Genesis Chapter Eight, Part 3

8:9 then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
The writer of Hebrews says, “For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland,” Hebrews 11:14. The dove had been loosed from the ark and from Noah, yet she found no place to perch and rest. The ark offered safety and solace; two things which the world, currently swept by the ravages of the Flood, could not. Therefore she returned to Noah, and Noah took her in. Christians should be as the dove, and as the writer of Hebrews confesses, not growing too comfortable here, but recalling that this earth is a passing thing; as are our lives. When we come to God, finding no rest in this world, He stretches forth His hand and takes us in; within is safety and solace. Charles Spurgeon once lamented that we were like birds chained at the foot too long; once someone has set us free to fly from this world and its cares we don’t want to. How many of us recall the country (state of living) out of which we have been called, and returned to it? The writer of Hebrews later declares, “if they truly called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return,” Hebrews 11:15.

Genesis Chapter Eight, Part 2

8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountain of Ararat.

Contrary to secular skepticism, the ark that bore Noah to safety may indeed still be imbedded on the heights of Ararat in modern day Turkey. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote of its presence during the first century AD. Marco Polo also confirmed its presence in the mountains of Armenia. In 1876 Sir James Bryce, scholar and explorer, climbed Mt. Ararat and discovered at 13,000 ft (2000 feet above the timberline), a piece of hand-tooled wood that he believed was from the ark. George Hagopian (then a 10-year old Armenian boy in 1904) claimed to have also found the ark with his uncle. He described it as a flat-bottom, petrified barge without nails. He also claimed to have returned to the site a second time two years later. A Russian pilot in World War I claimed to see the ark; news which excited the Czar enough to send parties to search for it.

Genesis Chapter Eight

A point of interest I would like to draw the reader to before beginning Genesis is a passage in Psalm 104. This Psalm begins with the greatness and glory of God, and then moves on to describe the events of Creation, beginning with a parallel between Genesis 1:3-8 and Psalm 104:2-3: “Who coverest thyself with light as a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.” This passage agrees with the Genesis account regarding days one and two of Creation. Yet the psalmist adds in verse 4, “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.” The verb “maketh” in the Hebrew means “to form or create.” In this inspired interlude that parallels the Genesis account do we possibly find mention of the creation of the angelic majesties before the third day?

A Considerate Sequel to Hebrews, Part 7

This final passage (Hebrews 10:32-39) is an exhortation to endurance. We all have need of it. The Jewish Christians in question needed to be reminded that they should be busy in this life learning the will of God, and that will is revealed in His Son. God has spoken to us in His Son, and this is His final word, Hebrews 1:2. Soon enough the enduring Christian will receive the promise, and that promise is Christ's speedy return, the blessed hope on which every Christian throughout the ages (including the Apostles) worked in light of. They wanted to be found in their Master's will and going about their Master's business when He returned. To this end the Holy Spirit uses Habakkuk 2:3-4 to spur the Hebrews into fervent faith and action; the Lord is quickly returning, and those whose lives are lived by faith will reap rich reward.