Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Genesis 8:15-9:17

God Covenanted with Noah

Genesis tells us that the hearts of men were filled with all kinds of evil and sinful thoughts since the time of Cain until Enoch and even right unto the day of Noah. The world was plagued with sins and thus, God sent the flood.

Genesis 6:5-7: “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So, the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”

The Lord sent the flood to wipe out all the creatures of the earth. Only Noah found favour in His eyes. Noah followed God’s instruction to build an ark, and he brought in his family members and all kinds of animal, so that they would not be destroyed by the flood.

After the flood had receded, Noah came out from the ark, and he called out to God and offered sacrifices to Him.

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Gen 8:21-22）

God Keeps the World in Its Proper Order and Function

God promised to not destroy all living creatures on earth because of men’s sin against Him. God also promised to keep normal the circles and changes of season. Animals would be allowed to keep on living.

God would maintain the environment and weather that the creatures on earth needed. Water that was needed in seasons for seeds to grow until harvest time, as well as day and night, they shall never cease.

Though the inclination of the hearts of men were still evil after the flood, and they deserved nothing but punishment, yet God made the promise to take care of them.

God’s covenanted parties include the earth, all the living creatures on earth, Noah and his sons and all the human races that came from their lines. God promised to keep, to sustain and to rule over the earth, and all the human races and the living creatures on it.

This covenant is not a covenant of salvation, and the promise included therein is not a promise to deliver someone out of his sin or curses, but to keep the world in its natural order, so that life can be preserved continually.

God Established a New Order for the World

After the flood had destroyed the world, God commanded Noah and his descendants to be fruitful and increase in number, multiply on earth and increase upon it.

 “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them⋯⋯As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (Gen 9:1,7）

 It was from Noah’s times that God allowed man to hunt animals for food, and man and animals feared each other since then.

 “The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.” (Gen9:2-4)

God gave all things to be food for Noah. Noah could eat all kinds of animal and vegetable. This rule implies that there is a need for man to work, as man needs to plant and to rear animals in order to have animals and vegetables as his food. All the hard work is his channel to get his food.

So, God has determined that work be a good and necessary component in the lives of human being.

But God allows man to eat only meat without blood and life. Prior to this, man ate only plant and vegetables (Gen 1:29). Later, when Moses declared the dietary law (Leviticus 17:11), the Israelites were forbidden to eat certain meat and food.

It was until the time of New Testament that the law of Christ teaches us to eat all food (Rom 14:14; 1 Tim 4:3).

God forbade Noah and his descendants to kill others based on the same reason – not to shed innocent blood.

“And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.” (Gen 9:5-6)

God values each and every one of our lives, because man is created in the image of God. God declares that whoever shed the life of another human being, his blood will be shed too. It indicates that killing is something wrong, and it deserves punishment of death.

All these rules are bases for God to establish government and law. The government is empowered by its citizens to rule over their society, especially to protect the lives of its people, possession and freedom.

Though the inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart was still evil since young even after the flood, yet God has put His natural law in the conscience of man (Romans 2:14-15). Man is then capable of walking rightly, and that they are without excuse when they are judged by God.

God uses Noahic covenant to be the base and He rules the world through the natural law, and He creates an awareness in the hearts of men towards this law, so that men will not be utterly evil. God regulates all aspects of civil society through the Noahic covenant.

The Noahic Covenant and the Sign

Even though the hearts of men were evil, God confirmed that man was made in the image of God and he shall be God’s representative on earth through the covenant He made with Noah.

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: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 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. 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.” So, God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” (Gen 9:12-17)

Noahic Covenant is God’s love for the world, which is manifested through His covenant with them. The rainbow is the sign of the covenant. Wherever we are, and whenever we see the rainbow in the sky, we are reminded of His promise (Gen 9:13-14), that He will not destroy again all the living creatures on earth with the flood (Gen 9:11).

“Noahic Covenant” includes the following characteristics: (1) It is unconditional (Gen 9:9), and God has emphasized it again in verse 15-16 that He will keep His promise;(2) It is universal (Gen 9:11); (3) It is everlasting (Gen 9:12). 

In conclusion, the “Noahic Covenant” in the Old Testament reveals the way God gives grace to mankind.  God made His covenant with men after He had done His judgment on earth, and He turned His judgment into His grace, that by Noah and His family and all the animals that were preserved in the ark, the world was granted a new beginning. 

In Genesis chapter 9, God promised that He shall bless all mankind, and He made new regulations. He promised to be faithful to the mankind, and He forbade killing, and He gave His sign (rainbow on sky) as a promise to not destroy by flood all that He had created.

The Noahic Covenant and the New Testament

God gave common grace to all human beings through His covenant with Noah, regardless of what religions they chose to believe in. But in Christ, God has given us a special saving grace. It is the saving grace God gives to His elect.

The special grace in Christ includes the blessings of being born again, justification, to be called the children of God, etc. (Romans 8: 28-30)

God does not give His blessings of saving grace in Christ to those in the world who are yet to be born again. Therefore, this is the uniqueness of the new covenant which is made in Christ.

How does the Noahic Covenant – the common grace – be relevant to the Christian living?

Firstly, rainbow reminds us that God will keep alive all lives on earth until Christ comes again. We are comforted for we are assured that nothing is to disrupt the salvation plan of God. Therefore, we do not fear rumours about the end of the world, whether Mars will hit the Earth, or invasions from some outer space creatures.

Secondly, God promised not to destroy the world but to give common grace to all creatures of the earth. It explains the reasons why people from many non-Christian cultures and civilisations are blessed too, and why they have successfully built their lives and civilization which are full of glamour.

God also shows his compassion towards non-Christians, and He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous, or those that do not believe in Him.

Non-believers also have God-endowed conscience and wisdom to build their lives. Their achievement might be far more excellent than many of the believers. Nevertheless, they do not have Christ’s salvation in their inner beings. Hence, they are deprived of inner contentment as well as the ultimate hope of their life’s journey.

Their civilisation also lacks the redemptive power to break through the national vicious, bloody circle. Their literary imagination also lacks the Ultimate God and man, vertical relationship.  

Thirdly, God promised never to destroy the earth again. He gives common grace to all the creation of the world so that time and other objective conditions are provided for us to propagate His salvation plan—Christ’s gospel.

The common grace will end once Christ returns in the clouds.

Therefore, now we can rest assured on earth, to build and to evangelize in order to save souls, until the day Christ returns. Non-Christians ought to take hold of their opportunities to receive Christ’s salvation now, so that they can live a life that is full of joy, peace and meaning and to enter into the eternal rest in life to come by trusting in Christ.