Genesis 8:1-5 meaning

The floodwater's cessation and recession begins in these verses. God remembered Noah. God had grace and compassion for Noah and began to bring the flood to an end, God caused a wind to pass over the earth and the water subsided (v 1).

In verse two the fountains of the deep (v 2) were closed stopping the flooding and water upheaval from underground the earth. The rain was withdrawn as well, so that the flood water began to recede or diminish. The receding waters became a testimony of God's faithfulness to all in the ark. 

An ecologic upheaval of this magnitude is impossible to fully comprehend. As we are told in 2 Peter 3:6, the earth that then existed perished in the flood. All that was, was no more. The earth Noah and his family were about to occupy was substantially different. The geologic, climate and ecological upheavals that destroyed the former earth would have also created a new earth. From the Biblical descriptions, it seems clear that the new earth is a hostile environment in comparison to the earth Noah had previously known.

New lakes and seas could have been created as the waters receded. The massive upheavals that caused the waters of the deep to gush forth likely included massive shifts in the tectonic plates, causing continents to shift, and creating new mountain ranges. It is possible to view some mountain ranges or geologic upheavals as a memorial to God's judgment of the earth during Noah's flood. A massive upheaval of this magnitude could have caused enormous geologic faults to appear, and continents could have formed and shifted because of this calamity. We are not told many details, but 2 Peter 3:6 tells us that the old earth had perished. It is reasonable to speculate that the atmosphere would have changed substantially as well.

The earth's current atmosphere does not seem to have adequate volumes of water vapor to support the amount of rain described in Genesis. 2 Peter 3:5 tells us "by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water." It could be that the pre-Noahic atmosphere included a canopy of water vapor. The likely higher atmospheric pressure and blockage of radiation that probably would have attended such a water canopy could be a partial explanation for the substantially longer life-spans prior to the flood. It could be that the climate that perished supported vastly larger forms of plants and animals that would have no longer existed after the flood.

Such a water canopy would have created a more uniform climate. Assuming the water canopy collapsed, vast new temperature extremes would be expected. Areas like the tropics and arctic could have appeared at this time, and animals could have adapted and found places to suit their needs. Some species could have gone extinct, not being able to live in the new environment. This thought model could explain the sort of violent shift in temperature required to freeze wooly mammoths that have been discovered in ice packs, still having edible meat and enzymes in their stomachs.

Five months after Noah entered the ark, it rested upon the mountains of Ararat (v 4). It is not stated exactly or specifically where the ark came to rest, simply within this mountain range or region. There are present day mountains called Ararat on the border of eastern Turkey near Armenia. The mountain range is 17,000 feet high at its highest peak. In the foothills, there is a city called Naxuana which means, "here Noah settled." Armenian tradition says that in Northern Armenia about twelve miles south of Erivan, the ark settled on a peak called Macis (known as the mountain of Noah). For hundreds of years, archaeologists have been searching for remains of the ark in this area. So far, their attempts have not been fruitful. This is not particularly surprising. It is reasonable to believe that wood and supplies from the ark would have been immediately put to use, and the ark largely salvaged. It is also reasonable to expect that any wood remaining after such a period of time would likely have decayed if exposed to the air, or not be visible if buried in the earth.

In verse five we see the flood waters decrease continually until the tops of the mountains could be seen. It only took forty days for the rains to submerge the whole earth, the water's recession would take much longer.