“Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried. In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried. And God spoke to Noe, saying; ‘Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, and the wives of thy sons with thee. All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.’ So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark. And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: ‘I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done. All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.’”
Noah had been in the ark for over ten months when he opens a window, like a skylight, and sees the face of the earth dried. The world has a new beginning, and rather than a societal constricting against righteousness, there is instead a look into Christian freedom by the sheer vastness of what Noah is then free to do: “Stand fast, and be not held again under the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Having been freed from the constriction of sin, you are free to love as you will. St. Augustine says, “Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved,” and it can be almost overwhelming to love God as you see fit, like the whole world belongs to you: “For all things are yours, whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; for all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). This freedom is beautiful, not hindered by human wickedness, but rather having a pure, beautiful countenance: “Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee” (Canticle 4:7). God then encourages Noah to disembark, God’s voice for the person seeking His love not being stern or forceful, but encouraging, drawing them deeper into His Heart: “Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little” (Mark 6:31). God does not want him closed up in on himself in the ark, but experiencing the full wonder of all that He had created, to life live fully and joyfully: “I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10), and so He invites Noah out the door alongside the animals to “be fruitful and multiply,” a renewal of the blessing given to man and animals before the Fall: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Where Adam and Eve had served as the pinnacle of visible creation in Eden, Noah comes from the ark as a type of leaven for the bread of the world, for a life of love in justice, righteousness, and goodness, especially when multiplied, is the happy life. While the gift of life is an extraordinary good, when it is used poorly it loses its luster, being instead muddied and darkened, thus does Wisdom say: “It is better to die without children, than to leave ungodly children” (Ecclesiasticus 16:4). To bear children, spiritual or familial, that love in truth and righteousness is the true reward of life: “As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken” (Psalm 126:4). Joyfully and into new life all the creatures depart from the ark, just as you are called out of being in a crowded and stifled soul, surrounded by bestial actions and the odors thereof, into the freedom of a life of love: “Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). Noah then immediately directs his attention God-ward, just as Jesus, upon arriving in Jerusalem, immediately goes to the temple: “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves” (Matthew 21:12), but where Jesus purified the temple, Noah offers worship and thanksgiving to God with clean animals. The sacrifice of these animals sends up a sweet odor to God, which is not from the sacrifice of the animals themselves, but from the grateful heart of Noah: “To do mercy and judgement, pleaseth the Lord more than victims” (Proverbs 21:3), which is why Noah uses clean animals, because the clean animals represent upright actions, which, when animated by love, are the beauty of the soul, whereas what is unclean represents what is unjust, sinful actions, which yield an unpleasant aroma. It is thus that the Bridegroom extols the bride that walks in this uprightness of heart: “Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer?” (Canticle 3:6). A humble heart that is sincerely grateful for all that it receives is deeply pleasing to God and man: “In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and Noah gives this to God. Finally, while some talk of punishment can be of benefit for the one bent on sin: “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but the child that is left to his own will bringeth his mother to shame” (Proverbs 29:15), obstinately lingering on it, rather than departing from it as an outgrown garment to dive into the love of God is too severe a beating and makes the heart shrivel: “I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered” (Psalm 101:5). Thus, having passed through the baptismal waters into love and new life, correction is no longer for fear of punishment, represented by God saying He will flood the earth no more, but rather correction becomes the pruning shears God uses to make your soul more beautiful and shine all the more vibrantly, like a rose bush being trimmed: “He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is foolish” (Proverbs 12:1); “Every [branch] that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). Therefore, do not fear God’s wrath, you who are born into new life, but offer the sweet sacrifice of a beautiful life to God, that He may shower you with love and affection and lift you up out of any fear into the fullness of divine love: “Fear is not in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth, is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).