Genesis 8:1-12

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Ark Rests on Mt. Ararat

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God remembers His people.

  2. Christ rests from His finished work.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Are you a raven or a dove?

QUESTIONS

  1. How long did the flood last before the ark came to rest?

  2. What kinds of geologic activity would have taken place on the face of the earth during the flood?

  3. What is tectonic activity?

  4. Would Mt. Everest and the Himalayan mountains have existed before the flood?

  5. What evidence is there of volcanic activity during the flood?

  6. What does it mean, “God remembered Noah?” Had God forgotten Noah?

  7. How did the Lord intervene and act on behalf of Noah?

ANSWERS

  1. Five months.

  2. The waters receded continually. These great volumes of moving waters would rapidly cut the soft sediments that had been laid down during the flood. Deep canyons like the Grand Canyon in Arizona would not take millions of years to carve, but would have been carved in a relatively short time.

  3. With the run-off of the flood waters there would have been a lot of tectonic activity going on around the globe. That is, sea floors would be sinking and land masses would be rising as the earth came to equalized pressure. There would be a lot of deformation and folding and faulting of the sedimentary rock layers.

  4. No. There would have been a lot of mountain moving going on all over the earth in the post-flood years as a result of the flood.

  5. With the collapse of the subterranean reservoir (the fountains of the deep), there would have been a lot of volcanic activity during the flood and following the flood.

  6. God did not forget Noah. Rather, it means that God intervened and acted on Noah’s behalf.

  7. God made a wind, the waters subsided, the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rains were restrained. Then God had the ark rest on a level area in the mountains of Ararat.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. God remembered Noah. God remembered Hannah (1 Samuel 1:11), and God remembered the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42). How did God remember (intervene and act on behalf of) Noah, Hannah, and the thief on the cross? How has God remembered you?

  2. Review how the ark is a picture of Christ. How is the ark a picture of Christ resting from His finished work on the cross? What does this mean to you?

CHALLENGE

  1. Are you a raven or a dove? On what are you feeding? Are you filling your mind with things that appeal to the flesh or things that appeal to the spirit? Read Philippians 4:8 and Romans 8:5-8, 13-14.

KEY VERSES

  • “Then God remembered Noah.” Genesis 8:1

  • “Then the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.” Genesis 8:4

  • “Then Noah sent out a raven...he also sent out a dove.” Genesis 8:7-12