Three Doves
“At the end of forty days … Noah … sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground” (Genesis 8:8,9).
This episode occurred late in the experience of the Flood. The ark had already come aground after 150 days of drifting. Seventy-four days later Noah had seen the “top of the mountains” in the distance, as the waters began to subside. Thereafter, he waited 40 days more, and then sent out two birds, a raven and a dove, in order to see if they could find some place to land, which would be some indication of progress in the receding of the waters.
The raven remained out, flying to and fro from the ark, but the dove returned to Noah, who waited seven days and sent out a dove again. This time the dove returned in the evening with an olive leaf pluckt off in its beak, which was a sign of hope. Noah waited seven days more and sent the dove out again. This time it did not return, showing further progress.
The title of this article is “Thee Doves,” but in fact it may have been a single dove sent out three times. The lesson however is of three releases of a dove. A dove is a clean bird, and represents the holy Spirit of God, as for example in Matthew 3:16 when the holy Spirit lighted upon Jesus “like a dove.” We think in this experience of Noah, that we have a picture of three times God has sent forth His holy Spirit in the earth, in order to find those of faith in three different epochs — the time from Adam to Jesus (to call the Ancient Worthies), from Jesus to the Kingdom (to call the Church), and again during the Kingdom and forward (to develop the world).
The 40 days represent the test in Eden, as 40 often represents a time of testing, or trial. Adam and Eve failed that test, and thus the raven (an unclean bird) was sent out, symbolic of the curse upon mankind. But along with the curse, God began to move through His Spirit to prepare for better times. The first class called, from the time of Adam to the time of Jesus, was the class of Ancient Worthies. Abel, the son of Adam, was one of these, according to Paul’s mention of Abel and his faith in Hebrews 11:4.
Noah receiving a dove back again
When Noah received the dove back into the ark, this indicates the end of this work of the holy Spirit. Noah waited for seven days before releasing the dove again. The next age in the Chart of the Ages, following the time of the Ancient Worthies, would be the Gospel Age, in which Jesus was developed as a New Creature, and subsequently from Pentecost onward, the saints are called to become members of the Church class.
Jesus, and the Church, are developed as the spiritual seed of Abraham, to bless “all the families of the earth,” in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, that was sealed with God’s oath (Hebrews 6:17, Genesis 26:3). The Hebrew word underlying the word “oath” in Genesis 26:3 is Strong’s word 7621, shebuwah, which is past participle for Strong’s 7650, “oath.” That word is spelled with three Hebrew characters, the same letters used for Strong’s 7651, sheba, seven. When one takes an oath, he “sevens” himself. That is, he obligates himself completely. The number seven, and the concept of completeness, as in completely obligated to an oath, are intertwined.
For this reason the number seven is connected with the taking of an oath, as demonstrated in Genesis 21:27-29, where seven ewe lambs stand as a witness of an agreement between Abraham and Abimelech. In the case of the Abrahamic Covenant, and its fulfillment, the number seven is frequently associated with it, as for example in the seven stages of the Gospel Age Church, or the seven millenniums taking us through the blessing of “all the families of the earth.”
In the case of Noah sending the doves, seven days preceded the second and third sendings, because these represent the Gospel Age and the Millennial Age respectively, during which the Abrahamic Covenant is effective first to the Church, and subsequently to the World.[1]
THE SECOND SENDING
“And [Noah] stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” This represents the work of God’s Spirit during the Gospel Age. At the “evening” or close of this age, hope is at hand for the establishment of God’s Kingdom for the blessing of all.
In Zechariah 14:4 this kingdom is represented by “mount of Olives.” The symbol of mountain represents a kingdom, and the connection to the olive tree, from which comes olive oil that produces light and nourishment, we have a symbol of the Millennial Kingdom and the blessings it will bring to mankind.
In this verse the mountains “shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” These two parts of the mountain represent that the Kingdom of God will have two parts, one in heaven (north), and one in earth (south).
Ezekiel chapter 47 gives another symbolic vision representing the Kingdom, in which a river of life flows from Jerusalem, from the temple at Jerusalem, passing by the “south side of the altar” (verse 1), in order to express the fact that the blessings of redemption (represented by the altar) are to flow to the earthly kingdom (south). This chapter later explains that these waters flow further eastward, down to the Dead Sea, to refresh and enliven things there, symbolic of the river of life bringing blessings to the whole world formerly under the curse.
However, there is a natural obstacle that blocks any such flow of a river from Jerusalem, namely the Mount of Olives, which is directly east of Jerusalem. The symbolic split of this mountain mentioned in Zechariah 14:4 allows the water to reach those who need it most. So the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth (south), as distinguished from heaven (north), will allow the blessings to flow.[2]
THE THIRD SENDING
“And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day 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” (Genesis 8:12, 13).
This represents God’s Spirit poured upon “all flesh” (Joel 2:28). In this case the world will retain the Spirit of God thereafter. Verse 13 tells us that the waters were dried, thus the curse lifted, on the first day of the next new year, which is an appropriate time for a new age in God’s Plan to be represented as beginning. The Gospel Age also was depicted as beginning on the first day of a new year, in Exodus 40:2, 17, “It came to pass in the first month … on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up,” and thus the atoning sacrifices of the Gospel Age could proceed.
THREE BROAD PERIODS OF TIME
Thus three broad periods of time in God’s Plan, totalling 7000 years, are depicted, in which God selects the Ancient Worthies, the Gospel Age Church, and the Millennial Age world of mankind. It appears that the same three periods are represented also in other items respecting the flood ordeal. That is the way God seems to have composed the Scriptures. A theme that is established in one picture, often is expanded upon by other experiences in the same area of scripture.
For example, Paul says that Hagar and Sarah represent covenants in the development of God’s Plan, Hagar the Law Covenant, Sarah the spiritual part of the Abrahamic Covenant, and to this we may add Abraham’s second wife, Keturah, as a picture of the earthly part of the Abrahamic Covenant operative in the Kingdom. Intertwined in the narratives are the stories of the children of Abraham, representing those developed under these various “mother” covenants. There are chapters and chapters of narrative that have these themes running through them, in one area of the Old Testament record.
Elsewhere, in connection with Israel’s experience in the wilderness, we have a multitude of types that pertain to redemption and atonement. This is the theme running through much of the record of Leviticus. There is more than an isolated picture; there is a series of pictures related thematically to flesh out various details about the Atonement work in God’s plan. So in the case also of the record of Noah’s experiences respecting the Flood. We examine some of these following.
THE DIMENSIONS OF THE ARK
Genesis 6:15 says the ark was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall. The length to width ratio is thus six to one, pointing to the six great thousand-year days while the world is subject to the curse, as represented by the flood waters.
The circumference of the ark would be 700 cubits, perhaps representing the whole circuit of the 7000 years of God’s Plan from the fall of Adam to the restoration of mankind. The 30 cubit height reminds us that the ark represents redemption (compare 1 Peter 3:20, 21), and 3, 30, 300, or 3000 is symbolic in scriptures of redemption (Jesus was in the grave for our sins for parts of three days, his life was valued at 30 pieces of silver, the price of the anointing for his death was 300 pence, and those redeemed at Pentecost numbered 3000 persons).
There were three levels to the ark (Genesis 6:16), depicting the three periods of time depicted by the sending out of the dove three times. And the floorplan of the ark shows the same. The 300 x 50 cubit floor plan of the ark could be divided into three areas of 100 x 50 each, which was the measure of the Court of the Tabernacle, which pictured Justification. So in the plan of God there are three periods of time in which God calls men and women of faith to Justification, the same three periods depicted in the sending out of the dove.
We mention in connection with these 100 x 50 cubit areas, that in 1 Kings 7:2, Solomon constructed “the house of the forest” of the same dimensions, 100 x 50 cubits. This house was built after Solomon completed the Temple, which took seven years, representing the saints who are built up a holy edifice to God during the seven stages of the Church. This house of the forest represents a blessed condition for mankind, to be brought to them during the Kingdom. It was made of wood, which represents earthly life, but it was of cedar wood, a kind of wood that does not readily corrupt, thus representing everlasting earthly life. Mankind will be justified to God by faith and obedience, so that the dimensions here, matching those of the Court, are appropriate to the picture.
As with the ark, built to a height of 30 cubits, so with the house of the forest, “and the height thereof thirty cubits” (1 Kings 7:2). In this case there were not three stories, because this house represents only the Kingdom period, not three periods of time.
The ark represents Christ. The “pitch” (Genesis 6:14) that sealed the ark is from the Hebrew word kopher, Strong’s number 3724, the same word often rendered “ransom,” because the word means “to cover” and is sometimes used of “a redemption price.” (Kopher is the word used eight times for “ransom,” from Exodus 30:12 through Isaiah 43:3).[3]
Those baptized into Christ presently are delivered from the curse through the protection of the ark (1 Peter 3:21). This deliverance was “measured” by the space of 15 cubits, the height the waters rose upward on the side of the ark (Genesis 7:20). The same number appears in the house of the forest. In that edifice there were 15 supporting pillars inside the length of the house, in fact three rows of 15 pillars, connecting the thought of deliverance (15) with the thought of atonement (3). “It was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row” (1 Kings 7:3).
120 YEARS
Genesis 6:3 apparently was a warning God gave to Noah 120 years before the Flood itself fell upon the world. “Jehovah said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Is there some special meaning in these 120 years?
Brethren have wondered if it might have a parallel to the “days of the son of man” and his parousia (Luke 17:26), and formerly considered whether from 1874, 120 years forward might bring us to the year 1994 with some meaning. Apparently this was not the point intended, for 1994 did not bring in the Kingdom. However, noticing that 40 years appears at times as a period of trial and testing in the Divine Plan, perhaps that is the key here. Mankind under sin and condemnation would endure three periods of testing and judgment, after which no longer would the Spirit of God “strive” with men.[4]
THREE PERIODS OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
It is readily apparent that the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant include the Gospel Age and the Millennial Age. In the first period the saints are developed with Christ as the choice seed of blessing, and in the second period mankind is blessed through them. It is not as apparent that the time from Adam forward is part of this, but we suggest that it is. The selection and preparation of the Ancient Worthies was the first step in the program to bless the world in the future. In this way, though the calling of the Ancient Worthies began even before Abraham, the work had already commenced that was later expressed in God’s covenant promise to Abraham.
“All of God’s blessings come under the Abrahamic Covenant, either directly or indirectly” (Question Book, page 165, 1908).
In this case, the three periods referred to above are all included. With this in mind, let us notice the number of days collectively that Noah and his family were in the ark, and see how this number of days connects to three periods of activity in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
The rain that opened the flood began to fall on month 2, day 17 (Genesis 7:11). However, Noah and his family had entered the ark six days earlier, and the calendar day just mentioned was day “seven” of their experience. They left the ark the next year also in month 2, but day 27. Thus from the day the rain fell, to the day they left the ark, inclusively, was one year and 10 days. If we take the year length as 365 days (as suggested symbolically by Genesis 5:23), then we have a total of 6 plus 365 plus 10 = 381 days.
The year length of 365 days is of course the number used in our common calendar. The ancient Egyptian calendar is well known to have had this count also. It was 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 intercalary days added before the next new year — 365 days total. Judging by Genesis 7:11, 24, 8:3, 4, we think this was the system used in the Flood narrative as well. In this case, the resulting 381 days would be correct.
Sarah, overhearing the good news. She lived to the age of 127. The Abrahamic Covenant bears fruit in three periods, suggested by the 381 days (127 x 3) in Noah’s time
The number 381 is three times 127. The latter number measured the lifespan of Sarah in years (Genesis 23:1). The record of her years is meaningful, for it seems Sarah is the only woman of the Old Testament whose death age is reported to us. Sarah, as the wife of Abraham, represents the covenant given to her husband. The same number, 127, appears again in Esther 1:1, linked to her narrative, Esther representing the Church class who is developed under the spiritual phase of that covenant.
Perhaps, therefore, the entire period within the ark — 3 x 127 days — is yet another way of depicting the three periods of time that operate in the Divine Plan. In three periods of time God draws people of faith, in fulfillment of his statement of purpose to Abraham, to bless “all the families of the earth.”
— Br. David Rice
[1] An editor adds — The Jewish Age, Gospel Age, and Millennial Age are each typified by 7’s: Jacob serving for his two wives, and Joseph’s famine and plenty.
[2] An editor observes that without the splitting of the Mount of Olives, waters from Jerusalem would flow to the Kidron valley, diverting the flow southward, and from there other passages allow the flow to the Dead Sea. So the splitting of the Mount of Olives is not a natural requirement, even if it provides some nice symbolism.
[3] An editor comments as follows: Kopher, related to our word “cover,” is properly “atonement.” Gaal is the proper word for “ransom.”
[4] An editor observes that Moses’ life was composed of three periods of 40 years each, representing three ages. And that Saul, David, and Solomon reigned consecutively 40 years each, also representing three ages.