Genesis 8:1. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
“But God remembered Noah.”
This phrase is the turning point of the Noah narrative. It is the center of the chiasm. The climax of the story.
God remembered doesn’t mean that God had forgotten, it means that this is the moment in which God will choose to act upon his promise. Even though it probably felt to Noah like the waters would never subside, God had promised they would. And so Noah had to live by faith. Faith in the promise of a renewed creation awaiting him outside of the boat, on dry ground.
God remembered is always followed by God’s action. God’s movement. God’s rescue. In Exodus, God remembered his people and delivered them out of Egypt. When God remembered Rachel and Hannah their wombs were opened to bear a son. God remembering Noah will likewise result in God’s saving action, the waters of chaos subsiding. Just as he did in Genesis 1, God sent his wind, his ruach (the same word as Spirit) to hover over the face of the deep, separating land and sea once more.
God remembered means God is in control of all things. Again, God did not forget about Noah or the Earth or the rising waters while he was busy doing other things. God never shouted, “Hey, how do you turn this water off?” God caused the waters to rise and now he will cause the waters to subside. As the winds blew, and the rains fell, and the depths of the Earth were opened, God was always in control. Even when it may have felt like he wasn’t, he was. And as the boundaries of the seas, rivers, and lakes are re-established, God is once again controlling his creation, restoring it back to order.
God remembered reveals God’s intimate love for us. God remembered Noah. He remembered the person, the man, the individual, Noah. This story isn’t just a giant metaphor or a cosmic tale of judgment. It is the story of a man and his God. Noah found favor. Noah obeyed. Noah was remembered. Now, insert your name for Noah’s. That’s how personal your relationship is and can be with God. The God who remembers you too.
God remembered is all of grace. Not only is God’s great power on display, but so is his great love and mercy. God is not just giving us another chance to re-commit here; we all know that infinite chances could still never produce our righteousness. This story is not about us re-dedicating our lives to God. It is about God demonstrating his dedication to us. His covenant of grace.
Genesis 9:11-13. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
With these words, God asks nothing of us. This is one-way love. The bow points in only one direction – toward Heaven, not toward Earth. God’s arrows will only be fired at himself, not at us. Jesus Christ, the God-man will be fired upon by God’s bow, the arrows of his wrath will pierce the Son, and never again will all flesh be cut off from God.
In Christ, we know that God has remembered us, just as he did Noah. God is in control and God is in love with you. Together those two truths must bring us comfort and hope. The hope of being in the ark of Christ as the waters subside little by little, day by day, until one day we will walk on dry ground again, whether in this life or the next.
Questions: What waters of chaos are surrounding you today? In what way is God asking you to trust him to remember you? How does knowing that Jesus took God’s arrows for you allow you to trust him more?
To Live is Christ 