God’s Care for and Covenant With Noah

God Remembered Noah – Genesis 8

This event was passed down through the generations to Moses when he recorded what happened in Genesis. It was first recorded for the Israelites to understand that God judges sin but promises deliverance and new hope for new life through faith in Him. Similar to Noah, they were protected from judgment through faithful obedience to God in the Passover.

God’s judgment caused rain for 40 days and 40 nights and remained flooded. For several months, Noah, his family, and all the animals stayed in the ark. God did not tell Noah how long this would take and how long he would stay in the ark, but God promised to keep them safe. God’s faithfulness and everlasting care and fulfilled His promise to Noah and made the waters recede. When the last dove did not return, Noah knew the water had dried up sufficiently to inhabit the earth again. Yet, Noah faithfully waited until God told him to come out with his family and all the animals.

Noah had God-given faith that produced a dependence on God and courageous obedience. He obediently built and entered the ark because He trusted God to keep His promises. Now, he exercised his faith to exit the ark in obedience to God’s command. Noah’s altar declared that the earth and everything in it belonged to the Lord. Noah’s love and reverence for God laid the foundation for his faith. He expressed gratitude to God by making worship his first priority. His appropriate sacrifice on an altar pleased the Lord, because of his heart of devotion.

God Reassured Noah – Genesis 9:1-17

In this segment, God blessed humanity with five commands:

• Be fruitful and fill the earth - emphasizing His priority and plan for marriage, family and society.
• Rule over the animal world - the relationship between animals and people changed due to sin
• Permission to eat meat – Now, God allowed animals to be eaten
• Refrain from eating blood - blood represents life, the gift of God
• Capital punishment - God declares justice against murder as human are made in His image

God will never again destroy the earth and all life with a flood. God demonstrated His compassion for people in the Noahic Covenant. The rainbow, visible signs of His mercy on our sinful condition. God patiently offers grace and mercy until His day of final judgment comes. On that day, His judgment will fall on those who have lived in opposition to Him and His commands.