God’s covenant with Noah
Genesis 9:1-17
Covenants are formal, binding agreements that men and nation live be. In our text this evening, God makes a covenant to Noah.
The covenant states that mankind should be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. It places a fear of man upon the animal realm. It gives us new dietary instructions and teaches us of the sanctity of human life. It is these verses that gives usd the background for human governments to control evil. The uniqueness of the covenant is found in verses 9-12. Here we discover that this covenant is 1) unconditional, man is not required to do anything to ratify it. 2) it is universal, there will never be another world wide flood, and 3) it is everlasting, in that it will continue for all future generations.
God establishes a sysmbol for this covenant, the rainbow. God states that He will remember His promise everytime there is a rainbow in the sky, and to this day this covenant continues just as He has promised. By implication man when he sees a rainbow, he to remembers.
The major teaching of this covenant is three fold: 1) God is establishing a new world order. Similar in some respect as to the one given to Adam, but also different. Noah is the new Adam, the old is passed away the new now reigns. 2) God is revealing His faithfulness to all mankind. The rainbow sysmbolizes this and there has never been another universal flood upon mankind and 3) It is our assurance that God will once again in the future establish a new order. This is found in Rev 21-22, where we see God creating a new heaven and a new earth for His people, those who have trusted in Him for their salvation. The world was made for the righteous and we can be confident and assured that this will surely come pass.
So the next time you view a rainbow in the sky, remember what it symbolizes and be thankful for God mercy and grace in saving us and keeping us.