Numbers & Opposites

By Venessa Holtzhausen

There are so much information in this chapter.

Gen 8:6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Gen 8:7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Gen 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Gen 8:9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole
earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
Gen 8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
Gen 8:11 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.
Gen 8:12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

It is by no coincidence that so many numbers are mentioned in this chapter. Although there is a plain meaning to it, there is also a spiritual meaning.

First we have the number 40. This is a number of spiritual preparation through trials and wilderness bouts. Forty is an ancient number linked to purification and used in the Bible to commemorate significant events in the calendar of God. We can think of the flood, Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness, Moses on mount Sinai, David and Solomon’s rule, Christ’s wilderness temptation. Forty is also the Hebrew letter mem and it’s ancient meaning is water and chaos.

Then we have the number seven, twice. It is a number of divine revolutions and cycles. The number of Creator dominance that symbolizes world impact and control. The number of sovereignty and absoluteness, thus the number of completion. Examples are: abominable sins in Proverbs 6:16, completion of cycles in Genesis 7:10, Creation miracles in 2 Kings 4:35, Covenants in Genesis 46:25, Daily praise in Psalm 119:164, days of the week, feasts, eyes of God in Zechariah 4:10, forgiveness in Matthew 18:21, fullness of God’s blessings in Job 1:2,shepherds under Christ’s ministry in Micha 5:5, trumpets and not even to mention the sevens in Revelation.

If you take the 40 days when Moses opened the window and the 7+7, you get the number 54. The gematria of this number is also the word (זמי(meaning stillness, rest! Is God telling us something here? Rest from the wickedness. Also note that 40 is the letter mem, which is water or chaos and 7 is zayin, which is the sword and the seed. In the letter zayin we encounter the Word itself in its power and authority. The sages have a saying that all sevens are blessed. It is also constantly used in the Bible in the context of blessing, completeness, fullness and rest. The Hebrew word for 7 is shevah and when this word is pronounced savah, it means ‘to be full or satisfied’ as in the context of God rested on the 7th day.

You say how rest is mentioned again. There was rest for the earth after the wipe out of the wicked. God literally comforted Himself by wiping out the wicked. He will do it again.

Then a raven and dove is used. A raven is an unclean bird and the dove a clean bird. The dove came back in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. Again, as previously discussed in Genesis 1, God’s timing is evening and morning, a day. He turned chaos/darkness into order/light.

Olive leaf, olive tree is symbol of Israel and Christians grafted into one in Christ. What was the symbol of life on planet earth and save to exit the ark, an olive leaf. Christ the root and trunk of the Olive tree, He is LIFE!

Amen!