Genesis 8

Genesis 8:7-8

Gen. 8:7, 8, etc. Concerning the raven and the dove, that Noah sent forth. 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 carrion it finds there. But return thou to thy rest, O my soul, to thy Noah, so the word is, Psalms 116:7, “O that I had wings like a dove to flee to him,” Psalms 55:6. The olive-branch, which was an emblem of peace, was brought, not by a 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 in to the soul earnests of rest and joy.

Gen. 8:21

Genesis 8:21

Gen. 8:21, “And the Lord smelt a sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not,” etc. It was not for the acceptableness of that sacrifice that made God promise that he would no more curse the ground, but the acceptableness of the sacrifice of Christ represented by it.