A Covenant

DEVOTION

GENESIS

A COVENANT

Gen 9:8-17

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 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. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 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: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 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. 16 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." 17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

NIV

It would seem that many believers consider the time after the Cross the age of grace, but from what we see here, this moment right after the flood would appear to be the beginning of the age of grace. God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants, who would be us. At this very time after Noah left the ark, built and altar and offered a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for his salvation from the destructive flood, God made this covenant. He would never again destroy all living things upon the earth with the flood waters. He established a sign not just for himself to remember, but for Noah and all his descendants to remember whenever it appears in the sky. How many people today think a rainbow is a sign of the covenant God made with them? Just to think about that, God made a covenant with us. He promised, he swore by his own name, he would never again wipe all of mankind from the face of the earth with water. Now that is not to say he will not destroy the earth one day, for we already have seen the earth has been reserved for fire. But this covenant God will keep forever. What we do not know is how much he tried to bring the pre-flood generations in awareness of their condition of sin, and need of repentance. We know that before the flood the inclination of their hearts were bent toward evil all the time. We know that God established this covenant even though he knew the post-flood generations would turn their hearts toward evil all the time. After the flood he came to visit with Moses and gave him the law for his people to follow. But of course we know the purpose of that law was to show them they could not follow it and thus need the Savior. Yet he continued to speak to the people through all the prophets and then he came in the flesh to teach them personally and to satisfy his own need for justice, dying on the cross. Yet he was not finished, after Jesus ascended he sent the Holy Spirit to continue to convict people of their sin and need of repentance. God has been making every effort to reach the descendants of Noah so they would turn from their wicked ways and turn back to him. What we do know that the pre-flood generations were still without excuse, as are the post-flood generations.

Rom 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse .

NIV

This certainly applied to the pre-flood people. They experienced the full wrath of God. It was revealed to them in the flood. Even though we do not know how much preaching they heard, or the stories about Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and Seth, they had the opportunity to see and know God through his creation.  They were living in a time when all creation was at peace with itself, the lamb and the lion were together, no animal had the dread of man in them. Yet their hearts were bent toward evil all the time. They had decided to ignore God. But he now makes the covenant with Noah and promises he will not do that again. But at the same time, he knows mankind will return to being bent toward evil all the time. How great is our God, he has always known, and always planned on saving us himself. But we still have to decide to turn from our wicked ways and turn to him, to put our hope, our trust in him. God has established a covenant with us, and he put a sign in the sky so we would know it. His covenant he made with us through Jesus Christ also includes a sign, the Holy Spirit. Although it is easy to see the sign, the rainbow in the sky, it is just as easy to sense the presence of the Holy Spirit working within our lives. The rainbow is there for all to see, but the presence of the Holy Spirit is far more personal. Yet with him there are still signs. We can see and experience the fruit of the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit. These are signs of an everlasting covenant God has established with us.