God Gradually Dries the Earth
Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
Noah, his family and the animals survived in the ark for many months. Living in the ark was probably not the most comfortable and ideal situation, but their lives were preserved from the destruction of the Flood. Now we see God reengage Noah and his family. God’s remembering those on the ark does not imply that He forgot about them through the period of the flooding of the earth. God’s remembering human beings denotes His concern and covenant love and loyalty to them.
One of God’s greatest promises to His servants is that “He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). He did not command Noah to build the ark to preserve his family and the animals from the Flood just to leave them stranded in the ark on a perpetually flooded earth. God cared deeply for all on the ark and would use them to repopulate physical life on the earth.
After the five months of the Flood, God caused a wind to pass over the earth and dry up the water. Verse 3 reveals that “the waters receded continually from the earth.” This indicates a gradual decrease of the water level. This gradual decrease in the water level of the Flood is probably the cause of some of the sedimentary rock we see on earth today.
To learn more about the book of Genesis, read our article introducing Genesis.
Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “The Ark Rests on Ararat.”
