Genesis 7:11, 24 -In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Noah and his family were in the ark for 150 days! Can you imagine how the ark smelled after that long? Think of all those animals! Have you ever been to a farm and passed the pig pen? I bet it must have stunk!
Genesis 8:1-4- And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
The ark had floated around until the water got low enough for it to touch earth again. The ark set down on top of a mountain! This Mount Ararat is in a country we now call Turkey. But, just because the ark set down, didn't mean that it was time for Noah to get out of the ark.
Genesis 8:5- And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
It took three months before the tops of the mountains could be seen. I bet the ground was still mushy and soggy! But you know Noah needed to find out? He needed to find out if there were plants growing again. You see, they needed to be able to get food for themselves and all those animals. So Noah decided to do a test.
Genesis 8:6-7 -And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
First Noah sent out a raven. A raven is a black bird. But the raven eats meat from dead animals. The raven saw plenty of food and wasn't interested in coming back to Noah.
So Noah sent out a dove.
Genesis 8:8, 9- Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
A dove is a white or grey bird. The dove didn't want to land on dead bodies. It could only fly so far before it started to get tired. So it flew back to Noah and the boat.
Noah could see the tops of the mountains, so he knew the waters were drying up. He waited a little bit and tried it again.
Genesis 8:10, 11- And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
This time the dove was gone all day! She could find a place to rest among some of the trees that had started to bud again. And she brought Noah back a present. She brought an olive leaf to show Noah that the trees had started to grow leaves again. That was a very promising sign to Noah!
Genesis 8:12- And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
This time the dove didn't come back. Noah knew that meant the dove had found what she needed to build a nest, eat, and survive outside of the ark.
Genesis 8:13, 14- And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
Noah took the top off the ark and looked around. He could see that the ground around the ark was dry. The grass was probably growing and the flowers were probably blooming. I can see Noah taking a deep breath of fresh air and enjoying the sunshine hitting his face!
Genesis 8:15-17- And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring 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.
God told Noah that it was now safe to leave the ark. The earth would be able to feed them and give them a place to build thier homes.
I'm sure it was an amazing site to see all those animals run off the ark. I can see them running around in the open space and playing- there's not much room to play around on a boat! Now, they had ground to run around on, the sun to bask in, and fresh air to breathe. I believe they were very happy and in their own animal way they were praising the Lord!
Noah also wanted to praise the Lord. But how? He would praise God the way God had shown Adam and Eve to do so long ago.
Genesis 8:20- And 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.
Do you think that Noah's offering pleased God? Let's see what the Bible says.
Genesis 8:21-22- And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; 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. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
God was very pleased with Noah's offering. So pleased, in fact, that he made a promise. He promised to never again flood the entire world. He promised there would always bee summer and winter, spring and fall, and day and night. And then to make sure that no one would ever forget his promise, he put something special in the sky to remind us of his promise. Do you know what it was?
Genesis 9:11-13- And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
God made a rainbow! So whenever you're going through a storm and it's dark and scary outside. Remember that God has promised never to flood the entire world again. And when the storm has passed, if your parents say you can, go look in the sky for the sign of the promise that God left!
