Have you ever had something difficult finally come to an end? Relief is a wonderful feeling, whether it comes at the end of something extremely difficult, or simply the end of a bad cold where you can finally breath again!

We see here that God was doing something to the earth. The flood is what was called a decreation event, after which God recreated. Why, however, did He take time to do this? Noah spent nearly a whole year inside of that ark, why? It was so God could prepare what Noah was returning to intricately and perfectly.

Today we read about the flood waters on the earth coming to an end; the fountains and the windows are closed, and God sends a wind over the earth. The Hebrew word that has been translated into wind is a word that we have already read a few times this week. It is the same word used in Genesis 6:17, 7:15 and 7:22, where it is translated as “breath of life.” God’s spirit is causing the waters to recede to make a place where all that has the breath of life in it can live once again. He remembered Noah and the covenant He made with him. We also just read that all other life was blotted out.

If you have been following along, it will be no surprise that I am going to start by talking about Genesis ch. 1 again.  Genesis 1:9-10 states, “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.” Again, today’s verses feel like the inverse of the account of the creation.

There are two things that stand out to me as I read this passage. First, I am reminded of Genesis 1:6-8, “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let us separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.” The description of the beginning of the flood as a bursting forth of the fountains of the great deep and the opening of the windows of the heavens feels like the inverse of what God did to the waters at the time of creation. Instead of being separated, it seems they were collapsing back in on each other.