14 - Starting All Over Again 2010

Last time we witnessed the Great Flood sent by God to wipe out every living thing on earth, save Noah, his family, and two of every living thing for the preservation of the species.

Genesis records that the deluge continued for 40 days and nights, and that the ark built by Noah remained afloat for 5 full months. During this time Noah possessed his soul in patience, waiting until “God remembered…”

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”

It took just 40 days for the waters to cover the earth, but before Noah and his family and all the creatures aboard could finally emerge, a whole year would pass. God is never in a hurry! It was His will that all traces of His wrath and judgment were erased before they were permitted to disembark.

2 “Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (8:1-2).

Notice that the exact date is given when the Ark finally touched on solid ground. It was “in the seventeenth month on the seventeenth day of the month.” It is surely no coincidence that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the very same day of the very same month! Having passed through the waters of judgment, Christ stood in resurrection upon the earth. Thus we find our rest in Him, just as the ark rested on Ararat.

Noah waited 40 days after the ark came to rest before seeking to find out the condition of the earth. He finally opened the window and released two birds—a raven and a dove. The raven, being a scavenger, found plenty to eat and never returned. But the dove returned.

A week later, Noah released the dove again and returned with an olive leaf in its bill. No doubt this thrilled the family of eight! Perhaps they passed the leaf from hand to hand. It was clear evidence that vegetation and life were sprouting again.

Noah waited another week to release the dove once more. This time she never returned. Noah removed “the covering” from the ark and looked out. Again, the exact date is given. It was the first day of the first month of his six hundred and first year (8:13). The earth was dry as far as the eye could see. Yet Noah waited still another 56 days, enjoying being shut in with God.

Finally the momentous day arrived. The door was flung open and the exodus out of the ark began.

“Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another” (8: 15-19).

The first order of business for Noah was to build an altar and offer up one of every clean beast and fowl in a great burnt offering. This was not a sin offering. That would come later. The first offering was all for God. It was a praise offering, an offering of thanksgiving for His salvation from so great a catastrophe.

In this context of worship, God cut a covenant with Noah, called the Noahic Covenant. It is the second covenant cut by God in the Bible, the first being the Edenic Covenant—the promise in Gen 3: 15 that God would send a Redeemer to destroy the Serpent and His works. This was fulfilled by Jesus Christ of Whom John wrote: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.”—1 John 3:8

For the record, the Bible reveals six great covenants, four of which God made with the nation of Israel.

Five of the covenants are unconditional in nature. That is, regardless of man's obedience or disobedience, God will still fulfill these covenants.

One of the covenants is conditional in nature. That is, this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on man's obedience or disobedience.

The Edenic Covenant is found in (Genesis 3:15).

The Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:14-17; 15; 17:1-14; 22:15-18). In this covenant, God promised many things to Abraham. He personally promised that He would make Abraham’s name great (Genesis 12:2), that Abraham would have numerous physical descendents (Genesis 13:16), and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). God also made promises regarding a nation called Israel.

In fact, the geographical boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant are laid out on more than one occasion in the book of Genesis (12:7; 13:14-15; 15:18-21). Another provision in the Abrahamic covenant is that the families of the world will be blessed through the physical line of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). This is a reference to the Messiah, who would come from the line of Abraham.

Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). The Palestinian Covenant amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the Abrahamic covenant. In this covenant, God, because of the people's disobedience, would cause them to be scattered around the world (Deuteronomy 30:3-4), and He would eventually restore the nation together (verse 5). When the nation is restored, then they will obey Him perfectly (verse 8), and God will cause them to prosper (verse 9).

Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 11; et al). The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God's direct blessing for obedience or God's direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. The Mosaic Covenant was summarized in the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20, but also the rest of the law which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old Testament (Joshua-Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the law. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 details specifically the blessing/cursing theme.

Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Davidic Covenant amplifies the seed aspect detailed in the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this passage are very significant. God promised that David's physical line of descent would last forever and that his kingdom would never pass away permanently (verse 16). This kingdom, furthermore, would have a ruling individual exercising authority over it (verse 16). This future king is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33).

New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The New Covenant is a covenant made with the nation of Israel which speaks about the blessings which are detailed in the Abrahamic covenant. In the new covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal knowledge of the Lord (verse 34). It even appears that the nation of Israel will have a special relationship with their God (verse 33).

The Noahic Covenant promises the continuation of the cycles of life:

“The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’”—8: 21-22

It also guarantees that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood:

“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."—9:11

Another aspect of the Noahic covenant was a revolutionary change in diet. God tells Noah that, “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”—9:3

Before the Great Flood, man was strictly vegetarian. But now “everything that lives and moves” could be food.

Interestingly, Paul prophesies in 1 Tim. 4:1-3 that one of the marks of latter-day apostasy will be that, “…some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons…forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving.”

Since the cause of the Great Flood had been unabated and radical evil-doing, God also instituted law and order in the Noahic Covenant.

“And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”

The command is clearly given that the murderer should be executed (vs. 6), nor has that law ever been rescinded. Romans 13:3-4 gives the state the right under God to execute a murderer.

“For civil authorities are not a terror to [people of] good conduct, but to [those of] bad behavior. Would you have no dread of him who is in authority? Then do what is right and you will receive his approval and commendation.

4For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, [you should dread him and] be afraid, for he does not bear and wear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant to execute His wrath (punishment, vengeance) on the wrongdoer.”

And so eight people were saved from the Great Flood. Eight people disembarked from the ark under the umbrella of a new covenant. Noah, the father, and his three sons were the new heads of the human race. Noah, as it were, became a second Adam to mankind.

The names of Noah’s three sons were, starting from the oldest, Japheth—meaning “chief of the race.” Next came Ham—meaning “black.” And finally the youngest, Shem—meaning “glory,” or “renown.”

Noah became a farmer (9:20) depicted by the word “husbandman,” which means “man of the ground.” He was a cultivator of the vineyard and this got him into trouble, for the Bible reveals that he became drunk (9:21-23). In his drunkenness he exposed his nakedness in a shameful way. Yet Noah’s failure quickly revealed the character of his 3 sons.

Ham was greatly amused by the spectacle of his naked father and broadcast it to his two brothers rather than covering him up. His behavior brought down upon his head his father’s silent disapproval and a curse from God. Shem and Japheth, on the other hand, walked in backward and covered their father’s shame. (see p. 93)

This event reveals a Bible principle often unknown to many Christians.

“He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”—Prov. 17:9

This is not an encouragement to ignore sin, or to help a sinner hide his transgression. It is speaking to the issue of how the transgression of another should be handled.

Ham took great delight in broadcasting his father’s failure, in shining the light of exposure on what he had done. This, unfortunately, is the typical reaction of believers to the fall of a brother or sister.

But the other two brothers wanted only to cover the shame of Noah, and seek his restoration once he awoke.

When Noah awoke, one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible came forth from the lips of Noah.

Gen 9:25-27 “He said, ‘Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.’"

“He also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.’"

The Canaanites, the descendants of Ham, were cursed. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Noah saw all the coarseness and shamelessness of Ham being transmitted into the vileness and filthiness of Canaanite tribes of a future day. These same tribes were later subdued by the descendants of Shem.

Shem, the father of the Semites or Jewish peoples, was blessed. It would be the Jews through whom God would channel both His revelations and His redemption. It was from Shem’s line that Abraham (Gen 11:10-27) and his descendants, the Israelites, would come.

Japheth would be the empire builder. Japheth was the father of the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, and the Indo-Teutonic (German) races. These are the peoples who, for millennia, have held the destiny of men in their hands.