ht have accomplished this without any wind, yet he habitually
employs a natural means to attain his purposes.

17. Up to this time Noah had lived in darkness, seeing nothing but the
waters rolling and raging in a terrifying volume. Now the delicious
light of the sun bursts forth once more, and the winds cease to roar
from all points of the compass. Only the east wind, calculated to
reduce the waters, is blowing, and gradually it takes away the
stagnant flood. Other means also are effective; the ocean no longer
hurls its waves upon the land, but takes back the waters which it had
spewed forth, and the floodgates of heaven are closed up.

18. These are outward and tangible signs by which God consoles Noah,
showing him that he had not forgotten, but remembered him. This is a
practical and needed lesson also for us. When in the midst of dangers
we may with certainty look for God's help, who does not desert us if
we continue in faith, looking forward to the fulfilment of God's
promises.

V. 4. _And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day
of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat._

19. The waters increased for forty days, until the ark was lifted from
the earth. Then for one hundred and fifty days it floated upon the
waters, driven by the winds and the waves, without a sign of God's
remembrance. At length the waters began to decrease, and the ark
rested.

20. The point of dispute among the Jews here is the number of months.
But why waste any more time upon immaterial matters, particularly as
we see that the suggestions of the rabbis are not at all wise? It is
more to the purpose for us to inquire where the mountains of Ararat
are to be found. It is generally believed that they are mountains of
Armenia, close by the highest ranges of Asia Minor, the Caucasus and
the Taurus. But it appears to me that more likely the highest of all
mountains is meant, the Imaus (Himalaya), which divides India.
Compared to this range, other mountains are no more than warts. That
the ark rested upon the highest mountain is substantiated by the fact
that the waters continued to fall for three whole months before such
smaller ranges as Lebanon, Taurus, and Caucasus were uncovered, which
are, as it were, the feet or roots of the Himalaya, just as the
mountains of Greece may be called branches of the Alps extending up to
our Hercinian Forest (Harz). To anyone who surveys them with care the
mountains seem to be wonderfully r