Genesis 8: The Ending of the Flood Reminds Me of London

(upbeat music) - Welcome to chapter by chapter four year journey through the greatest book given to the human race, the word of God, the Bible. And we get to go through it, chapter by chapter, seven minutes a day, seven days a week. Join us each day and share it with others so they can join this journey that will be life changing. We'll stop at unexpected places on the journey and be challenged. Some verses will even create awe and wonder. We will have chapters that will be instructive and in others, we're gonna find joy and comfort. We will occasionally be convicted and wanna change, but all in all, the journey will be worth it. Once in a while, we may even take a detour on the journey and hear from some of God's servants on their favorite passages from a chapter of scripture and let them give their insight. Every journey needs a small detour occasionally. The best way to get the most from this podcast is read the chapter we're discussing before or after. It's his word that transforms. You will find more and see more than I could ever articulate. Welcome to chapter by chapter and today's chapter is Genesis 8. I remember vividly my first visit to London, England back in the 1980s. Every time I read Genesis 8, London comes to mind. They don't seem to fit together for anyone except me. I remember London so vividly in my mind, but not from the iconic buildings. Big Ben, Buckingham Palace Parliament, but I remember an old bookstore I went into and a dusty cassette box sitting on a shelf next to the cash register. There are probably something listening that don't even know what a cassette is. It was our iTunes and Spotify in a little plastic box. This cassette didn't have music on it. This cassette had a sermon on it. And the preacher's name typed on a label is what caught my attention. It was a sermon about one of my favorite Christian authors, A.W. Tozer. I was holding a sermon he preached in London and I was beside myself thinking, I am going to hear the voice behind the words that have influenced my life for many years. The name of the sermon was the dove found no resting place for the soul of her foot. I had to tell you that at that time, I had no idea that this was in the Bible. Tozer spoke on this verse from Genesis 8, verses 6 through 9. Then it came about at the end of 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. He sent out a raven and it flew here and there 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 soul of her foot. So she returned to him into the ark. For the water was on the surface of all the earth. His insight to this is profound. A.W. Tozer said that Noah sent out two birds, the raven and the dove. The raven never came back because the raven found what he was comfortable with, carnage. Death was all around him and this is where he wanted to be. Think of the scene after 150 days and the dead bodies are sprawled over the ground. Humanity has died and bodies were decomposing and that is exactly where the raven wants to be. But the dove was a different story, according to Tozer. The dove needed to be around life, greenery, and dying flesh was not going to be the landing spot for the dove so it returned to the ark. What a message Tozer was unpacking. It did minister to me, but I think there's more than this picture. The Old Testament is only a type and a shadow of what is to come. So I know I'm on thin ice to say this, but this is only partially true. Tozer is right, but didn't go further. I see this insight as a good reminder for the Christian. I see this Genesis 8 depiction for the believer and the anointing of God coming and landing on places where there is no fleshly attitudes. But I have to see it bigger, much bigger. The dove truly is a representation of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized at the start of his public ministry, what a scene is given to us. Matthew writes in Matthew 3/16 these words. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water at that moment, heaven was opened. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. There is the Spirit of God like a dove landing on life. He will never land on flesh. He is only looking for life. And boy, did he land on life on that baptismal service. Jesus is the life. That's what Jesus tells Martha as they are very close to raven ground in John 11. Not too far from the Son of God words is a cemetery. Martha's brother Lazarus is in a tomb. There were a bunch of raven people that day questioning and doubting Jesus's power. Even Martha was in that group. But something powerful was about to happen that was so much more different than Genesis 8. That dove that Noah sent out had to wait for the waters to abate to find life and greenery. This is what happened to Noah's dove. That's Genesis 8. So he waited yet another seven days and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So no one knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, sent out the dove again, but she did not return to him. They waited and life was finally found. So the dove can land on life. But John 11 is different, really different. Jesus was not looking for places of life. Jesus was going to places of death and he was going to make them alive. Did you get that? This dove, this Holy Spirit did not wait for life but he created life from death. John describes the scene, listen to it in John 1138. Jesus once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone late across the entrance and Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The dead man came out. Jesus doesn't wait for the dead to come alive. Jesus' mission is to make the dead live again. The dove found no resting place for the solar of a foot. I think those words and tozers insight is important. It's a good challenge for us who walk with Jesus. Who want to be a landing spot for the Holy Spirit, the anointing, the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit, but it is also good to remember it's much bigger and very hopeful for all humanity. It reminds us that it's impossible for dead things to make itself a place for the Spirit of God to come. Don't try to get cleaned up so God will come into your life. There's good news. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are looking for spiritual cemeteries to make dead things to live again. He's not looking for life. He's looking to bring the dead back to life. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. 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