The Genesis account of
the flood, precedes this apocalyptic type event with these words: “For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy
all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on
the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall
come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” (Genesis 6:17–18, ESV).
After this deluge of
indescribable proportion we read these words, "But I will establish my
covenant . . .." What is that
covenant? The terms of the covenant are
found in Genesis 9:8–11 (ESV),
"8 Then God said to Noah and to his
sons with him, 9 'Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your
offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with
you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many
as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I
establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by
the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the
earth.'”
The promise of the
covenant is plain: God clearly obligates Himself to the promise that "that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the
flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” [1] God restates this same thing
in verse 15. In fact four times the
emphatic "never again" is used in this covenant. The commitment of God is through everlasting
generations meaning that it is in effect today. This covenant reminds us and reinforces the
truth that God alone is the life-giving sustainer of all life.
There is a real and important sense that
this is an “unconditional” covenant. I
find no "if" clause anywhere in the account. Having said that, the preservation of the
earth did come with responsibilities – or terms, if you will. In Genesis 9:1–5 (ESV), we read:
1 And
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and
fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything
that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are
delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.
And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you
shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for
your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it
and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of
man.
Indeed there are several terms or responsibilities
placed upon mankind. I find at least 6:
1. There is the responsibility to be
"fruitful and multiply".
2. There is the responsibility to rule over
creation. A creation where now the
animal kingdom is given the "fear of man".
3. There is given the responsibility to
kill and eat of the animals that God has given.
4. There is given the responsibility to
view all human life as inestimable in value.
5. There is a responsibility not to consume
blood.
6. There is the responsibility of society
to anticipate retribution on all who take life illicitly.
Although there is no "condition" under which God will go back on on
His promise. This does not mean that God will never again destroy the earth,
however. He has promised to one day destroy the earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10, 11; Revelation 20:9,21:1 )
in the terrible events known as the “day of the Lord.” I have no reason to believe that God will
forget the responsibilities He has given to mankind. It strikes me as somewhat poignant that
modern society has dismissed the design and goal of marriage, that being
procreation; they have protected animals and killed humans without fear of justice.
Today we see a rainbow and we are (rightly,
may I add) reminded of God's faithfulness and His sustaining grace in
creation. But we should also be reminded
that God is holy and hates sin. God will
not let the wicked go unpunished. We
should also be reminded that He has provided an Ark for us who is a Person, not
a ship. Christ came to save us who are
all rebellious, wicked, murderous idolaters from the “wrath
to come” (1
Thessalonians 1:10). The invitation
is to be united to the Ark.
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