesis 8:7). This is a sailor’s tactic to locate dry land: a bird which has no interest in landing on the water will fly high enough to see for miles around, and if it cannot find dry land, it will eventually come back to the boat (Genesis 8:9). Early on, it seems, there was nothing suitable nearby. This means that the visible mountaintops were probably a good distance away.

We’re told very little of life inside the ark. Were Noah and his family bored, terrified, eager to get outside, fully occupied by caring for all the different kinds of animals aboard? Without any details, we can only imagine.

Verse 7. and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

The previous verse revealed that Noah waited 40 days after the tops of the mountains became visible before opening the window of the ark and sending out a raven. As we’ll see in the following verses, the point of sending out a bird was to learn if any dry land was nearby. This practice was used by sailors in ancient times. If the bird they released was not comfortable landing on water, it would fly high and look for land, then head in that direction. If the bird did just that, those aboard would know they were close to land. If the bird came back, it meant it couldn’t see suitable land nearby (Genesis 8:9).

The raven flies back and forth until the waters dried up. Apparently, this bird never found land, probably returning to the ark regularly until the earth was dry enough to occupy.

Ravens were an unclean bird in God’s eyes. Genesis 7:2–3 revealed that God considered some animals and birds clean and others unclean. God had sent seven pairs of all the clean animals and birds on the ark. As an unclean animal, this raven would have been part of a lone pair brought onto the ark. Unless the pair had reproduced already, it would need to survive its search missions in order for its species to survive.

Verse 8. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

Noah has been sending out a raven on failed missions to discover if the ground had become dry enough to occupy (Genesis 8:7). Now, Noah turns to a dove. The dove was a clean animal in God’s sight. Genesis 7:2–3 revealed that God considered some birds and animals clean and others unclean. God sent seven pairs of each of the clean animals on the ark, but only one pair of those that were unclean in His eyes.

That means Noah had at least seven pairs of doves to choose from for this mission. If the waters had subsided from the face of the ground, the dove might not come back. However, the dove would be expected to come back to the ark in search of food. If it came back empty-handed, Noah would assume that land was dried out enough for a bird to land on, but not yet ready to support life.

Verse 9. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

In the previous verse, Noah began sending a dove out from the ark on a search mission. If it didn’t return, Noah would assume it had found dry land and food to keep it occupied. However, the dove did return from this first of three missions. This verse specifies that the dove found nowhere to land. While the tops of mountains have been visible (Genesis 8:5), those peaks are apparently quite far away, or not suitable for life. At this point, the majority of the land is still covered with water. Upcoming verses will explain that the flood is continually receding, quickly and steadily.

This verse gives us a rare glimpse of a relationship between Noah and the animals on the ark. When the dove returns, Noah is able to put out his hand and take hold of the female dove and bring her back into the ark. It’s a picture of a gentle, hands-on connection between Noah and one of the animals he was responsible for.

Verse 10. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.

In the previous verses, Noah sent out birds in an effort to locate dry land. Sailors in ancient days would release a land-dwelling bird in order to locate land. The bird would fly high to look for a place to go, and head in that direction if there was an island or shore nearby. If the bird came back, it meant there was nowhere close for it to land other than the ship.

Noah has already sent out a raven and then a dove from the ark. If these birds did not return, Noah could assume that they had found land where they’d prefer to stay; this would mean the earth was drying out enough to begin to support life again. The first dove comes back empty-handed (Genesis 8:9). Noah waits seven days between these missions, suggesting that he is keeping to the same seven-day weekly calendar used prior to the flood. Some scholars suggest that Noah even observed a Sabbath in some way.

Verse 11. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.

In the previous verse, Noah sent out a dove from the ark, for a second try at finding dry land. If the bird did not come back, Noah would assume it had found dry land to occupy and that the earth was close to being ready to support all of the life sheltered aboard the ark.

This time, the dove returns again, but this time with a gift in her beak: a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah’s conclusion was that the waters had finally subsided from the earth. It has been some time since the first peaks of land emerged from under the flood (Genesis 8:5), and now those exposed areas of land are once again producing plant life. There is not enough food or shelter to keep the dove from returning to the ark, but this is a wonderful sign of the future.

We’re not told anything of Noah’s emotional reaction to this moment. It’s not hard to guess that it would have been a significant experience. After nearly a year shut in the ark, with no awareness of the outside world, this bit of leaf in a bird’s beak proved that life was happening outside. It was the first visual evidence that the land would once again support them after the destruction of the flood.

Verse 12. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

In this passage, Noah has sent a raven and two doves out from the ark to search for dry land. Sailors used to use this trick to find dry land. Birds which came back did so because they were too far from a place to comfortably rest. The assumption was that if the bird did not return, it must have found a place to land. That would mean that the earth had become dry enough following the flood to support life again. The last dove sent out by Noah returned, but with a bit of olive leaf caught in her beak. This was hard evidence, for Noah, that the earth was dry enough that plant life had once again begun to grow.

After another seven days, Noah sends out another dove. This one never comes back. She was the first occupant of the ark to find a home back in the outside world. For Noah and the others, that meant it was time to start planning to disembark and begin life over again.

Verse 13. In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.

This is the fourth specific date we’re given in the timeline of the events surrounding the flood and its aftermath. The first was the day the rains came. The second was the day the ark landed in the mountains of Ararat. The third was day the tops of the mountains became visible above the waves. One reason for giving such specific dates is to emphasize the historical nature of the text. The story of the flood is not characterized as “once upon a time,” but as an actual event in the real world.

This date, the 601st year of Noah’s life, on the first day of the first month, is the day Noah saw with his own eyes that the ground was finally dry. First, Noah removed the covering from the ark. We’re not sure exactly what this means. It could indicate that Noah realized the rains were truly done and a covering was needed no longer. In any case, the act of removing the covering gave him a clear view of the world around the ark. He saw dry ground. The land was ready to support him, his family, and every kind of animal, insect, and bird on the boat. Or, at least it appeared to be dry. But, apparently it wasn’t quite ready. The next verse will reveal that they did not disembark for another two months, until God gave them explicit approval to do so.

Verse 14. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.

The previous verse marked the day when Noah removed a covering from the ark and saw that the ground was dry. At least “the face of the ground” seemed to be ready for life. Looks can be deceiving, however. We don’t know exactly why Noah waited so long to release the occupants of the ark. Perhaps the ground was dry but not yet dry enough to support all of them. Perhaps Noah was waiting for God to give the word that it was okay to disembark (Genesis 8:15). This verse marks a day nearly two months later, where we are again told that the earth was dried out.

Noah was sealed into the ark on the seventh day of the second month of his 600th year. He leaves it on the twenty-seventh day of the second month of his 601st year. Using the 360-day Old Testament calendar, this is one year and ten days. Adding up the days in this account, we have 150 days of flooding, 150 days of receding waters, and seventy days of waiting for the earth to dry.

God will make it clear, in the next verse, that the time has finally come for the last of earth’s humans and all of the ark’s animals to leave the ark and begin to repopulate earth once again.

Verse 15. Then God said to Noah,

The previous two verses showed a gap of nearly two months between when Noah saw that the earth was dry and this day. The fact that Noah waited for God’s direct instruction before leaving the ark is no coincidence. Earlier, Scripture indicated that Noah was faithful and obedient to God (Genesis 6:8, 22; 7:5). Noah’s survival to this point required him to trust God’s commands in building the ark. Before taking the last living members of the human race out into a radically-changed world, Noah will remain patient and allow God to control his timing.

Rather than rushing out at the first sign of muddy earth, Noah waits for God to give the word that they could leave the ark. This is that moment.

Verse 16. “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons ‘ wives with you.

It is finally time to leave the ark! This is the moment Noah and his family have likely been eagerly anticipating for quite some time. After all of the work preparing the ark, the catastrophic deaths of all other people, and an entire year sealed inside a floating box, this is a moment of incredible triumph.

Without the ark, they would all have died along with the rest of humanity. But the purpose of the ark was simply to preserve Noah, his family (Genesis 7:13), and the animals for this moment. Now, God intends them to begin humanity over again. The fact that Scripture specifically refers to Noah, and his wife, and his sons, and his sons’ wives is no accident. This emphasizes the fact that God has had them in his sight, and that He recognizes their desire to walk freely on the earth once again (Genesis 8:18).

Verse 17. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh — birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth — that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

God’s command from the prior verse was not merely for Noah and his family to make a temporary excursion. The specific reference to all the human beings on board highlights the fact that all of them are to leave the vessel. Here, God continues His command to Noah to empty the ark. Once again, God is clear: Every single living thing needs to leave the ark, head out into the world remade by the flood, and begin to “swarm” and reproduce. The ark has served its purpose, and the living things God has saved through it now need to fulfill theirs. At this moment in history, the main task of humanity and animals and insects is the same: Multiply, expand, begin the process of filling the earth up again.

Verse 18. So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons ‘ wives with him.

Once God gave the word that it was time to leave the ark, Noah and the other human occupants left together. This is yet another example of Noah’s obedience to God. Prior Scriptures showed Noah responding to the will of God with total compliance (Genesis 6:22; 7:5). While it’s likely the people on board were eager to walk on open ground again, it’s also possible that fear might have been a problem. After the catastrophe of the flood, one would hardly blame those on board the ark for being nervous about what the world was like. The command of God in the prior verse shows this was not His intent. Fearful, or eager, the obedience of Noah and his family is exemplary. They would become the “new” first, the beginning again, of all the humans on earth.

Verse 19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

Finally, after a full year aboard the ark, all the animals—wild animals, creeping things, birds, everything that moves—left the ark together in an orderly fashion. Note that, while the animals were specifically said to have entered in pairs (Genesis 6:19–20; 7:8–9), this verse simply says that the animals went out “by families.” No mention is made of pairs here, and “families” were not mentioned when the ark was being filled. While the text itself does not say so explicitly, it is all but certain that many of the pairs of animals reproduced during the voyage. These creatures are now setting foot on the remade earth as a larger family groupings.

Also clear in this verse is the supernatural influence of God. Animals simply don’t co-exist in an orderly fashion like this. Noah was not an expert in taming wild beasts. The only way these animals could have entered, survived together, and exited the ark was through the direct intervention of God for the sake of saving each kind of animal that was saved.

Verse 20. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Context Summary
Genesis 8:20–22 describes Noah’s first recorded act after leaving the ark. He builds an altar to God and offers clean animals as a sacrifice. Using a common metaphor, Scripture says God smells the aroma and is pleased. God commits to never again curse the earth in the way He did with the flood, and never to strike down all life on earth. As long as the earth remains, the cycles of nature will continue as God had designed them.

Verse 21. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man ‘s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

The previous verse recorded Noah’s first act after leaving the ark: to build an altar and offer animal sacrifices to God. Now God responds to this humble act of worship. We’re told that God smells the pleasing or soothing aroma of the sacrifice and, apparently greatly pleased, makes a new commitment. This is the only time Scripture shows God explicitly smelling the aroma from a sacrifice, though that is the direct intention of many sacrifices described later in the Bible. This is not meant to be read as if God is literally inhaling smoke. Rather, the reference to smoke, and its scent, is a common Scriptural metaphor involving prayer, and how our sacrifices are received by God.

God’s commitment is to never again curse the ground or the earth as He has done through the flood. This should not be read as God lifting the original curse on the ground in response to Adam’s sin. The curse of weeds and frustrating toil and the work required to bring crops from the ground remains to this day. Instead, God’s commitment here should be seen as a decision not to annihilate life on the ground as He did with the flood. The flood brought destruction on the whole earth, on all the ground. God is declaring that He won’t do that again.

God seems to make this commitment while acknowledging that human nature has not been changed by the flood. Human beings will continue to harbor evil intentions from youth and throughout their lives. God knows this and decides not to respond to human sinfulness in the same way again by cursing the earth with a flood. In addition, God promises to never again strike down every living thing. He will not wipe out humanity and animal-kind with a global and fully life-ending catastrophe as He has done with the flood.

We are meant to be comforted by these promises and to be intrigued about how God might respond to human sinfulness, instead.

Verse 22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

After the previous verse revealed God’s commitment to never again curse the earth as He had through the flood or to wipe out humanity and animal-kind in that way, this verse completes God’s promise. From this point, throughout the planet’s history, the patterns of nature will remain as God has created them. The cycles will continue. Day will follow night. One season will follow another. The world will continue to function predictably according to God’s design. This is the grace of God upon all His creation.

It is important to notice that this promise begins with “while the earth remains.” God doesn’t guarantee that the planet in its current form will exist eternally. In fact, at some point in the future, God will re-make the heavens and the earth (Revelation 21:1). But while it does, those who live on earth will enjoy the goodness of the repetition of the days and seasons by God’s great mercy on sinful humanity.

End of Chapter 8.

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