Genesis 8:1-9
1
Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him
in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The
fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from
heaven was restrained. 3 And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the
hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. 4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the
seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased
continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of
the mountains were seen.
6 So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which
he had made. 7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had
dried up from the earth. 8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had
receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her
foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth.
So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself.
Chapters 7&8 are one story. Ch7 covers the entry into the Ark, the forty days of rain and
floods. Ch8 continues with the story after the rain stops. Also there is a repeat of Ch1 as we
enter a new creation. Noah is a new Adam. The ark is like the earth and as we saw in ch1
where the water covered the earth, in the same way the water covered the ark. The Spirit of
God hovered over the earth just like God now sends a wind over the earth (in Hebrew spirit
and wind are the same word). Ch8 also reminds us that 8 is representative of a new day and
a new start (resurrection was on the ‘8th’ day). Hence God is starting a new creation and new
world.
The following points cover v1-5:
* ‘remembered’ in the original Hebrew implies a ‘new start’. It’s not that God had forgotten
Noah because He ‘remembered’ him now. It’s the deficiency of the Hebrew language due to
its small vocabulary. After the flood, God brings our attention back to Noah.
* Also the fathers contemplate the ‘wind’ is symbolic of the Holy Spirit who is present during
Baptism and Confirmation. So after God baptised the earth (the Ark), He confirmed them in
faith by sending the Holy Spirit upon them. In the same way when Christ came out of the
Jordan River after baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in form of a dove. Ref 1 Peter
3:20-21 where he refers to the flood and Ark as a type of baptism.
* The rain continued for 40days and the water prevailed on the earth for 150days – the
fathers say the 150 includes the 40days. Refer to last email regarding the meaning of ’40’ and
‘150’.
* With regards to the 7th month, the fathers contemplate on God referring us to the number 7
again – the number of creation. In this chapter 7 recurs often – 7th month, 17th day, the dove is
sent out of the ark every 7th day etc. God is starting a new creation. The whole earth and its
timing are represented in the number 7.
Augustine contemplates on the number 17. He says the 7th month of the calendar in the Old
Testament is equivalent to the 2nd month of the calendar at the time of Christ (Abib). On the
14th of Abib, was the Passover and therefore Resurrection on the 17th. The Ark rested on the
mountain on the 17th. So it’s as if on the first day we are baptised (flood) and then we rest in
Christ because we rest in His resurrection. Come to Christ and you will find rest in Him. The
Ark (the whole world) found rest in Christ from sin by His resurrection. The Ark resting on the
mountain is a type of resurrection because there is no more flooding and everything is
stabilising. The water subsiding took with it all the dead bodies and animals and the Ark is at
the top of the mountain – so there is no more sin around. There is victory in resurrection. The
old man is gone and the new man has been raised with Christ.
* The name of the mountain is Ararat which means ‘high place’. When the Lord saves us He
places us on a high place – He takes us to sit with Him in heaven at His right hand.
In V6-9 after the 150 days passed and the water subsided, Noah waited another 40 days to
open the window in the ark and sends out a raven and a dove. The ark is on high ground, but
the earth is still very wet. The raven kept flying around and returned to the ark but did not
come back into the ark. However the dove, when it found the earth still wet returned back into
the ark. The raven found floating dead bodies and scavenged on these bodies, also using
them as a resting place. However the dove does not scavenge in the same way and so
returned to the ark. The raven represents those who have been cleansed in baptism but are
still drawn by their desires to live a worldly and sinful life and leave the fold. St Augustine says
it also represents those who keep saying ‘I’ll repent tomorrow, I’ll come back tomorrow’ – they
go to and fro but never return. This demonstrates that in the church there are ravens and
doves. Both are baptised – one remains in the church and protects its salvation while the
other is drawn by its desires to abandon its salvation and stay in their old sinful nature.
Ambrose says the raven is symbolic of sin which must be cast out which we do when we
renounce Satan during baptism. The dove is symbolic of our declaration of faith in Christ.
During baptism we renounce sin (raven) and hold onto the Holy Spirit (dove).