Genesis 8: 1-19

This passage begins, as many of the passages in this book have, with God. His centrality to each story is distinctive. The rhythm of the book continually returning us to God. We began with His supremacy displayed through creation, causing us to express joy and wonder at all He did. Now we discover him at the heart of this tragedy. Many would expect such an occasion to be marked by his absence but the truth is that His presence is the reason why so many are found dead. In our society we are reluctant to acknowledge God as sovereign and we try and persuade ourselves he is not a judge. Chapter seven however reminds us of His character and His refusal to tolerate sin. It should be a reminder to us not to be comfortable about the state that our world is in.

Verse one doesn't leave us with God the judge, but presents us again with His redemptive nature. With Noah left floating high above the mountain tops and the world washed out, his hope of survival was dwindling as the food supplies grew thin. The passage reminds us that God is active, taking the iniative in restoring all things. It was God who caused the waters to subside and without Him Noah would have been doomed. We are reminded that God's work in our lives may be dismissed as nature when in fact He issued the command. It was the wind that Noah heard but it was God's intervention that caused it. What followed, probably because Noah knew who was behind the wind, was expectation and action. He began to send the birds out to determine the state of the land.

Noah's relationship with God is marked by God's instruction and Noah's obedience. God instructs Noah when to the leave the ark and Noah steps out again into the unknown. It is a beautiful sequence of hearing and responding that should mark the lives of all who embark on the life of faith. God's commission to Noah is redemptive, to multiply in the land and cause the world to abound again with life.