Genesis 9:8-17
2006.Nov.13 10:04
Reiterating the Promise.
Read Genesis 9:8-17 | Full Chapter
In Genesis 8:21, Jehovah says, "I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done" (Genesis 8:21, NASB) . In the next chapter, he reinforces that promise, although this specific promise is qualified to floods:
I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
(Genesis 9:11-13, NASB)
Last entry, I mentioned that the promise of not destroying humanity and the earth again is one of the things that seems to me to distinguish humanity before and after the flood, that we now have God’s word that he’s not going to wipe us out as a species. To me, that means a policy of discipline and pruning rather than xenocide. To have, as a species, that promise, is reassuring but also somewhat daunting. It means, again to my interpretation, greater pain whilst in this earthly life, but the ultimate benefits cannot be overstated…so, I won’t try to state them at all at this point.
Now God does one more new really neat thing, he makes a sign of a covenant between him and humanity. This time, it is the rainbow, which reminds us both that we as a species brought him nearly to the point of destroying us, but more importantly, that he has promised not to do so again (actually, the covenant is between Jehovah and all animals). "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it,” says God, “to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth" (Genesis 9:16, NASB) .
So, how about I suggest something corny. Next time you see a rainbow, remember that it is a sign of God’s covenant with us that he’s not going to wipe us out by a flood, no matter how bad we get. And thank him.
