Glimpses 04

Noahic Covenant

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G'day and welcome to Partake! We are now on day 4 of our series "Glimpses", looking at the story of the Bible in 30 days, from the time of creation through to the time of the fullness of redemption! Reading from Genesis 9v1-17: Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. "And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person's life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person's life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth." Then God told Noah and his sons, "I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you-the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals-every living creature on earth.  Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth." Then God said, "I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth." Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth." This, the Noahic Covenant, is the third covenant between God and man given after the flood had wiped out earth's population, apart from Noah and his family.  The increase of humanity's wickedness and disobedience against God, was so great that God repented of His decision to create humanity. Genesis 6v6 "So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart."  As a result of humanity's sin, the whole earth was to be destroyed! But, one man and his family was found to be in fellowship with God - Noah!  Because they are in fellowship with each other (Genesis 6v9), God gives Noah a plan of rescue!  After the rain and flood, God makes another covenant with humanity and also all note, all living creatures of the earth -  through Noah! Wow! The terms of the Noahic covenant are

• Populate the earth is reaffirmed (Genesis 9v1).
• Subjection of the animals to humans is reaffirmed (Genesis 9v2).
• Humans are allowed to eat animal flesh but are to refrain from drinking/eating the blood  (Genesis 9vv3, 4)
• Human life's sanctity is established. (Genesis 9vv5, 6).
• God promises to never to destroy the earth again by flood (Genesis 9v11).
• The covenant is a binding Covenant for all time (9v12) and with all creatures on earth!
• The rainbow is given as a symbol of this covenant and its existence (Genesis 9v12-17)
• God will sustain all life on earth(Genesis 9v17)

Here again, God gives humanity the opportunity to live rightly with Him.  Whereas before, there was the hint of the sacrifice, about which Martin Luther, commenting on this story, wrote: Here there is mentioned for the first time the burnt offering ... of Noah, which he made according to the example of his pious ancestors So even before Noah, there must have been some type of sacrifice made to God although we don't know what kind they were! Sacrifices, in order to somehow appease God, who had received painful hurt inflicted by human disobedience. But this story, and the Covenant, while telling about God's rightful rule of Judge also shows his desire for intimacy with humanity. The Almighty God wants to have fellowship with humanity, but it has to be on God's terms. God has never broken His promise or covenant with humanity, but both times so far, humanity has contravened the covenant by actively disobeying God and therefore breaking the Covenant made - whether the Edenic or Adamic!  God in saving Noah, shows also hints of a God of grace! What God wants humanity to do, He will provide the means in which for them to do it!  He is concerned for every aspect of humanity's life, from birth to death and the food they eat. As a symbol of this covenant, there are to be rainbows! This covenant as we have seen is a binding contract between humanity and God! But the story doesn't end there - it continues tomorrow with God revealing just a bit more of those things we have seen glimpses of: true fellowship between God and humanity being restored through grace and sacrifice.

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