01Gen0908 The First Rainbow

Noah and his family were in the ark being tossed about like a cork on top of all the water. God had not forgotten them, but He sent a wind to help dry up all the water. Slowly, very, very slowly the waters went down. The ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat three months after the rain had started.

I am sure Noah, his family and all the animals were grateful to God not to be tossed around any more, but they still had to stay inside the ark as there was no land to be seen. It took another three months before Noah and his family finally saw the tops of the mountains for the first time since going into the ark.

One day Noah decided to open the window of the ark and send out a raven. The raven flew back and forth from the ark. Next Noah sent out a dove to see if she could find dry land. The dove couldn't find anywhere to land, so she returned to Noah.

Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again. The dove did not return until evening. But what a surprise she had for Noah, an olive leaf in her beak. Noah now knew for sure that the water level was going down. Again, seven days later, Noah sent the dove out. This time she did not return to him.

God had told Noah when to go into the ark, and God would tell Noah when he could come back out again. Noah had to be patient and wait for God's command.

Time passed and Noah decided to remove part of the roof of the ark. Now Noah and all his family were able to look out side. The land was dry, but still they had to wait. God wanted to make sure that there was plenty of food for all the animals, Noah and his family before He would let them go out of the ark.

Finally God told Noah that he, his family, and all the living creatures that were on the ark were to leave it. What excitement this must have caused. It had been just over twelve months since they had boarded the ark, now they could leave it.

Noah was thankful to God for His care and protection, so he built an altar unto the Lord. He offered sacrifices of every clean animal and bird upon this altar. The Lord was pleased with Noah's sacrifice and blessed him and his family and told them to have many children.

Noah was worried about the large, savage animals that had been let out of the ark, so God told Noah that He would put the fear of man into the animals and birds, so that they would no longer be tame. He also told Noah that he and his family could eat meat, and not just fruit and herbs which was the original diet for man.

Although God told Noah that he could eat meat, this would only have been of the clean animals which had been taken into the ark in sevens. Why? Because if they killed an unclean animal of which only two went into the ark, that kind of animal would die out or become extinct. This would have made the taking of the unclean animals into the ark a waste of time. But as the clean animals were taken in by sevens, seven males and seven females, the killing of one of these animals would not endanger them from dying out.

God also made a promise or covenant that He would never send a flood to cover the whole earth every again. This promise was not just to Noah and his family, but to all their descendants and every living creature upon the earth. As a sign of the promise He set a rainbow in the clouds. The very first rainbow.

Whenever you see a beautiful rainbow it is to remind you of God's promise to you. Remember, God always keeps His promises.

(Genesis 8:1-22; 9:1-17)