I’m confident that many of us sat in Sunday School Class and heard about Noah’s ark. Maybe you sang about in the Junior Choir at church, like I did, or maybe you just have a basic knowledge of it. Noah builds the ark. Animals enter two by two. Everyone and everything on the ark is saved while God sends a massive flood to wipe out the rest of humanity; His heart was grieved by their sin.
It is accounts like this one that I come across and my next thought usually is: I’ve read this a million times. But as He promises, God’s Word is alive, active, and partners with the Holy Spirit to give us fresh eyes. As I studied this account again yesterday, one little word stood out to me: “recede.” This word has a simple meaning – “to gradually diminish.” Noah and his family were waiting on the waters to do this very thing, before they were able to exit the ark.
While reading, I felt prompted to study the number of days that Noah was in the ark – both during the flood and while he was waiting for the waters to recede. He and his family were there for a little over a year. What I can imagine was a frustrating moment for Noah, was that when about 200 days of raining had gone by, he was still stuck in the ark for longer. Though it was his method of provision and an image of the saving grace of Christ, I can imagine that in a practical sense, Noah was ready to go back outside. We are probably all familiar with what it is like to be inside for a long time and going a little stir crazy!
Verse 3 of Genesis 9 says that “the water receded steadily from the earth” and verse 4 informs us that on the “seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (NIV). Hard to picture a boat on top of a mountain? It sure is! But that is exactly where Noah, his family, and all the animals that the Lord had chosen, landed. From that time forward, Noah and his family still had to wait about a while before they could go out of the ark. He waited 40 days as the waters receded, sent out a dove twice (over two 7 day periods), and even after the dove didn’t return to him and he saw that the ground was dry (Genesis 8:14), he still had to wait until the “twenty seventh day of the second month” before God called him, his family, and all the creatures out of the ark.
Each time that Noah sent out the dove, and it returned to him – indicating that there was still flooding – I can imagine the discouragement and frustration he felt. Perhaps he was thinking, towards God: You sent this flood, can’t you dry it up any quicker?!? If that’s what he was thinking, or tempted to think, then I guess Noah is a lot like me, in that way. I have had my fair share of times wondering what is taking God so long, and admittedly, still think that way sometimes. If you find yourself in this same boat (no pun intended!) then there is hope for all of us, friends.
Sometimes, God moves gradually, but through this, He teaches us patience, endurance, and how to look to Him for guidance (like Noah patiently sending out the dove!). God could have caused the flood waters to recede immediately, but Noah and his family would have missed out on these lessons of reliance on the Lord. We can also see the excitement when Noah does receive the breakthrough, the moment when he knows he will be able to leave the ark soon. Verse 11 of Genesis 8 tells us that when Noah sent the dove out for the second time, it returned to him and “there in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf!” (NIV). By faithfully waiting, the moment of change was at once very powerful and the following blessing was abundantly above what Noah could have imagined!
When God first dealt with the sin of humanity, he punished Adam by cursing the ground (Genesis 3:17-18), and while humans still have to tend the land to bear fruit, here God promised Noah that he would not curse the ground again (Genesis 8:21). He honored Noah’s obedient heart and sweet sacrifice to the Himself. We also see in chapter 9 that God gave his family “everything” (v.3) in regards to the plants of the earth. The waters went down gradually, and awaiting Noah’s family was a blessing and a new promise that was specific to them and them alone. God loves to bless and abundantly bless His children! Be encouraged today that God has seen and will honor your obedience – and perseverance – with Him!
Not only is this account a lesson in persistence and reliance on the Lord, but it is also one of protection. One easy to miss detail that I mentioned earlier is that before the waters start to recede, “the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4). The mountains of Ararat are between 12,000 and 16,000 feet high; woah. Talk about a wild ride if the waters had receded all at once! Not only did the Lord give Noah a specific design for the ark that would keep them safe during the storm, but He also accounted for how the ark would fair during the aftermath of the storm. God could have caused the waters to recede suddenly (as opposed to “steadily”), but being the good Father that He is, He kept His chosen individuals safe. Sometimes what feels like missing out is actually us being held securely by the Father. Today, do you trust that He knows what is going on outside the boat and sees the bigger picture? And do you trust that the circumstances that feel so long and hard in your life could somehow be His protection?
As you go throughout the next week, month, year, or however long until your personal breakthrough comes, remember this; what feels like prolonging could be a lesson in the immeasurable value of perseverance in the presence of God, even when we don’t always see or hear Him. What feels like prolonging can also be protection and the shaping of a beautiful testimony. When the waters do finally recede, may you be safely carried straight to the blessing that the Lord always intended for you to have!
I love you all, praying for you, and God bless,
Laci Rae
A Model of Noah’s Ark built to Biblical Scale at the Ark Encounter in KY!
Learn more here: https://arkencounter.com/about/
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