GENESIS 8 GOD WILL DO A NEW WORK2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Genesis 8 God Will Do A New Work

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021. Well, as we look at Genesis chapter 8 this morning, we are looking at this big event called the flood. Now, last week as we looked at creation, I shared that God prepares the form for

And then he fills it. And that's a pattern that he uses many times. As we look at the days of creation, you can see, you know, God created the seas. And then he didn't fill the seas yet. But it was later on, a few days later, he filled the seas. He created the earth, but he didn't fill it yet. Later on, he created the animals and then mankind to dwell upon the earth. And so there was this pattern of preparing the form.

and then populating it or then doing a new work within that space. And really, that's what we see happening here with Noah in Genesis chapter 8, where God is preparing the form. He's preparing something new, and then he's going to bring forth Noah and his family to fill it and to begin a new work there in the world that has been restored after the flood.

But before we get into really what the Lord wants to focus on this morning, I think it's important to just highlight for a moment the fact that the flood is a real historic event. That as we look at these things, we're not reading about a myth. We're not reading an analogy. We're not reading about, you know, something that happened.

kind of is just meant to make a point or to speak a moral, but this is, in addition to speaking to us in many different ways, this is a record of something that actually happened. The Bible treats the flood as an actual event. A global worldwide, not a localized or contained, you know, to one segment of the earth, but a all around the earth event.

And that is something that not everyone believes. And I don't know where you stand with that and where your heart is on that. But it is what the Bible teaches.

It is consistent throughout the scriptures that this is a real event that took place. And as you look at the evidence, I would suggest it's the best explanation for the fossil records that we find, rather than, as we discussed last week, you know, the millions and billions of years, you know,

timeline that is often believed, the flood also can provide an adequate explanation for many of the things that are found in the fossil records and geological things. Worldwide, there is great evidence of a worldwide cataclysmic flood. There's cultural evidence. Many different cultures around the world have an account of the flood in their history and

of the flood. And, you know, some of them, of course, are not as detailed as the Bible's account. Some of them vary a little bit, but consistently there is the understanding that there was this flood at one time. Records have been found in Italy, in Russia, in China, the Aztecs in Mexico, the Cherokee here in the U.S., in Peru, in Fiji, in Hawaii, you know,

Those who study these things say there's over 270 different cultures that have this record of the flood in their history or the legend of the flood in their history. And so as we look at these things, I'm approaching it from this perspective. The flood was a real, historical, worldwide, cataclysmic event.

event. And if you don't see that the same way as I do, that's okay. But I would encourage you to dig into it a little bit more. And again, two resources, the same as last week, Institute for Creation Research, icr.org, as

as well as Answers in Genesis, and that's answersingenesis.org. You can find those websites. They have a ton of information about this, and it's actual scientists, not Jerry who doesn't know anything, who just, you know, Google stuff and finds facts on the internet. No, no, real scientists who know what they're talking about, who understand these things, are able to then explain the many different reasons why we believe the Bible is

describes accurately and clearly what it is that took place. The bottom line for me is what we find Jesus saying in Matthew chapter 24. Jesus there talks about the flood. In verse 38 of Matthew 24, he says, "...as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

Jesus looked at the flood and said, it's a real event and it's similar in the days leading up to it to the days leading up to the return of Jesus Christ, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so Jesus looked at the flood and said, it's not just a myth. It's not just a parable. It's not just a story with teaching good morals.

But this is what happened, and similar things are going to happen in the future as we get closer to the return of Jesus Christ. And so here we have Jesus declaring. Peter also declares it. And again, it's treated throughout the scriptures, as it's mentioned, as a real historical event. So that's the side note to get started on what the Lord really has for us today.

As we look at this passage this morning, Genesis chapter 8 verses 1 through 19, I've titled the message, God Will Do a New Work. And I want to encourage you with that this morning, that God will do a new work. You know, this week we've experienced the first full week of 2021.

And perhaps you have found that it's not really that much different than 2020, right? As much as we celebrate the end of 2020 and now we're headed into 2021, you know, this week has been filled with just more, you know, more stuff and more things to stress about, more things to be worried about, more things to be upset about, more things to deal with in our lives. And we find perhaps that it's not much different than the year that passed. And

Yet at the same time, I would encourage you to consider the example of Noah and be encouraged with

the understanding that God will do a new work. And it might not be, you know, on January 1st of 2021, but there is a new work that God will do. As we go through difficulties, as we go through challenging things, we need to remember and be encouraged by the example of Noah here that God's not done with us. And the seasons that we go through are seasons, and there's a new season that will come.

Picture Noah and his family here in Genesis chapter 8. They're in the ark. The flood has taken place. The earth is completely covered. They're just floating about. There's no rudders. There's no sails. They have no destination. They're just bouncing around on top of the water, waiting. Really helpless. Not really able to control anything at all in regards to where they are or what's going to happen next.

It must have been so easy for them to be dismayed and downtrodden in that time, right? To think, wow, this is the end. Even though God put us here, to feel doomed must have been so tempting. It must have been so easy to be fearful of their presence, but also their future and just, you know, their whole lives were...

were going to be now different than what they anticipated before. And so they must have been going through so much. And it's encouraging as we look at this to see that God took them into something new and wonderful. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it this way, Genesis 8 can give you a new hope and encouragement because the major theme of the chapter is renewal and rest after tribulation.

The chapter records the end of a storm and the beginning of new life and hope for God's people and God's creation. This chapter records the end of the storm and the beginning of a new life. And you know, for us, as we go through storms, as we go through life's challenges, we're

There will be the end of that storm. And then there will be something new that God has prepared for us ahead. And so God will do a new work. There's four things we'll look at to help us look forward to and hold on to this hope and the promises of God. The first thing we'll look at is here in verse 1. Here's point number 1 for this morning. God will do the work he promised.

God will do the work that he promised. Look at verse 1 again. It says, God remembered Noah. Here we see at the beginning in verse 1. God remembered Noah. He remembered this guy with his family, Noah.

floating about on the tops of the waters, bouncing around in the waves there in the ark. Now, when it says that God remembered Noah, we need to understand that it's not saying that God had forgotten Noah. In the midst of all the other things going on in the world that

All of a sudden, you know, God remembers, oh yeah, where is that Noah guy? I know I put him in the ark, but where did that go? You know, that, you know, it's somewhere out of his mind and he's not aware of him. That's not what the Lord is saying here. Really what we see here is the limitation of language. The limitation of language. Whenever we try to talk about God,

with our languages, our human languages, we're always going to find ourselves lacking a bit because he is an infinite God that is far above our ability to comprehend, much less our ability to describe and to think about. There was one time many years ago, I think Kim and I were dating at the time, and we were driving separate cars and she made a comment about how my headlights on my car were not that bright. And

And me, you know, every once in a while, I just translate things in Spanish in my head randomly and blurt them out. And so I said, yeah, no tengo mucho luz. I don't have much light is what I said, you know, but it's a literal translation. It doesn't make sense in Spanish. And she just started cracking up and laughing and laughing and laughing. With my limited vocabulary, that was the best way I could describe that I don't have very bright headlights. No tengo mucho luz.

It's not right, right? It doesn't fit, but you kind of get what I'm saying. But it's just not quite right. It's not the right words to use, right? In a similar way, when it says that God remembered Noah, it's simply the fact that there's a limited vocabulary of describing an infinite God. And so as we look at this word remember, we shouldn't think of it as he was forgotten and then, you know, God remembered that he existed. But when it says that God remembered Noah...

Well, it means that God began to work directly in the life of Noah in a special way. The word remember, when it's used of people, well, it is used like the way that we use it. Like, hey, I forgot, you know, where my keys were, and then I remembered where I put them. You know, I forgot that we had that conversation. You and I, as humans, of course, we're capable of forgetting.

But whenever this word remember is used of God, it doesn't speak that way or doesn't mean that. It means to act on behalf of someone. We'll see this a little bit later in Genesis chapter 19, when God is going to bring the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. But remember that negotiation that Abraham had with the Lord is

and the nephew Lot that was there in Sodom and Gomorrah. And so it says in Genesis 19.29, that is, the judgment was coming. It says, when God just destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow. So God remembered Abraham. Again, not that he forgot him, but he worked on behalf of Abraham because his nephew was there, and he brought Lot out because...

of Abraham. He's working on behalf of, he's working for Abraham. When Joseph was in prison and he interprets the dreams of the butler and the baker, he tells the butler, remember me when you get out of here. And Joseph is not telling him, hey, you know, when you get out of here and you're just like hanging out and having a good time, just think about me. That's all I want. Just think about me. Just remember that I exist.

That's not what Joseph is saying, right? He's saying, no, no, remember the situation that I'm in and then get me out of here. He says in Genesis 40 verse 15, get me out of this house. Remember me is connected to this idea of work on my behalf. And so when it says that God remembered Noah, what we're seeing here is a tipping point. God is finished with the judgment. All of the water has been poured out.

The judgment has been laid out in full upon the earth that was wicked completely. But now God has set his focus on Noah and he's going to bring about a new beginning and a full restoration. He's going to fulfill the promise that he had given to him. Back in Genesis chapter 6, before all of this began, God spoke to Noah and he told him in verse 17, "'I'm bringing floodwaters on the earth.'"

And I'm going to destroy everything under heaven, all of the flesh, which has the breath of life. I'm going to bring about this judgment upon the whole earth with the flood. And then he says in verse 18 of Genesis 6, but I will establish my covenant with you. I make it a promise to you. I'm going to preserve you and your family. I'm going to preserve all the animals and those who are with you. And then there's going to be a new life for you after the flood.

And so what we're seeing here is the transition between that. The floodwaters have come. That is in its fullness. That is done. And now God is going to bring about this new life that he had promised Noah. It's important for us to take note of the fact that God remembered Noah at this point because he will do the work that he promised Noah.

No matter what we see in this life, as we face, again, tribulations and storms, as we go through things, we can hold fast to this truth. There will come a time where this season is done and now God will remember us in a way that he will begin to bring about those things that he has promised, those things that he has declared, those things that he wants to do for us and for our good. And so God will do the work that he promised.

Well, as we continue on now, we'll look at verses 1 through 5 for point number 2. And that is that God is working mightily in the background. You need to know that God is working mightily even if you can't see it. It might be in the background and it's invisible to you. Check out verse 1 again. It says,

And God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters subsided. Here we see God begin to do the renewing process. And he is beginning the work. And God is going to do the work of draining the water with a few different pieces. He's going to use a wind to deal with the water. He's going to stop the waters that are pouring forth from below.

and he's going to restrain the waters that are coming from above. The first thing we see here in verse 1 is the wind. It says that God makes a wind to pass over the earth. Now, one of the things that is interesting to consider about the flood is what the world was like before and after the flood. There's a lot of different ideas and things that we could discuss, and I'm not going to get into those details. Again, there's great things that you can explore in this, but

Before the flood, there was probably not the weather changes and the types of things that we see and we're familiar with today. I thought it was interesting that God gave us a windy Sunday morning as we think about the wind dealing with the waters of the flood, just to help us remember that this is what he is doing. But the wind probably radically changed after the flood.

The whole world climate changed after the flood. And so the radical turbulent winds that we experience today, those didn't exist most likely before the flood. But it's the result of the state of the world afterwards.

and the different poles and the hot and the cold and the different temperatures and things that created this change in the wind. And the wind, of course, is an important part of the process. And I don't get all the words right, so I'm not going to try to, you know, be a scientist up here. But, you know, the whole process of water evaporating and

and collecting in the clouds and then coming down. Like, you know, the wind is an important process to help that. And so it was the first thing that God began to do in dealing with the water. I mean, if you think about it, if you picture...

You know, the damage that is done and the time that it takes and the effort that it takes to recover an area after the flood. And you picture the whole earth being covered in water. I mean, that's a big task at hand, right? There is going to be some serious things at work in order to address that much water on the face of the earth. And so God begins that work with the wind. He begins to blow the waters, to move them around, to evaporate them,

to bring Noah back to this new beginning that he wants to provide. Well, it wasn't just the wind. It tells us in verse 2, Now when it says that the fountains of the deep were stopped, it's not saying that the fountains of the deep dried out.

But there is this part of the flood. We traditionally think of the flood as just the 40 days of rain, right? But as you read through chapter 6, 7, and 8, you understand there's more than just like a rainfall cycle or a heavy rain that's happening. There was under the earth water that burst forth the fountains of the deep and that contributed to the flood upon the earth.

But at this time, God stops those fountains. Again, the idea here, the word, it means to stop up or to build a dam so that it wasn't that the water is dried out, that there was no more water to pour forth. It was that God put a stop to the water pouring forth. And it's interesting to consider. God is working mightily in this way. He's creating a wind. He's creating the whole ecosystem that we're familiar with today.

He stops up. Now, think about this. Water that is coming forth powerful enough to flood the whole earth is not going to be stopped by just like turning a spigot a couple times, right? Or a spout a couple times. It's not going to be, you know, just like you just put your finger in a hole and it stops flooding, right? For God, yeah, maybe that's all it was. He just put his finger in the hole, right? But God is big. He's infinite. He's powerful. And so this is a mighty work. This is not something that Noah could have done.

He didn't tell his sons, okay guys, put on your scuba gear and dive down here and all you need to do is just seal up this hole and the waters will stop gushing forth. That was something that no one could have done except for God. God is working mightily, supernaturally behind the scenes. Noah didn't get to see the fountains of the deep stopped up. He wasn't watching God do that.

He wasn't watching God, you know, create the wind. He didn't get to see. It's behind the scenes for him. It's in the background for him. It's invisible to him. But God is at work doing big things to prepare a new life for Noah. Well, he doesn't just stop up the waters below, but he restrains the waters from above. Again, here in verse 2, the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped.

The word restrain, it means to keep back or to forbid. The Lord forbid the water from continuing to pour out upon the earth. Again, it's describing here not just the natural process of, okay,

Again, there's more than I can get into at the moment. But it seems from the account that there was a layer of water in the atmosphere or above the ozone layer. Scientists have different ideas about how that could have worked. But that there was a layer of water around the earth and that was open and that's where the water came from for the flood. But again, it's not that that just ran out, but God stopped it up.

God held it back. He restrained it so that it would no longer pour out upon the earth and continue to flood the earth. And so again, God's doing mighty things here. There's big things, supernatural things that are happening. God is working in ways that we can't really fully understand or imagine. And it's happening in the background. Check out verse 3.

And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the 150 days, the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the 17th day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

The mountains of Ararat exist right now in modern-day Turkey. They have peaks up to 17,000 feet. We don't know that the ark was on a peak. It could have just been anywhere in those mountain ranges. But there it was. It rested. It came to rest on this particular day, the 17th day of the month, of the 7th month. Now, this is interesting because as you look through this account, if you go through it carefully, you'll

you can get some ideas about how long Noah was in the ark. And typically when we think about Noah and the ark, we think about the flood, and we might think about the 40 days and 40 nights of rain, and you know, that's about it. But there was much more time involved than that. In reality, Noah is going to be in the ark for more than a year.

God puts him in the ark. He commands him to go into the ark back in Genesis chapter 7 verse 4, a week before the flood begins. So you take the 40 days and then it's even seven days before that Noah enters the ark. The flood begins in Genesis chapter 7 verse 11. And so that's their eighth day in the ark that the flood begins to come upon the earth. It stops raining, of course, after 40 days. So that's day 48. When the ark lands...

In Genesis 8, 4, we're talking about day 158. So we go from day 48, stops raining, to day 158 when the ark finally comes to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. So we're talking 158 days. Okay, that's about five months. Yeah, five months. And here we see the time that is involved. Right?

as God stops up the windows of heaven, as he stops up the fountains below. So the time that happens between Genesis 1 and Genesis 5 is a hundred days. It's three months of what? You imagine from Noah's perspective, right? Like he knows the rain has stopped, but he's still rocking on the waters. He's not seeing much change. He's not seeing much different. He's not seeing a lot of things take place.

As far as Noah and his family are concerned, it feels the same as what they felt, you know, the previous 40 days. But now it's 100 days after the rain stops. And finally, they feel the bottom rest on solid ground. In verse 5, it goes on to say, And so the water is continuing to decline. It's continuing to go down.

but again, a lot of time is taking place. We're jumping now from day 158 when the ark rested to day 232 when the tops of the mountains are seen. There's a lot of time passing here. Again, it's almost a year in total or more than a little bit more than a year in total by the time that Noah is able to exit the ark. But here he is, he finally gets to rest on, you know, solid ground and

But it's still not done. There's still water all around them. They still can't see the rest of the mountain peaks around them until 232 days after the flood began or after he entered the ark. Then he begins to see the peaks that are there around him. God is working mightily in the background. In the example of Noah here, we see that as God is working, Noah is just getting little hints here and there.

Little glimpses here and there of what God is doing. But the work that God is doing is big. This is a lot of water that God is moving around, changing the world completely. The geography of our world today is probably radically different than what existed before the flood. Heights and lows. God was moving water in a powerful way that is hard for us to imagine. He's working mightily in the background for Noah and

But as we consider these things this morning, we need to know that God is still the same God, still just as powerful, and he is working mightily for us. He's working mightily on our behalf. We may not see it. It might be invisible to us, but God has not forgotten us. He has not abandoned his promises to us.

And even when we can't see the work that God is doing, we can trust and know that God is working mightily in the background. And we'll get to see it all later. And we'll read about the account later. We'll, you know, we'll get to discover all that God has done in the future. But until then, we need to be a people of faith like Noah, trusting in God, believing God, and waiting for God's time.

Well, we're going to move on to verses 6 through 13 for point number 3 this morning. Point number 3 is explore and learn about God's work. So as God is working, we get the opportunity to explore it. We get the opportunity to uncover and see what it is that God is doing. We're going to start by looking at verses 6 through 9. Here's what it says in Genesis chapter 8 verse 6.

So it came to pass at the end of 40 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. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot. And she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth.

So he put out his hand and took her and drew her into the ark to himself. Here we see Noah begin to explore what it was that God was doing. From the midst of the ark, Noah had a very limited view. It seems that he had a window. It talks about the window, but it's not clear what kind of window it was. It could have been a window that was just facing directly up, just an opening in the top.

that, you know, he was able to see out of. So for him to see around the ark was really difficult. He wasn't able to. And so he sends out birds instead to go explore and find out the conditions of the ground that he is on and the things that are happening around him. And so it tells us in verse 6, it came to pass at the end of 40 days that

Now, again, that's not the 40 days of rain, but that's 40 days after the things that came before. And so what we're talking about here is more time passing. We're talking about 40 days after the mountaintops are seen. Now Noah's like, okay, I can see the mountaintops. I know something's happening. What can I do? Well, I'll send out some birds.

That was, you know, his high-tech modern-day, you know, solution for discovering the conditions around him.

Now the raven, it says, went and it just kept going to and fro. It was a scavenger. So it could go land on a carcass, you know, that was, you know, being deconstructed and enjoy and have a good meal and then go find another one. And so it went back and forth until the flood was gone. It never returned to Noah. But the dove is not that kind of bird. And so the dove came back because there was no place for it to rest. And so Noah,

In Noah's investigation with his high-tech skills, he learned, okay, the dove has no place to land, but the raven does. So there's something happening, but the dove is not able to find a shelter or a resting place for itself. And so he sends out a dove, but then it tells us in verse 10, he waited another seven days. And again, he sent out the dove from the ark. And so again, we're progressing the time.

So 40 days after the mountaintops were seen, he sends out a raven and a dove. And then a week later, another seven days, he sends out a dove or the same dove. And so now the dove is not able to still find anything except for verse 11 says, the dove came back to him in the evening and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth. And so Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

So Noah learns through this investigation, employing the highest technology that he could find, okay, there's progress being made. He's able to kind of understand the waters are dropping. Now there's a fresh olive leaf. And so progress is being made. He's investigating in this way. Then it says in verse 12, he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore. So now the dove...

is able to find a place to rest. It's able to find a place to live. It's able to have somewhere safe to stay. And so as Noah goes through this process, by the time he gets to verse 12, it's day 286. Again, if you follow the timelines, you can go back to chapter 7 and 8 and pay close attention to the time frames. This is day 278, right?

I'm sorry, 286. I don't know why I said 278. Trust me on this. I'm going to tell you incorrect numbers. Okay, so day 286, better do your own homework, right? Genesis 7 and 8, read through the time frames. Day 286, he sends out this dove for the third time and it doesn't come back. Then chapter 13, I'm sorry, verse 13, it says, it came to pass in the 601st year in the first month, the first day of the month,

that the waters were dried up from the earth and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.

So he had a window before, but now when the dove doesn't return, he's like, okay, now it's time, it's safe. And he removes the covering, probably, you know, a big portion of the top of the ark or something that he had prepared. And so he removes the covering and he's able to actually now look out and see the earth around him. And indeed, the surface of the ground was dry. Now, again, time has passed. It wasn't just, hey, the dove didn't return.

Now, when this happens, verse 13, according to the timeline mentioned, it's day 320. So Noah has been with his family in this ark for 320 days before he opens the covering and looks about and sees the dry land around him.

And so what Noah is doing through all of this is he's progressively exploring more and more according to what he's able, being safe, right? Not exposing himself to danger. He's not sure, you know, what's happening around him. And so he's sending out some test birds. He's, you know, uncovering things a step at a time. And

I think that's a good example for us, that we get to explore what it is that God is doing, and it's not wrong to do so. We get to explore what it is that God is working on our behalf, and it's good for us to do so. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says,

No, he was simply using available opportunities to gather data. It isn't wrong to have an understanding of the situation. It would have been wrong for Noah to bust out of the ark as soon as he wanted to, right?

He had to wait for God to give him that instruction. But it wasn't wrong for him to explore and understand, okay, God hasn't told me to go out of the ark yet, but what can I do? What can I learn? And so he begins to explore to find out what's happening around him. I was thinking about the 12 spies later on in Israel's history as they're sent into the promised land to scout out the land. It's interesting to note that that is God's idea, right?

He tells them, hey, send in the spies to discover the land. It's not time to go in yet. You know, you're just kind of learning the lay of the land. You're getting some information. You're gathering data. And it's appropriate to do that. We need to understand that there is a time to go forward. And there's a time to not go forward, but to get as much information as we can. To see what God is doing, to learn about God's work.

And so if God's put something upon your heart, you know, again, the fulfilling of the promises that we've been talking about, and you're looking forward to that new day, and you have a sense and idea of what it is that God wants to do, it may not be the time to actually do that yet, but it is the time to learn more about it.

If God is calling you to minister in some capacity, if God's calling you to go to a certain area, you know, you think about, like I was thinking about the Hallmans as they moved to Virginia, right? They didn't just move there, but they sent some advanced teams, you know, they went a couple times and sought the Lord. They gathered data and then they went forward with what they believed that God had put upon their heart.

They were exploring and learning about the work that God was doing and had for them in advance. And God wants to do the same thing in our lives. As he gives us insights and hints, as he speaks to us about the things that he wants to do, there's the time for us to just wait and not do anything yet except for grow in our understanding and explore and get a taste of the things that God wants to do.

Well, finally, we'll finish it up in verses 14 through 19. Here's point number four this morning. Go experience God's work at his word. Go experience the work of God at his word. Here's what it says in verse 14. And in the second month, on the 27th day of the month, the earth was dried. Then God spoke to Noah saying, go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your son's wives with you.

Here we see now the new work begins.

The ark has settled. The waters have dropped. The earth or the land around them is dry. And now it's time to go forth. And so again, it gives us the time frame. In verse 14, the second month on the 27th day of the month. As it gives us this time frame, again, it gives us the indication here. This is day 378. So a little over a year ago.

After Noah enters into the ark, God says, okay, now it's time to get out. You think Noah knows a little bit something about being quarantined, right? For a little over a year, right? Like we're able to relate perhaps a tiny bit here. But as this happens, God speaks to him in verse 15 and says, go out of the ark, right?

I think it's impressive to look at this account and to recognize that Noah waited for this word from God to go. He waited. He didn't go out of the ark before this. He waited for God to speak. He waited for God's word in his situation. And that can be really hard. There are so many times where God has spoken and we know the direction that God wants to go, but it's not time yet. And we want to go before it's time to go.

Or there's a situation that we can see and we feel like we have a good understanding of it. We feel like, you know, we got the whole picture. And so we want to go even though God hasn't told us to go. But here in the example of Noah, we find that, well, he came to this point where he felt the ark rest on solid ground.

And just think about what that must have felt like after being on the rocky seas, you know, rocking to and fro. And then, oh, wow, now you kind of recognize, right? If you've ever, you know, been on a boat for a while and then you get on dry land and how it feels so different and so weird, right? In a similar way, all of a sudden it's like, whoa, you know, now they're getting motion sickness from being still because they got used to being in motion for so long. They felt it. They knew the ark was on solid ground.

And later on, we see in Genesis 8-11 that they knew that the waters reduced because the dove didn't return. And then after that, Noah was able to take off the covering and see the dry ground. Now, why didn't Noah, when he could see the dry ground, why didn't he just abandon the ark at that point? He was waiting for God's word.

So important for us to do. Warren Wiersbe says, It looked fine. I don't know about you, but I tend to kind of imagine family scenarios in these kinds of conditions. It's not just Noah looking out and seeing the dry ground, but it's his sons.

Can you imagine Noah and his sons having some heated discussions about whether or not they, Dad, look, it's dry. Like, what are we waiting for? We're sick and tired of being bound up here in the ark. I could just imagine all of the drama that would happen within the family of the different ideas about when they should go and when they should not go. And Noah waited. He waited for God to speak. It reminds me of Proverbs chapter 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

The lean not on your own understanding is the important part for what we're looking at. If Noah was leaning on his own understanding, he could see that the ground was dry. He knew it. He saw it. And some time has passed. It's been months now since they've settled onto the mountain. In my understanding, I might think, hey, it's safe now. It's ready to go. What am I waiting for? I need to get out there. Waiting is not the right word.

can be incredibly hard. When you want so desperately to do something, to go somewhere, waiting for the right time can be so challenging. But when God sets your course, hold the pattern until God changes the course. When God sets your course, stay there until God redirects

Let God be the one who says, okay, now it's time to go. You can explore. You can find out. You can kind of test the boundaries and see what it is that God is doing. But let the Lord tell you when it's time to make a change, especially when he is the one who has placed you in that situation. And so God tells Noah to go out. And then it's interesting in verse 18, it says, so Noah went out. I always like to

Consider this in the scriptures. So many times you see these men and women of God written here in the scriptures. God tells them to do something and then the next verse says, so they went and did what God commanded them to do. And here we see that in Noah. God told him to get in the ark, he went in the ark. God told him to get out of the ark, he went out of the ark. This is the way that we are to respond when God speaks. So Noah went out of the ark. You know, there's something funny about us. Waiting for God's word,

waiting for God's signal that we, you know, need to go forward. Oh man, that's hard for us. We want to go sooner. We want to, you know, head out immediately. We want to see things take place right now, right now. Let's go. It's hard for us to wait on the Lord. But then it comes time and God says, okay, now is the time to go. And now that's hard. Now we're reluctant. Wait, wait, wait, God, I'm not ready yet. You know, it's like,

A day ago, I was ready. I was like, let's go before God says it. But now God said it. Now it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know if I want to do this. This is scary. You know, this is challenging. This is hard. God says go. So Noah went, sets the model for us. When God speaks, go. He has something in store. He's done a work and you may not have seen it. It might've been behind the scenes, in the background, invisible to you, but it's a work.

But God has prepared the form so that now you can fill it as you walk in obedience to him. Noah waited for God to speak. He waited for that right time. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, God has his timing.

And it's definitely not our timing. It's not a timing that we understand. And so we need to rely upon him and allow him to show us and guide us and lead us when he wants us to move, when he wants us to go. As we look at this past week here in 2021, not much is different than 2020. Same kind of things happening, same kind of drama unfolding. Maybe in your life personally, not a lot has changed. And maybe that's discouraging.

Perhaps you can relate to Noah and his family just out on the water, just bouncing around. When is this going to be over? Let's be encouraged this morning. God will do a new work. This isn't the new normal forever. This isn't the end of what God is going to do or wants to do. God will do a new work. He will do the work that he promised to do. We can count on that. We can rest assured in that.

And he is working, even when it feels like he's not working, even when we can't see the work that is happening. God is working mightily in the background. He's moving mountains on your behalf for your good to those who love him and are the called according to his purpose, right? Romans 8, 28. He works all things together for good. He's working mightily, even if you can't see it. But as you begin to see the signs and you see the little mountain peaks like start to show, oh, go explore it.

Find out, learn more about what it is that God is doing. Get a good understanding, get a lay of the land. So, all right, now, as soon as God says go, you know, I want to go explore that mountain peak and I want to go, you know, map and chart this area and I want to go see what's over here and be looking forward to those things and building your understanding of the work that God is doing. But wait for God's word to go so that you can experience what it is that he's prepared for you. And when he says go,

man, trust him, believe him at his word and go experience God's work that he has prepared for you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and this encouragement, this reminder, Lord, of your work in our lives. I pray, God, that you would help us to trust you in the midst of storms, to hold fast and to know that you still do have good things in store and you still want to work and you still are working mightily even if we can't see it.

Help us, Lord, to trust in you, to wait upon you, and then to go forward and take steps of faith as you speak to our hearts. Lord, that we might experience all that you have for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.