Bible
Commentary
Genesis 8
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.
The Earth Becomes Dry. B. C.
2349.
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.
Noah's Sacrifice. B. C. 2348.
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.
