The Covenant
Notes
Transcript
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
God gave Noah the same mandate that He gave to Adam in the beginning (Genesis 1:28).
God gave Noah instructions for eating just like He did Adam in the beginning (Genesis 1:29; Genesis 2:15-17).
God commanded Noah and his descendants not to eat blood because it represents the life of the animal.
Did God specifically tell Adam he was allowed to eat meat in the beginning?
Why do you think God allowed animals to become “fearful” of humans?
Why did God instruct Noah and his descendants not to eat blood with the flesh?
Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
God said that when man’s blood is shed, there must be a reckoning for it.
Whenever the lifeblood is spilled through murder, the death penalty is in order.
God does not condone murder because it is not only a sin against the person, but against the image of God.
God did not want murder and violence to continue, He commanded the abundance of life.
Do you believe that the death penalty is still appropriate in certain situations today?
Is there a difference between murder and killing? How do we justify the death of so many in the Bible at the command of God?
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.”
This covenant was made with mankind as well as animals.
God promised to never destroy the earth with a flood. This again proves a global flood not a regional flood. Regional floods still happen all the time.
This was a repetition and clarification of the promise God made in Genesis 8:21-22.
God made sure that the precise conditions in the pre-flood world were not repeated in the post-flood world including: (1) the imprisonment of angels that sinned (Jude 6) and (2) the shortening of the lifespan of man.
How long does this covenant last?
How will God destroy the earth at the end of time (2 Peter 3:1-7)?
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.”
God made this promise to all of creation, not just to mankind.
This was likely the first appearance of the rainbow after the blanket of water vapor was released during the flood.
Every time we see the rainbow, it should remind us of the faithfulness of God.
What are some other scriptures passages where the rainbow is mentioned (Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 4:3).
Read Isaiah 54:9-10. What is the Covenant of Peace mentioned here and how is it related to the covenant with Noah and his descendants?
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
After the flood, Noah began to provide for himself and his family.
He probably planted many things, including a vineyard.
This is the first mention of drunkenness in the Bible.
The phrase “became uncovered” and the idea of “nakedness” is sometimes associated with sexual relations.
Some believe that it was simply that Ham saw the nakedness of his father and made fun of him and mocked him.
What does the Bible say about alcohol and drunkenness (Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:29-33).
What does Ephesians 5:18 say about drunkenness and what we desire instead?
Alcohol is a depressant. It loosens people because it depresses their self-control, wisdom, balance, and judgment. The filling of the Holy Spirit has the opposite effect. He is a stimulant and He influences every aspect of our being to better and more perfect performance.
So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said:
“Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brethren.”
And he said:
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”
“He knew what his younger son had done to him” could just simply mean that Ham or one of his sons simply saw the nakedness of his father and mocked him, or it could refer to some type of sexual abuse.
The abuse theory would explain the strength of the curse against Ham’s descendants.
It seems strange that Ham sinned and Han’s son Canaan was cursed. Maybe Canaan was involved, or maybe Noah thought the greater punishment would be for Ham to see his descendants cursed. It would not be God punishing Canaan for Ham’s sin, but God showing Ham what would become of his son as a result of his own actions.
Some have speculated, incorrectly, that the curse on Canaan resulted in the black people of Africa. Black people did not come from Canaan. The descendants of Canaan were near-eastern people many of which were conquered by Joshua when Israel took possession of the Promised Land.
Who receives the greater blessing from Noah, Shem or Japheth?
Why would God curse Canaan instead of Ham?
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
Noah was a great man of God, but the godliness in his younger years does not seem to match his later years.
Noah is known as a man of faith (Hebrews 11:7) and preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).
Despite Noah’s failure in this chapter, how does God remember him in Hebrews 11:7 and 2 Peter 2:5?
How should we view our own failures and how to you think God views our failures?
