Troublesome Topic: PHASE 6.1 THE WATERS RECEDED

Lesson 17 of 20

Genesis 7:24

Translation

And the waters prevailed

on the earth fifty and one hundred days.

Paraphrase

Now the flood waters had the entire world controlled in their mighty grasp for one hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:1

Translation

Then ELOHIM remembered NOAH and every living thing and all the domesticated animals with him in the ark,

and ELOHIM caused a wind

to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Paraphrase

Even though it may have seemed to THE COMFORT OF REST that God had forgotten him, it was not true, for THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS once again acted on his behalf and on behalf of all living things, including the domesticated animals that were so important to Noah and were with him on the boat; THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS caused a wind to blow over the earth, reminding Noah of the work of the Holy Spirit. The visible evidence that God was thinking of Noah was that the water level was obviously lower.

Genesis 8:2

Translation

And the spring-like sources

of the abyss

and the window lattices

of the heavens were shut up, and the rain from the heavens was restrained.

Paraphrase

The valves that can open and close located in the dark, foreboding depths, were closed, and the restraining forces that control the water coming from the sky began to restrain the water again. Thus the rain from the sky stopped.

Genesis 8:3

Translation

Then the waters turned back from the earth, and the waters continually turned back

and were lacking

at the end of fifty and one hundred days. (See comments below.)

Paraphrase

Since the seen and unseen sources of water stopped adding water to the earth’s surface, the water level continued to go down and lessen so that by the end of the one hundred and fiftieth day since the beginning of the flood, the water level was noticeably lower. (See comments below.)

THE PROGRESSION OF THE FLOOD EVENT REVERSED COURSE

Genesis 8:2 makes it sound like the sources that can open and close (the window latices and the springs or eyes) were closed quickly and totally. I have become convinced that the point being made here is that the progression of the flood changed course and the waters began to recede instead of increasing. That is all we can be sure of. These two verses could mean that the rains subsided noticeably, but it still rained some. This would represent God partially closing the window lattices of the heavens because the evaporation was still intense due to overheated oceans. Or it could mean that God restrained the rain altogether and held it till after the flood when it helped start an ice age (He totally closed the lattices). I prefer the second option, that God stopped the rain from this point till the end of the flood event.

WHEN DID THE RAIN STOP?

If the closing of the windows of heaven, i.e. the stoppage or the rain, happened at a specific point in time, it happened prior to day 150 of the flood, but we are not told exactly which day. Noah probably tried to record all this info, but since the rain had come and gone since day 40, it is possible that he stopped recording the presence or absence of rain. Later he realized, “Hey, it hasn’t rained at all for a number of days now. Something has changed.” By day 150 he was convinced that the water was receding.

The conditions for continued, heavy rains were still present, but it appears from these two verses that God intervened to restrict all rain from that point till the end of the flood event. Evaporation was still at high levels because the seas were still much hotter than they are today, close to 47 degrees hotter. God appears to have been holding back the rain, just as He did before the flood started.

I believe He held the rain in reserve for a short ice age of about 700 – 800 years. So here we have a second time that God controlled the amount of rain coming on the earth just as the ancients would open or close their window lattices, shutters or louvers, to control how much sunlight (and heat) came into their homes.

HOW DID NOAH KNOW THAT THE WATERS HAD GONE DOWN?

He could have taken soundings, or he may have had a visual reference point by then.

If Greater Ararat had already erupted sufficiently to become a tall mountain, and if the water had gone down enough to expose Greater Ararat, and if the ark was close to Greater Ararat, then Noah could have watched the water level go down compared with the top of its peak. This assumes that, despite the strong winds He had sent, God kept the ark close to Mount Ararat during the time of receding water, so Noah could have a consistent reference point with which to gauge how far the waters had gone down.

RUNAWAY SUBDUCTION CONTINUED

The stone cores collected by the oil drilling companies (some are shown here) indicate that runaway subduction continued until the very end of the flood event. So the statements in Genesis 8:2 & 3 serve to tell us that the flood event changed course; the volume of ocean floor that was already in place and cooling surpassed the volume of hot ocean floor that was being created by runaway subduction. This resulted in a smaller portion of the sea floor that was lifted up, and if the average level of the sea floor lowered, it would result in the average level of the sea on the surface also being lowered. So the statement of the eyes of the abyss being closed is true, but it must be qualified. This valve was closed slowly, whereas the valve controlling the rain may have been closed rather quickly, we cannot say for sure.

THE LAST MEGASEQUENCE IS CALLED THE TEJAS

The sedimentary rocks formed during this Megasequence were those laid down by the water that was running off the land and back into the oceans, whose floors were being cooled and lowered. It lasted longer than any of the other Megasequences; the cores pulled out of the earth show that between 33% and 50% of the sediment deposited by the flood was laid down during the Tejas Megasequence. In some places this Megasequence laid down the most sediment, and in most other places it laid down the second thickest layer of sediment. The Zuni and the Tejas Megasequences account for the majority of the sediment that was laid down. During this phase, the continents were still being pushed and pulled apart.

Genesis 8:4

Translation

And in the seventh month, on the seven and tenth day of the month, the ark rested

on the mountains of ARARAT. (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month [of the 600^th year of Noah’s life], the ark [bearing the man of rest] came to rest on one of the mountains called THE HIGH PLACES. (See comment below.)

ON WHICH MOUNTAIN DID THE ARK LAND?

It was almost two months after it became obvious that the waters were receding that the Ark went aground. One possibility is that the ark landed on Little Ararat, with Greater Ararat already well-exposed. The problem there is that Little Ararat is an almost perfectly formed volcanic peak, with steep slopes. The better option in my opinion is that it landed on Greater Ararat but on the opposite side from Little Ararat so they could not see little Ararat from where they had landed. Indeed there is a level area on the side of Greater Ararat that is almost on the opposite side from Lesser Ararat, so that Little Ararat cannot be seen from there. It is there that the ark could rest in a quasi-level position.

Genesis 8:5

Translation

And the waters became continually lacking until the heads of the mountains were seen on the tenth month, the first [day] in the tenth. (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

And the waters continued receding and on the first day of the tenth month [of the 600^th year of Noah’s life], the tops of other mountains could be seen. (See comment below.)

WHICH WERE THE FIRST MOUNTAINS TO COME INTO VIEW?

It took about two and half months (from the middle of the 7^th month, to the beginning of the 10^th month) for the tops of other mountains to appear. If the ark landed on Great Ararat, with Little Ararat hidden from view, the next peaks that appeared as the waters receded were probably those of the Armenian Highlands.

Remember that there was much volcanic activity during that time and after it. Therefore, it is likely that the height of the Ararat peaks has changed, and the height of the Armenian Highlands has changed since Noah’s time.

WHAT ABOUT THE SMELL OF WASTE AFTER THEY LANDED ON ARARAT?

This was different from the 40 days they spent on the ground before the ark floated. There was no rain this time, instead there was a strong wind.

The waste would probably not have piled up too badly under the ark because it is likely that their landing spot was not perfectly level. Therefore the stuff would have made its way downhill from the ark. Without a doubt, it did create a strong odor, but whatever build-up happened, happened outside the ark. Inside, it was the typical smells they had gotten used to.

If my conclusion about a power source fueled by methane is correct, they would have continued to have power even after the ark landed on the side of the mountain. Ventilation and waste disposal would have continued undeterred.

The next lesson in this study is PHASE 6.2 MOUNTAINS WERE UPLIFTED

Footnotes

1: "prevailed":

This word means “to be strong, to be mighty, to prevail.”

2: The number 150

For the symbolic meaning of the number 150, see my comment after Gen 8:3.

3: "domesticated animals":

Why were the domesticated animals singled out? This statement appears to indicate that God was ensuring that mankind would continue to have domesticated animals to rely on after the flood. Although some of them may have gone extinct after the flood, many domesticated animals are still with us today and man has benefited from them in many ways.

4: "wind":

Each time the wind is mentioned in the Bible, it reminded the Hebrews of the Holy Spirit and they wondered if that statement referred only to the physical wind or also to the Holy Spirit as a double meaning. In many cases a double meaning fits, and this is one of those cases.

5: "subsided":

This word has the basic meaning of “to pacify or appease.” But since this verb is in a form in which the noun does the action, we cannot render it “were pacified, or were appeased.” Therefore, “subsided” seems best.

6: "spring-like sources":

This word is usually rendered “spring, fountain or source,” but it comes from another word meaning “eye.” An eye can be opened or closed. That is the idea behind a spring of water; it can open to produce flowing water (like flowing tears), or it can close to prevent any flow of water. A spring is an “eye” of the earth.

This is referring to the fissures in the ocean floor.

7: "the abyss":

This is the Hebrew word for “sea, depth or abyss,” all of which have dark and foreboding overtones.

8: "window lattices":

A lattice is designed to control what comes in through an opening. In ancient times its purpose was to keep the sun from shining in but allow some air to move in and out.

9: "turned back" and "turned back":

I take the first “turned back” to refer to the causes, i.e. that sources of water and runaway subduction reversed course, and the second “turned back” to refer to the result, i.e. that the water level was lowered and continued to go down steadily.

10: "were lacking"

The emphasis of this word is “to lack, to diminish.” It is sometimes rendered as “decreased” but the main idea is always that of something “lacking.”

11: "rested":

The word used here comes from the same root as the name Noah; it means “rested” and Noah’s name means “comfort of rest.”

12: Aratrat

It was and is known as Urartu by the people of that region, which was Armenia, and is now the easternmost edge of Turkey. The name appears to mean “high place” because of the mountains that have occupied that region since the Genesis flood. Greater Ararat is 16,945 feet high. God did indeed settle His ark on a high place to indicate that He alone controls access to Himself, and there are no other gods.

The Ararat Massif is about 25 miles (40 km) in diameter. Ararat consists of two peaks, their summits about 7 miles (11 km) apart. Great Ararat, or Büyük Ağrı Dağı, which reaches an elevation of 16,945 feet (5,165 meters) above sea level, is the highest peak in Turkey. Little Ararat, or Küçük Ağrı Dağı, rises in a smooth, steep, nearly perfect cone to 12,782 feet (3,896 meters). Both Great and Little Ararat are the product of eruptive volcanic activity. (https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Ararat)