May 24, 2020

Ravens and Doves

Ravens and Doves

Genesis 8: 4-12, ESV and the Message

ESV

4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

The Message

4-6 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ship landed on the Ararat mountain range. The water kept going down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view. After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.
7-9 He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn’t even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
10-11 He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn’t come back.

The Raven

  1. Is restless , flying in and out of the ark?  – bad translations suggest the raven kept flying over the earth, no the raven kept flying back and forth between the ark and a deluged earth instead of being patient, strategic and faithful.
  2. Is in pursuit of dead things even though ravens can also eat living things.
  3.  Never comes to a place of rest, but hopefully survives…there is a question mark regarding the ultimate place of the raven…I don’t know, I pray the raven found rest, but I don’t want to live in a guessing posture with my life.  I want to rest.

The Dove

  1. Pursues rest and when the dove can’t find rest, the dove does not have a problem going back to where it is safe – I was provided for in the ark, I ate seeds and vegetation in the ark, the ark kept almost a year, so why get restless because the ark is different; diverse seasons require diverse provision; Noah I believe points us a bit to GOD in the text, when the dove can’t perch, Noah reaches for the dove and brings the dove back in.
  2. The dove looked for life and found life – are you a life-inspector or do you perform autopsies…are you looking for death or looking for life?
  3. After the 3rd trip, the dove doesn’t have to come back, because the temporary safety of the ark is no longer necessary!  - The Dove re-emerges…The Dove was ready to move into its new season signaling for Noah it was time to move.

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OVERVIEW
Publish Date:

July 14, 2023

RESOURCES
PAST SERIES MESSAGES

When GOD remembers Noah, GOD:1. Begins the process of readying Noah to exit the ark and reconstitutes his purpose as the agent of a new Divine Covenant; Noah is preserved for a purpose.2. Breathes a fresh wind on the earth signaling that GOD's Spirit does show up in dead and confusing places with the ordering power of GOD’s life. 

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John 14:15-17 ESV If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you

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