it but also the flesh
is afflicted, so afterward, when he again begins to remember us, the
perception of grace which during the trial was evident only to the
spirit and most faintly at that, is extended to the flesh also.

14. Hence, the word "remembered" indicates that great sadness beset
both man and beast during the entire time of the flood. It must have
been by dint of great patience and extraordinary courage that Noah and
the others bore this lapse from God's memory, which is simply
unbearable to the flesh without the spirit even in slight trials.
True, God always remembers his own, even when he seems to have
forsaken them; but Moses indicates that he remembered his people here
in a visible way, by a sign, and by openly fulfilling what he had
previously promised through the Word and the Spirit. This is the most
important passage in this chapter.

B. Waters Abate.

Vs. 1b-3. _And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters
assuaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven
were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters
returned from off the earth continually; and after the end of a
hundred and fifty days the waters decreased._

15. Moses said above (ch 7, 11-12) that the deluge raged in three
different ways; for not only were the fountains of the great deep
broken up and the windows of heaven opened, but also the rain
descended. When these forces ceased on the one hundred and fiftieth
day, quiet was once more in evidence and the fact that God remembered,
and Noah with his sons and their wives, as also the animals, was
refreshed after terror so great and continuous. If a storm of two days
duration causes seafarers to despair, how much more distressing was
that tossing about for half a year!

16. The question here arises, how the wind was made to pass over the
earth, which as yet was entirely covered with water. It is nothing new
that winds have the power to dry, especially those from the east,
called by our countrymen "hohle winde," and by Virgil "parching
winds," from the drouth which they bring upon the earth. These are
mentioned also by Hosea 13, 15. The explanation, accordingly, is
simple. Moses says that the wind was made to pass over the earth, that
is, over the surface of the waters, for such a length of time that at
last, the waters being dried up, the earth again appeared. So, in
Exodus, a burning wind is said to have dried up the Red Sea. Now, God
mig