For The Birds

FOR THE BIRDS
GENESIS 8:1 – 17

OPEN: I am told that an Indiana cemetery has a tombstone that is over 100 years old which bears the following epitaph:
"Pause, stranger, when you pass me by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. So prepare for death and follow me."
An unknown passerby read those words and underneath scratched this reply: "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went!"

An old Aztec legend tells of a man named Tapi who was a very pious man. The legend says that the creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was told that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into this boat.

Naturally everyone thought he was crazy.  But then the rain started and the flood came.  Men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well.
Finally the rain ended. And Tapi decided that the water had dried up when he let a DOVE loose that did not return.

In China there’s an ancient temple, and on one wall there’s a painting shows boat owned by a man named Fuhi (the Chinese version of Noah) out upon raging waters.
Dolphins are swimming around the boat and a DOVE with an olive branch in its beak is flying toward it.

In an ancient Babylonian Epic the hero Gilgamesh gives his story about a flood:
“When the seventh day dawned I loosed a DOVE and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting-place she returned. Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting-place she returned. I loosed a RAVEN, she saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back.
Then I threw everything open to the four winds, I made a sacrifice on the mountain top.

YOU can visit the internet and explore different flood stories from such diverse nations as
• East Africa
• Argentina
• Australia
• Bolivia
• Cuba
AND…
• Fiji
• Egypt
• Iceland
• India
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Russia
• Vietnam

And of those 35 flood stories that were examined
ALL of them talk of humans being spared in the flood.
32 of them include a boat.
24 include an account of animals being spared.
At least 6 of them include references to a dove.
Two of those included references to a raven (one to a hawk).

Whenever archeologists encounter such similar stories like these from so many diverse peoples they tend to believe SOMETHING happened.
And of course... we know something DID happen.
It was a flood for global proportions that destroyed all of mankind because of their wickedness.
In the midst of the Biblical account of the flood we read an intriguing story for the birds.
Two birds actually: A Raven and a Dove.

In Genesis, the Raven actually plays a fairly minor role in this play because all we’re told about it is found in verses 6 and 7:

“After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.”

Noah released the raven 40 days after these mountaintops had appeared. And the bird never came back INTO the ark itself... it just kept flying around.
Maybe it rested on the ark itself, maybe on the mountaintops in the distance.
But the raven never returned to the safety of the ark again.

Now the Dove gets a little more press.
It’s sent out from the ark 3 different times.
1. The first time, the bird finds no place to rest its feet ... and so it returns to Noah and Ark.

2. The 2nd time, the dove returns with an olive branch in its beak (indicating something is growing).

3. And the 3rd time – it flies away and doesn’t return at all.
Now, the question that came into my mind as I read this story was this:
• Why are we even being told about these birds?
• Why waste the ink?
• Why would God care?

Now remember that we should begin every study of Scripture with one basic concept.
II Timothy 3:16-17 tells us
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

ALL Scripture – not just the parts I like.
Not just the parts I agree with.
Not just the parts that “speak to me.”
ALL Scripture... including this story.
Thus, if God put these two birds in the story it would seem that there would be a reason
So, allow me – this morning – to give you my understanding of the message from the birds.

1st – These two birds are distinctly different.
The Raven, for example was an unclean bird
Leviticus 11 tells us: "’These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture... any kind of raven”. Leviticus 11:13 & 15

There were certain animals and birds that God’s people in the Old Testament were not allowed to eat and they were not allowed to offer as part of a sacrifice to God.
And every Raven was unclean.  These birds quite literally feed on death.  They eat the flesh of dead animals.  Ravens are scavengers...
They look for death.

By contrast, the dove was a clean animal.
Doves were birds the Israelites could not only eat - they could offer them in sacrifices to their God.
In Genesis 15 – when God cut His covenant with Abraham - Abraham was commanded to bring animals for sacrifice... one of which was dove.

Leviticus 1 says that doves could be offered as burnt offerings.
And Leviticus 12 says doves were to be offered for certain kinds of sin offerings.
So doves were clean animals.

But beyond that... God seems to have a very special place in His heart for these birds.

Jesus regarded them as symbolic of purity and innocence.
Jesus told His disciples they should be as “innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

But perhaps the most powerful image of doves in scripture happened after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. Mark 1:9-10 tells us that 9) it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up [a]from the water, He saw the heavens [b]parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.

God made the dove the image that represented His Holy Spirit.

SO, Why would Noah release an unclean bird (the Raven) AND THEN a clean bird (the Dove) from the Ark to “see if the waters had dried up from the earth?”
I think there’s a very simple answer to that.
I believe God told him to.

If I’m right, I can think of at least three things God wanted us to know.
1st God wanted to remind us of something – the flood brought death.
As I said before, Ravens literally feed on death.
They eat the flesh of dead animals.
They’re scavengers.
They look for death.
And after the flood, there was plenty of death.

Genesis 7:20-23 says that when the flood did its work: 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on [a]the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath [b]of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

The flood brought death... because the flood brought God’s judgment upon mankind.

In Genesis 6:5-7 we’re told
5 Then [a]the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent[b] of the thoughts of his heart was only evil [c]continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
The flood brought death.

Everything with the breath of life in its nostrils... died.
There was plenty of food now for the raven... because the Raven fed on death.
God tells us “The wages of sin is death...” Romans 6:23
* You can ignore it if you like but it’s still going to be true.
* The world would like to brush it aside if they could but they can’t
* Hollywood can laugh at it but it doesn’t change the reality.

How many of you have ever been to Niagara Falls?
I’ve visited Niagara Falls a few times and every time I’ve visited I’ve been struck by the fact that they don’t want you to get too close to THAT water. They’ve got fences up/ and they’ve got signs up - to WARN people... to keep people away

Why? Because, if I get too close to the waters of the Niagara, I could be dragged to my death.
Now, I can ignore those fences.
I can laugh at the signs that warn me not to get too close.
But if ignorant enough to get into those waters... I will die!

God wanted His people to remember: Sin brings death.

And God wanted to remind His people that the waters of the Flood were about judgment/ Death
So, first – the message of the birds is about death and judgment.
But the 2nd message is different.
The 2nd message of the birds is all about hope.
The Raven looked for death
But the Dove looked for life.

Do you remember what the Dove brought back to the Ark? (olive branch)
I’ve been told that the olive tree is one of the hardiest of plants. A cutting from such a tree can take root in good ground and grow quickly.
It became a symbol of life for Israel... and it was a symbol of hope for those in the Ark.
Things were growing now from the ground!
For almost an entire year, Noah and his family had been confined to their boat.
For almost an entire year, the world around them has been covered with water.
For almost an entire year... they’ve been the only living things on earth.
But with that olive branch - God gave them a sign that said – things are turning around.
Things are going to get better now.

The Bible is filled with stories about Godly men and women who faced difficulties in their lives. They faced trials and hardships even death. But the repeated message in Scripture was that God always stood beside them.
Daniel, David, Shadrach/ Meshach and Abednego, Moses, Joshua, Esther.

Each of their stories gives the same message:
Isaiah 40:31 “... But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

Or as Psalm 30:5 tells us: "For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But [a]joy comes in the morning."

Our trials and tribulation won’t last forever.
We will not going to be confined to our Ark of troubles indefinitely.

There’s will come a time, when God will open the door and we will walk out on a new world of hope and encouragement.
But we have to wait for God’s timing.
The flood didn’t abate until God was ready for it to.
But when that time came... God sent His people a sign of hope.
So, the first message of the birds was that of death.

The 2nd message was that of hope.

And the 3rd message of life.
God doesn’t like death... He never has.
When the raven flew away from the ark, did it ever return?
No.

Genesis 8:7 says "7 Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth"
By contrast, when the dove was released VERSES 8 & 9
. "8 He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself."

The Dove returned to Noah and the safety of the Ark.
The Raven (the symbol of death) never did.
Why not?
Because Death is not welcome with God.
God did not create His people to die.
He created us to live forever. (PAUSE)

And that is why Jesus came and died on the cross in our place.
The wages of sin is death... but Jesus took our place
He paid the price for our sins.

Hebrews 2:14 tells us that "14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,"
Jesus came to conquer death.
And when He comes again, I Corinthians 15: 54 – 58 says:
"54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O[n] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

The story of the birds... and that of the flood itself was all about life in the midst of death.
I Peter 3:20-22 tells us:
“...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also— not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand— with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

You can have that life from Jesus today.
INVITATION