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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter VIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page64"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In the close of the foregoing chapter we left the world in ruins and
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the church in straits; but in this chapter we have the repair of
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the one and the enlargement of the other. Now the scene alters,
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and another face of things begins to be presented to us, and the
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brighter side of that cloud which there appeared so black and
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dark; for, though God contend long, he will not contend for
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ever, nor be always wrath. We have here, I. The earth made
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anew, by the recess of the waters, and the appearing of the dry
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land, now a second time, and both gradual.
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1. The increase of
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the waters is stayed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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2. They begin sensibly to abate,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:3">ver. 3</A>.
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3. After sixteen days' ebbing, the ark rests,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:4">ver. 4</A>.
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4. After sixty days' ebbing, the tops of the mountains appeared
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above water,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:5">ver. 5</A>.
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5. After forty days' ebbing, and twenty days
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before the mountains appeared, Noah began to send out his
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spies, a raven and a dove, to gain intelligence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:6=12">ver. 6-12</A>.
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6. Two months after the appearing of the tops of the mountains, the
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waters had gone, and the face of the earth was dry
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:13">ver. 13</A>),
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though not dried so as to be fit for man till almost two months
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after,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:14">ver. 14</A>.
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II. Man placed anew upon the earth, in which,
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1. Noah's discharge and departure out of the ark,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:15-19">ver. 15-19</A>.
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2. His sacrifice of praise, which he offered to God upon his enlargement,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:20">ver. 20</A>.
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3. God's acceptance of his sacrifice, and the promise
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he made thereupon not to drown the world again,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:21,22">ver. 21, 22</A>.
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And thus, at length, mercy rejoices against judgment.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Earth Becomes Dry.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2349.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And God remembered Noah, and
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every living thing, and all the
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cattle that <I>was</I> with him in the ark:
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and God made a wind to pass over
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the earth, and the waters assuaged;
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2 The fountains also of the deep and
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the windows of heaven were stopped,
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and the rain from heaven was restrained;
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3 And the waters returned
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from off the earth continually: and
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after the end of the hundred and fifty
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days the waters were abated.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. An act of God's grace: <I>God
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remembered Noah and every living thing.</I>
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This is an expression after the manner of
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men; for not any of his creatures
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:6">Luke xii. 6</A>),
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much less any of his people, are forgotten
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of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+49:15,16">Isa. xlix. 15, 16</A>.
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But,
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1. The whole
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race of mankind, except Noah and his
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family, was now extinguished, and driven
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into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered
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no more; so that God's remembering
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Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind,
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of whom he would not make a full
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end. It is a strange expression,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+5:13">Ezek. v. 13</A>,
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<I>When I have accomplished my fury in them,
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I will be comforted.</I> The demands of divine
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justice had been answered by the ruin of
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those sinners; he had eased him of his
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adversaries
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24">Isa. i. 24</A>),
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and now his spirit
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was quieted
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+6:8">Zech. vi. 8</A>),
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and <I>he remembered
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Noah and every living thing.</I> He remembered
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mercy in wrath
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+3:2">Hab. iii. 2</A>),
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remembered the days of old
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:11">Isa. lxiii. 11</A>),
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remembered the holy seed, and then remembered
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Noah.
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2. Noah himself, though one
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that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
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yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark, and
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perhaps began to think himself so; for we
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do not find that God had told him how long
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he should be confined and when he should
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be released. Very good men have sometimes
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been ready to conclude themselves forgotten
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of God, especially when their afflictions have
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been unusually grievous and long. Perhaps
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Noah, though a great believer, yet when he
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found the flood continuing so long after it
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might reasonably be presumed to have done
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its work, was tempted to fear lest he that
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shut him in would keep him in, and began
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to expostulate. <I>How long wilt thou forget
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me?</I> But at length God returned in mercy
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to him, and this is expressed by remembering
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him. Note, Those that remember God
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shall certainly be remembered by him, how
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desolate and disconsolate soever their condition
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may be. He will appoint them a set time
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and remember them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:13">Job xiv. 13</A>.
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3. With
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Noah, God remembered every living thing;
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for, though his delight is especially in the
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sons of men, yet he rejoices in all his works,
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and hates nothing that he has made. He
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takes special care, not only of his people's
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persons, but of their possessions--of them
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and all that belongs to them. He considered
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the cattle of Nineveh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+4:11">Jon. iv. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. An act of God's power over wind and
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water, both of which are at his beck, though
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neither of them is under man's control.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. He commanded the wind, and said to
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that, <I>Go,</I> and it went, in order to the carrying
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off of the flood: <I>God made a wind to
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pass over the earth.</I> See here,
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(1.) What
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was God's remembrance of Noah: it was
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his relieving him. Note, Those whom God
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remembers he remembers effectually, for
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good; he remembers us to save us, that we
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may remember him to serve him.
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(2.) What
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a sovereign dominion God has over the
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winds. He has them in his fist
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:4">Prov. xxx. 4</A>)
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and brings them out of his treasuries,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</A>.
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He sends them when, and
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whither, and for what purposes, he pleases.
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Even stormy winds fulfil his word,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+148:8">Ps. cxlviii. 8</A>.
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It should seem, while the waters
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increased, there was no wind; for that
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would have added to the toss of the ark; but
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now God sent a wind, when it would not be
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so troublesome. Probably, it was a north
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wind, for that drives away rain. However,
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it was a drying wind, such a wind as God
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sent to divide the Red Sea before Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:21">Exod. xiv. 21</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. He remanded the waters, and said to
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them, <I>Come,</I> and they came.
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(1.) He took
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away the cause. He sealed up the springs of
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those waters, <I>the fountains of the great deep,
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and the windows of heaven.</I> Note,
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[1.] As
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God has a key to open, so he has a key to
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shut up again, and to stay the progress of
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judgments by stopping the causes of them:
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and the same hand that brings the desolation
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must bring the deliverance; to that
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hand therefore our eye must ever be. He
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that wounds is alone able to heal. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:14">Job xii. 14, 15</A>.
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[2.] When afflictions have done
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the work for which they are sent, whether
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killing work or curing work, they shall be
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removed. God's word shall not return void,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:10,11">Isa. lv. 10, 11</A>.
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(2.) Then the effect ceased;
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not all at once, but by degrees: <I>The waters
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abated</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>returned from off the earth continually,</I>
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Heb. they were <I>going and returning</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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which denotes a gradual departure.
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<A NAME="Page65"> </A>
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The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps
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the subterraneous caverns soaked in
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more. Note, As the earth was not drowned
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in a day, so it was not dried in a day. In
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the creation, it was but one day's work to
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clear the earth from the waters that covered
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it, and to make it dry land; nay, it was but
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half a day's work,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:9,10"><I>ch.</I> i. 9, 10</A>.
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But, the
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work of creation being finished, this work of
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providence was effected by the concurring
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influence of second causes, yet thus enforced
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by the almighty power of God. God usually
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works deliverance for his people gradually,
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that the day of small things may not be
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despised, nor the day of great things
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despaired of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+4:10">Zech. iv. 10</A>.
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:18">Prov. iv. 18</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_5"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 And the ark rested in the seventh
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month, on the seventeenth day of the
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month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
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5 And the waters decreased continually
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until the tenth month: in the
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tenth <I>month,</I> on the first <I>day</I> of the
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month, were the tops of the mountains
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seen.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have the effects and evidences of
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the ebbing of the waters.
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1. The ark rested.
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This was some satisfaction to Noah, to feel
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the house he was in upon firm ground, and
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no longer movable. It rested upon a mountain,
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whither it was directed, not by Noah's
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prudence (he did not steer it), but by the
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wise and gracious providence of God, that it
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might rest the sooner. Note, God has times
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and places of rest for his people after their
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tossings; and many a time he provides for
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their seasonable and comfortable settlement
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without their own contrivance and quite
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beyond their own foresight. The ark of
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the church, though sometimes tossed with
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tempests, and not comforted
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:11">Isa. liv. 11</A>),
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yet has its rests,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:31">Acts ix. 31</A>.
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2. The tops of
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the mountains were seen, like little islands,
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appearing above the water. We must suppose
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that they were seen by Noah and his
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sons; for there were none besides to see
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them. It is probable that they had looked
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through the window of the ark every day,
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like the longing mariners, after a tedious
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voyage, to see if they could discover land, or
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as the prophet's servant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:43,44">1 Kings xviii. 43, 44</A>),
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and at length they spy ground,
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and enter the day of the discovery in their
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journal. They felt ground above forty days
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before they saw it, according to Dr. Lightfoot's
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computation, whence he infers that, if
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the waters decreased proportionably, the ark
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drew eleven cubits in water.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge8_12"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And it came to pass at the end
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of forty days, that Noah opened the
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window of the ark which he had
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made:
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7 And he sent forth a raven,
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which went forth to and fro, until the
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waters were dried up from off the
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earth.
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8 Also he sent forth a dove
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from him, to see if the waters were
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abated from off the face of the ground;
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9 But the dove found no rest for the
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sole of her foot, and she returned
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unto him into the ark, for the waters
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<I>were</I> on the face of the whole earth:
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then he put forth his hand, and took
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her, and pulled her in unto him into
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the ark.
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10 And he stayed yet other
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seven days; and again he sent forth
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the dove out of the ark;
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11 And
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the dove came in to him in the evening;
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and, lo, in her mouth <I>was</I> an
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olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew
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that the waters were abated from off
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the earth.
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12 And he stayed yet
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other seven days; and sent forth the
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dove; which returned not again unto
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him any more.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of the spies
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which Noah sent forth to bring him intelligence
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from abroad, a raven and a dove.
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Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. That though God had told Noah particularly
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when the flood would come, even
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to a day
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:4"><I>ch.</I> vii. 4</A>),
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yet he did not give him
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a particular account by revelation at what
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times, and by what steps, it should <I>go away,</I>
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1. Because the knowledge of the former was
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|
necessary to his preparing the ark, and settling
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himself in it; but the knowledge of the
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latter would serve only to gratify his curiosity,
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and the concealing of it from him
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would be the needful exercise of his faith and
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|
patience. And,
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2. He could not foresee the
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flood, but by revelation; but he might, by
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ordinary means, discover the decrease of it,
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|
and therefore God was pleased to leave him
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to the use of them.</P>
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<P>
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II. That though Noah by faith expected
|
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his enlargement, and by patience waited for
|
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it, yet he was inquisitive concerning it, as
|
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one that thought it long to be thus confined.
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|
Note, Desires of release out of trouble,
|
|
earnest expectations of it, and enquiries concerning
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|
its advances towards us, will very
|
|
well consist with the sincerity of faith and
|
|
patience. <I>He that believes does not make
|
|
haste</I> to run before God, but he does make
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|
haste to go forth to meet him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:16">Isa. xxviii. 16</A>.
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Particularly,
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1. Noah sent forth a raven
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|
through the window of the ark, which went
|
|
forth, as the Hebrew phrase is, <I>going forth
|
|
and returning,</I> that is, flying about, and
|
|
feeding on the carcases that floated, but returning
|
|
to the ark for rest; probably not in
|
|
it, but upon it. This gave Noah little satisfaction;
|
|
therefore,
|
|
|
|
2. He sent forth a dove,
|
|
which returned the first time with no good
|
|
news, but probably wet and dirty; but, the
|
|
second time, she brought an olive-leaf in her
|
|
<A NAME="Page66"> </A>
|
|
bill, which appeared to be first plucked off, a
|
|
plain indication that now the trees, the fruit-trees,
|
|
began to appear above water. Note
|
|
here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Noah sent forth the dove the
|
|
second time seven days after the first time,
|
|
and the third time was after seven days too;
|
|
and probably the first sending of her out was
|
|
seven days after the sending forth of the
|
|
raven. This intimates that it was done on
|
|
the sabbath day, which, it should seem,
|
|
Noah religiously observed in the ark. Having
|
|
kept the sabbath in a solemn assembly of
|
|
his little church, he then expected special
|
|
blessings from heaven, and enquired concerning
|
|
them. Having directed his prayer,
|
|
he looked up,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+5:3">Ps. v. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The dove is an
|
|
emblem of a gracious soul, which finding no
|
|
rest for its foot, no solid peace or satisfaction
|
|
in this world, this deluged defiling world,
|
|
returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its
|
|
Noah. The carnal heart, like the raven,
|
|
takes up with the world, and feeds on the
|
|
carrions it finds there; <I>but return thou to thy
|
|
rest, O my soul,</I> to thy <I>Noah,</I> so the word is,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+116:7">Ps. cxvi. 7</A>.
|
|
<I>O that I had wings like a dove,</I>
|
|
to flee to him!
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+55:6">Ps. lv. 6</A>.
|
|
And as Noah put
|
|
forth his hand, and took the dove, and pulled
|
|
her in to him, into the ark, so Christ will
|
|
graciously preserve, and help, and welcome,
|
|
those that fly to him for rest.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The
|
|
olive-branch, which was an emblem of peace,
|
|
was brought, not by the raven, a bird of
|
|
prey, nor by a gay and proud peacock, but
|
|
by a mild, patient, humble dove. It is a
|
|
dove-like disposition that brings into the
|
|
soul earnests of rest and joy.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Some
|
|
make these things an allegory. The law was
|
|
first sent forth like the raven, but brought
|
|
no tidings of the assuaging of the waters of
|
|
God's wrath, with which the world of mankind
|
|
was deluged; therefore, in the fulness
|
|
of time, God sent forth his gospel, as the
|
|
dove, in the likeness of which the Holy
|
|
Spirit descended, and this presents us with
|
|
an olive-branch and brings in a better hope.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_14"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 And it came to pass in the six
|
|
hundredth and first year, in the first
|
|
<I>month,</I> the first <I>day</I> of the month, the
|
|
waters were dried up from off the
|
|
earth: and Noah removed the covering
|
|
of the ark, and looked, and, behold,
|
|
the face of the ground was dry.
|
|
14 And in the second month, on the
|
|
seven and twentieth day of the month,
|
|
was the earth dried.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is, 1. The ground dry
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
that is,
|
|
all the water carried off it, which, upon the
|
|
first day of the first month (a joyful new-year's-day
|
|
it was), Noah was himself an eye-witness
|
|
of. He <I>removed the covering of the
|
|
ark,</I> not the whole covering, but so much as
|
|
would suffice to give him a prospect of the
|
|
earth about it; and a most comfortable
|
|
prospect he had. For behold, behold and
|
|
wonder, <I>the face of the ground was dry.</I>
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is a great mercy to see ground
|
|
about us. Noah was more sensible of it than
|
|
we are; for mercies restored are much more
|
|
affecting than mercies continued.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The
|
|
divine power which now renewed the face of
|
|
the earth can renew the face of an afflicted
|
|
troubled soul and of a distressed persecuted
|
|
church. He can make dry ground to appear
|
|
even where it seemed to have been lost and
|
|
forgotten,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:16">Ps. xviii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The ground
|
|
dried
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
so as to be a fit habitation for
|
|
Noah. Observe, Though Noah saw the ground
|
|
dry the first day of the first month, yet God
|
|
would not suffer him to go out of the ark
|
|
till the twenty-seventh day of the second
|
|
month. Perhaps Noah, being somewhat
|
|
weary of his restraint, would have quitted
|
|
the ark at first; but God, in kindness to
|
|
him, ordered him to stay so much longer.
|
|
Note, God consults our benefit rather than
|
|
our desires; for he knows what is good for
|
|
us better than we do for ourselves, and how
|
|
long it is fit our restraints should continue
|
|
and desired mercies should be delayed. We
|
|
would go out of the ark before the ground is
|
|
dried: and perhaps, if the door be shut, are
|
|
ready to remove the covering, and to climb
|
|
up some other way; but we should be satisfied
|
|
that God's time of showing mercy is
|
|
certainly the best time, when the mercy is
|
|
ripe for us and we are ready for it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 And God spake unto Noah,
|
|
saying,
|
|
16 Go forth of the ark, thou,
|
|
and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy
|
|
sons' wives with thee.
|
|
17 Bring
|
|
forth with thee every living thing
|
|
that <I>is</I> with thee, of all flesh, <I>both</I> of
|
|
fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping
|
|
thing that creepeth upon the
|
|
earth; that they may breed abundantly
|
|
in the earth, and be fruitful,
|
|
and multiply upon the earth.
|
|
18 And Noah went forth, and his sons,
|
|
and his wife, and his sons' wives with
|
|
him:
|
|
19 Every beast, every creeping
|
|
thing, and every fowl, <I>and</I> whatsoever
|
|
creepeth upon the earth, after
|
|
their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. Noah's dismission out of the
|
|
ark,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:15-17"><I>v.</I> 15-17</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Noah did not
|
|
stir till God bade him. As he had a command
|
|
to go into the ark
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:1"><I>ch.</I> vii. 1</A>),
|
|
so, how
|
|
tedious soever his confinement there was,
|
|
he would wait for a command to go out of
|
|
it again. Note, We must in all our ways
|
|
acknowledge God, and set him before us in
|
|
all our removes. Those only go under God's
|
|
protection that follow God's direction and
|
|
submit to his government. Those that
|
|
steadily adhere to God's word as their rule,
|
|
and are guided by his grace as their principle,
|
|
and take hints from his providence to assist
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page67"> </A>
|
|
|
|
them in their application of general directions
|
|
to particular cases, may in faith see him
|
|
guiding their motions in their march through
|
|
this wilderness.
|
|
|
|
2. Though God detained
|
|
him long, yet at last he gave him his discharge;
|
|
for <I>the vision is for an appointed
|
|
time, and at the end it shall speak,</I> it shall
|
|
speak truth
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:3">Hab. ii. 3</A>),
|
|
it shall not lie.
|
|
|
|
3. God had said, <I>Come into the ark</I> which
|
|
he says, not, <I>Come forth,</I> but, Go <I>forth,</I>
|
|
which intimates that God, who went in with
|
|
him, staid with him all the while, till he sent
|
|
him out safely; for he has said, <I>I will not
|
|
leave thee.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. Some observe that, when they
|
|
were ordered into the ark, the men and the
|
|
women were mentioned separately
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:18"><I>ch.</I> vi. 18</A>):
|
|
<I>Thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons'
|
|
wives;</I> hence they infer that, during the
|
|
time of mourning, they were apart, and their
|
|
wives apart,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+12:12">Zech. xii. 12</A>.
|
|
But now God
|
|
did as it were new-marry them, sending out
|
|
Noah and his wife together, and his sons and
|
|
their wives together, that they might be
|
|
fruitful and multiply.
|
|
|
|
5. Noah was ordered
|
|
to bring the creatures out with him, that
|
|
having taken the care of feeding them so
|
|
long, and been at so much pains about them,
|
|
he might have the honour of leading them
|
|
forth by their armies, and receiving their
|
|
homage.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Noah's departure when he had his
|
|
dismission. As he would not go out without
|
|
leave, so he would not, out of fear or humour,
|
|
stay in when he had leave, but was in all
|
|
points observant of the heavenly vision.
|
|
Though he had been now a full year and
|
|
ten days a prisoner in the ark, yet when he
|
|
found himself preserved there, not only for a
|
|
new life, but for a new world, he saw no
|
|
reason to complain of his long confinement.
|
|
Now observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Noah and his family came
|
|
out alive, though one of them was a wicked
|
|
Ham, whom, though he escaped the flood,
|
|
God's justice could have taken away by some
|
|
other stroke. But they are all alive. Note,
|
|
When families have been long continued
|
|
together, and no breaches made among them,
|
|
it must be looked upon as a distinguishing
|
|
favour, and attributed to the Lord's mercies.
|
|
|
|
2. Noah brought out all the creatures that
|
|
went in with him, except the raven and the
|
|
dove, which, probably, were ready to meet
|
|
their mates at their coming out. Noah was
|
|
able to give a very good account of his
|
|
charge; for of all that were given to him he
|
|
had lost none, but was faithful to him that
|
|
appointed him, <I>pro hac vice--on this occasion,</I>
|
|
high steward of his household.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge8_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Noah's Sacrifice.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2348.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 And Noah builded an altar unto
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and took of every clean
|
|
beast, and of every clean fowl, and
|
|
offered burnt offerings on the altar.
|
|
21 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> smelled a sweet
|
|
savour; and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said in his
|
|
heart, I will not again curse the ground
|
|
any more for man's sake; for the
|
|
imagination of man's heart <I>is</I> evil from
|
|
his youth; neither will I again smite
|
|
any more every thing living, as I have
|
|
done.
|
|
22 While the earth remaineth,
|
|
seedtime and harvest, and cold and
|
|
heat, and summer and winter, and
|
|
day and night shall not cease.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is, I. Noah's thankful acknowledgment
|
|
of God's favour to him, in completing
|
|
the mercy of his deliverance,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He
|
|
<I>built an altar.</I> Hitherto he had done nothing
|
|
without particular instructions and commands
|
|
from God. He had a particular call
|
|
into the ark, and another out of it; but,
|
|
altars and sacrifices being already of divine
|
|
institution for religious worship, he did not
|
|
stay for a particular command thus to express
|
|
his thankfulness. Those that have received
|
|
mercy from God should be forward in returning
|
|
thanks, and do it <I>not of constraint,
|
|
but willingly.</I> God is pleased with free-will
|
|
offerings, and praises that wait for him.
|
|
Noah was now turned out into a cold and
|
|
desolate world, where, one would have
|
|
thought, his first care would have been to
|
|
build a house for himself; but, behold, he
|
|
begins with an altar for God: God, that is
|
|
the first, must be first served; and he begins
|
|
well that begins with God.
|
|
|
|
2. He offered
|
|
a sacrifice upon his altar, <I>of every clean beast,
|
|
and of every clean fowl</I>--one, the odd seventh
|
|
that we read of,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:2,3"><I>ch.</I> vii. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
Here observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He offered only those that were clean;
|
|
for it is not enough that we sacrifice, but we
|
|
must sacrifice that which God appoints, according
|
|
to the law of sacrifice, and not a
|
|
corrupt thing.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Though his stock of
|
|
cattle was so small, and that rescued from
|
|
ruin at so great an expense of care and pains,
|
|
yet he did not grudge to give God his dues
|
|
out of it. He might have said, "Have I but
|
|
seven sheep to begin the world with, and
|
|
must one of these seven be killed and burnt
|
|
for sacrifice? Were it not better to defer it
|
|
till we have greater plenty?" No, to prove
|
|
the sincerity of his love and gratitude, he
|
|
cheerfully gives the seventh to his God, as
|
|
an acknowledgment that all was his, and
|
|
owing to him. Serving God with our little
|
|
is the way to make it more; and we must
|
|
never think that wasted with which God is
|
|
honoured.
|
|
|
|
(3.) See here the antiquity of
|
|
religion: the first thing we find done in the
|
|
new world was an act of worship,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:16">Jer. vi. 16</A>.
|
|
We are now to express our thankfulness,
|
|
not by burnt-offerings, but by the sacrifices
|
|
of praise and the sacrifices of righteousness,
|
|
by pious devotions and a pious conversation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God's gracious acceptance of Noah's
|
|
thankfulness. It was a settled rule in the
|
|
patriarchal age: <I>If thou doest well, shalt thou
|
|
not be accepted?</I> Noah was so. For,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God was well pleased with the
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page68"> </A>
|
|
|
|
performance,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
He <I>smelt a sweet savour,</I> or, as
|
|
it is in the Hebrew, <I>a savour of rest,</I> from it.
|
|
As, when he had made the world at first on
|
|
the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed,
|
|
so, now that he had new-made it, in the
|
|
sacrifice of the seventh he rested. He was
|
|
well pleased with Noah's pious zeal, and
|
|
these hopeful beginnings of the new world,
|
|
as men are with fragrant and agreeable
|
|
smells; though his offering was small, it was
|
|
according to his ability, and God accepted it.
|
|
Having caused his anger to rest upon the
|
|
world of sinners, he here caused his love to
|
|
rest upon this little remnant of believers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Hereupon, he took up a resolution never
|
|
to drown the world again. Herein he had
|
|
an eye, not so much to Noah's sacrifice as to
|
|
Christ's sacrifice of himself, which was typified
|
|
and represented by it, and which was
|
|
indeed an <I>offering of a sweet-smelling savour,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+5:2">Eph. v. 2</A>.
|
|
Good security is here given, and
|
|
that which may be relied upon,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That this judgment should never be
|
|
repeated. Noah might think, "To what purpose
|
|
should the world be repaired, when, in all
|
|
probability, for the wickedness of it, it will
|
|
quickly be in like manner ruined again?"
|
|
"No," says God, "it never shall." It was said
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:6"><I>ch.</I> vi. 6</A>),
|
|
<I>It repented the Lord that he had made
|
|
man;</I> now here he speaks as if it repented
|
|
him that he had destroyed man: neither
|
|
means a change of his mind, but both a
|
|
change of his way. <I>It repented him concerning
|
|
his servants,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:36">Deut. xxxii. 36</A>.
|
|
Two ways this resolve is expressed:--
|
|
|
|
[1.] <I>I will not
|
|
again curse the ground,</I> Heb. <I>I will not add
|
|
to curse the ground any more.</I> God had
|
|
cursed the ground upon the first entrance of
|
|
sin
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:17"><I>ch.</I> iii. 17</A>),
|
|
when he drowned it he
|
|
added to that curse; but now he determines
|
|
not to add to it any more.
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>Neither will
|
|
I again smite any more every living thing;</I>
|
|
that is, it was determined that whatever ruin
|
|
God might bring upon particular persons, or
|
|
families, or countries, he would never again
|
|
destroy the whole world till the day shall
|
|
come when time shall be no more. But the
|
|
reason of this resolve is very surprising, for
|
|
it seems the same in effect with the reason
|
|
given for the destruction of the world:
|
|
<I>Because the imagination of man's heart is evil
|
|
from his youth,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:5"><I>ch.</I> vi. 5</A>.
|
|
But there is this
|
|
difference--there it is said, <I>The imagination
|
|
of man's heart is evil continually,</I> that is,
|
|
"his actual transgressions continually cry
|
|
against him;" here it is said, It is evil <I>from
|
|
his youth or childhood.</I> It is bred in the
|
|
bone; he brought it into the world with him;
|
|
he was shapen and conceived in it. Now,
|
|
one would think it should follow, "Therefore
|
|
that guilty race shall be wholly extinguished,
|
|
and <I>I will make a full end.</I>" No, "Therefore
|
|
I will no more take this severe method;
|
|
for," <I>First,</I> "He is rather to be pitied, for
|
|
it is all the effect of sin dwelling in him; and
|
|
it is but what might be expected from such
|
|
a degenerate race: he is called a <I>transgressor
|
|
from the womb,</I> and therefore it is not strange
|
|
that he deals so very treacherously,"
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+48:8">Isa. xlviii. 8</A>.
|
|
Thus God <I>remembers that he is
|
|
flesh,</I> corrupt and sinful,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:39">Ps. lxxviii. 39</A>.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> "He will be utterly ruined; for,
|
|
if he be dealt with according to his deserts,
|
|
one flood must succeed another till all be
|
|
destroyed." See here,
|
|
|
|
1. That outward
|
|
judgments, though they may terrify and
|
|
restrain men, yet cannot of themselves sanctify
|
|
and renew them; the grace of God
|
|
must work with those judgments. Man's
|
|
nature was as sinful after the deluge as it
|
|
had been before.
|
|
|
|
2. That God's goodness
|
|
takes occasion from man's sinfulness to magnify
|
|
itself the more; his reasons of mercy
|
|
are all drawn from himself, not from any
|
|
thing in us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the course of nature should never
|
|
be discontinued
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
"<I>While the earth remaineth,</I>
|
|
and man upon it, there shall be
|
|
<I>summer and winter</I> (not all winter as had been
|
|
this last year), <I>day and night,</I>" not all night,
|
|
as probably it was while the rain was descending.
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is plainly intimated that
|
|
this earth is not to remain always; it, and all
|
|
the works in it, must shortly be burnt up;
|
|
and we look for <I>new heavens and a new earth,</I>
|
|
when all these things must be dissolved.
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
[2.] As long as it does remain God's
|
|
providence will carefully preserve the regular
|
|
succession of times and seasons, and cause
|
|
each to know its place. To this we owe it
|
|
that the world stands, and the wheel of nature
|
|
keeps it track. See here how changeable
|
|
the times are and yet how unchangeable.
|
|
<I>First,</I> The course of nature always changing.
|
|
As it is with the times, so it is with the events
|
|
of time, they are subject to vicissitudes--<I>day
|
|
and night, summer and winter,</I> counterchanged.
|
|
In heaven and hell it is not so, but on earth
|
|
<I>God hath set the one over against the other.
|
|
Secondly,</I> Yet never changed. It is constant
|
|
in this inconstancy. These seasons have
|
|
never ceased, nor shall cease, while the sun
|
|
continued such a steady measurer of time and
|
|
the moon such a <I>faithful witness in heaven.</I>
|
|
This is <I>God's covenant of the day and of the
|
|
night,</I> the stability of which is mentioned for
|
|
the confirming of our faith in the covenant
|
|
of grace, which is no less inviolable,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+33:20,21">Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
We see God's promises to the creatures
|
|
made good, and thence may infer that
|
|
his promises to all believers shall be so.</P>
|
|
|
|
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