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Chapter VIII. Part I · Commentary on Genesis, Sin, and the Flood

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Section twenty five off Commentary on Genesis, Volume two Luther on Sin and the
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Flood by Martin Luther, translated by John Nicholas Linker, Conrad Bruno, Godis,
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and others. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
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Jillian Henry, Chapter eight, Part one, Noah in Ark Flood abates a
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Noah's condition in the ark birse one A and God remembered Noah and all the
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beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the Ark. One When
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that horrible wrath had exhausted itself, and all flesh with the earth had been
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destroyed, the promise made by God to Noah and his sons that they were
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to be the seed of the human race began to be realized. No doubt
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this promise was to them an object of eager expectation. No life is so
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hedged about with difficulties as that of faith. This was the life lived by
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Noah and his son, whom we see absolutely depending upon the heavens for support.
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The earth was covered with water. Bottom on which to stand there was
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none. It was the word of promise that upheld them as they drifted in
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this welter of waters. Two. When the flesh is free from danger,
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it holds faith in contempt, as the claims of the Papists show. It
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loves showy and toilsome tasks. In these it sweats. But behold Noah on
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all sides, surrounded by waters, yet not overwhelmed. Surely it is not
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works that sustain him, but faith in God's mercy extended through the Word of
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Promise. Three. The difficulty besetting Noah is hinted at in the words God
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remembered was thus intimates that Noah had been tossed on the water so long that
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God seemed to have forgotten him altogether. They who pass through such a mental
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strain, when the rays of divine grace are gone, and they sit in
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darkness or are forgotten by God, find by experience that it is far more
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difficult to live in the word or by faith alone than to be a hermit
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or a Carthusian monk. Four. Hence, it is not a meaningless expression.
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When the Holy Spirit says that God remembered Noah, he means that from
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the day Noah entered the Ark, no word was spoken, nothing was revealed
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to him, that he saw no ray of divine grace shining, but merely
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clung to the promise which he had accepted. While in the meantime the waters
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and waves raged, as if God had certainly forgotten. The same danger beset
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his children and also the cattle and all the other animals throughout the one hundred
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and fifty days they were in the ark. And though the Holy Seed,
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by the aid of the conquering Spirit, overcame those difficulties, the victory was
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not one without vexation of the flesh, tears, and stupendous fear felt,
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in my opinion, even by the brutes. Five. Thus a toofold danger
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beset them. The universal flood, which swallowed up all mankind, could not
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vanish without stupendous grief to the righteous, particularly as they saw themselves reduced to
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so small a number. Further, it was a serious matter to be buffeted
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by the waters for almost half a year without any consolation from God. Six.
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The expression used by Moses, God remembered Noah, must not be short
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of its meaning by calling it a rhetorical figure, signifying that God acted after
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the manner of one who had forgotten Noah. Whereas God cannot, in truth
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forget his sense a mere master of rhetoric, indeed, does not know what
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it means to live in such a state as to feel that God has forgotten
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him. Only the most perfect sense understand that, and can in faith bear,
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so to speak, a God who forgets. Therefore, the Psalms and
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all the scriptures are filled with complaints of this nature, in which God is
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called upon to arise, to open his eyes, to hear, to awaken.
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Seven monks, possessed of a higher degree of experience, at times underwent
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this temptation and called it a suspension of grace. The latter may be experienced
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also in temptations of a slighter nature. The flame of lust found in young
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people is altogether unbearable unless it is held in check by the word of God
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and the Holy Spirit. Similarly, at a more mature age, impatience and
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the desire for revenge can no wise be overcome unless God tears them from the
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soul. How much more liable is the soul to fall into the darkness of
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despair or into ensnaring predestinarian tenets when more severe temptations beset us and the suspension
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of grace is felt. Eight. Hence this expression is not to be passed
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by as a mere rhetorical ornament. According to the interpretation of the rabbis,
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it is inten he'd rather to portray the state of soul, which feels despair
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coming on amid unutterable groanings of heart, with just a spark of faith left
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to rest victory from the flesh, in the same way that Paul suffered from
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Satan's messenger. We may believe that Noah felt himself stabbed in the heart,
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and that he often argued thus within himself, dost thou believe that thou alone
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art so beloved of God? Dost thou believe that thou wilt be kept safe
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to the end When waters are boundless, and those immense clouds seemed to be
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inexhaustible. Nine, When then such broodings found their way also into the weak
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souls of the women, what cries, wails, and tears may be surmised
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to have been the result. Almost overcome by sadness and grief, he was
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forced to lift up and comfort those with the cheer his own heart did not
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fail. Ten. It was therefore no jest or frolic for them to live
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so long locked up within the ark. To see the endless downpour of rain,
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and to be carried to and fro floating upon the waves. This was
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the experience of having been forgotten by God, which Mosi's implies when he says
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that God at last remembered Noah and his sons. Eleven. Though the occupants
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of the ark overcame this feeling by faith, they did not do so without
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great vexation of the flesh, just as a young man who leads a chaste
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life overcomes last, but surely not without the greatest vexation and trouble. In
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this instance, where the trial was greater, where all evidence was at variance
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with the fact that God was gracious and mindful of them, they indeed triumphed,
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but not without fearful tribulation. For the flesh, weaken itself, can
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bear nothing less patiently than the thought of a God who has forgotten. Human
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nature is prone to be puffed up and haughty when God remembered it, when
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he vouchsayed success and favor. Is it a wonder then, that we become
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broken in spirit and desperate when God seems to have cast us away and everything
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goes against us. Twelve. Let us remember that this story sets before us
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an example of faith, of endurance and of patience to the end that having
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the divine promise, we should not only learn to believe it, but should
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also consider that we are in need of endurance. Endurance is not maintained without
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a great struggle, and Christ calls upon us in the New Testament to acquire
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it when he says, quote he that endureth to the end, the same
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shall be saved end quote Matthew, chapter twenty four, verse thirteen thirteen.
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This is the reason why God hides for a time, as it were,
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seeming to have forgotten us, suspending his grace. As they say in the
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schools, as in this temptation, not only the spirit but also the flesh
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is afflicted. So afterward, when He again begins to remember us, the
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perception of grace, which during the trial was evident only to the spirit,
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and most faintly at that, is extended to the flesh also fourteen. Hence,
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the word remembered indicates that great sadness beset both man and beast during the
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entire time of the flood. It must have been by dint of great patience
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and extraordinary courage that Gnah and the others bore this lapse from God's memory,
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which is simply unbearable to the flesh without the spirit, even in slight trials.
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True God always remembers his own even when he seems to have forsaken them.
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But Mussy's indicates that He remembered his people here in a visible way,
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by a sign and by openly fulfilling what He had previously promised through the word
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and the spirit. This is the most important passage in this chapter. B
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Waters abate Percy's one B to three, and God made a wind to pass
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over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of the Deep,
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and the windows of Heaven were stopped, and the rain from Heaven was
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restrained, and the waters returned from off the earth continually, and after the
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end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased fifteen Mosies said above chapter
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seven Bersis eleven and twelve that the deluge raged in three different ways. For
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not only were the fountains of the great Deep broken up and the windows of
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Heaven opened, but also the rain descended. When these forces ceased on the
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one hundred and fiftieth day, quiet was once more in evidence, and the
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fact that God remembered, and Noah, with his sons and their wives,
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as also the animals, was refreshed after terror so great and continuous. If
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a storm of two days duration Causi's seafarers to despair, how much more distressing
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was that tossing about for half a year? Sixteen. The question here arises
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how the wind was made to pass over the earth, which as yet was
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entirely covered with water. It is nothing new that winds have the power to
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dry, especially those from the east, called by our countrymen Holuvinda, and
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by Virgil parching winds from the druth, which they bring upon the earth.
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These are mentioned also by Josea, chapter thirteen, verse fifteen. The explanation,
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accordingly, is simple. Mozzi said that the wind was made to pass
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over the earth, that is, over the surface of the waters, for
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such a length of time, that at last, the water's being dried up,
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the earth again appeared. So in Exodus, a burning wind is said
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to have dried up the Red Sea. Now God might have accomplished this without
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any wind, Yet he habitually employs a natural means to attain his purposes.
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Seventeen. Up to this time, Noah had lived in darkness, saying nothing
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but the waters rolling and raging in a terrifying volume. Now, the delicious
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light of the sun bursts forth once more, and the wind cease to roar.
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From all points of the compass. Only the east wind, calculated to
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reduce the waters, is blowing, and gradually it takes away the stagnant flood.
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Other means also are effective. The ocean no longer hurls its waves upon
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the land, but takes back the waters which it had spewed forth, and
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the floodgates of heaven are closed up eighteen. These are outward and tangible signs
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by which God consoles Noah, showing him that he had not forgotten but remembered
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him. This is a practical and needed lesson also for us, when in
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the midst of dangers, we may with certainty look for God's help, who
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does not desert us if we continue in faith, looking forward to the fulfillment
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of God's promises verse four. And the ark rested in the seventh month on
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the seventeenth day of the month upon the mountains of Ararat nineteen. The waters
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increased for forty days until the arc was lifted from the earth. Then for
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one hundred and fifty days, it floated upon the waters, driven by the
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winds and the waves, without a sign of God's remembrance. At length,
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the waters began to decrease, and the ark rested twenty The point of dispute
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among the Jews here is the number of months. But why waste any more
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time upon immaterial matters, particularly as we see that the suggestions of the rabbis
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are not at all. Wise, it is more to the purpose for us
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to inquire where the mountains of Ararat are to be found. It is generally
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believed that they are mountains of Armenia, close by the highest ranges of Asia
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Minor, the Caucasus and the Taurus. But it appears to me that more
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likely the highest of all mountains is meant the EMUs Himalia, which divides India.
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Compared to this range, other mountains are no more than warts. That
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the ark rested upon the highest mountain is substantiated by the fact that the waters
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continued to fall for three whole months before such small ranges as Lebanon, Taurus
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and Caucasus were uncovered, which are, as it were, the feet or
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roots of the Himalias, just as the mountains of Greece may be called branches
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of the Alps, extending up to our Hearsenian forest. Acts. To anyone
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who surveys them with care, the mountains seem to be wonderfully related and united.
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Twenty one. Josephus has wonderful things to tell about the mountains of Armenia,
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and he records that during his time remains of the Ark were discovered there.
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But I suppose nobody will judge me to be a heretic if I occasionally
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doubt the reliability of his statements Verse five. And the waters decreased continually until
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the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the
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month, were the tops of the mountains seen. Twenty two. Rosies said
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before that by the seventh month the waters had fallen so far that the Ark
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rested upon Ararat. In the third month thereafter, the tops of the lower
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mountains began to appear, so that Noah, looking down from the mountains of
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Ararat, as if from a watch tower, saw also the peaks of the
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other mountains of the Taurus in Asia, the Lebanon in Syria, and the
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like. All these were signs of God's remembrance. Bercys sixth and seven,
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and it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened
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the window of the ark which he had made, and he sent forth a
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raven, and it went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up
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from off the earth. Twenty three. So far the history the allegorical significance
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we shall discuss at its proper place. The carelessness of a translator has caused
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a dispute upon this part of the story. The Hebrew text does not say
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that the raven did not return, as Jerome translated. Hence there was no
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need to invent a reason why he did not return, because he found dead
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bodies lying about everywhere. They claim that abundance of food prevented him. Twenty
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four. On the contrary, Mosi says that the raven, which had been
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sent forth, returned, although he did not permit himself to be again imprisoned
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in the ark as the dove did. Mosie's implies that Noah sent forth the
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raven to find out whether animals could by that time find dry land and food.
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The raven, however, did not faithfully carry out his mission, but,
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rejoicing to be set free from his prison, he flew to and fro,
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and paying no attention to Noah, he enjoyed the free sky. The
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Swinish Jews, however, show the purity of their minds everywhere, for they
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supposed that the raven had fears concerning his mate, and that he even suspected
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Noah concerning her. Shame upon those impure minds Bercy's eight and nine. And
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he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from
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off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the
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soul of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for
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the waters were on the face of the whole earth. And he put forth
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his hand and took her, and brought her unto him into the ark.
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Twenty five. When Noah's hopes had been set at naught by the raven,
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which flew about wantonly but brought no tidings concerning the condition of the earth,
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he took a dove, thinking that she would more truly perform the mission.
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The text almost authorizes us to say that those two birds were sent forth at
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the same time, so that Noah might have two witnesses from whom to gain
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desired knowledge. The raven, enjoying the free sky, flew round about the
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ark, but did not want to return into it. The dove, however,
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playing from the corpses and corruption, comes back and permits itself to be
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caught. This story, as we shall hear, offers a fine allegory concerning
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the church. Bercy's ten to twelve. And he stayed yet other seven days,
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and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark, and the
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dove came in to him at even tide, and low in her mouth,
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and olive leaf plucked off, so no one knew that the waters were abated
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from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent
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forth the dove, and she returned not again unto him any more twenty six.
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The dove, being a faithful messenger, is sent forth once more.
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Was He carefully describes how the waters decreased gradually, until at last the surface
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of the earth, together with the trees, was laid bare. We did
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not believe that the dove brought the olive leaf intentionally, but by the command
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of God, who wanted to show Noah little by little that he had not
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altogether forgotten, but remembered him. This olive leaf was an impressive sign to
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Noah and his fellow prisoners in the Ark, bringing them courage and hope of
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impending liberation. Twenty seven. The Jews dispute sharply in respect to this matter
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of where the dove found the olive leaf, and some, in order to
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secure special glory for their homeland, make the ludicrous assertion that she took it
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from the mount of olives in the land of Israel, which God had spared
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from the flood that destroyed the remainder of the earth. But the Senor Jews
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rightly refute this nonsense by arguing that if this were true, the olive leaf
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could not have been a sign for Noah that the waters had fallen. Others
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have invented the fable that the dove was admitted to Paradise and brought the leaf
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from there twenty eight. But I have Chapter two, sections thirty nine to
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forty two, set forth at length my views concerning Paradise, and this nonsense
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is not worthy the effort of a refutation. It serves a better purpose to
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remind you that all these things happened miraculously and supernaturally. A dove is not
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so intelligent as to pluck a bough and bring it to the ark, in
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order that Noah might form a judgment with reference to the decrease of waters.
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God ordained these events. Other trees had leaves at that time, particularly the
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taller ones, which rose sooner from the waters. The olive tree is comparatively
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short. Hence it was calculated to furnish information concerning the decrease of the waters
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and to serve as an object lesson of the secession of the wrath of God
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and the return of the earth to its former state. Of this he had
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more certain proof, however, when the dove, having been sent out the
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third time, did not return, for not only did it find food on
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earth, but was able to build nests and to flit to and fro Bercy's
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thirteen and fourteen. And it came to pass in the six hundred and first
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year. In the first month, the first day of the month, the
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waters were dried up from off the earth. Had Noah removed the covering of
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the ark and looked, and behold the face of the ground was dried.
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And in the second month, on the seventh and twentieth day of the month,
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was the earth dry. Twenty nine Here we see that Noah was in
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the Ark an entire year and ten days. For he entered the ark on
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the seventeenth day of the second month and came out again after a year had
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passed in the same month. But on the twenty seventh day, poor Noah,
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with his sons and the women lived in the ark more than half a
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year in sore grief, without a sign of being remembered by God. Afterward,
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God gave him gradual proof through various signs that he had not forgotten him,
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until at last, after the lapse of a year and ten days,
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he was again given dominion over the earth and sea. On this day of
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the second month, the flood had not only disappeared, but the earth was
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dry. This is the story of the flood and its abatement. After this
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fearful wrath, there ensues an immeasurable light of grace, as is shown in
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the following sermon addressed to Noah by God himself. End of section twenty five.