Genesis 9:8-17
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.”
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 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.”
When our boys were very young my wife and I shared “bedtime duty.” She would most often take care of bath time, brushing teeth and getting them into their pajamas. Then I would take over for story time and tucking them into bed with a prayer.
One particular evening my wife finished her part of the nightly ritual and let me know the boys were ready for me. I was involved with something important, like watching a Bulls playoff game, so I hollered back, “Tell ‘em I’ll be up in a minute!” Even though I intended to go upstairs to their room at the next commercial break, I got engrossed in the game and I simply forgot.
About 45 minutes later my wife walked by and said, “Did you say goodnight to the boys?” And I went (envision me slapping myself on the forehead), “Ohhhh, I totally forgot!” and I jumped out of my chair and hurried to their rooms fully expecting them to be dead asleep. But, I figured, when they asked me the next day if I came up to say goodnight I could at least say, “Yes, I did, but you were already asleep.”
I checked on the son sleeping in the lower bunk and, sure enough, he was out like a light. But when I looked over the railing of the top bunk I was shocked to find my five year-old still awake. He looked at me and said, “I knew you’d come Daddy!”
I still can’t tell that story without tears welling up in my eyes because my five year old son taught me something about the power of a promise.
The story of Noah and the Ark begins with the judgment of God and ends with the promises of God.
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
God makes two promises:
He promises never again to destroy the earth by flood; and he promises to establish a covenant with all generations.
He says,
“Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
In other words, God will always be holy; people will always reject his holiness; but God will find a different way to deal with the problem of sin.
Then he says,
This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come…
Here God is talking about the rainbow, which is to be a sign of the covenant. The word “covenant” simply means, “holy promise,” but in the context of the Bible it means “God’s promise of salvation.”
God promises to deal with human sin in a different way; not through judgment but by grace. The rest of the story of the Bible tells the story of how God keeps this promise; first through the giving of the law (The Ten Commandments); then through the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle and later the Temple; then through the gift of his presence (the pillar of fire by night and smoke by day); then through the prophets; and, finally, when the time was right, the gift of his Son.
The Apostle Paul says it this way:
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. Hebrews 1:1-2
Genesis tells us that following the flood God made several promises. The New Testament tells us that, in Christ, all God’s promises are good.
Brian Coffey
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