God's Covenant with Noah

So far in our study going Through the Bible we have seen the Lord create the universe and everything in it. We saw him create Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and how He created them in His image. Adam and Eve, chiefly among all other creatures and features of the earth, reflect who God is in their design. We discussed how this gave us meaning and purpose in how the Lord finds joy in our lives and in our responsibility to take care of the earth as its stewards. We are like children and He is our Father.

We also discussed how Adam and Eve fell into sin and disobedience in their desire to be their own god, saying for themselves what is right and wrong, rather than submitting to the God who created them. You and I bear the effects of that decision in the way we willing sin even from the time of being a small child, we break God’s law, it’s natural for us to do so.

But God didn’t leave His creation there. While informing Adam and Eve of the consequences of their sin, God made a promise, a covenant with Adam and Eve. One of Eve’s offspring would crush the head of the serpent.

In today’s passages we see the culmination of Adam and Eve’s decisions generations down the road. Will you pray with me before we start?

Pray.

Let’s read together

Genesis 6:5-8

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Verse 5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Can you imagine what that would be like? How depraved does someone have to be to only have evil thoughts continually? Just to make sure we are tracking on the same page, that means no one.

Every citizen of the earth. All people living. Were evil continually. Without stopping. Intentionally seeking evil and finding pleasure in sin. Without ceasing. That is all people were evil continually.

Personally, I read this verse and I think to myself, “how awful of them?” “Continually evil?” How messed up do you have to be? You got to a point when you simply stopped intending any good and you were only evil? Of course God wanted to blot you off the face of the earth. For goodness sakes, I would regret them, too.

But we need to do a heart check. Are we really that much better than the people at the time of Noah? At first I’m inclined to say, “well yeah. I’ve at least done one good thing in my life.” Perhaps if we go even more introspective on a heart level, where our intentions are revealed, we might see that we are prone to be people who are evil continually, also.

Have you done a good thing? Really have you? What good thing have you done that wasn’t laced with some level of selfishness? Helping people because it makes you feel good isn’t a good thing, necessarily.

You’re serving yourself more than you are serving the other. In fact, if there wasn’t a good feeling about yourself involved then you may not be inclined to help whatsoever. Are you helpful so that others will look upon you approvingly? This is also self-serving.

You see, it may not been that every person was an overt purposeful sinner, though that probably existed. But every intention of their heart was evil. At the heart level, no good things were produced from mankind.

Verse 6 says the Lord regretted making mankind. It grieved God’s heart to see and know the intentions of people’s hearts. So, in verse 7, God’s solution was blot out all life on the earth. Sin didn’t only impact mankind, it also impacted the birds and the rest of nature. God thought to remove it all, wipe out all life on earth.

But in verse 8 the next part of God’s plan is revealed. It’s not a surprise to God that people are evil. Remember, He knows everything! He’s made a promise to Adam and Eve that He will fulfill. So next part of His plan is Noah, a man who found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The Lord appears to modify His plan, and the rest of the story of the worldwide flood goes a bit like this. God instructed and guided Noah to build a massive ship, called the Ark, that would house pairs of each animal on the earth. It took one hundred and twenty years, but finally the Ark was made, the animals boarded, and God sent rain for forty days and nights, flooding the entirety of the world. Not only did it rain, but the Bible says that the ground broke open and waters came bursting forth from below.

The flood was so massive that even the tallest mountains were covered by 15 cubits, which equates to about 22 feet. There are approximately 18 inches per cubit. All animals and people and bugs that were on the face of the earth were wiped away, killed, as the water covered the earth for 150 days, until the Lord called off the water and had it recede again to the deep and into the atmosphere, according to chapter 8.

I have to pause and answer a question that you might have about this whole situation. God did all of this, wiped out all life except for sea creatures and those animals that were on the ark, but why? Why does God care if people are evil? He’s all powerful, it’s not as if God needed them to be good. It’s not as if He needs to be worshiped. So what gives? What’s the big deal about evil?

Great question. Glad you asked! This leads to a bigger conversation about the nature of God.

We talked about human nature, that we are made in the image of God and that means there are certain things that it means to be human, rather than animal. Our nature is also marred and impacted by sin. God’s nature is similar, but still different from our own. One of the greatest differences is that God is sinless.

Being sinless is part of God’s nature. In fact, we have a word for the sinless aspect of God’s nature: holy. That’s what the word Holy means, to be without sin. God being holy means that God is also righteous. He can only act in accordance with His holiness, and that’s what the word righteous means. He is without sin (holy) and he cannot act sinfully (righteousness).

God is all powerful, another attribute of His, and yet there is something He cannot do: sin. God, being holy and righteous, cannot even permit sin within His presence. The punishment, the payment for sin, is death.

Did God need to kill all those people? No, but the penalty of their sin is death, and so they received their just punishment. Is it wrong for God to kill all those people? God is without sin, He cannot do evil. Also, as the Creator of all things, He is sovereign and what He says goes.

When God destroys all flesh on the planet, He is not acting evilly. He is judging the world for their sin, sin which they willingly commit. Last time I checked, no one made you get angry. That’s under your control. No one made you lie. The choice is yours. We can feel pressure, but ultimately we are responsible for our actions.

Back into the story of Noah. God’s resolution was to righteously judge the world for its sin. This reset on humanity changed the geology and makeup of the earth. I believe it’s most likely that the great layers of the earth that we see across the world in places like the Grand Canyon of Arizona were caused by this massive flood.

Water bursting forth from the depths of the globe while rain poured from above makes the perfect recipe for landslides on a massive scale, trapping animals in deep layers of dirt and sediment. Such a catastrophic event would easily have split the globe, creating fissures in the earth forming tectonic plates and continents that were divided across the face of the earth.

Remember who we are dealing with here: The Almighty. The All Powerful, Omnipotent God. Of course He can do all these things. The same being that breathed the universe into existence can very easily use the flood to manipulate the structure of the earth and its atmosphere.

When the waters subsided, Noah erected an altar, where an offering would be placed and sacrificed some of every clean animal and bird. When the offering was made, the Lord found the aroma to be pleasing. I’m going to give you a sneak peak into the future with regard to sacrifices. The Lord wasn’t enjoying the aroma for the sake of the BBQ feast He could have had. The pleasing aroma arose from the heart of Noah who was worshiping the Lord. From a world of evil intent, to a new beginning with a pure heart.

After this sacrifice, the Lord gives another covenant. We saw the covenant with Adam and Eve, that the Lord will bring about an offspring of Eve to crush the head of the enemy. Each of the covenants the Lord gives further reveals various aspects of this plan, and the Lord is faithful to them.

Let’s read.

Genesis 9:9-17

9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 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. 11 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.” 12 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: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 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. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Not only will the Lord bring about an offspring to crush the head of the enemy, but the Lord also vows to never again destroy all flesh with a flood. A promise to crush evil, and a promise to preserve with a rainbow as the continuous reminder of that fact.

What’s next for earth? What’s next in the development of God’s plan for redemption? Have you noticed that God is the one planning the redemption? He’s the one bringing it about. Did He do anything wrong? No, but He’s still doing all the work.

Our journey through this series through the Bible is soon leading to an idol worshiper named Abraham. But on the way to Abraham, there’s some ground to cover. God reset the earth, but still mankind’s evil heart, evil nature, and evil intent doesn’t fade away. There are a couple more pitfalls, and one of the greatest pitfalls has to do with a really tall building. But that’s what we will discuss next time.

Until then, your homework for today is to get ahead. Continue reading from Genesis chapter 9 and take note of the story that unfolds.

Pray.