The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS 8:8

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GENESIS 8:22

8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9 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 sent out ( Feb 18th, 2344 BC ) 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. A dove is sent out again ( Feb 25th, 2344 BC ) 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. Land discovered ( Apr 1st, 2343 BC ) 13 And it came to pass 1 in the six hun- dredth and first year, in the 2 first month , the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah re- moved the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. Noah leaves the ark ( May 27th, 2343 BC )

14 And in the 3 second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And GOD spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 17 Bring forthwith 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. 18 And 4 Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. 20 And Noah builded an 5 altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and 6 offered B URN T OFFERINGS on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a 7 sweet sa- vour; and the LORDsaid inhis heart, 8 I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; 9 for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; 10 neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. P 22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall cease.

1. that is, “in the six hundred and first year of Noah”

2. or, “April” 3. or, “May”

4. Note - Noah and his family were in the ark for 1 year and 17 days (from May 10, 2344 to May 27, 2343 BC). 5. Gen 12:7 & 26:24- 25 & 33:18-20 & Exo 17:15 6. Heb 10:5-14 Note - According to II Peter 2:5, Noah knew about the promised OT Messiah and proclaimed His righteousness (Rom 3:21-22,25-26 & 10:1-4) by offering a “burnt offering,” which depicted CHRIST (Exo 12, Jn 1:29 and Rev 13:8). 7. Eph 5:2 & Lev 1:9 8. that is, “I will not curse the ground anymore, for I have cursed it twice now: Gen 3:17 & 7:11. ” 9. Jere 17:9 & Rom 1:21 10. Fulfilled to this very day (See - Isa 54:9 & II Pet 3:6-7,10-11

8:21 There are four things that “smell” good to God: (1) Witnessing ; sacrificing to tell the world about the sacrifice of CHRIST (Gen 8:20-21/Eph 5:1-2); 2) Giving ; sacrificing to give to the cause of CHRIST (Phil 4:8); (3) Praying ; sacrificing to praise God and thank Him for CHRIST (Heb 13:12-15); and (4) Choosing to do the next right thing in accordance with the Word ; sacrificing to do right for the cause of CHRIST (Heb 13:16 and Rom 12:1-2). 8:22 Before the event of the Flood (before “ cold and heat, and summer and winter ”), the world in which man lived was a “veritable paradise.” According to fossil remains, the physical condition of the world of Noah, the climate, animals, and plant life, was vastly different from that of our world today. Professor Alfred R. Wallace in The Geographical Distribution of Animals notes:

There is but one climate known to the ancient fossil world as revealed by the plants and animals entombed in the rocks, and the climate was a mantle of springlike loveliness which seems to have prevailed continuously over the whole globe. Just how the world could have thus been warmed all over may be a matter of conjecture; that it was so warmed effectively and continuously is a matter of fact. 1

God has preserved fossils for two reasons: (1) To remind us of a magnificent world that once was ; and (2) To warn us not to mock the Maker ( II Pet 3:3 ). According to Jesus (Mt 24:27-39) and the Apostles (II Pet 3:5-7), the Flood was a prototype of the final Judgment awaiting the present world. For those who are able to read the signs of the times it is evident that we are now living in those days, as the world is ripening fast for its final judgment. NOTE – Before the Flood, the earth was protected from the sun’s infrared rays by a canopy (a vapor of waters above the firmament forming a shelter that caused conditions on the earth to resemble that of a greenhouse - Gen 1:6-8). No doubt, the enormous life and the strength of men before the Flood were inherited from: ( 1. An initial perfect creation – The body created unto immortality (Gen 1:26-27) defied death (Gen 2:17) for nearly a thousand years (Gen 5:27). Man lived as though he would never die. And as with men, so it was with the rest of God’s creation. Though the affliction of sin was upon it, its original glory did not depart at once, and the “ groaning and travailing in pain ” of which the Apostle Paul spoke (Rom 8:22) was not yet audible as it is now 2. An earth that was then protected from the destructive rays of the sun – With the Flood came the removal of that awning of protection, called the firmament ( Gen 1:6a ). Now cold and heat, winter and summer generate for us such natural disasters as hurricanes, tidal waves, thunderstorms, tornados, cyclones, and other such deadly weather conditions caused by unstable atmospheric conditions. 1 Wallace, Alfred R. The Geographical Distribution of Animals (Vol I), Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Print.

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