GENESIS COMMENTARY

RELEASING THE DOVE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

            The day finally came when God told Noah to release the dove!

            How interesting that God chose a dove to assist Noah in finding new life!  Immediately as the story unfolds we begin to see that the dove is symbolic of The Holy Spirit.  The dove is mentioned about 50 times in the Bible. It has been a symbol in almost every culture. In ancient Greek mythology Aphrodite kept a dove as a pet. It became the symbol of love.  However, in the Word of God and the Christian culture the dove is symbolic of the precious person of the Holy Spirit.

            In the love story of The Song of Solomon, Solomon speaks of his lover’s eyes and compares them to a dove by saying:  ^”Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.”(Song of Solomon 1:15). This beautiful scripture passage comes to mind as we think about Noah, anxious to know how to find his new home, taking a treasured pure white dove which he had probably been very fond of having as a pet during the journey through the flood.  Noah had probably tended to and cared for this particular dove for a long time possibly even before the days they had spent together inside the ark.  Now Noah is about to release this special dove in order to seek out a new life.  Noah must have looked into the beautiful eyes of the dove as he held it upward and let it fly away.

            A dove’s eyes are special in several ways; one being that doves have binocular vision.  This means they can focus on only one thing at a time.  Usually, that one thing is their mate. If you observe a mated pair of doves you will soon discover that what one does the other will do.  They are always together.  They are always watching and imitating each other.  This is why they are often referred to as “love birds.”Dove couples move in sync with one another.  It is beautiful and majestic to watch.  They look like perfect dancing partners flying in sync across the sky. 

            Doves have no peripheral vision, so they cannot be distracted by the things around and outside of their focus.  They hone in on one thing and that thing is all there is.

            Solomon’s lover also declared Solomon’s eyes to be like dove’s eyes.  Song of Solomon 5:12 says:”His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. “Solomon’s eyes, like a doves eyes, stayed focused only on his beloved.  He only had eyes for her.  No one else is even allowed into his line of vision.  All others are completely ignored as if they do not even exist.  He would not allow anything to distract him from his beloved.  He only loves and adores his partner.  She sees this total admiration as she looks into the deepness of his dove eyes.

            Once again, in Song of Solomon 6:9 Solomon’s beloved is compared to a dove. In this passage he says of her:  “My dove, my undefiled is but one.  She is the only one of her mother.  She is the choice one of her that bare her.   ”When this smitten lover looks into the eyes of the lover of his soul it is as if he sees his own spirit gazing back at him.  He always sees her as the favored one.  He always sees her as the only one.  He expects others to see this in her too.  He is not surprised to learn that her mother has blessed her with every blessing of a favorite child.

            So Noah takes the dove out of the ark, knowing each of these wonderful characteristics of the dove.  Noah anticipates the dove’s loyalty, his faithfulness, his desire for purity and cleanliness.  He knows that the dove will not land on dead things as the raven had done, or go near muddy waters.  Doves do not like to get dirty.  They are clean animals. Nor will a dove rest where there is violence, anger, confusion, strife or division.  Doves enjoy and seek rest in peaceful surroundings.

            The Middle Eastern dove is white in color and the white is symbolic of purity, similar to the white garments that we know will be given to the saints in heaven representing their righteousness spoken of in Revelation 4:4. The dove represents the Holy Spirit and the dove represents the righteousness of the believers who follow The Holy Spirit.  They are both in sync.  They move together as they focus on one another.  The scripture above notes that the righteous who follow the Holy Spirit are over-comers.  He that over-cometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment” so similar to the white of Noah’s dove who had the purpose of helping Noah overcome the flood and leading him to new life in a clean new world.

            Doves are the most affectionate of birds.  They show their affection by stroking and cooing.  They love to kiss. The dove is a very gentle creature.  They never retaliate toward their enemies; they simply retreat.  The words of Jesus come to mind when thinking of this fact.  It helps us to begin to consider how Jesus commanded us to pray for our enemies.  The dove is a living illustration of this commandment.  If a dove sitting on its nest is attacked by another bird they will leave the nest and their eggs will never hatch. They do not fight.  They retreat from their enemies.  If the young of a dove are attacked they will not fight back.  They will simply cry out in distress.

            Strange noises frighten doves.  If a dove hears a noise that is not familiar it will become spooked and fly away.  Once again we can remember the words of Jesus saying “My sheep know my voice.”  If a dove has a regular place where it is fed and it hears an unfamiliar noise it will become disturbed and leave but return later.  If you spook it again until the third time the dove will never show up at that place again. A dove will not dwell with unfamiliar voices.

            In Noah’s day God said “My Spirit will not always strive with man.”God does not change.  He is the same today, tomorrow and forever and this fact is still as true today as it ever was.  There is a time of the dove in each of our lives.  We must be alert and attentive to the call of the dove.  When the Spirit of God is calling to you the Spirit of God should never be rejected.  Like a dove it could become rejected too often and chose not to return.  The Holy Spirit is a gentleman.  The Holy Spirit is never rude or intruding, but he is gentle like a dove.  It is best to deal with The Holy Spirit as it hovers over you in the time of your calling.

            Middle Eastern doves hover when they are flying. The tips of the wing feathers of most birds point toward the tail, but when the dove hovers its wing-tip feathers point forward toward the head.  Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would not speak of its self but that he would speak of Jesus.  This is true because Jesus is the head of the church.  The dove will always point to the head and The Holy Spirit will always point to Christ.

            When the dove hovers, it hovers in the shape of the Hebrew letter kaf.  In the Old Testament times when priest and kings were anointed oil was poured out on and over their heads.  When Aaron was anointed the oil ran down his beard. That would mean that his anointing was from ear to ear, which would make the same shape of that letter kaf in the Hebrew alphabet, like a big C reversed.  This is the same shape of a dove’s wings when it is hovering.  We think of Jesus when we realize this.  When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and The Holy Spirit hovered over him in the form of a dove, it hovered in the shape of that Hebrew letter kaf.  This was God announcing to the world “Here is your next high priest.”  

                      There is one type of Middle Eastern dove that has nine main feathers on the right wing and nine main feathers on the left wing.  This corresponds with the nine gifts of the spirit we read about in the book of Corinthians and the nine fruits of the spirit we read about in Galatians.  The same dove has five main tail feathers and this could relate to or be symbolic of a five- fold ministry.

            A dove doesn’t sing songs like other birds do; instead it sings lamentations and releases a type of a wooing sound.  This can be equated to believers groaning in the spirit.

            The body of the dove lacks bile. A bile system represents bitterness and bitterness usually comes from unforgiveness.  Doves are very forgiving.  They do not hold grudges and they do not remember when you have wronged them.

            Doves fly together in flocks. They represent a beautiful picture of the unity of The Body of Christ in motion.  One will not leave the flock and try to strike out on its own.  Doves are team players.  They never steal.  They will not steal food from another bird like a raven will.

            A dove will never feed off of the dead. They are not scavengers like ravens. A dove will only eat good clean grain.

            Doves always return to their homes. They are faithful in every way.  Noah knew the dove would either return to him or return to the place it had formerly known as “home” before the flood.  He released the dove to fly home, but it could not yet find home, so it returned again to Noah and the ark.  The scriptures describe this by saying the dove “found no rest for the sole of her foot.” This is so like the people of God, wondering through life without finding rest, seeking home and not finding it. It was that way for a long, long time, until we were given the gift of a child named Jesus.  He came to give us home and he came to give us rest.

            Often the people of God are said to have “found no rest for the sole of their feet.”This is usually describing times when they have not been allowed to return to their beloved home, Jerusalem.  There is a physical Jerusalem on earth, a heavenly Jerusalem and a Jerusalem of the heart.  Jesus Christ is the way to all three.  He is the way home.

            This is what the dove that could find no rest for her foot discovered.  She could not yet return to her beloved home.  She could not rest among the dead as the raven had done. She returned to Noah, who acts as a type of Jesus for us.  It is said that Noah put out his hand and took her and brought her inside the ark unto himself.  Doesn’t this hold true with all of God’s servants?  When we are weak and weary from the journey without any good tidings or results does God not open His window and stretch out the safety of His loving hands and say “Come inside, I will give you rest?” This is what Noah did for the weary homeless dove and this is what God will always do for us.