God and Noah's Covenant Genesis 9:1-17（Bible）

God’s Covenant With Noah

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ²The 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. ³Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. ⁴“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. ⁵And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. 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.

⁶“Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.

⁷As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰and 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. ¹¹I 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.”

¹²And 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: ¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I 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. ¹⁶Whenever 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.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”（Genesis 9:1-17）

God blessed Noah and said to them, , “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. ²The 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 ” (verse 1, 2). These were the same words God said to Adam and Eve when he blessed them. God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God, and created them male and female. God blessed them. God said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth; subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27,28)

Blessing is God’s multiplication. It is God’s will for human beings to get married, have children, and multiply. It is God’s greatest desire to give birth to spiritual children, that is, for people to believe in Jesus Christ and become children of God. Before the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave His disciples His last command. ” Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature ” (Mark 16:15) This is a command to multiply spiritual offspring.

Because of human sin, everyone except Noah’s family was destroyed in the Great Flood, but God’s original plan for humans was for them to multiply and spread, as seen in Genesis chapter1. Here, as a new start for humanity, God once again commanded Noah and his families the plan that he had first told Adam and Eve.

Following this, God said to Noah: “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything” (verse 3). After Noah’s flood, animal meat was also given as human food. This is where the description in Genesis chapter 1 differs. “ Behold, I will give you every plant that bears seed and every tree that bears fruit that is on all the earth, and that will be your food ” (Genesis 1:29). In chapter 1, before humans sinned, animals were not given to humans as food.

At that time, a caution was given. This was a command “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it” (verse 4). This is also recorded in the Torah, Leviticus 17:10-12,14. This was also the case with the early church during the New Testament era. “ The Holy Spirit and we have decided that we will not place any burden on you, except for these things that are absolutely necessary: things sacrificed to idols, blood, and strangulation. Avoid material things and immorality. As long as you carefully avoid these things, that’s fine” (Acts 15:28,29).

Continuing from verse 1, God again said to Noah and his families, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it” (verse 7). Because this is a very important command. God then made a covenant with Noah. “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” (verse 11) This was the content of the covenant. This great flood refers to a global flood. Because floods still occur all over the world.

And God gave the sign of the covenant to Noah and his families. That’s a rainbow. “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“ (verse 12,13). When God sees the rainbow, he is reminded of the covenant he made with Noah (verse 16). God is a God of the Covenant. God cherishes covenants and acts on them.

“Noah and the Landscape (Landscape of Noah’s Offering)” / Joseph Anton Koch (1768-1839) Year of production: Oil painting painted in 1803 Collection: Städel Museum (Germany)

However, when God said here that he would not destroy this land (verse 11), he meant that he would not destroy it in a great flood, and did not promise that he would never destroy this land again. In time, this world will be judged not by water but by fire.

The Bible says. The world at that time was flooded and destroyed by that water. But the present heavens and the earth are being set aside to be consumed by fire, by the same word, until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. ,,,,,,, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day, the heavens will make a loud noise and disappear, and all the heavenly creatures will be burned up and destroyed, and the earth and its works will be consumed. (Ⅱ Peter 3:6,7,10)

When we see a rainbow, let’s remember this covenant and give thanks to God. God had mercy on this earth and promised that he would never again bring about a flood of judgment that would destroy the entire earth.

“Noah’s prayer of thanksgiving after leaving the ark” / Domenico Morelli (1823-1901)

We can enter into a covenant with God through the cross of Jesus Christ. It’s a new convenant. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:20). Because of this covenant, God pays close attention to us and, like Noah, gives us special protection.

Just as we remember the covenant between God and Noah when we see a rainbow, let us remember the new covenant made through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus shed on the cross and give thanks to God every time we attend the sacrament. We can easily forget God’s amazing grace, but God reminds us through the sacrament. Christian churches & Christians will perform the sacrament until the day of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. This is our profession of faith. Therefore, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (ⅠCorinthians 11:26).