G
E N E S I S
CHAP. VIII.
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left
the world in ruins and the church in straits; but in this chapter we have the
repair of the one and the enlargement of the other. Now the scene alters, and
another face of things begins to be presented to us, and the brighter side of
that cloud which there appeared so black and dark; for, though God contend
long, he will not contend for ever, nor be always wrath. We have here, I. The
earth made anew, by the recess of the waters, and the appearing of the dry
land, now a second time, and both gradual. 1. The increase of the waters is
stayed, ver. 1, 2. 2. They begin sensibly to abate, ver. 3. 3. After sixteen
days' ebbing, the ark rests, ver. 4. 4. After sixty days' ebbing, the tops of
the mountains appeared above water, ver. 5. 5. After forty days' ebbing, and
twenty days before the mountains appeared, Noah began to send out his spies, a
raven and a dove, to gain intelligence, ver. 6-12. 6. Two months after the
appearing of the tops of the mountains, the waters had gone, and the face of
the earth was dry (ver. 13), though not dried so as to be fit for man till
almost two months after, ver. 14. II. Man placed anew upon the earth, in
which, 1. Noah's discharge and departure out of the ark, ver. 15-19. 2. His
sacrifice of praise, which he offered to God upon his enlargement, ver. 20. 3.
God's acceptance of his sacrifice, and the promise he made thereupon not to
drown the world again, ver. 21, 22. And thus, at length, mercy rejoices
against judgment.
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The
Earth Becomes Dry.
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B. C. 2349.
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1 And God remembered Noah, and every
living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God
made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; 2 The
fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the
rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from
off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the
waters were abated.
Here is, I. An
act of God's grace: God remembered Noah and every living thing. This is
an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures (Luke xii.
6), much less any of his people, are forgotten of God, Isa. xlix. 15, 16. But,
1. The whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now
extinguished, and driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered no
more; so that God's remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind,
of whom he would not make a full end. It is a strange expression, Ezek. v. 13,
When I have accomplished my fury in them, I will be comforted. The
demands of divine justice had been answered by the ruin of those sinners; he
had eased him of his adversaries (Isa. i. 24), and now his spirit was quieted
(Zech. vi. 8), and he remembered Noah and every living thing. He
remembered mercy in wrath (Hab. iii. 2), remembered the days of old (Isa.
lxiii. 11), remembered the holy seed, and then remembered Noah. 2. 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 had 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 in 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, Job xiv. 13. 3. With Noah, God remembered every
living thing; for, though his delight is especially in the sons of men, yet he
rejoices in all his works, and hates nothing that he has made. He takes
special care, not only of his people's persons, but of their possessions--of
them and all that belongs to them. He considered the cattle of Nineveh, Jon.
iv. 11.
II. An act of
God's power over wind and water, both of which are at his beck, though neither
of them is under man's control. Observe,
1. He commanded
the wind, and said to that, Go, and it went, in order to the carrying
off of the flood: God made a wind to pass over the earth. See here,
(1.) What was God's remembrance of Noah: it was his relieving him. Note, Those
whom God remembers he remembers effectually, for good; he remembers us to save
us, that we may remember him to serve him. (2.) What a sovereign dominion God
has over the winds. He has them in his fist (Prov. xxx. 4) and brings them out
of his treasuries, Ps. cxxxv. 7. He sends them when, and whither, and for what
purposes, he pleases. Even stormy winds fulfil his word, Ps. cxlviii. 8. It
should seem, while the waters increased, there was no wind; for that would
have added to the toss of the ark; but now God sent a wind, when it would not
be so troublesome. Probably, it was a north wind, for that drives away rain.
However, it was a drying wind, such a wind as God sent to divide the Red Sea
before Israel, Exod. xiv. 21.
2. He remanded
the waters, and said to them, Come, and they came. (1.) He took away
the cause. He sealed up the springs of those waters, the fountains of the
great deep, and the windows of heaven. Note, [1.] As God has a key to
open, so he has a key to shut up again, and to stay the progress of judgments
by stopping the causes of them: and the same hand that brings the desolation
must bring the deliverance; to that hand therefore our eye must ever be. He
that wounds is alone able to heal. See Job xii. 14, 15. [2.] When afflictions
have done the work for which they are sent, whether killing work or curing
work, they shall be removed. God's word shall not return void, Isa. lv. 10,
11. (2.) Then the effect ceased; not all at once, but by degrees: The
waters abated (v. 1), returned from off the earth continually,
Heb. they were going and returning (v. 3), which denotes a
gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and
perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more. Note, As the earth was not
drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. In the creation, it was but
one day's work to clear the earth from the waters that covered it, and to make
it dry land; nay, it was but half a day's work, ch. i. 9, 10. But, the
work of creation being finished, this work of providence was effected by the
concurring influence of second causes, yet thus enforced by the almighty power
of God. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually, that the day
of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things despaired of,
Zech. iv. 10. See Prov. iv. 18.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day
of the month, upon 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, were the tops of the mountains seen.
Here we have the
effects and evidences of the ebbing of the waters. 1. The ark rested. This was
some satisfaction to Noah, to feel the house he was in upon firm ground, and
no longer movable. It rested upon a mountain, whither it was directed, not by
Noah's prudence (he did not steer it), but by the wise and gracious providence
of God, that it might rest the sooner. Note, God has times and places of rest
for his people after their tossings; and many a time he provides for their
seasonable and comfortable settlement without their own contrivance and quite
beyond their own foresight. The ark of the church, though sometimes tossed
with tempests, and not comforted (Isa. liv. 11), yet has its rests, Acts ix.
31. 2. The tops of the mountains were seen, like little islands, appearing
above the water. We must suppose that they were seen by Noah and his sons; for
there were none besides to see them. It is probable that they had looked
through the window of the ark every day, like the longing mariners, after a
tedious voyage, to see if they could discover land, or as the prophet's
servant (1 Kings xviii. 43, 44), and at length they spy ground, and enter the
day of the discovery in their journal. They felt ground above forty days
before they saw it, according to Dr. Lightfoot's computation, whence he infers
that, if the waters decreased proportionably, the ark drew eleven cubits in
water.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened
the window of the ark which he had made: 7 And he sent forth a
raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off
the earth. 8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the
waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9 But the dove
found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the
ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put
forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of
the ark; 11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo,
in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the
waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other
seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any
more.
We have here an
account of the spies which Noah sent forth to bring him intelligence from
abroad, a raven and a dove. Observe here,
I. That though
God had told Noah particularly when the flood would come, even to a day (ch.
vii. 4), yet he did not give him a particular account by revelation at what
times, and by what steps, it should go away, 1. Because the knowledge
of the former was necessary to his preparing the ark, and settling himself in
it; but the knowledge of the latter would serve only to gratify his curiosity,
and the concealing of it from him would be the needful exercise of his faith
and patience. And, 2. He could not foresee the flood, but by revelation; but
he might, by ordinary means, discover the decrease of it, and therefore God
was pleased to leave him to the use of them.
II. That though
Noah by faith expected his enlargement, and by patience waited for it, yet he
was inquisitive concerning it, as one that thought it long to be thus
confined. Note, Desires of release out of trouble, earnest expectations of it,
and enquiries concerning its advances towards us, will very well consist with
the sincerity of faith and patience. He that believes does not make haste
to run before God, but he does make haste to go forth to meet him, Isa. xxviii.
16. Particularly, 1. Noah sent forth a raven through the window of the ark,
which went forth, as the Hebrew phrase is, going forth and returning,
that is, flying about, and feeding on the carcases that floated, but returning
to the ark for rest; probably not in it, but upon it. This gave Noah little
satisfaction; therefore, 2. He sent forth a dove, which returned the first
time with no good news, but probably wet and dirty; but, the second time, she
brought an olive-leaf in her bill, which appeared to be
first plucked off, a plain indication that now the trees, the fruit-trees,
began to appear above water. Note here, (1.) That Noah sent forth the dove the
second time seven days after the first time, and the third time was after
seven days too; and probably the first sending of her out was seven days after
the sending forth of the raven. This intimates that it was done on the sabbath
day, which, it should seem, Noah religiously observed in the ark. Having kept
the sabbath in a solemn assembly of his little church, he then expected
special blessings from heaven, and enquired concerning them. Having directed
his prayer, he looked up, Ps. v. 3. (2.) The dove is an emblem of a gracious
soul, which finding no rest for its foot, no solid peace or satisfaction in
this world, this deluged defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as
to its Noah. The carnal heart, like the raven, takes up with the world, and
feeds on the carrions it finds there; but return thou to thy rest, O my
soul, to thy Noah, so the word is, Ps. cxvi. 7. O that I had
wings like a dove, to flee to him! Ps. lv. 6. And as Noah put forth his
hand, and took the dove, and pulled her in to him, into the ark, so Christ
will graciously preserve, and help, and welcome, those that fly to him for
rest. (3.) The olive-branch, which was an emblem of peace, was brought, not by
the raven, a bird of prey, nor by a gay and proud peacock, but by a mild,
patient, humble dove. It is a dove-like disposition that brings into the soul
earnests of rest and joy. (4.) Some make these things an allegory. The law was
first sent forth like the raven, but brought no tidings of the assuaging of
the waters of God's wrath, with which the world of mankind was deluged;
therefore, in the fulness of time, God sent forth his gospel, as the dove, in
the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended, and this presents us with an
olive-branch and brings in a better hope.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the
first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried
up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked,
and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second
month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
Here is, 1. The
ground dry (v. 13), that is, all the water carried off it, which, upon
the first day of the first month (a joyful new-year's-day it was), Noah was
himself an eye-witness of. He removed the covering of the ark, not the
whole covering, but so much as would suffice to give him a prospect of the
earth about it; and a most comfortable prospect he had. For behold, behold and
wonder, the face of the ground was dry. Note, (1.) It is a great mercy
to see ground about us. Noah was more sensible of it than we are; for mercies
restored are much more affecting than mercies continued. (2.) The divine power
which now renewed the face of the earth can renew the face of an afflicted
troubled soul and of a distressed persecuted church. He can make dry ground to
appear even where it seemed to have been lost and forgotten, Ps. xviii. 16. 2.
The ground dried (v. 14), so as to be a fit habitation for Noah.
Observe, Though Noah saw the ground dry the first day of the first month, yet
God would not suffer him to go out of the ark till the twenty-seventh day of
the second month. Perhaps Noah, being somewhat weary of his restraint, would
have quitted the ark at first; but God, in kindness to him, ordered him to
stay so much longer. Note, God consults our benefit rather than our desires;
for he knows what is good for us better than we do for ourselves, and how long
it is fit our restraints should continue and desired mercies should be
delayed. We would go out of the ark before the ground is dried: and perhaps,
if the door be shut, are ready to remove the covering, and to climb up some
other way; but we should be satisfied that God's time of showing mercy is
certainly the best time, when the mercy is ripe for us and we are ready for
it.
15
And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and
thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17 Bring
forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both
of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and
multiply upon the earth. 18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and
his wife, and his sons' wives with him: 19 Every beast, every
creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth,
after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
Here is, I.
Noah's dismission out of the ark, v. 15-17. Observe, 1. Noah did not
stir till God bade him. As he had a command to go into the ark (ch.
vii. 1), so, how tedious soever his confinement there was, he would wait for a
command to go out of it again. Note, We must in all our ways acknowledge God,
and set him before us in all our removes. Those only go under God's protection
that follow God's direction and submit to his government. Those that steadily
adhere to God's word as their rule, and are guided by his grace as their
principle, and take hints from his providence to assist them
in their application of general directions to particular cases, may in faith
see him guiding their motions in their march through this wilderness. 2.
Though God detained him long, yet at last he gave him his discharge; for the
vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak, it shall
speak truth (Hab. ii. 3), it shall not lie. 3. God had said, Come into the
ark which he says, not, Come forth, but, Go forth, which
intimates that God, who went in with him, staid with him all the while, till
he sent him out safely; for he has said, I will not leave thee. 4. Some
observe that, when they were ordered into the ark, the men and the women were
mentioned separately (ch. vi. 18): Thou, and thy sons, and thy wife,
and thy sons' wives; hence they infer that, during the time of mourning,
they were apart, and their wives apart, Zech. xii. 12. But now God did as it
were new-marry them, sending out Noah and his wife together, and his sons and
their wives together, that they might be fruitful and multiply. 5. Noah was
ordered to bring the creatures out with him, that having taken the care of
feeding them so long, and been at so much pains about them, he might have the
honour of leading them forth by their armies, and receiving their homage.
II. Noah's
departure when he had his dismission. As he would not go out without leave, so
he would not, out of fear or humour, stay in when he had leave, but was in all
points observant of the heavenly vision. Though he had been now a full year
and ten days a prisoner in the ark, yet when he found himself preserved there,
not only for a new life, but for a new world, he saw no reason to complain of
his long confinement. Now observe, 1. Noah and his family came out alive,
though one of them was a wicked Ham, whom, though he escaped the flood, God's
justice could have taken away by some other stroke. But they are all alive.
Note, When families have been long continued together, and no breaches made
among them, it must be looked upon as a distinguishing favour, and attributed
to the Lord's mercies. 2. Noah brought out all the creatures that went in with
him, except the raven and the dove, which, probably, were ready to meet their
mates at their coming out. Noah was able to give a very good account of his
charge; for of all that were given to him he had lost none, but was faithful
to him that appointed him, pro hac vice--on this occasion, high steward
of his household.
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Noah's
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20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD;
and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt
offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD
said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;
for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will
I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer
and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Here is, I.
Noah's thankful acknowledgment of God's favour to him, in completing the mercy
of his deliverance, v. 20. 1. He built an altar. Hitherto he had
done nothing without particular instructions and commands from God. He had a
particular call into the ark, and another out of it; but, altars and
sacrifices being already of divine institution for religious worship, he did
not stay for a particular command thus to express his thankfulness. Those that
have received mercy from God should be forward in returning thanks, and do it not
of constraint, but willingly. God is pleased with free-will offerings, and
praises that wait for him. Noah was now turned out into a cold and desolate
world, where, one would have thought, his first care would have been to build
a house for himself; but, behold, he begins with an altar for God: God, that
is the first, must be first served; and he begins well that begins with God.
2. He offered a sacrifice upon his altar, of every clean beast, and of
every clean fowl--one, the odd seventh that we read of, ch. vii. 2,
3. Here observe, (1.) He offered only those that were clean; for it is not
enough that we sacrifice, but we must sacrifice that which God appoints,
according to the law of sacrifice, and not a corrupt thing. (2.) Though his
stock of cattle was so small, and that rescued from ruin at so great an
expense of care and pains, yet he did not grudge to give God his dues out of
it. He might have said, "Have I but seven sheep to begin the world with,
and must one of these seven be killed and burnt for sacrifice? Were it not
better to defer it till we have greater plenty?" No, to prove the
sincerity of his love and gratitude, he cheerfully gives the seventh to his
God, as an acknowledgment that all was his, and owing to him. Serving God with
our little is the way to make it more; and we must never think that wasted
with which God is honoured. (3.) See here the antiquity of religion: the first
thing we find done in the new world was an act of worship, Jer. vi. 16. We are
now to express our thankfulness, not by burnt-offerings, but by the sacrifices
of praise and the sacrifices of righteousness, by pious devotions and a pious
conversation.
II. God's
gracious acceptance of Noah's thankfulness. It was a settled rule in the
patriarchal age: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? Noah
was so. For,
1. God was well
pleased with the performance, v. 21. He smelt a
sweet savour, or, as it is in the Hebrew, a savour of rest, from
it. As, when he had made the world at first on the seventh day, he rested and
was refreshed, so, now that he had new-made it, in the sacrifice of the
seventh he rested. He was well pleased with Noah's pious zeal, and these
hopeful beginnings of the new world, as men are with fragrant and agreeable
smells; though his offering was small, it was according to his ability, and
God accepted it. Having caused his anger to rest upon the world of sinners, he
here caused his love to rest upon this little remnant of believers.
2. Hereupon, he
took up a resolution never to drown the world again. Herein he had an eye, not
so much to Noah's sacrifice as to Christ's sacrifice of himself, which was
typified and represented by it, and which was indeed an offering of a
sweet-smelling savour, Eph. v. 2. Good security is here given, and that
which may be relied upon,
(1.) That this
judgment should never be repeated. Noah might think, "To what purpose
should the world be repaired, when, in all probability, for the wickedness of
it, it will quickly be in like manner ruined again?" "No," says
God, "it never shall." It was said (ch. vi. 6), It
repented the Lord that he had made man; now here he speaks as if it
repented him that he had destroyed man: neither means a change of his mind,
but both a change of his way. It repented him concerning his servants,
Deut. xxxii. 36. Two ways this resolve is expressed:-- [1.] I will not
again curse the ground, Heb. I will not add to curse the ground any
more. God had cursed the ground upon the first entrance of sin (ch.
iii. 17), when he drowned it he added to that curse; but now he determines not
to add to it any more. [2.] Neither will I again smite any more every
living thing; that is, it was determined that whatever ruin God might
bring upon particular persons, or families, or countries, he would never again
destroy the whole world till the day shall come when time shall be no more.
But the reason of this resolve is very surprising, for it seems the same in
effect with the reason given for the destruction of the world: Because the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, ch. vi. 5. But
there is this difference--there it is said, The imagination of man's heart
is evil continually, that is, "his actual transgressions continually
cry against him;" here it is said, It is evil from his youth or
childhood. It is bred in the bone; he brought it into the world with him;
he was shapen and conceived in it. Now, one would think it should follow,
"Therefore that guilty race shall be wholly extinguished, and I will
make a full end." No, "Therefore I will no more take this severe
method; for," First, "He is rather to be pitied, for it is
all the effect of sin dwelling in him; and it is but what might be expected
from such a degenerate race: he is called a transgressor from the womb,
and therefore it is not strange that he deals so very treacherously," Isa.
xlviii. 8. Thus God remembers that he is flesh, corrupt and sinful, Ps.
lxxviii. 39. Secondly, "He will be utterly ruined; for, if he be
dealt with according to his deserts, one flood must succeed another till all
be destroyed." See here, 1. That outward judgments, though they may
terrify and restrain men, yet cannot of themselves sanctify and renew them;
the grace of God must work with those judgments. Man's nature was as sinful
after the deluge as it had been before. 2. That God's goodness takes occasion
from man's sinfulness to magnify itself the more; his reasons of mercy are all
drawn from himself, not from any thing in us.
(2.) That the
course of nature should never be discontinued (v. 22): "While
the earth remaineth, and man upon it, there shall be summer and winter
(not all winter as had been this last year), day and night," not
all night, as probably it was while the rain was descending. Here, [1.] It is
plainly intimated that this earth is not to remain always; it, and all the
works in it, must shortly be burnt up; and we look for new heavens and a
new earth, when all these things must be dissolved. But, [2.] As long as
it does remain God's providence will carefully preserve the regular succession
of times and seasons, and cause each to know its place. To this we owe it that
the world stands, and the wheel of nature keeps it track. See here how
changeable the times are and yet how unchangeable. First, The course of
nature always changing. As it is with the times, so it is with the events of
time, they are subject to vicissitudes--day and night, summer and winter,
counterchanged. In heaven and hell it is not so, but on earth God hath set
the one over against the other. Secondly, Yet never changed. It is
constant in this inconstancy. These seasons have never ceased, nor shall
cease, while the sun continued such a steady measurer of time and the moon
such a faithful witness in heaven. This is God's covenant of the day
and of the night, the stability of which is mentioned for the confirming
of our faith in the covenant of grace, which is no less inviolable, Jer.
xxxiii. 20, 21. We see God's promises to the creatures made good, and thence
may infer that his promises to all believers shall be so.
Contents
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