So Noah went out, and his sons
and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird,
everything that moves on the earth,
went out by their families from the ark.
Staying with our visualization of Noah going into the ark and waters rising, let’s think for a minute about how it would feel being in the ark, if after more than a month of rain, it suddenly stopped (or slowly tapered off). The silence would be almost deafening, except for the lowing of the cattle and an occasional roar from a lion. What would happen next?
I don’t know about you, but when I’m floating, I don’t know how deep the water is under me. It was probably a blessing for them to not know how deep the waters were. They continued to float, day after day, until they heard that creaking sound again, as the ark groaned as it rested on land.
My guess is that they opened the window as soon as they could, at least I would have! What they saw was tops of mountains. This would probably be their first realization of how high the waters had actually gotten. I’m sure they searched the ridge for landmarks on the mountains, to let them know where they were.
We’re not told that God told Noah to send out the raven or dove. Noah must have had the sense to know what to do to see what the conditions were around him. Patient with the process, he continued to send out birds, until God told him that he had brought him to safety.
And then, Noah worshipped God, and I’m sure that was quite the worship service! God had brought him through the worst disaster the world has ever known. It was by God’s grace Noah and his family were spared.
It’s by God’s grace, we are spared.
