Let's take our Bibles and turn
back to the book of Genesis, chapter 8. Genesis, chapter 8. We remember the passage of Scripture.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for
instruction, for correction, righteousness, It's God breathed
and we need every word of God. Every word. Now, I want us to
look and basically I would say that this passage that we're
going to deal with describes the way in which the Lord was
pleased to cause the earth to return to its former state of
existence before the flood. We looked at verse 1 last time
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. Now, we're going to consider
these months that took place. And we won't cover all the time
that Noah stayed in the ark, but we're going to cover these
first few months after the water has stopped flowing. The scripture
says in verses 2 and 3, 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 the earth continually. And after
the end of 150 days, the waters were abated. Now, the wrath of
God against the wickedness and rebellion of men has been poured
forth. The Lord has destroyed all life
except that which was found within the ark, and the scripture declares
that Noah being shut in by the Lord, now the scripture says
that the fountains also of the deep, the water burst forth out
of the earth. There was water under the earth
and it burst forth and the scriptures declared that the fountains of
the deep, the spring or the source of the water that came forth
from the earth was stopped. And the windows of heaven were
stopped. The openings in the sky were
made to surrender to the command of the Lord. You remember when
the Lord spoke to the wind and to the waves and His disciples
marveled. What manner of man is this? Even
the wind and the waves obeyed. God stopped them. And it says,
the windows of heaven were stopped and the rain from heaven was
restrained. Now, that rain that fell, it
was restricted and it began to go back. But the Lord had told
Noah in Genesis 7, verse 4, for yet seven days and I will cause
it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. That word
rain, it's a very amazing thing. You know, we see the word rain
and we think rain. It's rain. Well, it was rain. But this particular word rain,
and we're going to see the other word in just a minute here, but
this particular word rain, it means to pour down from heaven
in great abundance. Whenever that word there, rain,
it's like when God caused it to rain brimstone and fire upon
Sodom and Gomorrah as he rained a grievous hail upon Egypt in
the plague. So this rain that God said, I'm
going to cause it to rain, this wasn't an ordinary rain. We were
going to Lexington or Danville the other day. And off the horizon,
I can see it get real black. And so I just kind of looked
on my phone there to see what was going on. And I mean to tell
you, there wasn't a big, it wasn't a great big sail, but it was
a pretty sizable rain sail, thunderstorm sail. And it was moving north
to south, and I'm going west. And so it's coming and it's going
to move right in front. Well, I was hoping that I could
miss it, because it was And I'm telling you, we got into that
thing and I don't remember ever seeing it rain like this. I would
dare say I could have seen Barrow if it was that far ahead of the
car. We were just down to 40, 45 miles an hour. Cars pulled
off the side of the road. Unbelievable rain. This was torrential
rain, the Lord had told. I'm going to cause it to rain.
And the scripture says in verse 2, and the rain from heaven was
restrained. God held it back. And when the
Lord was pleased to shut up the windows of heaven and to restrain
the rain, it became more as a shower. That's what it says. And the
rain from heaven was restrained. That's what it meant. It went
from a torrential downpour to a shower. And the waters began
to go back to their state. So God's affliction like his
word, it accomplishes its purpose. God had told Noah, I'm going
to cause it to rain on this earth. And what he meant was, it's going
to pour forth like you've never seen it pour forth. It never
rained before. You're going to see rain now. And so now the
scriptures has declared that the waters now are beginning
to return, verse 3. And it says in verse 4, and the
ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the
month upon the mountains of Ararat. Now here we have the effect of
the restrained water. That water is a picture, it was
a picture of God's judgment. And the ark, being a picture
of Christ, and those within the ark, a picture of the church,
the ark now rested. And it rested in a very significant
place. It rested upon the mountains
of Ararat. It was a mountain range, is what
it was. And it rested, that is, it took
its rest The word even means it drew a breath. It had gone
through that flood and it rested upon Ararat. Now when you look
up, and if anybody would like to look this up, it's found in
the Blue Letter Bible, which is a very, very good source.
The name Ararat means the curse reversed. That's what Ararat
means, the curse reversed. So the Ark, according to the
good providence of God, was no longer moving. It was rested
upon this place. It was still water, but the boat
was down and it hit the mountain. And it's resting. The water is
all around and it's resting upon this mountain with that flood
still around. Now, the Lord, and here's where
we're going to learn something. The Lord provides for his people. Now they're in that ark, that
ark in a picture of the Lord. God's people are in Christ, but
we're in this world too. And we're going through trials
and tribulations and tossings in this life and places of chastisement,
but in the midst of all of these trials and temptations, we're
resting. It rested on the curse reversed. God has provided a place. The
Lord never promised that we'd be free from troubles, but he's
promised that we have rest in the midst of our troubles. So
just imagine. This ark has just been moved
by the good providence of God, and Almighty God put that ark
right on the spot that meant the curse reversed. And it rested,
sitting now on a mountain range. And the scripture declares that
God's people rest The scripture says in John 16, 33, these things
have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. So we
will have trials. We're going to have tribulations
and trouble. But we are not without his comfort and rest. Noah was
still in the boat. The water's all around. But Noah
was in Christ. So the Apostle Paul in Acts 9,
29, and 31, he set forth after his conversion, you may turn
there, Acts chapter 9, verse 29 to 31, speaking of the rest
of God's people. Acts 9, 29, the scripture says,
and he spake boldly, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed
against the Grecians. But they went about to slay him,
which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea,
and sent him forth to Tarsus. Then had the churches rest throughout
all Judea, and Galatia, and Samaria, and were edified, walking in
the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost,
were multiplied." So brethren, you know this. We go through
trials and tribulations, we go through troubles. The Lord's
promised that we will. We're not going to be free. He's
going to chase in His people. We're being taught of His faithfulness. If you're without chastisement,
it's because we're none of His. So we're taught here. The flood of God's wrath was
all around. But Noah was in the ark, tossed. tried, and I'm sure that he was
a man, but a man that believed God. And the Lord has placed
him in this place. So, whenever we see the judgment
of God being poured out, and we're suffering just as Noah
did, remember, the Word of God is sure. And verse 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. Now, here is an amazing truth
that's going to continue now through these next few verses,
through verse 12. Here's a truth that is consistent
for all of God's people in these scriptures. Now listen to this.
The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. That arc has rested on top of
that mountain range. The waters are receding. The
scripture says in this fifth verse, the waters decrease continually
until that tenth month. In the tenth month, first day
of the month, the tops of the mountains are being seen. Now, the scripture declares that
Noah is aware that the waters are going down. He entered the
ark by God's command and the Lord sustained him throughout
the flood, through that deluge. It rested upon the mountains
of Ararat and now Noah has, after it rested, He has stayed in that
ark, according to these dates here, for about two and a half
months. He's in the ark on top of the
mountain range of Ararat. And the tops of the mountains
are visible. It was obvious what was happening. All of these places I thought
about the tops of the mountains are seen. Noah is now seeing
all these places of false refuge. Like I said last time, I could
just imagine people just scammering, trying to get up, up, up, up,
up, up, up. The water's coming up. And everybody's trying to
get to the mountain. Now listen, eventually it's not
going to hold anybody, and eventually it won't hold anybody. But that
was the last places of any hope of refuge outside of the Ark. And it proved to be no refuge
at all. And now they're starting to be
seen again. And Noah's aware. But the Lord has been pleased
to keep Noah inside the ark after it rested two and a half months. Why? Why? Noah's faith is going to be tried. Isaiah 28, 16, he that believeth
shall not make haste. Those that have been made to
wait upon the Lord shall not be in a hurry. That's what the
word haste means. You remember when Sarah and Abraham
was told, God told Abraham, Sarah is going to have a son by you,
by you. about this time next year. And
scripture says that Sarah, inside the tent, laughed within herself. The Lord asked, why? Why did
Sarah laugh? She said, I didn't laugh. She
laughed in her heart. And God heard her. Well, in the
process of time, you know what happened. Sarah told Abraham,
surely the Lord meant that you should take my handmaid, Hagar,
and have a son by her. And that's what she did. And
obviously, that wasn't the son of promise. And they didn't wait. They didn't wait on God. Now
listen, the Lord's timing is right. It's always right. It's always perfect. Isaiah 30
verse 18, And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be
gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he may
have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
for him." God's way is to make his people wait. Have you ever noticed that? His way to show His mercy and
prove the faith of His people and the faithfulness of God is
to make them wait. How many times do we see in the
Scriptures, wait on the Lord, wait, wait on the Lord. I'm going
to read verses 6 to 12 and then we'll comment on this. And it
came to pass at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window
of the ark which he had made And he sent forth a raven which
went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off
the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the
waters were abated from off the face of the ground. 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 pulled her
in unto him into the ark, and he stayed yet another seven days.
And again he sent forth the dove out of the ark, and the dove
came in to him in the evening. And lo, in her mouth was an olive
leaf plucked off, so no one knew that the waters were abated from
off the earth. And he stayed yet another seven
days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto
him anymore." Now, 40 days. That number that we've looked
at 40 days after resting on Ararat, that time of trial and proving
of Noah's faith. God had given him faith. He believed
God. But he's in that ark and he's going to have to wait. Why? Because the Lord has not told
him to come out of the ark. I just turn over. Lord willing,
I'll deal with this next time. Look at verse 15 of chapter eight,
verse 15. And God spake unto Noah, saying,
go forth of the ark, thou and thy wife and thy sons and thy
sons' wives with thee. Until the Lord spoke and told
him, you may now exit. Exit, exit the ark. Noah stayed in that ark. That place of security, safety,
and what Noah did was he wanted to see God was going to teach
him something through two birds. We're going to learn something
through these two birds too. Noah sends forth an unclean bird. He sent forth a raven. That's
what scripture says. Came to pass, verse 6, Noah opened
the window of the ark which he had made and sent forth a raven
which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from
off the earth. A raven is one, it's an unclean
bird, it's a bird of prey that feasts upon the decaying flesh
of dead animals. They eat garbage. A raven, they
eat garbage. And it went to and fro until
the waters were dried up. It never said that it came back
into the ark. Now it's very specific to look
exactly what that bird did. The raven did. The dove did. The dove came back in. Noah reached
out to The dove in. The raven, it went to and fro,
but it never was said to come back into the ark. It may have come back and landed
on top of the ark, but it continued flying over the receding waters,
living on the rot of creation that had been destroyed until
it was not even necessary to even return to the ark, to land
on the ark. So the raven is an unclean bird,
it was found in the ark but when it went out it never came back
into the ark. The raven here is a picture,
it's a spiritual picture of those that are among the people of
God but they're not of the people of God. Inside that ark there
was a family There was one of Adam's sons, Ham, that was cursed.
Cursed of God. And that bird was a picture of
those found among the people of God. They're tares. The Scripture
declares there's always tares among the way. They went out
from us. Because they were not of us. For had they been of us,
surely they would have remained with us. But they went out that
it might be made manifest that they were not of us. So here
was a bird, a raven, an uncleaned animal. And it was sent out to
go around. And surely it found a place to
sit. It may have found it. It was
sitting on top of a rotting carcass. There was something out there.
The dove we're going to look at in just a minute, it found
no place to rest its foot. There was nothing out there to
rest its foot on. It never did. So it came back. But here is that raven, it's
a picture of the old man, that old nature that's common to all
men. It's born in Adam, that nature
that wars against the spirit. The raven was an unclean animal. And so Noah then sent out, verse
8, said he sent out a dove from him to see if the waters were
abated from off the face of the earth. Like I said, that raven
could go out there and find something floating, rest on that, feast
on that, enjoy that. It could find a place that it'll
find something for it to eat. But now here goes a dove. He
sent forth a dove to see if the waters were abated. But the dove,
verse 9, found no rest. It found no rest. It found no
rest for the sole of her foot. Obviously the raven did. It found
a place. I can rest in this, the raven
said. I can rest on this rotten cow
or whatever is out there floating. But that dove found no rest for
the sole of her foot. And she returned. unto him into
the ark. God's people find no rest for
they can't rest anywhere except in Christ. That's the only place. So that dove sets forth God's
people, God's elect, those regenerated by the grace of God. Listen to
this. Song of Solomon 5.2. You know,
this is where the Lord had knocked, and he said, open to me. And
scripture says the bride speaks back. And she says, I sleep,
but my heart waketh. It's the voice of my beloved
that knocketh, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled, for my head is filled with you and my locks
with the drops of the night. That dove sets forth God's people. that know him, know his voice,
they're known of him, they follow him. The scripture says in Song
of Solomon 2.14, the Lord speaking, oh my dove, that are in the cliffs
of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy
countenance. Let me hear thy voice, for sweet
is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. So here's a dove,
sent forth from Noah, A picture of those that are clean. They're
clean. They're washed clean before God
in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Song of Solomon
6.9 says, My dove, my undefiled, is but one. of his affection. She's one of his affection. She's
the only one of her mother. She's the choice one of her that
bear her. So the Lord is setting forth
in these two birds. Here's the two natures. Got an old nature and a new nature.
Old man, new man. An old man that can feast on
the dregs of this world and its false religion, that rot that
does, there's no sustenance to it. But this dove, it finds no
place to rest its foot except in Christ coming back. So that dove would go forth. The Lord told his people, He
said, be you therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
So that dove finding no rest anywhere else could do nothing
in her heart. But come back to Noah, the picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says, Matthew 11, 28,
coming to me. All you that labor and heavy
laden, I will give you rest. So that dove in verse 9 that
had the toilsome task of flying to see if the waters were yet
upon the earth, it found no rest except when Noah put forth his
hand. That's what he said in verse
9. The dove found no rest for the
sole of her foot. She returned unto him into the
ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. And
it was like that when the raven was there. But he put forth his
hand. took her, pulled her in unto
him in the ark. So here's a picture. Our Lord,
he's not going to leave us alone. He won't forsake us. Then verse
10 and 11. And he stayed yet another seven days. And again he sent forth a dove
out of the ark. And the dove came in to him in
the evening, and low in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off.
So no one knew. that the waters were abated from
off the earth. Seven days that dove was sent
out again and it returned this time and it had something in
her mouth. It had a It had an olive leaf
that had been plucked off. There was an evidence of the
peace that God had sent upon the earth for those who found
grace in His eyes. And that dove there, now even
a beautiful picture of God's Spirit bringing the message of
peace and life through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
message that's preached by God's ministers when scripture says
in Romans 10 15 how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things then
in last verse here and he stayed yet seven other days and sent
forth the dove which returned not again unto him anymore don't
you know that uh I'm sure that there were fightings within,
probably questions without, of those that were already in the
boat or that were in the boat with them. How long are we going
to have to stay here? I'm sure the waters are down
somewhere. Maybe we can go out. But again,
I read that scripture to you that Lord will and will look
at next time. Until the Lord says it's time, it's not time.
The nation of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, They're out
in the wilderness and whenever the pillar of the cloud or the
pillar of fire moved, then they moved. If the pillar didn't move,
they don't move. That's the safest thing to do. The hardest thing against the
flesh is to wait. And that dove now has come back
and it's brought back this olive leaf that had been plucked off
and it now is sent out. And this time it says it doesn't
come back. That dove now, the Lord is teaching
Noah now, things are coming back. That dove was a creature of nature. And it was in the world, and
God would take care of it. And the Lord's teaching Noah
that things are going back as it were, but the Lord's going
to take care of that dove. It had been the means to teach
Noah of God's mercy and grace to him, and the restraining of
the waters. Now here's that bird, behold
the fowls of the air. They sow not. Neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them, or ye not much better than they." And God's going to take
care of Noah. He's going to provide for Noah,
but Noah's going to have to still wait on the Lord. Months and
months and months. But precious months to wait on
God. I can't encourage us enough.
Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Wait, I say,
on the Lord. Amen.