Genesis 8:1, commentary and pictures

The remembrance came after the waters had risen fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the cattle with him in the ark, and caused the floodwaters to decrease, and that decrease brought great relief to all within the ark. As the waters decreased He caused the ark to rest on top of a cluster of nearby mountains which by His power He had preserved and made to stand fast through the violent storm. The mountains stood only a little distance apart, and the ark moved about and rested upon one and then another of them, and was no more driven upon the boundless ocean.

As the mountains and hills appeared they were in a broken, rough condition, with all around them like a sea of roiled water or soft mud. God sent a powerful wind to pass over the earth to dry up the floodwaters, and that wind moved the waters with great force so that they reshaped the earth. The rushing waters carried away the tops of mountains like avalanches and formed huge hills and high mountains where none had been seen before. Existing mountains and hills were made larger and more irregular by carrying and driving earth, rocks, stones, ledges, and trees upon and around them.

By this action God made the earth a vast burying ground for the dead bodies of men and beasts left on mountains, hills, and plains, covering them with trees, stones, and earth so they would not remain on the surface to decompose and pollute the atmosphere. The same moving of earth and rocks sank the precious wood, stone, silver, and gold that had adorned the world before the Flood and been idolized. Earth and rocks were heaped over those treasures and in many places mountains were formed above them to hide them from the sight and search of men.

The account belongs to the inspired Old Testament history of the Flood, treated as literal history with Noah as a real person and the Flood as a real event. It belongs to the inspired history that explains the earth's past conditions, when people, animals, and trees much larger than those now living were buried and preserved, and their remains testify that the antediluvians perished in the Flood. The Flood came as a judgment that destroyed the world because of the growing wickedness and iniquity of humanity. God used the ark to save all who would hear the warning and turn from unrighteousness, and all were tested by the truth that Noah preached, but only eight persons who believed were saved. The generation before the Flood prefigures the character of the present age.

While the waters decreased, Noah and his family watched anxiously inside the ark and desired to go forth upon the earth again. They tested the decrease by sending a raven that flew back and forth without bringing the information desired, then a dove that found no rest and returned to the ark, then after seven days the dove again that came back with an olive leaf in its mouth, bringing great rejoicing to the family of eight shut up so long in the ark. The falling waters gave Noah hope of returning to the earth, though he and his family and the living creatures were preserved in the ark and waited for God to open the ark and lead them out. Though Noah could remove the top of the ark, he could not open the door God had shut, and he stayed inside until an angel descended and opened the door and God spoke through the angel bidding Noah's family to go forth out of the ark and bring forth every living thing with them.

God did not forget faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon the world, meaning the Lord remembers His people in the trying hour of judgment and destruction. As God remembered Noah, He will not forget His people when they are abandoned by rulers, forced to flee to desolate places and mountains, cast into cruel bondage, bound in chains, shut in prison, and sentenced to death with no human help. He sees every weakness and trial, keeps communication open between their souls and Christ, and sends angels with light and peace into lonely cells.