Context No. 2750 of 4322 · Genesis
Context · Reflection
Genesis 8:13-17: in context
13In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15God spoke to Noah, saying, 16“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”
The flood has drained away. Noah pulls back the covering of the ark and sees with his own eyes that the ground is dry. And yet he does not rush out. He waits, weeks longer, until God finally speaks the word: go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives, and bring out every living thing, that they may be fruitful and multiply on the earth.
Notice the restraint. Noah can plainly see it is safe, and still he waits for the command to leave. He went into the ark at God's word, and he will come out at God's word, not the moment the view looks clear. The world begins again on the far side of judgment with the same rescued creatures carried out to fill it, and a commission that echoes the garden: be fruitful, multiply. What the eyes tell him is not the same as what God has told him.
When circumstances look ready, do I still wait for God's go, or move the moment it seems safe to move?
Sources
- Genesis 8:16: "Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you."
- Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."
- Psalm 27:14: "Wait for the LORD. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the LORD."