Folks often call Genesis the “Book of Beginnings,” because it contains many firsts. The first week, the first man, the first marriage, the first sin, the first prophecy, the first murder, the first rains, etc. This makes plenty of sense, considering it’s the first book of the Bible. Firsts are a natural part of it.

This morning, we did not look at a first, but a second. God had already blessed mankind once, and then He blessed them again.

As we continue Noah’s story this evening, we will get to read another first. This is the story of the first covenant between God and man.

As we’ve discussed before, Moses is not writing the Book of Genesis for his own amusement, nor simply to share arcane history with future generations. Rather, Moses is building up to the story of Abraham and the eventual record of the exodus.

Whenever we finally get to Abraham—however long that may take!—we’ll discover that in chapter twelve, God calls Abram and promises to bless him. Later, in chapter seventeen, God forms a covenant with Abram. This discussion here in chapter nine, then, sets us up to more deeply appreciate what happens between God and Abram.

“Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ‘As for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed 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 comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. Indeed I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, and there shall never again be a flood to destroy the earth.’

Then God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am giving to be between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I put My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. So the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon 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.'” (Gen 9:8–17)

Noah’s Covenant

This first covenant will fulfill the promise God made to Noah in chapter six:

“You shall make a window for the ark, and complete it to one cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

As for Me, behold I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall breathe its last.

But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.” (Gen 6:16–18)

God told Noah He would bring him through the Flood and eventually broker a covenant with him. Now, God is ready to complete this promise.

This is a rather repetitive text, but it’s not the first one we’ve encountered like this. Before the Flood, He mentioned four times to Noah that He would destroy all life. During the Flood, it says another four times that all living creatures were destroyed. And now, God states seven times that He is establishing a covenant between Himself and all living creatures.

In other words, God is very serious. In the Old Testament, repetition demonstrates emphasis. Seven symbolizes completion or perfection. Repeating yourself seven times means you’re really sincere about what you’re saying!

So what is the covenant? This covenant is unique because it’s one-sided. There are two types of covenants. The first binds both parties to some contractual obligation. But the second type only requires one side to hold up their end.

Most of the time, God brokers two-sided covenants with people. And unfortunately, we often break our side. In this case, He makes a covenant from which no one can absolve Him. He binds Himself to never again flood the earth. From this point forward, God will handle judgment on a case-by-case basis, rather than letting evil accumulate and then destroying everyone at once.

The critical element in divine-human covenants that distinguishes them from regular contracts is some type of sign. God always institutes a reminder; in this case, it is the rainbow.

“In ancient Near Eastern mythologies, stars in the shape of a bow were associated with the hostility of the gods. Here the warrior’s bow is hung up, pointed away from the earth.”¹

Abraham’s Covenant of Circumcision

In this covenant, God promises to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants.

“And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will go forth from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you. And I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Gen 17:6–8)

The sign that God gives to Abraham is circumcision. All males born to Abraham and his descendants must be circumcised on the eighth day after birth or they will forfeit the covenant.

God later re-confirms this covenant with Isaac and Jacob as well.

The Old Covenant

Later on, in Exodus 19, God cuts a covenant with the children of Israel.

“Now Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!’

And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.’ Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.” (Exod 19:3–9)

This was once again a covenant which bound both parties: God and the Israelites. The purpose was to

What’s fascinating is that God told the Jews around the time of the Exile that He was eventually going to replace the covenant He made with them.

“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,’ declares Yahweh.” (Jer 31:31–32)

The New Testament uses the word “covenant” 33 times. Of those, 17 (just over half!) are in the Letter to the Hebrews. As we discussed this morning in class, Hebrews focuses on the superiority of Christ and His covenant over Moses and His covenant. It alludes back to the prophecy in Jeremiah, adding this:

Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled with the blood. (Heb 9:18–21)

A New Covenant in Blood

So what is the New Covenant? The prophecy of Jeremiah says it is to be written on our hearts rather than on tablets of stone. But what is the covenant itself?

“And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor 3:4–6)

Paul goes on to clarify that the purpose of the new covenant is to transform us according to the glory of the Lord.

“But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:15–18)

Now here’s the tie-in all the way back to Noah. God ensured that there was a perpetual reminder of the covenant. Every time it rains, if you look for it, you can find the rainbow—a symbol of God’s enduring promise.

God also gave us a reminder of our covenant.

“In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.” (1 Cor 11:25–26)

1. Bruce K. Waltke and Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 146. ↩