GOD’S COVENANT WITH ADAM ended in the catastrophic flood of Noah’s time, which except for his grace, would have been a fulfilled existential threat eliminating mankind. But one man found favor in God’s eyes. “‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created, for I regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6:7-8) God’s promise to Noah was, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Gen. 9:11) And God then changed the dietary ordinances from plant based to include flesh, necessary in the absence of plant life. “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” (Gen. 9:3) Following would come covenants with Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, and ultimately the Covenant of Grace in Jesus Christ. In each pivotal generation, God found a righteous man.
Noah, in his time, was faithful as a prophet of God to his culture, and faithful to his mission from God. The surrounding culture jeered, and then drowned in the flood. But Noah and his family and all the animals on the ark rode out the mighty waters of the flood, and came to rest on Mt. Ararat in a world made new through a cycle of destruction and regeneration. “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’” (Gen. 9:12-13) His covenant was not only for man, but for all creatures, and the earth as well. The rainbow is a reminder to both God and man. “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.” (Gen. 9:14-15a) He figuratively looking down, we looking up to the rain-clouded sky, the seven visible colors of the rainbow are a delight to the eye. This delight to our eyes brings a warm and appreciative reminder of the promise of God. “Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 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.” (Gen. 9:15b-16)
Some of God’s progressive covenants were with all mankind, some were with specific people-groups such as Israel, and were specific to that people at that time in their epoch. To emphasize his promise, not only to Noah but to all mankind, God restates it. “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” (Gen. 9:17)
The great flood, recorded in the history of peoples as well as in the global stratum of the geology of the earth itself, is terrible to consider in the scope of its catastrophic consequences. All warm-blooded life in this world, except for a representative sampling held safe in the ark—that great wooden barge—was literally scrubbed from the face of the earth. This left a marker in history of existential threat to the human race, and gives rise in all generations to the accompanying subconscious anxiety of the fear of death so common to so many.
God in his great mercy, and in his everlasting grace, established one final covenant with all mankind. It is a covenant unique in its scope and promise, different than all that went before. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” ( Heb. 1:1a) This covenant is so powerful and all-encompassing that God doesn’t want us to miss the importance. He stresses Jesus as archetypal in resurrected Spirit. Paul, inspired of God on this same subject, describes him as “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col. 1:15) God continues revealing the true nature of his son as pivotal in creation and new creation. He says that he appointed Jesus as “heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” (Gen. 1:1b, c.f. Prov. 8) This is a distinctive characteristic of Jesus; only he is eternal from before, existent during, and everlasting after time. In parallel with Paul’s similarly inspired elevated view of Jesus, the Hebrews author continues. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb. 1:3) Paul says something very important about each of us to add to these thoughts. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in order that he might show the incomparable riches of his grace. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:6-9)
The covenant with Noah is a covenant for all time and all people; on gloomy winter days, the miraculous seven-hued arc of the rainbow is a marker for us, and we see and are comforted. The covenant in Jesus is available to all people, and it is for eternity. Physical death has been vanquished in the resurrected life. It is for me, and for you; it is for now, and it is for always.
Q. In what way has God been most faithful to me?
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