Genesis (Pt. 18) (The Covenant with Noah)
Text: Genesis 9:1-17
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Just in reading that text, I see three things or three messages or lessons that we can learn from this passage. First of all, we’re reminded of the sanctity of human life. Then in verses 8 – 11 we are reminded of the covenant that God made with Noah, and then in verses 12 – 17 we see the sign of the covenant. And so what we’re going to do is look more closely at those three things and see what they mean for us today.
First; verses 1-7, we see the original creation ordinances that were given to Adam and now they are being recounted to Noah. We see the ordinance of procreation and dominion, and Noah’s being reminded that man is being made in God’s image. And Noah is entering into this… almost new world that has been cleansed by the judgment of the flood, and here God is telling him the same things that He told Adam. God tells him to be fruitful and multiply, and then God goes on to say that Noah will have dominion. But something has changed as well. If you remember back in Genesis chapter 1:29 God had said, “Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food to you.” But now; here in chapter 9:3 God says, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” You see up until this time, the Bible makes no mention of eating animals. It tells us that they were used for sacrifice, and for clothing, but this is the first time we see them mentioned as food. Now some commentators say that the Bible implies that man ate animals… remember Abel was a keeper of sheep. Maybe he kept them for the purpose of wool and for sacrifices, or maybe they were eating them. The Bible never specifically says. But I just wanted to point this out to you, how God is now specifically saying we can eat meat. And thank God for that!
But notice that God also makes a provision here. In verse 4 He says, “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” Now we’ve got to understand the historical context and the Biblical context here in order to get what this means. Historically; pagans often drank blood in connection with their rituals and ceremonies. They thought that by drinking the blood of an animal, or even of their enemies they could gain the strength of whatever it was they killed. They thought it would keep them young and strong. So in one sense… a twisted sense; they understood that the life was in the blood. And it’s interesting when you look at history and you see this transcend cultures and time.
So I guess we could say that vampires were around a long time before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. But God says, “Don’t do it!”
Biblically, or theologically speaking, God is preparing man to understand the connection between the blood sacrifice and atonement. Turn with me to Leviticus 17:10-14 (Read). Now it’s interesting here because God is making a covenant with Noah, and if you remember… last Sunday we took Communion, and I told you what Jesus said in Luke 22:20 during the Last Supper. He said, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
Ok; let’s move on here.
In verse 5 we see that because man is created in the image of God, human life is precious.
Whether it’s an animal that kills a man, or another man that kills a man, God will require it from them. This is where we get the idea of Capital Punishment. Look at that 1st phrase of verse 6, God says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man, his blood shall be shed.” This is a statement of directive, a directive to establish order in the world after the flood. But it also shows us that even though man is a fallen creature, we still are image bearers of God.
Now it’s important that we understand in a NT context. In Acts chapter 15 we read about the Jerusalem Council where the question was brought up whether or not the gentile converts to Christianity had to follow the ceremonial laws of Moses, and if you remember, the answer was – NO! But if you read down a bit there in Acts 15, verses 28 and 29 the council said, “The only things we and the Holy Spirit would have them do is abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication.” So just like the creation ordinances, we see that this ordinance is still important for us today.
Now if we go on to verses 8-11 we see the promise of the covenant. God says he’s going to establish this covenant with Noah, but not only with Noah, but with Noah’s sons, and with every living thing on the earth. In verse 11 God promises that He will never destroy the earth again with water. So what this means is that everyone in the world is going to benefit from this covenant. That doesn’t mean that everyone is automatically saved, it doesn’t mean that everyone is automatically going to know God and be given eternal life. This is a covenant of what theologians call “common grace.” And basically what that means is that there is no one who has ever walked the face of this planet who hasn’t received and witnessed the goodness of God. And that simply makes our condemnation greater if we reject His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul says in Romans chapter 1, “…what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
In verses 12 through 17, we see the sign of the covenant. Let’s read that real quick (Read Gen. 9:12-17). Now this is the rainbow, and I want you to see what’s happening here. God’s not only made a promise to Noah, but He’s given Noah a sign of that promise. Every time we see a rainbow we should give thanks for God’s faithfulness. Every time we see a rainbow we can to ourselves, “That’s the sign of God’s promise.” Every time we see a rainbow we can know that we serve a covenant keeping, eternally faithful God, and we can know that when He promises something He keeps it. And God gave this sign of the Covenant, this rainbow, in order to reassure Noah, and us as well. You say, “How does that reassure Noah?” Well think about it. Up to this point, Noah’s only seen rain one time in his life, and it was scary, it was frightening, it was God bringing judgment upon the world. So God is telling him that He’s not going to flood the entire world again, and to prove it, you can look up and see the rainbow. It’s a sign of the covenant promise of God.
Now throughout the Bible we’ll see more covenant signs given, and that’s what they are given for. The signs of covenant don’t bring about the blessings promised in those covenants, they confirm the reality of the blessings. God had already blessed Noah, the rainbow was just confirming that reality and it was a reminder of that reality. Later on we see circumcision used the same way, and then in the NT, we see baptism. Baptism doesn’t confer the blessing of new life in Christ, it’s a sign of what’s already been conferred upon us, and it’s a sign that’s supposed to confirm what has been conferred; (I hope everyone understands what I just said).
In-other-words, a covenant sign is something that points to an already completed reality.
Now let’s take this a little further here. If you look at verse 13, the literal text says, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” The bow is a weapon of war. So what God is saying here is this: “I’m putting My bow away for a time, and making a covenant of truce with mankind and the earth, and all that’s on it. Even though I have every right to destroy it, because man is sinful from birth, and in rebellion. I am instead going to show grace and mercy to man, because a time is coming when I will make a new covenant with them, the TRUE COVENANT through the shed blood of My only begotten Son, so I’m going to hang My bow up for a period of time.”
This ISN’T the covenant that man had been waiting for. It doesn’t take away sin. It doesn’t bring eternal life. But it does establish a measure of peace until the True Covenant comes. So this entire story of Noah is given to us as a picture of what was to come. Noah wasn’t the Savior, he wasn’t perfect, but he was righteous – righteous by faith. And it’s not Noah who has caused God to bring peace, it’s Christ who has really caused God to cease His judgment upon mankind. It’s Christ that causes the angels to say, “Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.” With Noah, God said, “Even though man is sinful, yet I won’t destroy him.” With Christ, God says, “Because the sin of My people IS destroyed, therefore I have no cause to come against them in judgment.”
Now look at verses 14 – 17 one more time, (Read).
Here God is saying, “When I see My bow, hanging in the cloud, I WILL REMEMBER.”
I am a forgetful person… MariJo would say that instead of the absent minded professor, I am the absent minded pastor. And I don’t deny it. I have post-it-notes all over the place, I have a dry erase board in my office at home and on the refrigerator at home, I have notes marked all over my calendar at my office here at church. One of my main problems is that I can get so wrapped up in theology and the deep things of Scripture, that I lose track of other things. It’s not intentional, it just happens. And so I have to have things to remind me, but most of the time I forget to look at them, so I really get messed up sometimes, especially with MJ working full time and not around to keep me in line.
Well, that isn’t exactly what the rainbow does for God. God is omniscient, He knows all things, and He doesn’t forget, or lose track of what He’s done, or what He’s promised. So the rainbow is not God’s post-it-note. It’s a sign of His grace and mercy, and faithfulness. Every time we see a rainbow, it represents the victory of grace over judgment. We deserve the judgment, but God hung up His bow in light of the true covenant that would be made in Christ.
A day is coming when God is going to take up the bow of His judgment once again. He’s not going to destroy the world with a flood, no… next time it will be with fire, and I believe with all of my heart, that it’s going to be soon. I’m no prophet, and I could be entirely wrong, but I believe it with all of my heart that its coming sooner rather than later. And there isn’t going to be a giant boat that we can get in and be saved, our only hope of salvation is to be found in Christ. And I pray that’s where you all will be found.
CLOSING AND PRAYER
