2025
Read Through the Bible
Day 4: Genesis 8-9
“And God remembered Noah” (Genesis 8).
What an interesting way to begin the chapter. Does God forget man?
According to Matthew Henry, “This is an express after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures, much less any of his people are forgotten of God” (Henry 52). Henry cites Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of this is forgotten before God?” and Isaiah 49:15 “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she sould not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”
So, if God does not forget man, what do we do with Genesis 8:1? Matthew Henry writes, “Noah himself, though one that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark, and perhaps began to think himself so; for we do not find that God told him how long he should be confined and when he should be released. Very good men have sometimes been ready to conclude themselves forgotten of God, especially when their afflictions have been unusually grievous and long. Perhaps Noah, though a great believer, yet when he found the flood continuing so long after it might reasonably be presumed to have done its work, was tempted to fear lest he that shut him i would keep him in, and began to expostulate, How long wilt thou forget me? But at length God returned in mercy to him, and this is expressed by remembering him. Note, Those that remember God shall certainly be remembered by him, how desolate and disconsolate soever their condition may be. He will appoint them a set time and remember them” (52). Henry cites Job 14:13 “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep ,e secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!”
Henry, Matthew. “Volume 1: Genesis.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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