Chapter 8 discusses the end of the flood when God stops all the rain and the flood waters recede until the earth is dry again. This chapter is another one of those things that I knew nothing about before reading the Bible. We're always told about Noah and the Flood - how it rained for forty days and forty nights then Noah sends out a dove to see if the coast is clear. (LOL, pun might have been intended.) But little did I know that Noah and everyone and every animal were on the ark for over a year. That is a long time to be on a boat, and it's just further proof of how strong Noah's faith was in God. Even after the dove never returned, Noah waited for God to give the all clear.
When I was reading some other commentary about Noah and the Flood, I read a pretty cool symbolic meaning of the ark. It mentioned how everyone knew about this coming Flood. Everyone knew Noah was building an ark. And everyone knew about God. But only Noah and his family were righteous and granted grace. It wasn't enough for the people to know about the ark because just knowing about the ark didn't save them from the Flood. Only being in the ark could have saved them. That piece of commentary shed a light for me on the importance of really knowing God and being one with Him. It's simply not enough to know about God if you're not actively walking with Him.
I also really liked this verse, which leads us into God's Covenant with Noah in chapter 9:
"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease." (Ge 8:22)
We then go into chapter 9 and learn about God's covenant. Basically, the rainbow is a reminder that God will never send another flood to destroy the world. But before the covenant we learn about some rules that God lays down. First of all, Noah's family needed to "be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." (Ge 9:1) Second of all, "everything that lives and moves about will be food" (Ge 9:3), which is awesome because I love meat. But what really stuck out to me was this:
"Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God has God made mankind." (Ge 9:6)
I've always agreed with capital punishment, but there has also been a small part of me that's wondered if I should. Is it really up to me who lives and who dies? In the eyes of God, is it right? Well, that verse pretty much sums it up, and I feel even more confident in what I believe. Part of my purpose in reading the Bible was to get some answers for some morality questions I have. Here's one question now that I don't have to worry about.
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Do you see the ark as a symbol for something bigger? Should the ark be taken at face value for what it is, or should we read into it a little more closely? And what do you think about the new terms God gives to Noah and his family? How do you feel about Ge 9:6? Do you agree or disagree?
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