The Noahic Covenant

I. The reaffirmation of God’s original creation and blessing

Genesis 9:1 “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

Genesis 9:7 “And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

From 8 people to the current world population of 8,053,332,437

II. The institution of a carnivorous lifestyle

There is also an accompanying warning for the preparation of food.

Genesis 9:2-4 “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”

III. The reaffirmation of the value of human life and the institution of the death penalty

Genesis 9:5-6 “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”

Lexham Survey of Theology The Noahic Covenant

Theologians have long noted that without this covenant, human sinfulness would have made the earth liable to one catastrophic judgment after another. Instead, God purposed to maintain the regular order of seasons and days and promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood or to destroy all living beings

IV. The physical reassurance of a stable world till God’s will comes to pass

Genesis 9:9-17 ““Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God …”

Isaiah 54:9-10 ““This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

Psalm 104:9 “You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.”

We sometimes forget

Jeremiah 5:22-25 “Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.”