God’s Covenant (3)

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth”… Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you…” Genesis 9.1, 8

Restate and renew
The first formal mention of God’s covenant comes in the story of Noah and the flood. In Genesis 6 God declared to Noah that He would establish His covenant with him (Gen. 6.18). We note that this covenant is not described as a covenant, as though it were one among several. This is God’s covenant, and while God’s manner of relating to human beings has not, to this point, been described in this way, it’s clear from the wording God used with Noah, that the covenant He was making with him was the same one He had made with Adam and Eve.

The covenant with Adam and Eve, though it had been broken, remained in effect. Why? Hadn’t our first parents forfeited their chance to glorify God and enjoy Him forever? Hadn’t God warned them that they would die “in the day” they disobeyed Him? Indeed, and they did die, as we have seen.

But we remember that the first principle of God’s covenant is grace, and the grace of God is able to cover a multitude of sins for those who shelter within it.

As God covered Adam and Eve with the skin of a sacrificed animal, so His grace covered their sins and allowed them to continue in His covenant throughout the course of their mortal lives. Thus, the covenant with Adam and Eve continued in principle – with its mandates, promises, and sanctions – up to the time of Noah.

With Noah, God’s covenant renewed and restated His covenant. It’s the same covenant – God’s covenant – but we see that this sub-arch of the Old Covenant, while clearly in the same form as the previous sub-arch, contained facets unique to the situation of Noah’s day.

Aspects of the covenant with Noah
We see in God’s establishing His covenant with Noah certain similarities with the covenant as made with Adam and Eve, as well as certain differences. We note first, that God’s covenant with Noah was all of grace. The whole world was corrupt before the eyes of God in the days of Noah – including, we must assume, Noah himself. Noah “found grace” in the eyes of the Lord (Gen. 6.8) – found grace, not deserved it. God revealed Himself and His will to Noah, just as He had done with Adam and Eve; and Noah submitted to Him, as God intended Adam and Eve should do.

God’s covenant of promise is entered by grace through faith, looking to the promises of God, hoping in His favor, and walking in His law.

Second, as Adam and Eve had been given certain commandments to follow, so too with Noah. He was to build an ark for the deliverance of his family and the animals of the earth. In this instruction, we can see aspects of the mandates given to our first parents. A work was to be undertaken that would be the means for filling the earth with life. But Noah’s ability to fulfill that mandate would depend on the more proximate task of building the ark. Would he obey and live? Or would he disobey and die with everyone else?

Following the flood, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifice to God, in a certain way, replicating God’s act of covering Adam and Eve with the skin of a sacrificed animal. God restated His covenant with Noah, using much of the same language He had used with Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply” and “fill the earth” (Gen. 9.1). We note also that God blessed Noah and his family, as He had blessed Adam and Eve. The sense of this word is that God established them in a right relationship with Himself. From that relationship, established and sustained by God’s grace and Word, all other blessings and bounty would flow.

Finally, we note that, as God had given Adam and Eve a sign to indicate His favor – the skin clothing from a sacrificed animal – so God gave to Noah and his descendants a sign of His grace. The rainbow appearing in the sky served to allay the fears of men that a flood was coming again, and reminded them of God’s grace and promise for all time. It was a sign from God to help men remember His grace and promise of peace.

God’s continuing covenant
The essence of God’s covenant with Noah was thus the same as with Adam and Eve – the promise of life with God in peace and plenty. We remember that the earth in Noah’s day was corrupt and sinful, filled with lust and violence – so much so that God regretted ever having made human beings in the first place. Thus it is a measure of the steadfastness of God’s grace and the unchangeableness of His purpose that He determined to give humankind a new beginning, rather than to destroy them altogether.

God’s covenant derives from God’s being. He is all grace, all steadfast love and faithfulness. He does not change, and His purposes will not fail. And He is a God of infinite understanding and patience, as we see in His being willing to adapt the terms and administration of His covenant with sinful human beings, to suit the needs and conditions of the time.

For reflection
1.  How can you see the grace of God at work in His covenant with Noah?

2.  How many similarities can you identify between the covenant as God entered it with Noah and as He entered it with Adam and Eve?

3.  In what ways did changes in the historical and cultural setting affect the specific details of the administration of God’s covenant during the time of Noah?

Next steps - Transformation: What are you learning about God’s covenant and what it may offer and require of you? What “sign” does God give you, to keep you mindful of His grace and promise of life and peace?

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

To learn how God’s covenant defines the shape of Scripture, and guides our approach to understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 1 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.