IN our last talk, dear children, Noah and his family, with animals and creatures of every kind were being lifted up; as the water rose higher and higher, in the ark where God had shut them in. It was not for one day only that the waters deluged the earth; no, for forty days and forty nights the rain and floods were unceasing, until, at last, all the high hills under the whole heaven, were covered. Noah and his family must have been filled with wonder and with awe as the rain beat down upon them day after day, and night after night, and as the faithful ark outrode the storm, mounting up and still up. No doubt they talked together of these things, and also of the many people they had known on the earth who were so suddenly and so quickly swallowed up in the dreadful flood, and their hearts would sorrow over these things. But they would recognize God’s hand; the warning had been given, and people would not heed: and God must punish wickedness.
But if God shut Noah in the ark, it was not to forget him; and when the waters had done the work which they were sent to do, God remembered Noah and all the living creatures, and He made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters went down; the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain ceased, and the waters began to flow back. But it took time for such mighty wastes of water to diminish. After five months the ark rested upon a very high mountain which was called Ararat; and in ten months, tops of other mountains could be seen; and in a few weeks more, Noah took the covering from the ark and found that the ground was dry.
But after the rain stopped, and before the waters went down, Noah opened the Window of the ark and sent out a raven; he also sent out a dove that he might know if the waters had gone down. I want you, dear children, to notice the difference in these two birds that Noah sent out from the ark.
The raven which was sent out first went to and fro until the waters went off the earth, never returning to the ark; but the dove, finding no rest for the sole of her foot, soon found her way back to the place of refuge, and Noah put his hand out of the window and took hold of her and pulled her into the ark. Now I want to ask you, why did the raven stay out, and the (love come back? Can you tell me? Let me, then, tell you. The dove found no place to rest her feet, and the raven did find a place where it could rest. How was this? Just think a moment!
The raven which is an unclean bird, and feeds upon dead bodies, would find plenty of places to alight and plenty to feed upon, in the many bodies that must have been floating on the waters; for you will remember that the flood had destroyed man and beast. But the clean and gentle dove could not feed upon, or even touch these dead bodies, so she flew back to the ark.
Now, dear boys and girls, if you are unsaved you are like the raven with its unclean nature, and you will feed upon things that God counts unclean—the pleasures and follies of the world. But if you are born again you have a new nature; and this new nature will make you wish to read God’s word so that you may know His mind; and it will lead you to desire to please Christ and to grow more like Him. But you still have the old nature also. Which are you going to feed—the old or the new? The new nature tells you, go to the prayer meeting; the old says, go the concert and the party; the new says, go with God’s people in whose companionship you will find help and blessing; the old says, no, go with these nice, lively companions and have a good time. The new nature says, read God’s word; the old says, read this nice story!
To which will you listen? Which will you feed? Will you, like the dove, flee to the ark and he safe; or will you, like the raven, feed on corrupt matter and let your feet rest on that which must soon sink in the waters of judgment? Remember that Christ is our Ark, and we will always find refuge and safety in Him, and in going to Hint, our souls will he fed.
There is, then, a most important lesson in the raven and the dove, and I hope you will all think about it. Turn away with loathing front the dead bodies —the things of this world that Satan makes to look so bright and pleasant to you. There is corruption underneath, and if you feed upon these things you can reap only sorrow front it but if you turn to Jesus, you will find true and lasting joy.
But let us return to Noah. When the ground was dried, God spoke to him and told him to go out of the ark with his wife, and his sons and their wives, and to take the creatures out also. So they all went out, and I think they were very glad to set their feet upon the earth again after having been more than ten months carried about by the waters. In the gladness of his heart, Noah offered an offering to God; lie took of every clean beast and every clean fowl, and burnt them upon an altar which he made for this purpose.
God was pleased with this offering, and He said that He would not again curse the ground for man’s sake; and He made a covenant with Noah, for himself and his children, and for every living creature, that He would not again cut off all flesh by the waters of a flood. And He set His bow in the cloud as the sign of this covenant. So whenever you look on the beautiful rainbow, you can think, that is God’s promise to us, never to destroy the earth again with flood.
God not only brought Noah out of the ark, and accepted his offering and made a covenant with him; but he also made him to be fruitful, and He put the dread and fear of him upon every beast and upon all the fowls and fishes.
You will remember, perhaps, that Adam had rule over the creatures in the garden of Eden, but his dominion was in gentleness and love, I judge.
But after the flood it was to be the fear and dread of man that was upon the creatures. And there is scarcely an animal no matter how wild or fierce or strong, that man has not succeeded in taming. But alas! how man has abused this wonderful power that God has given him. God also, at this time, gave to man the living creatures for food, as He had given to Adam in the garden of Eden, the herbs and the fruits of the trees. But our talk has been long enough for this time. The Lord willing, we will speak of other things again.
ML 12/17/1899