Noahic Covenant
by Paul George
Scripture
Genesis 8:20-9:17
We live in a society where long-term commitments have become
obsolete. The covenant of marriage is nothing more than a
few words spoken before a minister, priest, or rabbi. The
vows made in today’s society lack the permanence and
commitment of former days. Guarantees are not worth the
paper they are written on. Contracts vaguely worded or
undermined by loopholes and fine print. There are Christians
who believe contractual agreements are somehow unspiritual,
especially between two believers. ‘A man should be as good
as his word,’ we are told and he should be.
What is interesting the infinite, all-powerful, changeless
God of the universe has chosen to deal with men in the form
of covenants. The Noahic Covenant of Genesis chapter 9 is
important to us for a number of reasons. If the Noahic
Covenant were not still in effect, you and I would be
greatly concerned. The Noahic Covenant, in addition to the
fact that it is still in force today, also provides us with
a pattern for all of the other biblical covenants. As we
come to understand this covenant, we will more fully
appreciate the significance of all of the covenants, and
especially the New Covenant instituted by our Lord Jesus
Christ.
The Noahic Covenant lays down the foundation for the
existence of human government.
In Genesis chapters 8 and 9 the eternal purpose of God to
save men was made long before the days of Noah (Ephesians
1:4; 3:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9). What we
find in Genesis 8:20-22 is not the creation of God’s purpose
to save men, but the confirmation of that purpose in
history. Just as God reaffirmed His purpose here, such
recommitment is often good for men as well (Philippians
3:8-16).
God said he would never again destroy the earth by a flood (
9:11). The reason for God saying He would never again
destroy the earth by a flood, is based upon the nature of
man, “For the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth”
(Genesis 8:21).
Righteous Noah (6:9) will soon be found naked in a drunken
stupor (9:21). No matter how many times the earth is
cleansed by a flood, the problem will remain if but one man
exists. The problem is within man, it is his sinful nature.
His predisposition toward sin is not learned, it is innate,
he is “evil from his youth.” As a result, a full restoration
must begin with a new man. This is what God historically
purposed to accomplish.
When God completed His creative works, He pronounced them
very good. The world of Noah’s day received no such
commendation, for the men who possessed it were sinful
(8:21). Adam was charged to subdue the earth and to rule
over the animal kingdom (1:28). Noah was given no such
command. Instead, God placed in the animals a fear of man by
which man could achieve a measure of control over them.
While Adam and his contemporaries seem to have been
vegetarians (Genesis 1:29-30; 9:3), Noah and his descendants
could eat flesh (9:3-4). There was, however, one
stipulation. They could not eat the blood of the animal, for
the life of the animal was in its blood. This was to teach
man not only that God values life, but that He owns it. God
allows man to take the life of animals in order to survive,
but they must not eat the blood.
Why could flesh be eaten after the flood, but not before? It
may be that conditions on the earth so changed that man must
be brought to the realization that, because of his sin, he
could only live by the death of another. Man lives by the
death of animals. Most important of all, man is taught to
reverence life. Men before the fall were obviously men of
violence (Genesis 6:11) who, like Cain (Genesis 4:8), and
Lamech (Genesis 4:23-24), had no regard for human life.
The life of man is precious and belongs to God. It was God’s
to give and His alone to take. Animals which shed man’s
blood must be put to death (v 5; Exodus 21:28, 29). Men who
willfully take the life of another must be put to death ‘by
man’ (v6; Numbers 35:33). In addition to murder, suicide is
prohibited by God’s command in these verses. Life belongs to
God, not only the life of animals and of others, but our own
as well. We must realize that suicide is taking our life
into our own hands when God says it belongs to Him. In the
words of Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away”
(Job 1:21).
This passage seems to shed light on the controversial
subject of abortion also. Man is not to shed the blood of
man. The life of man is in the blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus
17:11). Aside from many other considerations, must we not
conclude that at the time an unborn child has blood, it has
life? Must we not also acknowledge that to shed this blood,
to destroy this unborn child is to violate God’s command and
to be subject to the death penalty? Man is created in the
image of God (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). In view of this fact,
murder is much more than an act of hostility against man; it
is an affront to God. To attack man is to attack God in
whose image he was created.
In this passage murder is identified as sin because life
belongs to God. We have also been shown that murder must be
severely dealt with because the victim is a person created
in the image of God. One further reason for capital
punishment remains in this passage: man must shed the blood
of the murderer because he is also a part of God’s image.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed,
for in the image of God He made man” (v 6).
We must ask why didn’t God take the life of Cain when he
killed his brother. Could it be He wanted Cain to live so
that we could see the consequences of allowing the murderer
to go free. Lamech could kill a young lad for what may have
been a mere insult and boast of it (Genesis 4:23-24). The
men who died in the flood were men of violence (6:11). God
did punish sin, but He delayed the execution until the days
of the flood so that we could learn the high price of
allowing the murderer to go free.
Now that all mankind had perished because of his sin, God
could require society to take the life of the murderer. In
this act of capital punishment, man would act on behalf of
God, he would reflect the moral image of God, namely, His
indignation and sentence upon the murderer. Society and its
governmental agency is required to execute the murderer to
reflect the moral purity of His Creator. Government acts in
God’s behalf in punishing the evildoer and rewarding those
who do good. In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul
wrote, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and
those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who
resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they
who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behaviors but
for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what
is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a
minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil,
be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for
it is a minister of Gods an avenger who brings wrath upon
the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:1-4).
The ‘sword’ that Paul mentions in verse 4 is the sword used
by the executioner to carry out capital punishment. Our Lord
Himself gave testimony to the fact that government had been
given the task of executing law-breakers, “Pilate therefore
said to Him ‘You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I
have authority to release You, and I have authority to
crucify You?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority
over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this
reason, he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin’”
(John 19:10-11).
The command concerning capital punishment is, the
cornerstone of any society of sinful men. The animal kingdom
is to be controlled, to a great extent, by means of their
fear of man (9:2). Man’s sinful tendencies, also, are kept
in check by his fear of the consequences. Any society that
loses its reverence for life cannot endure long. For this
reason, God instituted capital punishment as a gracious
restraint upon man’s sinful tendency toward violence.
Because of this, mankind can live in relative peace and
security until God’s Messiah has dealt the death blow to
sin.
I know this is contrary to the slanted view of murder in the
twenty-first century.
God initiated the covenant as an outward expression of His
purpose revealed in Genesis 3:20-22. God dictated the terms
of the covenant to Noah, and there was no discussion.
This covenant will remain in force until the time when our
Lord returns to the earth to cleanse it by fire (2 Peter
3:10).
While some covenants involve a small number, this particular
covenant includes “all flesh.” That is, all living
creatures, including man and animals,
“Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and
with your descendants after you; and with every living
creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every
beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the
ark, even every beast of the earth” (Genesis 9:9, 10).
Some covenants were contingent upon both parties carrying
out certain stipulations. Such was the case of the Mosaic
covenant. If Israel kept the law of God, they would
experience the blessings and prosperity of God. If not, they
would be expelled from the land (Deuteronomy 28). The
blessings of the Noahic covenant were not conditional. God
would give regularity of seasons and would not destroy the
earth by a flood simply because He said so. While certain
commands were given to mankind in verses 1-7, these are not
viewed as conditions to the covenant.
God will destroy the earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10), but only
after salvation has been purchased by the Messiah and the
true church is removed from the earth, even as Noah was
protected from the wrath of God.
The Sign of the Covenant.
“I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a
covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come about,
when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shalt be
seen in the cloud and I will remember My covenant, which is
between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh;
and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy
all flesh” (Genesis 9:13-15).
Every covenant has its accompanying sign. The sign of the
Abrahamic Covenant is circumcision (Genesis 17:15-27); that
of the Mosaic Covenant is the observance of the Sabbath day
(Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17). The sign of the Noahic the
rainbow.
The “sign” of the rainbow is appropriate. It consists of the
reflection of the rays of the sun in the particles of
moisture in the clouds. The water that destroyed the earth
causes the rainbow. In addition, the rainbow appears at the
end of a storm. Therefore, this sign assures man that God
will never destroy all things as He did in the days of Noah.
The rainbow is not designed so much for man’s benefit but
for God’s. God said that the rainbow would cause Him to
remember His covenant with man. What a comfort to know that
God’s faithfulness is our guarantee.
For the Israelites who first received this revelation from
God, the Noahic Covenant gave reasons for a number of the
rules laid down in the Mosaic Law. The prophets of old
referred to the Noahic Covenant as well. Isaiah reminded the
nation, Israel, of God’s faithfulness in keeping the Noahic
Covenant. Jeremiah also spoke of God’s future blessings by
reminding men of God’s faithfulness in keeping the Noahic
Covenant:
“Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day, and
the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by
night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the Lord
of hosts is His name: ‘If this fixed order departs from
before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘then the offspring of Israel
also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever.’
Thus says the Lord, ‘If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I
will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that
they have done,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
The Israelites could look forward to the salvation that God
would bring to pass. We can look backward to that which God
has accomplished by the death and resurrection of our Savior
and Lord, Jesus Christ. His Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
While Israel awaits the complete fulfillment of God’s
covenant in the Millennium, they may do so with confidence
in the God Who keeps His commitments. We, too, as Christians
can be fully assured of God’s faithfulness.
The Noahic Covenant in many ways foreshadowed the New
Covenant. Consequently, the New Covenant fulfilled much that
the Noahic Covenant anticipated. The shedding of blood took
on new meaning in the Noahic Covenant. The shedding of
Christ’s blood at Calvary suddenly brought the ninth chapter
of Genesis into full focus.
The New Covenant is promised in Jeremiah 31:30-34,
“But every one will die for his own iniquity; each man who
eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.
‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with
their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. ‘But
this is the covenant which I will make with the house of
Israel after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My
law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I
will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they
shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man
his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know
Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’
declares the Lord, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and
their sin I will remember no more’” (Jeremiah 31:30-34).
Our Lord instituted this covenant by His death on the cross
of Calvary. The sign of the New Covenant is the Lord’s
table,
And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after
a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and
said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And He took a cup and
gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it,
all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is
to be shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins. But I
say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from
now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My
Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29).
The writer to the Hebrews stressed that the New Covenant
superseded the Old Covenant and is a better covenant.
God initiated the New Covenant, like the Noahic, and he
accomplished it. While all flesh benefit from the common
grace of God promised in the Noahic Covenant, only those who
are ‘in Christ’ benefit from the blessings of the New
Covenant. It is the New Covenant ‘in His blood,’ that is
experienced by those who have trusted in the shed blood of
Christ, the Lamb of God, for the forgiveness of sins and the
gift of eternal life. Jesus told His disciples, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He
who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and
I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true
food, and My blood is true drink” (John 6:53-55).
By this He meant that one must not only acknowledge Christ’s
deity and the death that He died for sinners, but must also
make this a vital part of his life by trusting only in
Christ for salvation.
The only condition for entering into the blessings of the
New Covenant is personal faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle
John tells us, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name” (John 1:12).
“And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has
the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
the life” (I John 5:11-12).
Like the Noahic Covenant, those who are under the New
Covenant have no need to fear the wrath of God that is
coming upon the earth. While the Noahic Covenant guaranteed
all flesh that God would never again destroy all life by a
flood, the New Covenant assures man that he will not face
the outpouring of God’s wrath through other means, such as
fire (2 Peter 3:10).
The covenants permit man to know exactly where he stands
with God. The terms that God has laid down for salvation are
very clear. Have you surrendered to Him?
To top of
page |
