Genesis 9:8-17

Hello, gang!

This morning we will look at one of the seven covenants between God and His people in the Bible. The first was the Adamic Covenant (re: Adam's responsibility to God and creation and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and God's provision for sin in the promised Seed in Gen 3:15). The covenant in today's reading is the Noahic Covenant, which includes the promise of God to never again destroy the whole earth through flood:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (vs.8-11)

A covenant is a formal promise or pledge between two parties. Yesterday I wrote of Jon Courson's idea that this covenant has three parts: diet, discipline, and declaration. The latter part is in the promise of the rainbow, which God said would be the sign of this covenant. The promise of the rainbow has two parts: judgement and grace. The rainbow reminds us of the time when God judged and destroyed the earth because of the wickedness of men. In 2 Peter 2:5, Peter affirms that this flood was a warning to us that God does and will judge sin. However, the rainbow refers us back to this covenant that God made to never judge the entire earth again through a flood. You can imagine that, had God not made this promise, Noah and his sons might have panicked every time it started to drizzle! But note that the rainbow would also be a reminder to God:

And God said... Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” (vs. 16-17)
God keeps His covenants and He expects us to keep ours, as well. What covenants have you made in your life? To your spouse in the marriage covenant? God takes that one very seriously! Have you made a covenant of time commitments? Can you be counted on to keep them? What covenants have you made with your employer? With your aging parents? With your children? With your friends? Can they count on you to follow through?

We have rain on the way again. I'll be looking for a rainbow and remembering that our covenant God keeps His promises.

Have a great day!