Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Genesis
Book: Genesis
Chapter: 8
Overview:
God remembers
Noah, and dries up the waters.
(1-3) The
Ark
rests
On Ararat,
Noah sends forth a
Raven and a
Dove.
(4-12)
Noah being commanded, goes out of the
Ark.
(13-19) Noah offers
Sacrifice,
God promises to
Curse the
Earth No more.
(20-22)
1-3 The whole race of mankind, except
Noah and his family, were
now dead,
So that
God's remembering
Noah, was the return of his
Mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full
End. The
demands of Divine
Justice had been answered
By the ruin of
sinners.
God sent his wind to dry the
Earth, and
Seal up his
waters. The same
Hand that brings the
Desolation, must bring the
deliverance; to that
Hand, therefore, we must ever look. When
Afflictions have done the work for which they are sent, whether
killing work or curing work, they will be taken away. As the
Earth was not drowned in a
Day,
So it was not dried in a
Day.
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.
4-12 The
Ark rested upon a mountain, whither it was directed
By
the
Wise and gracious
Providence of
God, that might
Rest the
sooner.
God has times and places of
Rest for his people after
their tossing; and many times he provides for their seasonable
and comfortable settlement, without their own contrivance, and
quite
Beyond their own foresight.
God had told
Noah when the
Flood would come, yet he did not give him an account
By
Revelation, at what times and
By what steps it should go away.
The knowledge of the former was necessary to his preparing the
Ark; but the knowledge of the latter would serve only to gratify
curiosity; and concealing it from him would
Exercise his
Faith
and patience.
Noah sent forth a
Raven from the
Ark, which went
flying about, and feeding
On the carcasses that floated.
Noah
then sent forth a
Dove, which returned the first time without
good news; but the second time, she brought an
Olive Leaf in her
bill, plucked off, plainly showing that trees,
Fruit trees,
began to appear above water.
Noah sent forth the
Dove the second
time,
Seven days after the first, and the third time was after
Seven days also; probably
On the
Sabbath Day. Having kept the
Sabbath with his little
Church, he expected especial blessings
from
Heaven, and inquired concerning them. The
Dove is an emblem
of a gracious soul, that, finding
No solid peace of satisfaction
in this deluged, defiling world, returns to
Christ as to its
Ark, as to its
Noah, its
Rest. The defiling world, returns to
Christ as to its
Ark, as to its
Noah, its
Rest. The
Carnal
Heart, like the
Raven, takes up with the world, and feeds
On the
carrion it finds there; but return thou to my
Rest, O my soul;
to thy
Noah,
So the
Word is, Ps 116:7. And as
Noah Put forth
his
Hand, and took the
Dove, and pulled her to him, into the
Ark,
So Christ will save, and help, and welcome those that flee
to him for
Rest.
13-19 God consults our benefit, rather than our desires; 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, is shut, are ready to
thrust off the covering, and to climb up some other way; but
God's time of showing
Mercy is the best time. As
Noah had a
command to go into the
Ark,
So, how tedious soever his
confinement there was, he would wait for a command to go out of
it again. We must in all our ways acknowledge
God, and set him
before us in all our removals. Those only go under
God's
protection, who follow
God's direction, and submit to him.
20-22 Noah was now gone out into a desolate world, where, one
might have thought, his first care would have been to build a
House for himself, but he begins with an alter for
God. He
begins
Well, that begins with
God. Though
Noah's stock of
Cattle
was small, and that saved at great care and pains, yet he did
not grudge to serve
God out of it. Serving
God with our little
is the way to make it more; we must never think that is wasted
with which
God is honoured. The first thing done in the new
world was an act of
Worship. We are now to express our
thankfulness, not
By burnt-offerings, but
By praise, and pious
devotions and
Conversation.
God was
Well pleased with what was
done. But the burning
Flesh could
No more please
God, than the
Blood of bulls and goats, except as typical of the
Sacrifice of
Christ, and expressing
Noah's humble
Faith and devotedness to
God. The
Flood washed away the race of wicked men, but it did
not remove
Sin from
Man's nature, who being conceived and born
in
Sin, thinks, devises, and loves wickedness, even from his
youth, and that as much since the
Flood as before. But
God
graciously declared he never would
Drown the world again. While
the
Earth remains, and
Man upon it, there shall be summer and
winter. It is
Plain that this
Earth is not to remain always. It,
and all the
Works in it, must shortly be burned up; and we look
for new heavens and a new
Earth, when all these things shall be
dissolved. But as long as it does remain,
God's
Providence will
cause the course of times and
Seasons to go
On, and makes each
to know its place. And
On this
Word we depend, that thus it
shall be. We see
God's promises to the creatures made good, and
may infer that his promises to all believers shall be
So.