After The Flood Part 1: God's Covenant With Noah

God’s Covenant With Noah

Noah sacrifice becomes the gateway or the pivot which releases divine blessing. And God's first covenant in the story of the Bible.

Genesis 9:1–7 (LEB)

And God (Elohim) blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth(land). And fear of you and dread(terror) of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven, and on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given. Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food(for Eating). As I gave the green plants to you, I now give you everything. Only you shall not eat raw flesh with blood in it. And your lifeblood I will require; from every animal I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of each man to his brother I will require the life of humankind. “As for the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image. “And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it.”

Do you have the feeling like, I've kind of been through this before, but I'm also kind of bummed at the same time that something like this even has to be said, do you have that feeling? So there's another moment, welcome to the God of Israel who is accommodating and concedes His own divine ideals to make room for human evil, not to endorse it, but because that's the humanity that He has to work with.

This is very different than gods of Mesopotamia, who don't even really like humans in the first place. They just made them so they can, you know, eat the sacrifices that the humans offer.

But it's both dignifying, it's God honoring the dignity of the images He's made, but then also beginning to put restrictions on them. Not 'cause He's overbearing, but because He cares about them and His creation.

So every single part of this is God stating the new standard that's way less than the ideal of Genesis chapter one.

Genesis 1:29–30 CSB

29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

For example, do you remember in Genesis one, God said, it was the vegan ideal, yeah? "I give you every plant with seed in it, "and it shall be food for you, and it will be food for."Every beast and every bird "and every creature with life being in it, "every green plant."

So the Eden ideal is no creature has to exist at the expense of the life of another creature.

The ground can provide for all, you don't have to kill each other to eat, the ground will provide for you. By killing each other, I mean, humans and animals.

But think of the red thread of violence, between chapter one and chapter nine, it's a major theme, people killing each other, and then the killing of animals in these sacrifices.

So now, God's like, "Well, the humans wanna kill each other "and they wanna kill animals. "So every living creature" It's the same list in what the words we just read, "And now every creeper will be food for you." Do people outside of eden eat meat?

However, God does put one restriction that you don't eat the life of another creature, so you can use it for food, the meat, but you can't eat the life.

This is a worldview that trades heavily in symbolism that is very much real.

So blood in this storyline is life. "Don't eat the blood, that is it's life."

So, there's actually pretty intuitive logic to this. If I'm going to take the life of another creature to sustain my life with its flesh, it's meat. So God's allowing that, but He also wants every act of killing an animal by not eating the blood, which I think is actually kind of protein rich, and lots of cultures do it. But if I choose not to eat the blood which is its life, do you see there's a symbol being communicated there?

The life of this creature actually is not mine. I'm borrowing this creature 'cause it's real life belongs to the one who created it.

So if every time you kill an animal, you withhold a certain part of it, it's life. Why would I not eat it's life? Because it's not mine in the first place.

And this is gonna be welcome to the foundation of the Jewish kosher laws. This is it right here, of why kosher me even still today and in the rest of the laws of the Torah, it's all about draining the blood according to a certain standard. And it's a rule, but the whole point is this ideal here, don't pretend like you are the creator and you can just take the life of another.

Even when you take an animal life, remember it's not yours. I'm allowing you to borrow the flesh, but you can't have its life.

And so that leads God to reflect theologically on the meaning of blood and life. And if that's true for an animal, how much more so for an image of God, which is why you get this first, very stringent rule, you can borrow the flesh of a creature, but not its blood. And you cannot take the life or blood of another image bear because, until you get the one who pours out the blood of a human by a human, his blood will be poured out.

Who was the first one who shed blood?

Cain.

Cain and Able that whole story. What did God not do?

He didn't kill Cain, but now violence became cosmic, God doesn't want that again. And so, it's a really stringent rule.

“In [Genesis 1] creation account, only a vegetarian diet is mentioned either for humans or animals (Gen. 1:29-30). In the paradise story the first human’s relationship to the animals certainly expresses authority, but the question is of companionship, not of eating them (Gen. 2:19). After the flood, the situation has changed. Noah offers animals and birds in sacrifice (Gen. 8:20). In Genesis 9:2-7, God reaffirms the grant of sovereignty over animals and birds, but from now on they are to be under the ‘fear and dread’ of humankind. As God originally gave all plants to humans for food, now he gives them all that moves, subject only to the prohibition of eating blood … The effect of this passage immediately preceding the formal promise of God’s covenant with both humans and animals is that mutual relationships between creatures of the earth are now envisaged as they are, not as they were idealized in Genesis 1 and 2, or in any other vision of universal peace. The Bible contains, in fact, two models for thinking about humans and animals: one paradisal, the other this-worldly and realistic. The first way uses the picture of peace with and between wild animals (Isaiah 11) as a metaphor for cosmic and social peace; the second way sees peace from them as a practical aspect of desired shalom.” Murray, Robert (2007). The Cosmic Covenant: Biblical Themes of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation." Gorgias Press. 34.

Isaiah 11:1–8 CSB

1 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears, 4 but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips. 5 Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist. 6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them. 7 The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle. 8 An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.

Isaiah 11, when we're talking about a new king from the line of David who is endowed seven times over, count up the words, seven times over with the Holy Spirit, he will bring justice, especially for the poor and the vulnerable.

And all the animals get along, the most violent animals get along with the most vulnerable animals. And, for get it, the snake is no longer a threat, look at verse eight is Isaiah 11 verse eight. "A baby can play by the hole of a cobra "and a toddler can put his hand in the viper's den." That the snake is immobilized. It's actually a reflection on Genesis 3:15, the snake is no longer a threat piece between the, this is a picture of Eden. The word Eden doesn't appear, but you don't need it to, you shouldn't need it to 'cause this little quilt piece here activates the Eden's story like directly.

God’s Covenant with Noah and All Creation

Genesis 9:8–17 (CSB) Parenthesis added

8 Then God(Elohim) said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you(Y’all),

10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark.

11 I establish my covenant with you(Y’all) that never again will every creature(all Flesh) be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth(Be cutt off by the waters of the flood, and never again will there be a flood to ruin the land).”

12 And God(Elohim) said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations:

13 I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,

15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature.

16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.”

How many times does the word covenant appear?

Seven.

Also notice that the phrase, "I will set up my covenant." Only appears in the first and in the final frame.

There is a lot we could talk about but lets mention a few

The Cosmic Covenant

This is the first covenant speech and ceremony in the Hebrew Bible, and it appears after Noah’s sacrifice. Noah’s sacrifice is the narrative embodiment of his obedience that releases God’s blessing into a new creation and qualifies him to intercede on behalf of creation. It is fitting, therefore, that God makes a covenant with all creation (“cosmic covenant”) through a covenant with Noah.

Covenant (Heb. berit / תירב )

“A solemn commitment of oneself to undertake an obligation.” Waltke, Bruce K. (2001). Genesis: A Commentary. Zondervan Academic. 287.

“A covenant is an enduring agreement which defines a relationship between two parties involving a solemn, binding obligation on one or both parties, made by oath under threat of divine curse, and ratified by a visual ritual.” Adapted from Lane, C. Daniel (2000). “The Meaning and Use of the Old Testament Term for ‘Covenant’ (berît): with Some Implications for Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology.” PhD diss., Trinity International University. 314.

A covenant is the formalization of a partnership between two parties so that they can accomplish or work toward a common end to each other’s benefit. The word “covenant” occurs 284 times in biblical Hebrew, clustered around certain covenant-making narratives or in texts that reference those narratives.

In essence, it's a formal commitment that two people make to each other. They place themself under obligations towards each other, for some end or some purpose or goal. Usually there's some kind of ritual symbol or some activity they do that's symbolic of the meaning of this particular arrangement. And sometimes you will list out the benefits of the good stuff that'll happen if we keep this and the consequences if we don't keep this. That doesn't happen here, but that's a regular feature.

Between People

International treaties

King Solomon and King Hiram make a peace treaty and promise to share economic abundance for each other’s benefit (1 Kgs. 5:12).

Joshua and the Gibeonites make a peace treaty that exempts the Gibeonites from attack during the Israelite conquest of the land (Josh. 9:6-7, 11, 15-16).

Clan/tribal alliances

The neighboring clans of Abraham and Mamre promise to protect each other (Gen. 14:13).

Abraham and Abimelek promise to interact with integrity after Abraham’s deception regarding Sarah (Gen. 21:27, 32).

Isaac and Abimelek promise to benefit one another and do no harm (Gen. 26:28).

Personal agreements

Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:44) promise not to cross the Israel/Aram border to do harm.

Loyalty agreements

Jonathan promises to protect David from his father Saul and swears loyalty to David (1 Sam. 18:3, 20:8, 23:18).

The northern tribes of Israel promise to acknowledge the Judean David as their tribal king (2 Sam. 5:3).

Marriage

Marriage is a loyalty agreement between a man and woman (see Prov. 2:17 and Mal. 2:14).

God and People

There are six covenants that God initiates and a questionable seventh

Covenant with Noah and all creation - Genesis 6:18, 9:8-17

Covenant with Abraham - Genesis 12, 15, 17, 22:15-18

Covenant with Israel - Exodus 19-24; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28.

Covenant with Levi -Numbers 25:6-13; Malachi 2:1-9.

Covenant with David - 2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89, 132.

The New Covenant - Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36.

Creation Covenant - ?

When all of those are broken and fail, Ezekiel and Jeremiah announced that there will be a new covenant for the remnant the restored remnant.

“With the Noahic covenant promising the stability of the cosmic structure, the Abrahamic covenant promising people and land, the Davidic covenant promising sovereignty, and the Israelite covenant promising life, security, and prosperity, the biblical authors and editors possessed a platform from which they could portray and reconcile nearly every historical tradition, legendary, didactic, and folk account in their tradition. If we deleted all references to covenant ... we would have simply an anthology of stories. As it is, we have a structure that can house a macro-plot.” Friedman, Richard Elliot (1987). “The Hiding of the Face: An Essay on the Literary Unity of Biblical Narrative.” Neusner, J. (Ed.) Judaic Perspectives on Ancient Israel. Fortress Press. 215.

So don't get distracted by his list of different stories, their folk tales, and legendary, he has his own views on the historicity of biblical stories, but his observations is spot on I think. That of all the pieces that make up the Hebrew Bible, they would really be in anthology if we didn't have the return to the cosmic mountain and the sacrifice theme, which is overlayed with this covenant theme. And that's what allows you to make a macro plot out of this really diverse collection of material.

Which means we're not making it up, someone has made the quilt to be this way and to tell this story.

In every one of these covenants, God forwards his purpose to provide a seed of the woman who will restore the Eden blessing to humanity and creation. Each covenant narrows down the lineage of promise as each generation passes and/or fails the test of faithfulness to God’s purposes.

It does raise a question of why the word berit isn't used before Noah.

And this has actually been a really large matter of debate, even contention, sadly, in church history.

There are some people who see the command about the tree, the first divine command as essentially the first terms of a covenant, some traditions call it a covenant of works. So the blessing of Eden was dependent upon human obedience and God tried the works type of covenant humans disobey, and so then they see the covenant of Noah and all the rest as what's called covenants of grace.

'Cause it's a very prominent way that people understand it, over time it's been become more prominent to me that I think the absence of the word covenant in the Eden story, it's conspicuous by its absence.

If every other partnership of God and humans in the rest of the Hebrew Bible is called by this word, why isn't it here? It's sort of like one of these things is not like the other, it looks like a duck, it looks like a covenant in Eden. It acts like a covenant, it has the consequences of a covenant, but the word covenant is never used.

For some people that means, well it's implicit.

Is it possible that the whole point of what a covenant is, is that we've gotta formalize the relationship. I can't actually trust you.

You can't actually trust me. So what we have to do is like write out what I'm gonna do, what you're gonna do. Consequences that become a way to coerce me to do the right thing.

Jeremiah 31:31–33 CSB

31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

And so it seems to me, the whole point of the Eden setup is of as Jeremiah will say, as he promises the new covenant, "In the day of the new covenant, "my people won't need anyone "to teach them the commands of the Torah.

"The Torah will be written on their hearts "and every Israelite will know me."

Ezekiel 36:26–27 CSB

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.

When Ezekiel imagines the new covenant, he says that my spirit, "I will put my Spirit in the new humanity "to empower them to obey all of the covenant terms."

Covenant is like a repair mechanism. it's like duct tape.

The covenant is like a repair mechanism—it is good, but it is not best. It binds the relationship together and prevents people from hurting one another while they wait for the arrival of the promised seed of the woman to put things right. - Tim Mackie, The Bible Project

If Genesis 1-2 represents a divine-human ideal, then it seems important that while it’s not called a covenant, it is described with the basic elements of a covenant. Humans are God’s royal priestly representatives (the image of God), and they are invited to trust and follow God’s command (Gen. 2:15-17). If they do, there will be eternal life, and if not, death will result.

It is only after this primordial relationship between God and humans has been violated that God begins to initiate a succession of covenants

“Covenants served to ... offer assurances, bolster faith, and reinforce commitments. In a world not invaded by sin, there would be no need for adding oaths to commitments, no need for ‘covenants’—no more than in such a world would oaths be necessary to establish the truth of one’s ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (see Jas. 5:12; Matt. 5:34-37; Heb. 6:16). Biblical covenants were emergency measures occasioned by and ministering to human weakness—until the kingdom of God has fully come.” Stek, John (1994). “’Covenant’ Overload in Reformed Theology.” Calvin Theological Journal Volume 29 (1). 40.

This is slightly overstated by Stek, but he makes an essential point. The word “covenant” is absent from the Eden story because, ideally, the divine-human relationship should not need to be formalized because it should be a natural union of wills and purposes. This type of union between the divine and human wills characterizes Jesus’ relationship to the Father (see John 5:19, 6:38, 7:16, 7:28, 8:29), and it is the kind of divine-human union that was forfeited in Eden.

In this reading, the covenant is a rescue mechanism, or a means to an end. It formalizes the divine purpose into commitments, and it invites human partners to fulfill the divine will. As Jeremiah says, the new covenant will not be like the old because it will bring about a new creation, one in which the human will is made one with the divine in love and commitment ( Jer. 31:31-34). In such a world, formal commitments and oaths become unnecessary.

The institution of covenant points to an Eden and new creation ideal, and it should be seen as a means to an end. That end is the union of God and humanity in love, will, and purpose. The apostle Paul calls this “the new humanity ( Eph. 4:24).

Tim Mackie for BibleProject Classroom: Noah to Abraham (2020).

The Image of the “Bow in the Clouds” (Gen. 9:13, 14, 16)

In Genesis 9 in this opening scene after Noah's sacrifice, God is clearly obligating himself to a course of action.

I'm not going to do the thing that I just did. And He doesn't just say it. He creates a binding obligation with a symbol.

I guess you would call that the symbol of the bow which we'll talk about in the clouds would be a form of consideration.

So what's interesting is does He ask or obligate Noah to offer consideration or demand? I don't know.

So this is actually kind of a long debate about this text.

Who's the covenant with? Noah and his sons and all living creatures.

And what does God demand of all living creatures? Now some people take the passage right before this about not eating the blood with the life and no murder as that, but you have to ask the question, does human murder cause God to abandon? If humans abandon their obligation of this agreement, does God abandon His? That's the question.

And 'cause God calls it an eternal covenant.

In other words, if the human partners fail their end of the deal, does that mean God will consider the covenant null and void? And as you go on, what's interesting is humans perpetually fail, and God doesn't. What He does is engaged the next generation in, or at least a later generation with a new version of the obligation. So lets think about this. Does God ask Noah... does God implicate Noah at all in this?

No, I look at it as no conditions.

It’s Not till Exodus 19 that we get a if then agreement

When you start talking about animal sacrifice, we're talking about floods, we're talking about potentially sacrificing Isaac, it seems so harsh. It's easy to overlook that these are acts of mercy on God's part by not forcing us to enter into the agreement. By Him just promising things to us without requiring something

God does demand covenant loyalty from Abraham.

It's this interesting dance between God's sovereign purpose and the freedom and obligation of His human partners. And welcome to one of the most contentious debates in the history of Christian theology. People divide over this.

The biblical authors often tackle profound puzzles by placing two seemingly opposing perspectives side-by-side in the text, forcing us to wrestle with how both are working together to show us a fuller picture of what is true. - Tim Mackie, The Bible Project

God's purpose will take place to create heaven on earth. He will do it through His human partners of their own will, but how do those work together and welcome.

And what they don't do is solve it.

What they do is tell you the story of how God solves it through the incarnation.

God becomes the faithful covenant partner that He called His people to be, but that they failed to be. And so He solves it Himself but in a way that doesn't override or erase the will and purpose of His human partners.

Rain Bow

So it's the word for bow, like an Archer's bow. That's the word. But turn it on its side and it's the shape of rainbow. So it's just the bow, the bow and the clouds. Almost certainly, the image of rainbow, but as an Archer's bow is a part of the symbolism here 'cause what does an Archer do with his bow or her bow?

You're trying to shoot something, and if you're hunting to like kill it.

So the image of God hanging up His bow.

It's two scholars who wrote together a series of commentaries on every book in the Old Testament named Keil and Delitzsch. They were German. It was all in German and someone translated into English. They just have a beautiful way of capturing the image of the bow.

And they wrote this in late 18 and early 1900s. So it's get ready for that style of writing

“And is there not to every law of nature a background pointing to the mysteries of the Divine nature and will? The label of the rainbow is sufficiently legible. Shining upon a dark ground ... it represents the victory of the light of love over the fiery darkness of wrath. Originating from the effect of the sun upon a dark cloud, it typifies the willingness of the heavenly to penetrate the earthly. Stretched between heaven and earth, it is as a bond of peace between both, and, spanning the horizon, it points to the all-embracing universality of the Divine mercy.” Keil, C. F., and Delitzsch, F. (2006). Commentary on the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Vol. 1)." Hendrickson Publishers. 289-290.

How Many Colors are in the Rainbow?

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet - 7

Noah as an Archetypal Seed of the Woman

“While God is the main character of the narrative, Noah the righteous priest may yet be considered the literary ‘hero’ of the story, who both ‘walks with’ and ‘brings rest’ to God. Noah ( חנ ), in fact, brings ‘comfort’ ( םחנ ) both to humankind and to God. But further, not only because the narrative begins and ends with God’s speech to Noah; and not only because the various wordplays on his name indicate Noah as a central character; but because the central question of the narrative concern salvation and worship: ‘Who may ascend the mountain of Yahweh?’ (Psalm 24:3) The flood narrative is really about Noah. This is to stress that the narrative is not really about the judgment of the world, but about how it was that Noah was saved from that judgment. ... The purpose of the story is not to show why God sent the flood, but to show why God saved Noah. The ark, not the flood, is the focus of the author’s attention. ... As a priestly figure who is able to ascend the mountain of Yahweh, Noah stands as a new Adam, the primordial human who can dwell in the divine presence. As such he foreshadows the high priest in the tabernacle, who alone can enter the paradise of the holy of holies to purge the micro-cosmic tabernacle by making atonement.” Morales, Michael (2012). The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus. Peeters Publishers. 190-192.

Noah's Ark and the Flood Debate

Bibliography

https://bibleproject.com/classroom/noah-to-abraham

Smith, George (1873). The Chaldean Account of the Deluge (2). Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. 213-34.

Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15: word Biblical Commentary, Volume 1. Word Publishing, 1987.

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/8867/who-were-the-sons-of-god-bene-elohim-in-genesis-62

Heiser, Michael (2017). Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ. Defender.

Annus, Amar (2010). “On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions." Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Volume 19.4. 277-320.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/01/noahs-ark-was-circular

Tremper Longman III, John H. Walton, et al. The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology, and the Deluge Debate

Gilgamesh subduing a lion, Louvre museum Darafsh [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

3-Day Bible Study: Exploring God’s Covenant with Noah

Overview

This study is designed to deepen understanding of God’s covenant with Noah in Genesis 9. Through reflection, discussion, and personal application, participants will explore the themes of divine accommodation, the nature of covenant, and the implications for humanity’s relationship with God and creation.

Day 1: Understanding Divine Accommodation and Covenant

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:1–7, Genesis 1:28–30

Reflect on the change from the Edenic ideal (Genesis 1:28–30) to the post-flood reality (Genesis 9:1–7).

How does God accommodate human imperfection while preserving His divine standards?What does the introduction of meat-eating symbolize about the state of creation and humanity?

Discuss the restriction against consuming blood (Genesis 9:4).

How does this restriction honor life as God’s creation?What lessons can we learn about stewardship and respect for creation?

Reflection Questions:

How does God’s willingness to meet humanity where they are show His mercy?How do the rules in Genesis 9 shape our understanding of human responsibility in a broken world?

Prayer Focus:

Thank God for His mercy and faithfulness in creating ways to relate to us despite our imperfections. Ask Him for wisdom in stewarding the resources He provides.

Day 2: The Nature and Purpose of Covenants

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:8–17, Jeremiah 31:31–34

Analyze the covenant God made with Noah and all creation.

What stands out about God’s commitment in this covenant?Why is it significant that God includes creation (not just humanity) in this covenant?

Compare the Noahic covenant to the “new covenant” in Jeremiah 31:31–34.

How do these covenants reflect God’s overarching plan for restoration?What does it mean that covenants are “rescue mechanisms” in a broken world?

Reflection Questions:

Why do you think covenants were necessary after Eden?How does the covenant with Noah point forward to Jesus and the new covenant?

Prayer Focus:

Praise God for His faithfulness in making and keeping covenants. Pray for a deeper understanding of your role in His covenantal plans.

Day 3: Symbols of Covenant and Hope

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:13–17, Isaiah 11:1–9

Reflect on the symbol of the rainbow as God’s covenant sign.

What does the image of a “bow in the clouds” signify about God’s relationship with creation?How does this symbol provide hope for humanity and creation?

Read Isaiah 11:1–9 and compare it to the post-flood world.

How does Isaiah’s vision of peace between creatures connect to the Edenic ideal?What does this tell us about God’s ultimate plan for restoration?

Reflection Questions:

How does God’s use of symbols, like the rainbow, help us remember His promises?How can we live today in light of the peace and restoration God promises for the future?

Prayer Focus:

Thank God for the signs and reminders of His promises. Ask for strength to live in hope and anticipation of His ultimate restoration.

Additional Study Suggestions

Keep a journal throughout the study, noting key insights and personal applications.Pair up with another participant to discuss your reflections after each day.Pray over specific areas in your life or community that need reconciliation, stewardship, or restoration in light of God’s covenant.