Mar 19
24
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 9:1-17
“And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 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. 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. And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.’’ Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘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 and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ 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.’” (Genesis 9:1–17, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Romans 2:1-11
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:1–11, ESV)
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Introduction
Our text today in Genesis 9 can be broken into two parts. In verses 1-7 God commissions and blesses the new humanity. In verses 8 through 17 God establishes his covenant with Noah, just as he had promised to do.
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God Blesses The New Humanity
First, let us consider the blessing of God pronounced upon the new humanity beginning in verse 1. There we read, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’” (Genesis 9:1, ESV).
This language should sound familiar to you. It is almost identical to what God said to Adam and Eve after he created them from the dust of the ground. In Genesis 1:27 we read, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…’” (Genesis 1:27–28, ESV). Adam and Eve were blessed by God to multiply and fill the earth, and now that same blessing is pronounced upon Noah and his sons. The next few chapters of Genesis will describe the fulfillment of this blessing as the earth is indeed repopulated by the offspring of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
In verse 2 we read, “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” (Genesis 9:2, ESV).
This statement also corresponds to the statemnet made to Adam and Eve, though it is somewhat different. After God created Adam and Eve he “blessed them. And… said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27–28, ESV). This was the task given to Adam and Eve. They were to subdue and have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. God’s words to Noah and his sons correspond to this, but are different. To them God said, “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” (Genesis 9:2, ESV). Notice that the language is far more harsh. The terminology used is militaristic. When compared with what was said to Adam and Eve one gets the impression that by the days of Noah there was more hostility between man and the animal world than at the time of creation. Indeed, the sin od Adam, and the sins of the children of Adam have affected the whole creation and not just man (see Romans 8:22).
In verses 3 we read, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Genesis 9:3, ESV). Here the distinction between “clean” and “unclean” animals that was imposed upon Noah and his family as they went on to the ark is removed. Noah and his children were permitted to eat all kinds of meat in the new world — “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you”, God said. Just as God had given Adam and his descendants “every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit… for food” (Genesis 1:29, ESV), so too God gave to Noah and his sons “every moving thing that lives” for food.
Commentators differ over the question, did man begin to eat meat for the first time in the days of Noah, or did they eat meat before? I tend to think that man ate meat from the beginning of time. Remember that “Cain [the firstborn son of Adam] was a worker of the ground” and that “Able was a keeper of sheep”, and that “in the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell” (Genesis 4:3–5, ESV). The fact that Able sacrificed a sheep — and not just any part of the sheep, but the fat portions — seems to indicate that sheep were then being used for food.
Why then the emphasis upon all kinds of plants as food in Genesis 1 and the emphasis upon all kinds of animals as food in Genesis 9? I would ask you to step back from the story a bit to ask the question, where was eternal life symbolized for Adam, and where was eternal life symbolized for Noah? For Adam in the garden, eternal life was to found in obeying God by abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and eating from the tree of life. For Noah, eternal life could not be found by eating from those trees, but only through the sacrificial shedding of blood — for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22, ESV).
And so it is my view that men and women have always eaten plants and animals. Ordinarily, all kinds of plants and animals are available to man for food. The distinction between “clean” and “unclean” animals were imposed upon Noah and his family while in the ark, and upon Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant. This was to show that these were holy people, set apart by God from the nations for a peculiar purpose. The prohibition imposed upon Noah was quickly lifted, for after the flood he was not made into a holy nation, but returned to walking amongst the nations as a sojourner. This is the biblical pattern, therefore. When God set a people apart as distinct from the nations, and made them to function as a picture of his heavenly kingdom on the earth, he imposed dietary laws upon them. When his people live as sojourners and exiles in the midst of the nations of the earth, those dietary restrictions are removed, for they ultimately have to do with table fellowship. From Adam to Noah God did not have a visible kingdom on earth. From Noah to Moses God did not have a visible kingdom on Earth. And from Christ to the end of the world God does not have visible kingdom on earth. Therefore, the people of God in those eras were and are free to eat all kinds of meat — “rise, kill and eat.” But when Noah was on the ark, and when Israel was called out of Egypt under Moses, the kingdom of God was typified on earth in a visible way. These people were set apart as holy unto the Lord to live in a holy realm or kingdom for a time, and thus dietary restriction were imposed in order to set them apart. It was true for Noah, but only while he was on the ark, which was a miniture replica of the cosmos, the temple, and a type of the kingdom of God.
Though it is true that Noah was free to eat “every moving thing that lives”, one dietary restriction was placed upon him. In verse 4 we read, “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4, ESV). Noah, his sons, and all of their descendents were to abstain from eating meat with the blood in it. When an animal was slaughtered for food, the blood was to properly drained before consumption.
This same principle was communicated in the law of Moses. Consider Leviticus 17:10 and following: “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off” (Leviticus 17:10–14, ESV).
This same principle was also communicated in the New Covenant in the days of the early church. Remember that there was tension between the early Jewish converts and the early Gentile converts as these two peoples who were once separated by the law of Moses and by the dietary restrictions found within were made to be one in Christ Jesus. A counsel convened in Jerusalem to address the problems, and here was the advice given to the Gentile Christians: “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues” (Acts 15:19–21, ESV).
It is my view that, one, the Gentiles were being asked to be considerate of the their Jewish brethren who had been raised under the law of Moses and the dietary restrictions found within. And two, because the sacrifices were still being offered up upon the alter in the temple in Jerusalem in these days, respect was still to be shown to the blood of the sacrifice. It must be recognized that although technically speaking the Old Covenant passed away and the New Covenant was inaugurated at the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, practically speaking, the Old Covenant passed away slowly and did not fully fade until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Until that day, the early Christians were to show special respect for blood and were to abstain from eating it for the sake of not offending their Jewish brethren.
Just as every tree was available to Adam and Eve for food, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to be avoided by them, so too every animal was available to Noah and his descendents, but the blood was to be avoided, for the blood symbolized life. The blood of animals was to be offered up on the alter to make atonement for sin. Their life — eternal life — was found in this, and so the respect was to be shown for the blood of the sacrifice. This is precisely what is communicated in the law of Moses. Again, Leviticus 17: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”
You and I know what Noah and Moses knew — that it was “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4, ESV). But the blood of bulls and goats shed on the alters from the time of Able to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ pointed forward to the perfect and human sacrifice offered up by Christ to actually make payment for sins.
Romans 5:6: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:6–10, ESV)
God said to Noah, you may eat all kinds of animals, for you are not a nation but a sojourner amongst the nations, but do not eat the flesh with the blood in it, for your life can no longer be found in the tree, but is found in the blood — by the shedding of blood your sins will be atoned for.
In verses 5 and 6 we read, “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’” (Genesis 9:5–6, ESV).
Here was see clearly that the penalty for murder is to be death. If a beast kills a man, that beast shall be put to death. And is a man kills a man (intentionally and unjustly), that man shall be put to death. Pay careful attention to the reason given: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” The sanctity of human life is here upheld. And here we learn that man, though he is fallen, is still an image bearer of God. Though the image of God be greatly mared and distorted, his is still and image bearer. Man was created upright in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. When he fell those qualities were lost — he is born ignorant of the thing s
In verse 7 we again encounter the commission given to Noah and his sons: “And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it” (Genesis 9:7, ESV).
With these words the new humanity was commissioned by God and blessed for the accomplishment of that mission in the new world which God brought forth out of the waters of the flood.
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God Establishes His Covenant With Noah
In verses 9 all of the focus shifts to the covenant which God established with Noah. There we read, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you…” (Genesis 9:9, ESV).
God always relates to man through covenants. Covenants clarify the nature of the relationship between God and man. They communicate the terms of the relationship.
Remember that after God created Adam he entered into a covenant with him. “He entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience: forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death” (Baptist Catechism, 15). This was a covenant of works for it required Adam’s obedience. That covenant was broken by Adam. Adam entered into a state of death. All of Adam’s descendents are born into this broken covenant, and are therefore, born dead in their trespass and sin.
Thanks be to God that “it pleased the [him] to make a covenant of grace, wherein he freely [offers] unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe” (Second London Confession, 7.2).
“This covenant is revealed in the gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther steps, until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament; and it is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the redemption of the elect; and it is alone by the grace of this covenant that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality, man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency” (Second London Confession, 7.3).
So from Adam to Noah two covenants were present in the world: One, the Covenant of Works which Adam broke when he rebelled against his maker. All who have ever lived are born under this covenant. It brings death, not life, for it is broken. Two, the covenant of grace ratified in Christ blood. It was present in the world from Adam to Noah. But would not be formally ratified until Christ died and rose again. This is why he took the cup said to his disciples, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27–28, ESV). Though this covenant of grace was not instituted until the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, it was present in the world from Adam to Noah in the form of promise. The good news of this covenant was preached to Adam. This good news was preserved in the line of Seth and Enoch and Noah. All who have ever been saved then and now have been saved by the power of this covenant — the covenant of grace ratified in Christ blood. And so it is correct to say that all who have ever lived were either in Adam or Christ — they were either under the Covenant of Works or Grace. Faith was and is the distinguishing factor. These words were as true then as they are now: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV).
Noah was born in Adam and under the broken Covenant of Works.
Noah was justified by faith in Christ — concerning this the scriptures are clear! Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7, ESV).
And God transacted another covenant with Noah. It was neither a covenant of works nor a covenant of grace, but a covenant of mercy.
Notice five things about this covenant:
First of all, this covenant was established, not only with Noah, but with all living things. This is made clear ion verses 9-10 and verses 16-17. In verse 9 we read, “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… ”” (Genesis 9:9–10, ESV). In verses 17 we read, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:17, ESV). This covenant was established, not only with Noah, but with all living things.
Secondly, this covenant was established for all time. Look at verse 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…” (Genesis 9:12, ESV). And in verses 16 this covenant is called an “everlasting covenant between God and every living creature”.
Thirdly, notice the promise of this covenant. God promised saying, “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” (Genesis 9:11, ESV).
Fourthly, notice the terms of this covenant. What is required of man for God to keep his end of the bargain? Nothing at all. It is a gracious and merciful covenant, not dependent upon the performance of man.
Fifthly, notice the sign of this covenant. God’s covenantal transactions are always accompanied by signs — visible tokens which symbolize the invisible features of the covenant. The Covenant of Works was symbolized by trees, the Old Covenant by circumcision, the New Covenant by baptism and the Lord’s Supper. To the covenant of mercy transacted with Noah, God attached the rainbow as a sign.
Verse 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: 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 and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ 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’” (Genesis 9:12–17, ESV).
It is not that rainbows did not exist prior to the establishment of this covenant with Noah, but that God in this moment made use of the rainbow as a sign of the covenant.
The rainbow is a fitting symbol of the covenant of mercy transacted with Noah.
The word for bow is the same word used for the bow of a warrior. When one looks upon a rainbow it does resemble the bow of a warrior. It looks as if God the warrior king has relented from his judgement of humankind and has set his bow down upon the earth, even pointing his bow at himself promising to bear the penalty due to us for our transgressions. Some commentators dismiss this observation concerning the word “bow”, but it seems valid to me.
I find these words from Franz Delitzsch to be most beautiful. “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 the a dark cloud, it typifies the willingness of the heavenly to penetrate the earthly. Stretched between heaven and earth, it is a bond of peace between both, and, spanning the horizon, it points to the all-embracing universality of the Divine mercy” (1:289-90).
Notice that when the bow appears in the cloud it is said to remind God of this covenant of mercy. “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.” God cannot forget, friends. But we sometimes think that he has forgotten his promises. When we see the bow in the clouds we are to be reminded of his covenant, and of the fact that he remembers too.
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Conclusion
Let us move towards a conclusion by asking, why the Noahic covenant? Why this covenant of mercy, or of common grace, as some call it? There are three answers:
One, God promised to show mercy — to preserve the natural order of things on to the end of time — so that salvation could be accomplished by Christ.
Two, God promised to show mercy — to preserve the natural order of things on to the end of time — so that the salvation accomplished by Christ could be applied to all of God’s elect.
There, God promised to show mercy — to preserve the natural order of things on to the end of time — so that God’s people would be sanctified.
