Genesis Part 1 - Week 16

Day 1 

READ 

Genesis 8:6-9 

6 After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat 7 and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. 8 He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. 

Noah released a raven that did not return. It “flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up.” Then Noah released a dove that was unable to find dry ground. Dry ground was necessary before Noah would be able to exit the big boat. This was not yet the time to go outside. 

REFLECT 

Imagine the patience it must have taken for Noah and his family to be content about staying in the boat so long. Have you experienced difficulty with patience in the midst of trials? 

RESPOND 

Visit with a friend about how to demonstrate your patience to others. Read 2 Corinthians 6:6 for how the apostle Paul did.  

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 8:10-12 

10 After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. 11 This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. 12 He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back. 

At last! Noah sees evidence of the floodwaters being nearly gone. The dove returned to him with “a fresh olive leaf in its beak.” Noah waited even longer before releasing the dove again. This time it did not return to him. It’s interesting that even the dove preferred being outside of the big boat.  

REFLECT 

Think of how the spirits of Noah and his family must have lifted as they realized they could soon exit the big boat. This must have been of great encouragement for them. 

RESPOND 

Everyone is in need of encouragement. See what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:10-11. See also what the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 10:25. We need each other.  

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 8:13-14 

13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began, the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by, and at last the earth was dry! 

This was a total of more than 370 days from the beginning of the flood to when the earth was dry. This is seen by comparing Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:13-14. Think of it! Noah had been in the boat for over a year. What great words are the last ones in this passage, “at last the earth was dry!” 

REFLECT 

What are some great, comforting words you have heard in your life? Perhaps they have been “No cancer” or “You can go home now” or from a child you have heard “I love you.” 

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about great words you have heard. You could also weave this into a testimony by saying the greatest thing that has happened to you is how Jesus changed your life when you trusted in Him as Savior. 

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 8:15-19 

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. 17 Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.” 18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair. 

Noah had waited over a year to hear these words from God, “Leave the boat, all of you.” Not only his family but also all the animals. Even they were to be “fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.” Surely no extra encouragement was needed as Noah and his family left the boat as well as “all of the large and small animals and birds.” Notice they came out “pair by pair.”  

REFLECT 

Imagine how everyone and the animals rushed out of the big boat. 

RESPOND 

Think of the relief Adam and his family had in being released from the boat. Consider how believers in Jesus should be appreciative of being released from the Old Testament law system (see Romans 7:5-6). Do others see Christ in you as Colossians 1:27 says?  

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 8:20-22 

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” 

Noah’s first act outside the boat was to build an altar to worship the Lord. This pleased the Lord and He promised never again to curse the ground in spite of mankind’s bent toward evil. He promised that times of “planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night” would always continue. 

REFLECT 

When you are aware of God moving in your life, is your response to worship? It should be. 

RESPOND 

Talk with another believer about how to worship God. Read Romans 12:1-2 for what the apostle Paul instructed. Talk about these two verses and how you can put them into practice.