Daily Devotions
Genesis
"You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up mighty rivers." Psalm 74:15
Text: Genesis 8:1-22
THE MOUNTAINS OF ARARAT (Modern day Turkey)
At God’s command, the waters began to recede. In the natural order of things. Notation was made concerning the recession of the flood water.
“The fountains of the deep, and the windows of heaven
were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
And the waters receded continually from the earth…
Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth
day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat”GENESIS 8:2-4
God allowed natural process to take place and thus it took some months before the earth became dry again.
“And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month.
In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops
of the mountains were seen.”GENESIS 8:5
Each month was carefully noticed because of the significance of the Great Flood that had occurred. An event like this could not be dismissed easily!
NOAH’S CREATIVITY
We read with great interest at the ingenious idea of sending out both a raven and a dove to check the state of the earth. God informed Noah concerning major events. However, He left it to Noah to figure out some of the details – such as whether the earth was dry or whether the flood waters had continued to prevail.
“So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened
the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out
a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up
from the earth.
He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters
had receded from the face of the ground.”GENESIS 8:6-8
1. The Raven – Classified as “Unclean Bird”
The raven is essentially a scavenger. It would feed off carcasses. It was classified as “unclean” because of the food it eats.
2. The Dove – Classified as “Clean Bird”
Doves do not feed off carrion. It is classified as “clean” because it feeds off grain.
Noah displayed great wisdom and creativity. The raven would keep flying to and fro if it cannot find anything to eat. However, the moment it locates food, it may not come back to the ark. The dove on the other hand would keep flying to and fro until it finds not only dry land but a clean place to rest itself. Employing these two birds, Noah was able to ascertain to some degree of the recession of the flood water!