Two Birds and a New World Text: Genesis 8:6-12
Introduction: The World Under Water
We come now to a quiet moment in the history of the world. The violence of the flood is over. The fountains of the great deep have been stopped, the windows of heaven closed, and the ark has come to rest on the mountains of Ararat. For months, Noah and his family have been sealed in a wooden box, surrounded by the waters of judgment. The old world, with all its clamoring rebellion and high-handed sin, has been washed away. It is a silent, baptized world.
But the silence is the silence of waiting. God has judged the world, and God has saved His remnant. But what comes next? How does a new world begin? This is not a story about survival; it is a story about re-creation. Noah is a new Adam, and he is about to step out into a new Eden, a world cleansed by water. And just as in the first creation, God is going to work in an orderly, deliberate fashion. He does not simply snap His fingers and make the world dry. He involves His creature, Noah, in the process of discovery. He teaches him, and us, about the nature of patient faith.
In this passage, we see Noah acting as a scout, sending out emissaries from the ark to test the conditions of the new world. The two birds he sends, the raven and the dove, are not chosen at random. They are deeply symbolic, representing two entirely different ways of relating to the world. One represents the old order of death and judgment, and the other represents the new order of life, peace, and the Holy Spirit. This is not just a quaint detail in an old story. This is a picture of the gospel. It is a lesson in how God's people are to wait for Him, how we are to discern His timing, and what kind of world He is building.
The Text
Then it happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it went out flying back and forth until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he stretched out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark to himself. Then he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again.
(Genesis 8:6-12 LSB)
The Test of Forty Days (v. 6)
Our story begins with a period of waiting.
"Then it happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;" (Genesis 8:6)
The tops of the mountains had been visible for some time, but Noah waits. He waits for forty days. This number is never accidental in Scripture. Forty is the number of testing, trial, and transition. The rains of the flood fell for forty days and nights. Moses was on the mountain with God for forty days. Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days. This is a period of probation. Noah is waiting out God's appointed time of testing before he even peeks outside. This is a picture of mature faith. Faith does not mean rushing ahead. Faith is not impatience. Faith is the quiet confidence that God's timetable is perfect, and so we can afford to wait. Noah does not try to pry the door open. God had shut him in, and God would be the one to let him out. But in the meantime, he can open the window he himself had made and begin to seek God's will for the next step.
The Raven: A Picture of the Old World (v. 7)
Noah's first scout is a raven.
"and he sent out a raven, and it went out flying back and forth until the water was dried up from the earth." (Genesis 8:7 LSB)
The raven is significant. According to the law of Moses, the raven is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:15). It is a scavenger. It feeds on carrion, on dead things. When Noah sends out the raven, it does not return to the ark. Why? Because it was perfectly at home in a world of death. The waters were still covering the earth, but floating on those waters were the carcasses of the world that had been. The raven could land on the floating debris, it could feast on the dead, and it was satisfied. It flew "back and forth," content with the desolation. The raven represents the carnal heart, the heart of the unbeliever. The carnal mind is at home in a world under judgment. It feeds on the garbage of a fallen world and feels no need for the ark of salvation. It is satisfied with death. The raven is a picture of the old creation, which was judged and passed away.
The Dove: A Picture of the New Creation (v. 8-9)
Next, Noah sends out a completely different kind of bird.
"Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he stretched out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark to himself." (Genesis 8:8-9 LSB)
The dove is a clean bird. It is a symbol of purity, peace, and, most importantly, the Holy Spirit. We see the Spirit of God descending on Jesus at His baptism "like a dove" (Matt. 3:16). The dove cannot find rest in a world still covered by the waters of judgment. Unlike the raven, it cannot make a home on a floating corpse. It needs dry land, it needs life. It needs a place to set its foot. And so it returns to the ark, to Noah. The name Noah means "rest." The dove found no rest (manoah) in the world, so it returned to Noah (rest) in the ark. This is a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit and the believer. The Spirit of God finds no home in the unregenerate world. A true believer, in whom the Spirit dwells, can find no ultimate satisfaction, no true rest, in the things of this world. Our rest is in Christ alone, our true Noah, our ark of salvation. Notice the tenderness here. Noah "stretched out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark to himself." This is how Christ receives us when we flee from the world to Him for refuge.
The Olive Leaf: A Sign of Peace (v. 10-11)
Noah's patience is tested again, and he waits according to a divine pattern.
"Then he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth." (Genesis 8:10-11 LSB)
Noah waits seven days. Seven is the number of completion, of divine perfection. It is the number of covenant. He is waiting on God's perfect timing. He sends the dove out again, and this time, it returns with a sign. It comes back in the evening, at the end of the day, with a freshly plucked olive leaf. This is the first sign of new life. The olive tree is a hardy, resilient tree. It can survive underwater and put forth new leaves quickly. This leaf was not some dead debris; it was "freshly picked." This was proof that God's judgment was giving way to mercy. Life was returning to the earth.
The olive leaf itself is profoundly significant. The olive branch has become a universal symbol of peace. This is God's declaration of peace with the new world. The war on sin is over, and the waters of wrath have subsided. Furthermore, olives produce oil, and oil in the Scripture is a constant symbol of the Holy Spirit's anointing. This is a sign of the Spirit's life-giving work in the new creation. This single leaf is a gospel promise. It is God saying that His intention is not judgment, but life, peace, and anointing. Noah now has tangible evidence. He "knew" that the water was abated. Faith is not a blind leap; God gives us evidence. He gives us His promises, and He confirms them with signs.
The Final Test: The Dove Departs (v. 12)
"Then he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove; but it did not return to him again." (Genesis 8:12 LSB)
Noah waits another covenant week. He is not in a hurry. He sends the dove out a third and final time, and this time, it does not return. This is the final confirmation. The dove has found a place to rest. The new world is habitable. Life can begin again. The Holy Spirit is now able to make His home in the cleansed world. The work of re-creation has reached a point where God's people can come out of the ark and begin the task of filling the earth and subduing it once more.
Conclusion: The Ark, the Baptism, and the New Creation
This entire narrative is a type, a foreshadowing, of our salvation in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter tells us this directly. He says that in the days of Noah, "eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you" (1 Peter 3:20-21). The flood was a baptism of the entire world. The waters of judgment destroyed the wicked, but they also lifted up the ark, saving the righteous. In the same way, the waters of our baptism are a picture of death and resurrection. We are buried with Christ, and the old man is drowned. We are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life.
Like the raven, our old nature is perfectly happy to feed on the dead things of this world. But when the Spirit of God, the heavenly dove, comes to us, we find that we can no longer find rest in the world. We can only find our rest, our Noah, in the ark of Christ. And He reaches out His hand and brings us in. As we wait for our final deliverance, for the new heavens and the new earth, God sends us signs of His peace. He gives us the olive leaf of His promises in the Word. He gives us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, a guarantee that the land is being prepared for us.
And one day, the dove will not return. One day, the time of waiting will be over. Christ will open the door of this present age and call us out into a fully restored creation, a world where righteousness dwells. Until then, we are to be like Noah. We are to wait with patient faith, testing the signs of the times, trusting His perfect, covenantal timing, and looking for that world where the heavenly dove has made a home forever.