46. "Rest in His presence: have a new life in Jesus" Genesis 8:8-12

 46. "Rest in His presence: have a new life in Jesus"

Genesis 8:8-12 NKJV

He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 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. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore

At first, Noah sent out the raven but it did not came back for it signifies an earthly believers who lives by earthly desires, who love the world judged by God and return to it to feed on the things of death. But the dove being sent forth signifying the spiritual ones staying with the church and caring for life in the spirit. 

The dove that Noah let flew outside the ark to know if there's the dry ground would be found. But the dove found no place on which to rest the sole of its foot. It was at the 40 days after the flood, still doesn't have a dry place. This time why Noah chose the dove? Maybe, for the dove needs the cleanness of the ground, and also that it can find food for it in the dry ground unlike raven who being sent first which eats meat from the dead bodies so it did not return to Noah.

In connection to our message, we are like this little creature who wants to live in a dry ground not in the muddy place or with filled with water that will drown us to it. Normally we want a clean life, and so we look outside the ark to look for that life. Someway, God also wanted to give us life at the place He created for man. But God prepared it first so that it would become a good place again to live at, for it was being drown by flood as His judgement for the wickedness of man. Let us see ourselves a dove this time and know what signifies this for us:

Dove was being mentioned in the bible in these verses: 

Song of Solomon 1:15 Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.  

Song of Solomon 6:9 My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, The only one of her mother, The favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her And called her blessed, The queens and the concubines, And they praised her. Song of Solomon 2:14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.”Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.” 

Here in the Song of Solomon the doves are being used to described his beloved as fair and have a dove's eyes, an innocent and fair, with sweet voice and lovely face, the perfect one, the favorite child, here dove is highly represented by the king.

Also, God used dove to represent His Spirit in John 1:32 -And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.; same as in the book of Matthew 3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting upon Him. A dove is gentle, and its eyes can see only one thing at a time. Hence, it signifies gentleness and singleness in sight and purpose. By the descending of the Spirit of God like a dove upon Him, the Lord Jesus ministered in gentleness and singleness, focusing solely on the will of God.

And also Matthew reminded as being Lord's disciples we must be like a dove as guileless as it is, and also not mixed with any evil intention and not hurting others. Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 

Now look out self as a dove and not a raven. A dove represent as God's descendant, a fair, innocent, pure, gentle, guileless and no intention to hurt for we are harmless. 

As in our text here, we are as dove who are looking for a place to rest. We want peaceful life and not in trouble for our nature as dove is harmless. We don't want a messed life, not failures and drowned by the waters of problems. And the dove flew outside the ark looking for that place to rest, but after such searching we can't find any place to rest. For it is not yet the awaited time for the ground to be ready to live at. There's always a perfect time or God's timetable for everything. God is still working for that place. God's preparation is not yet done. And what we need to do is to wait for that God's time for us. For now, stay in the Ark. Have rest in the Ark for there is the right time for you to live outside to experience the life God prepares for us. The ark here may signify as the church, where we can find rest for it is the place where God recedes. Have rest in God. God is the source of that rest. Have rest in His church. Return to Him at the only good place in this earth is in the presence of the Lord. In the place where His presence dwells there. We can find rest in His very presence. Find rest inside the church like the dove return to the ark. Restore your strength inside the church. Place your foot inside the church and not in the not safer place. There is no rest there, your life will only be messed up. Don't go there at the place where the sin and judged creatures are laying . Don't join them. Don't settle your footings in that place for you will find no rest. You will be in a great trouble and miserable as a like a dove.

Secure yourself inside the church for you are a dove -harmless and still weak, not so strong enough to a wilder place. Are you strong enough to go outside? If not then strengthen yourself inside the church, improve! Call your God in that place in the time of your restlessness and God like Noah to the dove will reach His hand to catch you, to welcome you again inside His place. A secure place, along with His presence with the same people who are saved. Don't associate yourself with the death. You have a saved life. You recieved salvation and do not waste it. 

God will reach you, but be willing to be in His hand. Don't fly so far away, stop struggling with God. For God really cares fo you. He wants you to have a rest and not cause you trouble. Remember, God knows your wants and needs, but it's not yet the time. God has a prepared time for you to walk outside to this world for you are strong enough and knew finally where you can find rest for your soul then you can freely walk outside and shout to the earth that you are spared from the judgement. God wants us to live freely in a good place and clean but return for now into the ark and have rest while waiting to God.

Genesis 8:10-11 And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 

Back to the text, for the second time after the waiting another days to pass, the dove again are being sent and this time the dove came back with fresh olive leaf in its mouth indicates that the water had receded and now the ground land is ready to set foots again. 

Let just look a little more to these verses, when the dove came back with olive leaf. For in the bible olive leaves are being mentioned in some books of the bible and has a meaning to our message:

Zechariah 4:12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”Exodus 30:24 five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. Exodus 27:20 “And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually.

The olive tree signifies Jesus ( Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree), and the oil beaten olives signifies the Spirit of Jesus Christ produced through His incarnation, human living, crucifixion and resurrection.

The olive is a type of the Spirit, and the fresh olive leaf signifies the new life in the Spirit. Thus, the olive leaf was a sign of new life in the spirit of Jesus Christ. We are the dove who has the olive leaf in the mouth, we are christians who has a new life, a spiritual life for we have now Jesus Christ in our life. Jesus is a life-giving spirit who is in us. As 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, 'And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.'

So for our new life, we not long for the earth but for the spirit. We must have a spiritual life, a life with spiritual activities for our nature is spiritual when we recieved Christ that dwells inside us. And we are living with Jesus, and living for Jesus. 

Romans 8:9 reminds us, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." We may live today with Christ's spirit as when we are outside the church, we can still live a spirit-filled life because of Jesus who is in us since we recieved Him. Again I say, rest in His presence. Have a new life in Jesus. Amen. 

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