Genesis 8:20-22 God’s Covenant with Creation
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
Genesis 9:8-17 “Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I 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 go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Who among us does not need a new beginning, a fresh start? The longer we live, the more we realize just how readily we can mess up and how necessary fresh starts can be. Blessedly, God, our Creator, is a God of infinite variety and is always doing new things. God is the One who can give do-overs and make-overs. We are embarking on a new series of Bible studies focusing on some of the ways God has given fresh starts as recorded in the Bible.
Today’s Scriptures record the time immediately after a massive flood that wiped out all living things apart from those preserved in the ark by the efforts of Noah and his family. Now the ground has dried and Noah and his family have come out of the ark. When Noah makes a burnt offering to the Lord, God responds by promising that never again will He send such catastrophic floods.
“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
God follows up this promise by making a covenant with Noah and his family as well as with every living creature. “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
One of the most fascinating museums we have ever visited is the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. A sister museum, the Creation Museum, is located close by in Petersburg, Kentucky. Although we originally planned to visit both when we went in early December 2018, bad weather forced us to cut our visit to the Ark Encounter short and cancel our plans to tour the Creation Museum. The Ark Encounter is a replica of the Ark following the directions in the Bible as closely as possible. If you’ve ever wondered how Noah and his family could handle all those animals, it’s an amazing structure.
“But I don’t believe in the Bible, let alone the story of Noah or the story of God creating the earth.” Fine. But don’t you owe it to yourself to consider the possibility that you might be wrong, that those who have told you the Bible was nothing but a collection of myths are also wrong? What are you afraid of?
Consider for a moment that God exists, that He created the world and all that is in it, and that He might have sent an enormous flood. Now look at the promises recorded in Genesis. God is promising that never again will He send such a broad-reaching international catastrophe. God is also promising that the rainbow is His sign of His covenant with all creation.
Now look at your own life. Aren’t there places where you long for the chance to do things over, to correct your mistakes, to heal relationships? What have you got to lose by praying to God? If God exists, He will answer your prayer. If God doesn’t exist, you haven’t lost anything.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, all of us are hurting from our own mistakes while some of us aren’t even certain You exist. Please enter every trembling heart and comfort those who are seeking You all the time they are denying Your existence. As we end this year, help us to turn away from our mistakes and guide us into new paths spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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