January 17, 2024 | Be God's Light
God's Covenant with Noah
Scripture: Genesis 9:1-17; 11:1-9(NIV)
1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God 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 generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Devotional
As Noah’s family began to repopulate the earth, they were given great privileges and responsibilities. Humans would be responsible for the earth and be free to eat foods from animals and plants. But mankind would be responsible to treat blood as sacred, the carrier of life itself. Since people were created in the image of God, human life is particularly sacred from womb to tomb.
Covenant is an important word in the Bible. We will see it time and time again throughout this study of the Old Testament. A covenant is a legal contract between two parties. In Bible times, it served as a binding agreement that could not be broken. The primary covenants in the Old Testament are those that God makes with Noah (Noahic Covenant), Abraham (Abrahamic Covenant), Moses (Mosaic Covenant), and David (Davidic Covenant). All these point to the ultimate covenant God makes through Jesus (The New Covenant). We will look at each of these throughout this study.
Today we read about the Noahic Covenant, where God promised never again to destroy the earth with a flood. The sign of this covenant is the rainbow, a reminder to God and to humans of His good promise. What is one of the most stunning rainbows you have seen?
Note that God made this covenant despite the fact that He knew that humans would continue to sin. It wouldn’t be long before they built the Tower of Babel in order to make a name for themselves. God didn’t wipe them out with a flood, but He did scatter them geographically and linguistically.
The desire to make a name for ourselves persists through all time. Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. The Israelite nation wanted to have a king so that they could be like other nations. The disciples of Jesus fought over who was the greatest. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
How is the Lord calling you to greater humility? Are there any parts of your life where you are secretly seeking to make a name for yourself? What would it take for you to turn that into making God’s name great?
Poem
Naked
There's times
when I'm dressed up
and coifed
and made up
There's times
when I'm wholly
together—
shirt stuffed
I'm confident
proud
and need nary
a thing
Independent
on track
my life in
full swing
More often
than not, though
I'm tired from
the day
I grab for the
spirits,
they come out
to play
They strip me
and mock me
and lay me
full bare
And many who
see me
just mockingly
stare
Do I have a
friend,
a dear sister
or two
a brother
a mother
a stranger will do
who'll cover my
uglies
my nakedness
skin
Who'll walk
kindly backward
and blanket
my sin?
