And God remembered Noah, and all the animals, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
This verse arrives at the darkest point of the story. The old world is gone. The ark has floated for months on a shoreless sea. Then God remembers Noah, and the account turns from judgment toward restoration.
Judgment had done its work. One writer draws attention to what God delights in.
"But God remembered Noah." The strange work of judgment is over. Now the saved family, and all who are with them, come into remembrance… The beams of the sun begin to act on a world that had passed through a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judgment and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.
Noah was already safe inside the ark. The verse gives him more than that, measured against the ruin all around.
But they were more than safe. They were remembered… The scene of death and judgment lay all around our patriarch. It was one vast, deep, mighty ruin… But He who had already shut His remnant in now remembers them. In that remembrance there was life for the present, and a rich inheritance ahead.
Remembrance did not mean instant rescue. The waters fell slowly. Those inside had every reason to feel forgotten.
The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. We can well imagine that they felt God had forgotten them. "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark" — the wild beasts as well as the domesticated animals. But a flood covering even the mountains would need a long time to subside, even with the wind God sent to help… The sources the water came from were stopped, and the rain from heaven no longer fell. That in itself would be a welcome relief to the people in the ark… Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat. There was still no land in sight.
The verse says God remembered, not the LORD. One writer treats that choice as deliberate.
The next chapter (Genesis 8) shows God's remembrance of Noah and every living thing. Here it would not have served His purpose to say, "Jehovah remembered every living thing." That is because not every living thing stood in moral relationship with God. Noah undoubtedly was; but it is not always, nor here, the aim to draw attention to what was special.
The change of title is not random. It tracks the change of subject, and it shifts again a few verses later.
This is the general care of Him who had created all. So every living thing and all the cattle are remembered along with Noah… This is simply God's usual way from chapters 7:17 to 8:19. From Genesis 8:20 we have special relationship, and the name Jehovah appears at once, with perfect fitness… The same writer was led to vary the name of God just as the change of subject required.
One writer points ahead. Noah is not the last person God remembers this way.
It will be so with another chosen remnant in coming days. A book of remembrance will be written before the same covenant God who was now keeping Noah in mind. It is for those who fear the Lord and think on His name (Malachi 3)… Just as now, because of this covenant-remembrance, the Lord causes a wind to pass over the earth, the waters go down, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat.
Noah went through the flood and came out into a new world. One writer reads that as a picture of salvation.
Next comes Noah's passage through the judgment of the old world into a new scene, accepted by God in the pleasing aroma of sacrifice. This is the type of where salvation puts us — "in Christ, a new creation: old things passed away, and all things become new."
- Remembered, not forgotten. God's long silence was not neglect. This verse marks the moment His remembrance starts to act.
- Remembrance moves. He is always ready to leave the place of judgment and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.
- Remembrance reaches wide. The verse says God, not the LORD, because the Creator's care covers every living thing, not Noah alone.
- Remembrance works slowly. The wind blows and the waters fall. Months still pass before land appears. Delay is not indifference.
- Remembrance ends in a new world. That remembrance held life now and an inheritance ahead. God brings His people through judgment into a new scene.
And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were closed, and the pour of rain from heaven was stopped.
This verse shuts off the flood at both ends: the deep below and the sky above. Genesis 7:11 had opened those same two sources. Who closed them again, and why does the account tell it so quietly, in the same breath as God remembering Noah?
The waters stop because God has finished. One writer reads that as God moving out of one work and into another.
The strange work of judgment is over. Now the saved family, and all who were with them, come into remembrance… The beams of the sun now begin to act on a world that had been baptised with a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is ever ready to leave the place of judgment, and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.
Nothing in the verse suggests water simply draining away by natural means. The text names no clouds and no sea. One writer weighs the words the account actually uses, both for where the water came from and for how it stopped.
But besides rain, it speaks of the fountains of the great deep being broken up, and the windows of heaven opened. It is never said that the water drained back into the sea. It says that "the waters returned from off the earth continually." And it declares that the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. So the account does present the flood as having both its source and its stopping in the extraordinary intervention of God — call it "miracle" or what you please.
The two phrases are not poetry for heavy weather. They describe a supply of water God had held in reserve.
Here we see how God destroyed the early population of the earth. He used the vast store of water He had provided above and below to overwhelm man and beast — apart from those preserved in the ark with Noah by His command. The language of Gen. 7:11 points to this huge overflow: "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth," "and the windows (or the floodgates) of heaven were opened." On the other hand, the language of Gen. 8:2 marks the point when the subsiding set in.
Through this part of the account the title is "God," not "the LORD." One writer reads that as the Creator's care for everything He had made.
It is the general care of Him who had created all, and so God remembers every living thing and all the cattle along with Noah. We have not here specific relationship, where "Jehovah" (LORD) would be needed and in keeping. It was the same when the account described God's action in bringing on the flood; here it is His action in removing what He had inflicted, for His creatures that were preserved.
Shutting off the water is not the same as opening the door. Months of waiting still lay ahead. One writer pictures how that wait felt to the people inside.
The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. It is easy to imagine them feeling that God had forgotten them… But the sources the water came from were stopped. If a tidal wave had come from the seas, it stopped exerting its power, and of course the rain from heaven no longer fell. This itself would be a welcome relief to the people in the ark. Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat: there was still no land visible.
The receding water is not only history. One writer sees Noah's whole passage through the flood as a picture of what salvation does.
Noah passed through the judgment of the old world into a new scene, accepted of God in the sweet savour of sacrifice. This is the type of where salvation puts us — "in Christ, a new creation: old things passed away, and all things become new."
- Remembered — the turn comes from God, not from the weather. He brings Noah, his family and every creature with him back into remembrance.
- Restrained — the flood began and ended by God's own act. The hand that opened the deep and the sky closed them again.
- Reserved — the water came from a store God had provided above and below. Its closing matches, phrase for phrase, the opening in Genesis 7:11.
- Regarded — the title "God" fits here. This is the Creator's general care, reaching to the cattle as well as to Noah.
- Renewed — relief came long before release. The passage through judgment into a new scene pictures where salvation puts the believer: in Christ, a new creation.
And the waters retired from the earth, continually retiring; and in the course of a hundred and fifty days the waters abated.
The flood story turns here. Water that had risen for months begins to fall, and a slow, dated count toward dry land starts while Noah's family waits inside the ark.
The water falls back because God remembered Noah and everyone with him. One writer sees the sinking flood as the end of a work God took no pleasure in.
The strange work of judgment is over. The saved family, and all who were with them, come into remembrance… The rays of the sun now begin to act on a world that had passed through a baptism of judgment. Judgment is God's "strange work." He does not delight in it, though He is glorified by it. Blessed be His name, He is always ready to leave the place of judgment and enter that of mercy, because He delights in mercy.
The verse ends with a number: 150 days. The record does not leave those months vague. It dates each stage of the flood, from the first rain to the day the ground was dry.
As to the flood itself, the account given (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is quite explicit, both as to its length and its size. The heavy rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month. Then the ark grounded on the mountains of Ararat. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains appeared. On the 1st day of the 1st month of a new year the waters had vanished from the face of the earth. On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for those in the ark to go out. One year and 10 days had passed since it began.
How far had the water spread before it began to fall? One writer answers those who limit the flood to a river valley by pointing to where the ark came to rest.
The writer of the "Genesis of the Earth" tries in vain to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would barely affect the earth in general or those living on it. This is to overlook or disbelieve "the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4), where the ark rested when the waters were going down. Its chief peak, being 17,000 feet above the sea, may give some idea of the appalling fact.
Inside the ark, the change was too slow to see. Five months passed with no land in sight.
The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. We can easily imagine them feeling that God had forgotten them. "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark" — the wild beasts as well as the domestic ones. But a flood covering even the mountains would need a long time to go down, even with the wind God sent to help. Still, the sources the water came from were stopped.
The earth itself went under the water. One writer names the pattern in its return: death, then resurrection.
The earth has been remembered, and is now taken up again, but through purifying judgments. Everything takes the sentence of death into itself. So it may stand as a new thing, in the strength and grace of Him who gives life to the dead. The earth itself was in the water, or under the water. The chosen remnant were saved from the hand of the avenger, as in the appointed city of refuge. And so everything appears again, as in resurrection.
What Noah saw from the ark encouraged him. Still, he would not move until God spoke.
His faith had been tried not a little, but the outlook was comforting even from the first… But though rightly exercised and comforted, he still waited for God's word before going out, just as he had gone in at His word. He will not rush ahead in the impatience of nature and its self-confidence. He depends on God and obeys His word. God gave the word in due time, as He always does to those who look up to Him.
- Remembered. The water turns back the moment God remembers Noah — judgment is God's strange work, and He is always ready to leave it for mercy.
- Measured. Every stage carries a date: 150 days to the grounding on Ararat, one year and ten days from start to dry ground.
- Global. The water had to recede from mountains, and a peak of 17,000 feet rules out a local river flood.
- Slow. Five months on a shoreless sea felt like being forgotten. The sources feeding the flood had already stopped, though nothing looked different yet.
- Raised. The earth takes the sentence of death and comes back new. Noah steps out on ground that appears again, as in resurrection — and only after God speaks.
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
The flood story turns here: after five months adrift over a world under judgment, the ark touches solid ground on a dated day. Commentators find far more in that date and that mountain than a shipping log — they see God giving rest, and a new world beginning.
The verse fixes the landing to a named day. That day matters once you line the calendar up with the Passover.
God's judgment had done its full work. Then we read that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day (Gen. 8:4). This is no accident. The seventh month became the first at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 12:2). So the ark rested three days after the day set for the sacrifice of the Passover lamb — the very day of our Lord's resurrection. The Saviour's triumphant return from among the dead is the public proof that God's wrath about the sins of His people has spent itself, and that He has established rest and peace forever.
The Hebrew word for what the ark does here shares its root with the name of the man inside it.
Noah means, as we have seen, "rest" or "comfort." His father Lamech gave him that name in faith that God would give His comfort through him, and that hope was well founded. In Gen. 8:4, the ark rested, literally "Noahed," upon the mountains of Ararat. In the 21st verse of the same chapter, "the Lord smelled a sweet savour," literally "a savour of rest," or Noah. In each case the root is the same. It shows how truly God answered the faith seen in his name. He gave rest while the scene around lay in ruins, and He declared that the sacrifice was the basis of it.
The named landing place is hard evidence about how far the waters reached. It answers those who shrink the flood to a local river basin.
It is no use for the writer of the "Genesis of the Earth" to move the disaster to the low lands of the Euphrates and the Tigris. There a flood of fifteen cubits would barely affect the earth in general or those living on it. This is to overlook or disbelieve "the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4), where the ark rested when the waters were going down. Its chief peak stands 17,000 feet above the sea. That may give some idea of the appalling fact.
One reference work adds a caution: "Some object that the mountain is too high. But the ark may not have rested on its highest part" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
Where the ark stops is where everything after it begins.
The new world did not begin until God had executed judgment on the old, and the starting place was Ararat. This is the great question, I repeat: when did the new creation begin, and where is the source of righteousness and life? The New Testament makes it clear to my soul that this was so, and could only be so, when God raised Christ from the dead. The Old Testament makes it just as clear that Noah's world began when God raised him from the dead above the waters of the flood. I do not doubt the sons of Noah were safe, resting in the word of God, before this. But they were saved when the ark rested on Ararat.
The name itself may carry meaning. Ararat is said to mean "high ground" and "holy ground," and one writer adds: "Nothing is so holy and so productive of holiness as the rest of the gospel" (F. W. Grant).
The ark settles, but the view from inside has not changed. Nothing dry is in sight for months more.
The five months of floating on a shoreless sea would seem endless to Noah and his family. You can well imagine that they would feel God had forgotten them… Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only grounded in the mountains of Ararat. There was still no land in sight (v. 4). Four and a half months later the tops of the mountains appeared (v. 5).
Yet the ground underneath is real, and one writer applies that solid footing to the reader.
Then the waters go down, and the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4)… For forty days he has been on solid rock. It is divine security. I am not only in the place of safety, but I have the sense of security. How absolute and perfect is the salvation that God gives.
- Judgment spent — the ark rests only after the flood has finished its work; rest follows judgment, it never skips it.
- Rest named — the verb shares the root of Noah's name, which means "rest"; the sacrifice later in the chapter is "a savour of rest" too.
- Rest dated — on Israel's later calendar, the ark lands three days after the day set for the Passover lamb: resurrection day.
- Rest grounded — Ararat is real, high ground where a new world starts; commentators tie it to Christ risen from the dead.
- Rest before sight — the ark touches rock while water still hides the land; safety comes first, the view comes months later.
And the waters abated continually until the tenth month in the tenth [month], on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
The flood has peaked and begun to fall. This verse marks the day the drowned world first came back into sight, and it raises two questions: why did God's rescue come so slowly, and what did Noah do while he waited?
The flood narrative is not vague. Every stage carries a month and a day, and this verse supplies one of them.
The account of the flood itself (Genesis 7:11 — Genesis 8:14) is very clear about both how long it lasted and how far it spread. The huge rain lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters prevailed from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month. Then the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. On the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains were seen. On the 1st day of the 1st month of a new year the waters had vanished from the face of the earth. On the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dry enough for those in the ark to leave it — one year and 10 days after it all began.
The ark stopped moving months before anyone on board could see land.
The five months of floating on a sea with no shore would seem endless to Noah and his family. It can well be imagined that they would feel God had forgotten them… But a flood that covered even the mountains would take a long time to go down, even with the wind God sent to help. Yet at the end of 150 days the ark only came to rest in the mountains of Ararat: there was still no land in sight (v. 4). Four and a half months later the tops of the mountains were seen (v. 5).
The wording of this verse has been used as an argument about how far the flood reached. Because mountain tops had to re-emerge, they must first have been under water — and mountains do not hold water on one side of the globe only.
I believe the flood was all over the earth, wherever man was. There is no mistake. Some have questioned whether it covered the whole globe, speaking in general terms, as if it only covered the part where people lived. But Scripture says, "the mountains were covered," and "the tops of the mountains were seen," and so on. That sounds like the whole earth. You have to allow for a miracle in any case… Suppose Mount Ararat, fifteen or sixteen thousand feet high, in northern Armenia, stood covered. If the waters had not stood all around it, and far beyond it, they would have run off and covered somewhere else. There had to be a miracle either way.
Commentators read the sequence — resting, then land appearing — as a picture. What the passengers saw was not the old world restored but a new one beginning to show itself.
The third section pictures the resurrection… It speaks of the ground of resurrection (the resurrection of Christ) on which faith now builds, beyond the reach of any flood. It is high ground and "holy ground," which is said to be the meaning of "Ararat"… The new beginning is in rest: the ark comes to rest on Ararat, and the new earth begins to be visible.
Another writer puts it as a clean break with the past.
The old world perished. The new world began where the ark rested, upon the mountains of Ararat. God did not save the old world by Noah; old things passed away and all became new. It is so in Christ, old things passed away, and all things became new; and all things of God.
Seeing the mountain tops was a signal to act, but not a signal to leave. Noah's next step came only after this sight.
Another step was now taken by Noah after the tops of the mountains were seen. God had given the warning needed to save life, but He also put Noah's dependence and patience to a long test.
The pressure now was to get out. One writer treats that pressure as the real test.
No doubt Noah became impatient to leave the ark once it had done its work… He worked for many years to build the ark, and now he is impatient to leave it, as soon as it has saved him. God has been vindicated, His truth witnessed to, Noah and his house saved; and now he wants to leave it before it is God's will. It is harder to stay in the place of blessing than it is to reach it.
- Seen — dated. This verse is one dated point in a record of a year and ten days. Rain fell 40 days, the waters stayed high 150, and mountain tops showed on day one of the tenth month.
- Seen — slowly. The ark had come to rest four and a half months earlier. Even with the wind God sent, water that deep took a long time to go down.
- Seen — everywhere. Tops can only reappear if water once stood over them. Commentators take this as a mark of a flood over the whole earth, not one region.
- Seen — new. What came into view was not the old world restored but a new one, pictured on resurrection ground. Old things passed away and all became new.
- Seen — not yet entered. The sight of land let Noah look, not leave. He had to wait, and staying in the place of blessing proved harder than reaching it.