Read: Genesis 8:1-12

And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. (v. 11)

A freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah knew that the waters of the flood had receded, and that life on earth again was possible, because the messenger dove returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf. A plant was alive. At least one of the most common and important domesticated trees in the Middle East was alive. Hence hope was alive for Noah and his kin.

All because God remembered (v. 1). God remembered Noah. And God remembered all the wild animals. And God remembered all the domestic animals with Noah on that first endangered-species-act of a boat. And because God remembered, God made a holy wind (ruach) blow over the watery, chaotic earth (v. 1). Just as in the beginning, when God’s Spirit (ruach) hovered over the chaotic waters (Gen. 1:2), so also here God’s Spirit brings order out of chaos. God the mighty Creator is now God the powerful Re-Creator and Savior.

And ever since, the olive leaf (or branch) has symbolized peace. It means the flourishing of all creatures—described throughout the Bible as shalom—is near. The tree of peace is alive. So take hope. All is not lost. God has re-membered us into one family and rescued us from the watery abyss to flourish on a renewed earth. Because of this we, like Noah, should be filled with hope.

Prayer:

God of new beginnings, bring us hope in your faithful remembering.

Author: Steven Bouma-Prediger

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