The Bible does not give an explicit reason — Genesis 8:7 simply says the raven kept flying 'to and fro' until the waters dried up, while the dove returned for lack of a resting place.
Genesis 8 records that Noah first sent a raven out of the ark, and it 'went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth' (Genesis 8:7) — the text never says it returned to the ark. The dove, by contrast, came straight back because she 'found no rest for the sole of her foot' (Genesis 8:9). The usual explanation is that the raven, as a bird of prey, found food and places to settle among the flood's debris, though the text does not say this in so many words. The provided Les Feldick clips do not directly cover the raven; his related flood teaching is summarized below.
Genesis 8:7 — This verse directly tells what the raven did after Noah released it — it went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Genesis 8:9 — This verse gives the dove's reason for returning, which forms the contrast with the raven: the dove found no rest for her foot.
At the end of forty days (Genesis 8:6), Noah opened the window of the ark and 'sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth' (Genesis 8:7). The text does not say that the raven returned to Noah or to the ark; it simply records that the raven kept flying 'to and fro' until the ground was dry. Noah then sent out a dove 'to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground' (Genesis 8:8). The dove 'found no rest for the sole of her foot,' so she returned to the ark, and Noah pulled her in (Genesis 8:9). When he sent the dove out a second time, she returned that evening with 'an olive leaf pluckt off,' showing that the waters were abated (Genesis 8:11). The narrative gives no explicit explanation of the raven's behavior; it contrasts the raven's continuing flight with the dove's return.
The provided transcripts do not show Les Feldick commenting directly on the raven's failure to return. They do, however, contain his teaching on the truths that frame the incident. Les teaches that before the flood, man and the animals were not meat-eaters: 'they all had a diet of things which grew normally — the nuts and the fruits and the grass and the herbs' (Clips 1, 6). Everything changed after the flood when, beginning in Genesis 9:3, God gave Noah 'every moving thing that liveth' for food — and Les says God then gave man, as well as the carnivorous animals, permission to kill and eat (Clips 1, 6). He describes the birds of prey and vultures that came down upon Abram's exposed carcasses (Clip 3), showing how he views carrion-eating birds, and he teaches that in the Millennial Kingdom the lion will again eat provender like the ox (Clip 4). Les also describes the condition of the earth as the waters receded — new surfaces emerging, mountains rising, rivers forming, and the land draining naturally into the seas (Clip 0) — the world into which Noah released the raven.
Genesis 8:9 gives the reason directly: '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.' The record contrasts the dove's return with the raven's continuing flight: the dove found no resting place while the waters still covered the earth.
When Noah sent the dove out a second time, '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' (Genesis 8:11). The fresh olive leaf was evidence that the flood waters had receded enough for new plant life to appear.
Les Feldick teaches they were not. Before the flood, 'they did not kill something and eat of it' — man and the animals 'all had a diet of things which grew normally' (Clip 1). He says 'the wild animals... did not kill to satisfy their appetites; everything ate of that which grew naturally' (Clip 6). But after the flood, God told Noah, 'every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you' (Genesis 9:3), and Les says God gave not only man but also the carnivorous animals permission to kill and eat (Clip 6). This is the post-flood world the raven was sent out into.
Genesis 8:6 says Noah opened the ark's window 'at the end of forty days' — after the mountaintops had been seen (Genesis 8:5) — and sent out the raven while the waters were still abating. Les describes the end of the flood this way: 'he makes a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuage,' with new surfaces appearing, the mountains rising up, the rivers being formed, and the earth draining naturally to the seas (Clip 0).
The Earth After the Flood
Les teaches that at the end of the flood God made a wind to pass over the earth, the waters assuaged, and new land surfaces, mountains, rivers, and natural drainage were formed — the state of the world, with the waters abating, into which Genesis 8:7 says Noah sent the raven.
Pre-Flood Diet Was Vegetarian
Les teaches that before the flood neither man nor animals killed anything for food; everything ate that which grew naturally, and only after the flood (Genesis 9:3) did God give every moving thing as food — the biblical setting for why a bird of prey could survive outside the ark.
Noah’s Flood Was Not Just Rain: The Fountains of the Great Deep Explained
It just goes to show you how impressionistic young minds are. And I've almost had 100% of people I've ever said it to nod their head. You know, they know what I'm talking about. Well, listen, the ark was not just a little rowboat. It did not just have a little shed stuck in the middle, and there were no animals with their heads sticking over the edge.
Vultures and Birds of Prey
Les describes the birds of prey and vultures that came down upon Abram's divided carcasses, showing his teaching that such carrion-eating birds are naturally drawn to dead flesh — the kind of food a raven would find floating after the flood.
Carnivores Return to Plants in the Millennium
Les teaches that in the Millennial Kingdom the lion will eat provender (forage and grasses) like an ox, reversing the carnivorous order — in contrast to the flood judgment, where the world was filled with death.
The Hidden Meaning of "Pitch" in Noah's Ark | Genesis 6 Bible Study
And I'll tell you before we get any further, the flood was not just a 40 days of rain. It was far, far more than that. So this ark is going to have to be built with real stability. It's going to have to be built to not only survive for a few days, but it's going to be in the water for almost a year. And so consequently, Noah must have been very meticulous in building this box or this ark.
Post-Flood Permission to Eat Meat
Les teaches that after the flood God gave man and the carnivorous animals permission to kill and eat (Genesis 9:3), which he contrasts with the pre-flood world where everything ate that which grew naturally.
Moses, the Ark, and the Second Coming: Unlocking the Prophetic Pattern
So when they saw that he was this kind of a child, she hid him three months. Then, when she could no longer hide him, in verse 3, she took for him an ark of bulrushes. Now remember, an ark is an ark. And remember when we were way back in Genesis, I told you that the Hebrew word ark is also translated in the last verse of the last chapter of Genesis as what? A coffin. So it was just simply a box.
Genesis 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:
The setting — Noah opened the ark's window before sending out the raven.
Genesis 8:7: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
The key verse recording the raven's behavior after Noah released it.
Genesis 8:8: Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Noah sent the dove to see if the waters had abated.
Genesis 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.
The reason the dove returned — no rest for her foot — in contrast to the raven.
Genesis 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.
The evidence of new life and abated waters that the dove brought back.
Genesis 9:3: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
The post-flood change Les points to — God giving every moving thing for food.
Genesis 8:7 says the raven went forth 'to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.' The text never records it coming back into the ark. God's Word does not give the raven's reason, but it contrasts with the dove, which returned because she 'found no rest for the sole of her foot' (Genesis 8:9). Les Feldick's related teaching shows that after the flood the world had become carnivorous, with birds of prey drawn to dead flesh — the kind of food a raven could find on the floating debris.
The Bible does not say the raven returned to Noah or the ark. Genesis 8:7 simply says it 'went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.' The next verses focus on the dove, which did return.
Neither the Bible nor the provided Les Feldick transcripts assign a symbolic meaning to the raven in this passage. The passage itself simply records what the raven did. The dove, by contrast, is shown returning with an olive leaf as evidence the waters had abated (Genesis 8:11).
The provided transcripts of Les Feldick's teaching do not show him commenting directly on the raven. His related teaching covers the flood itself, the pre-flood vegetarian diet of man and animals, the post-flood permission to eat meat, and the behavior of birds of prey around carcasses.
Watch the Teaching: Noah’s Flood & The Middle East Oil Prophecy | Genesis Bible Study