Genesis 8:1

Genesis 8:1 says, And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;  God remembered Noah and all the living things in the ark.  I don't believe that this means that God had forgotten them at some point, but that He knew it was time to complete His promise to Noah.  God never forgets His promises to us.  God sent a wind to begin drying the waters off the earth.  Verse two states, The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;  God also stopped the rains and the waters from the deep from continuing to flood the earth.  It was not enough to attempt to dry the earth if it was still being drenched, just as it is not enough for us to attempt to find forgiveness for past sins if we are still not trying to stop sinning.  Verse three adds, And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.  The waters begin to recede.  God could have returned the world to normal in an instant, but He chose to work through more natural means.  God still works through natural events to spread His gospel, His saving grace, for the most part today.  Verse four declares, And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.  The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.  There are people today who attempt to find the remnants of the ark, but I believe the ark served its purpose and is no longer of any value.  We either believe what God's word tells us or we don't, and it should never be based on having physical evidence of an event.  Verse five states, And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.  The water continued to recede.  During this time, Noah had to simply wait on God to fulfill His promise, just as we must learn to wait on God.  Verse six declares, And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:  Forty days after settling on the mountain, Noah opened the window of the ark.  I believe that God led Noah to do this.  Verse seven adds, And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.  Noah first sent out a raven from the ark, and it flew all around.  Matthew Henry says that the raven came back to rest on the ark, but never came back in.  Verse eight states, Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;  Noah also sent a dove out, to see if the waters had receded enough for all the people and animals to get out of the ark.  I believe that this was all because God led Noah to do these things.  Verse nine says, But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.  The dove returned because there was no resting place, and Noah brought it back into the ark.  Verse ten adds, And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;  Noah waited a week before sending the dove out again.  We must likewise patiently wait for God to fulfill His promise of everlasting life after Christ returns.  Verse eleven concludes, And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.  This time, the dove returned with an olive branch in its mouth, and Noah know the waters had receded.  I believe that God will always provide proof that He has kept His promises, but that it will be according to His time frame.  Verse twelve proclaims, And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.  Noah was still content to wait another week.  We must always be certain that we are not getting ahead of God.